CE5106 Ground Improvement & Monitoring Jan-Apr 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

CE5106
Ground Improvement and Monitoring

Chapter 4 – Dynamic
Compaction Methods

Dr. Chew Soon Hoe

Asst Professor, Dept of Civil & Env.
Engineering
National University of Singapore
ceecsh@nus.edu.sg
Office: E1-07-27
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CE5106 Ground Improvement & Monitoring Jan-Apr 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

A. Introduction to “HEI”
Ground Treatment by “Dynamic compaction type of
methods” or “High Energy Impact HEI”

a) Dynamic Compaction (DC) for granular

soils
b) Dynamic Replacement (DR) for soft
soils
c) Dynamic Replacement and Mixing
(DRM) for peaty soils
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Dynamic Compaction (DC)

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What is Dynamic compaction (DC)

•Dynamic compaction is a ground improvement process
for compacting and strengthening loose or soft soils to
support buildings, roadways, and other heavy
construction.

•The method involves the systematic dropping of heavy

weights, 10 to 40 tonnes, from a height of 5 to 30m, in a
pattern designed to remedy poor soil conditions at the
proposed building site.

•In poor to soft ground areas, dynamic compaction has

proved to be an effective and economical alternative to
preloading + Vertical drains, foundation piling, deep
vibratory compaction, and soil undercutting and
replacement.

CE5106 Ground Improvement & Monitoring Jan-Apr 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

First major project- Nice Airport Project (France)

The Nice Airport is reclaimed land, so guaranteeing absolute and differential settlements
required an aggressive soil improvement campaign. The crane represented in this picture
is able to lift a 100 T pounder at a height of 40 m. It was specially designed and built for
this particular site.
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What is Dynamic compaction

Mechanism:

The energy delivered to the soil per blow can be as

high as 12,000 kNm although the energy values
normally lie between 1500 to 5000 kNm.

The impact of the weight with the soil creates shock

waves that can penetrate to a depth of 10 plus
meters.

In cohesionless soils these shock waves create

liquefaction, immediately followed by compaction
and densification of the soil

In cohesive soils they create excessive pore water

pressure, which are followed by the consolidation of
the soil.

CE5106 Ground Improvement & Monitoring Jan-Apr 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

What is Dynamic compaction

• A crater is formed at the impact point that may be up
to 2m deep. The craters are backfilled by end-
dumping fill into the craters.

Construction phases:
Several phases or passes of tamping may be
required across the site, depending upon the level of
improvement required.

Typically, following completion of the "high-energy"

tamping, a low-energy or "ironing" phase is
performed to compact the material in the craters and
in the upper 1.5-2 m of the formation.
The ironing phase consists of dropping the weight
from a drop height of 3 to 8m on close centers.
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The prints

Dropping of the heavy weight

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When can it be used?

Dynamic Compaction is normally used under the
following circumstances:

• To increase in-situ density and thus, improve the

bearing capacity and consolidation characteristics of
soils to allow conventional foundation and surface
bed construction to be carried out.

The technique typically improves the in-situ soils

such that allowable bearing pressures of up to 250
kPa can be used with foundation settlements of the
order of 10 to 20 mm.

• To increase in-situ density and thus, improve in-situ

permeability and/or reduce liquefaction potential
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How much improvements is possible?

• The total degree of improvement is dependent on
the total applied energy to the ground.

Empirical correlations have been established

between soil type, test parameters (such as SPT,
CPT and PMT) and the total applied energy. These
correlations are used in selecting the appropriate
amount of energy for the end product desired.

• The depth of improvement is proportional to the

energy per drop and the configuration of the weight.
Published correlations are used to economically
establish the appropriate weight and drop height for
the zone of soil to be improved
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Compactive effort at the field

• The amount of compactive effort delivered to a point
in a soil during compaction depends upon both the
mass of the compacting unit and the number of times
that it runs over the point, (i.e. the number of
passes).

• Obviously the greater the number of passes the

greater the compactive effort, this greater compactive
effort will not necessarily achieve a higher dry
density.

• The number of passes must correspond to the

compactive effort required for maximum dry density
when the actual water content of the soil is the
optimum moisture content and is usually somewhere
between 3 and 10.
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Stages of the process

1. Prior to commencement of the works, a granular
blanket is placed over the treatment area.
The weight is dropped from heights of up to 25m,
with up to 5 no. passes and up to 10 no. drops per
pass.

