Comparative design procedures of stone columns for liquefaction stabilization

Abstract

Soil liquefaction is one of the most important and complex phenomena of soil dynamics. It is a loss of résistance of loose granular soils under a seismic shock. The aim of this work is to study the improvement made on a liquefiable soil using a stone column solution by several methods namely observational, static and dynamic solutions. The site used for this application is located in a terminal port container in Algiers. The analysis was carried out using the test results of standard penetration and cone penetrometer tests completed during a site investigation. A comparative study between the methods was carried out to determine the most suitable method. The results of the 3 methods showed that the sizing by taking into account the earthquake, the mesh of stone columns is denser. It was deduced that it is important to analyze by the dynamic method in seismic zones and by static or observational techniques in areas of no or low risk of liquefaction. Recommendation for further research was put forward to develop new tools in order to improve current design methods.