2. On the first pass the deepest layers are compacted

(hence, the largest c/c distance). Following
completion of the pass the site is regraded.

3. Subsequent passes compact successively

shallower layers (hence, distance is smaller),
following which the site is regraded.

4. The final tamping pass is often continuous to

compact the soils at shallow depth. 1

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(a)

(b)

(c)

(d) 14
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CE5106 Ground Improvement & Monitoring Jan-Apr 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

High Energy Impact – DC, DR and DRM..

Three variations:
• DC (Dynamic Compaction): To treat loose granular soils
- Saturated soft clay: Ineffective when used alone as the
pore pressure dissipation is governed only by the
permeability of the clay
– Partly saturated cohesive soil: Quite effective

• DR (Dynamic replacement): When the clay is soft and

saturated, sand columns can be formed with HEI by
systematically punching sand into clay.

• DRM (Dynamic replacement and mixing): In peaty clay,

sand columns and sand claquage produced within the
peat when increased pounding energy was applied
directly on the sand columns, able to eliminate overall
settlement including a large percentage of long term
secondary component.
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limitations in H.E.I. Application

• HEI is generally not economical or practical

to reach depths exceeding:
– 5m to 9m below ground surface for clay
– 8m to l2m below ground surface for sand

• Adjustment is made in the application of

energy level and intensity

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Example of Ground Improvement via DRM

prior to building construction on soft clay

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Energy
Intensity

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Saturated Energy Intensity

EB: Energy
per Blow
(kN.m)
PL: Limit
Pressure
(kN/m2)

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Case study -- Ex-mining Land near Kuala

Lumpur, Malaysia
 DR method

• High energy tamping with 15 tonne pounder falling

from 10 –25 m height, 6 – 12 blows per pass for 3
passes, total energy = 225 – 250 tm/m2 for upper
sandy layer
• Energy increased to 270 – 335 tm/m2 for dynamic
replacement (DR) of clayey layer
• Surcharge of 4.5 m placed for consolidation of clay
with PVD in 60 – 70 days

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Ex-mining Land Project –

Settlement-time (Lee et al, 1989)

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Improvement – Indicated by CPT

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Case study 2- Peaty Soil at MRT Bishan

Depot, Singapore
(Lee et al, 1984) DRM
• Water-logged land with 8m peaty clay underlain by
6m of fluvial clay; Fibredrains installed at 2.2m sq
spacing from 1m thick sand blanket for
consolidation of fluvial clay
• Dynamic mixing and replacement, DRM, for treating
peaty clay with 15 ton pounder
• Two passes 8x8m grid, 15m height, 15 drops/pass
• Third pass at intermediate points
• Fourth pass at 10m drop
• Fifth pass with 20m drop on 3m sand blanket for 35
blows/print, surcharge of 3.7m.
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Test Zones:
8m of peaty clay, 6m of fluvial
clay:
A: Surcharge only
B: DRM and surcharge with
Fibredrain
C: PD with surcharge only

Peaty clay layer, absence of

fluvial clay layer:
X1: DRM only

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Soil Properties Before and After DRM

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Dynamic Replacement (DR)

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Dynamic Replacement and Mixing (DRM)

CE5106 Ground Improvement & Monitoring Jan-Apr 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

Advantages and Disadvantages of High Energy

Impact (- DC, DR, DRM)
Advantages
• Equipment is simple – a weight and a crane
• Minimum breakdown time – usually due to cable wear
• Impact of weight serves as a probe and correcting tool
- immediate feedback to field engineer if there are localized
areas of weaker soil (characterized by larger crater depth)
- average ground settlement observed after each pass over an
area is an indication of the amount of improvement achieved
• Can be applied over a fairly wide range of soil deposits.
• Densification usually results in a stratum with a more uniform
compressibility, thereby minimizing differential settlement.
Weaker zones undergo more improvement in the deposit
• Costs of HEI generally less than other forms ground
improvement (simplicity of equipment and operation)
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Disadvantages
• Ground vibrations produced by HEI may be
undesirable in built-up areas
• Working platform should be at least about 2 m
above the water table
• Working platform is required on landfills and soft
soggy ground
• Saturated soft silts and clays, and peat have to be
treated by Dynamic Replacement (DR) and
Dynamic Replacement and Mixing (DRM),
respectively
• May induce lateral ground movements which may
have an impact on utilities or buried structures in
the vicinity – lateral movements of 2.5 to 7.5 mm
have been measured at a distance of 6 m from
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CE5106 Ground Improvement & Monitoring Jan-Apr 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

Ground Treatment By
High Energy Impact

-- Design Aspect of DC and DR

Dr S H Chew
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
National University of Singapore

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Dynamic Compaction (DC)

L S
H

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S
S

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Design Issue #1 – Depth of Improvement

by DC
(1) Menard proposed that the depth of
improvement in granular soil can be given by
D = α √(WH)
where D = depth of improvement (m);
W = weight of tamper (tonnes);
H = Height of drop (m).
For granular soils (sand), generally the proposed
value of α = 0.5 (see Fig. next slide)
The parameter α is affected by various soil types
(see Table 6).
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(After Mitchell, 1981) 4

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(After Lukas, 1986)

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(2) Range of D :
The maximum capacity of cranes that are
normally available is 150 to 175 t.
Weight of 20 to 25 t up to 20 to 25 m are required
to be lifted.
For α = 0.5, this gives a maximum depth of
improvement in the range of 10 to 12.5 m.

Specially designed tripod rig capable of dropping 40 t

through 40 m can give an effective depth of
improvement of about 20 m in sandy deposit.

CE5106 Ground Improvement & Monitoring Jan-Apr 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

Notes:
• The presence of soft layers has a damping effect on
the impact force, hence depth of improvement.
• The improvement level is not uniform with depth, the
maximum improvement generally occurs within a
zone between 1/3 to ½ of the effective depth of
improvement.
• Above this zone, the improvement will be less
because of the surface disturbance during impact
but can be improved during the “ironing” pass or by
surface compaction equipment.
• Below this zone, the improvement is less due to the
diminishing energy transferred.

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Design Issue #2 – Degree of

Improvement by DC
(a) Grid spacing
The level of improvement is affected by the spacing
of the grid. This will be discussed in more detail later.

(b) Underlying material

The underlying material affects the effectiveness of
the soil improvement. In the Changi project, sand fill
with underlying hard stratum has much higher level
improvement compared to that with underlying soft
clay for the same energy input.

CE5106 Ground Improvement & Monitoring Jan-Apr 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

(c) Upper limit of degree of improvement

Leonard et al (1980) suggest a maximum level of
improvement of cone resistance qc = 150 kg/cm2

Mitchell (1981): qc (max) = 180 kg/cm2; N (max) =

45 blows/0.3m, pressure meter limit pressure pL
(max) = 3 MPa

The following Tables give the limits for various soil

types and anticipated level of improvement.

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Degree of Soil Improvement by DC (After Lukas, 1986)

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CE5106 Ground Improvement & Monitoring Jan-Apr 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

Design Issue #3 – Typical range of

Operation Parameters
1. Pounder: Steel or concrete blocks
Weight, W = 10 to 25 tonnes
Dimensions: Square - 1.5m x 1.5m to 2m x 2m
Circular – up to 5 m in diameter
2. Drop height, H = 10 to 25 m
3. Print spacing (square grid), S = 3 to 8 m
4. Total energy, E = 100 to 400 t-m/m2
5. No of blows per pass = 5 to 15
6. No of passes = 2 to 8

The following Figures show Case Histories of operational

parameters used and observed trends in DC works (after
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Mayne et al., 1984)
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Design Issue #4 – Design steps using concept

of saturation energy (Lo et al, 1990)

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CE5106 Ground Improvement & Monitoring Jan-Apr 2021 Dr S H Chew (NUS)

Design Steps for DC/DR/DRM Scheme

1. Given soil properties, pressuremeter limit pressure,
pL
2. Estimate settlement of foundation on untreated
ground  enforced settlement sE
3. From Fig. 1.1 , for estimated sE, determine Is (t-m/m2)
4. From Fig. 1.2, for Is from step 3, determine EB/pL and
hence EB since pL is known
5. Select pounder weight W  Drop height H = EB / W
6. Energy intensity Is = n EB / s2
 No of blows reqd n = Is s2 / EB
(select print spacing s)
7. DC/DR/DRM Scheme: e.g. W = 15t
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Table of Design Calculation

Pass Spacing Drop Drop No of I = nEB/s2

s (m) weight height H blows, (tm/m2)
W (m) n

1 6x6 15 tons 20 15 125

2 6x6 15 Tons 20 15 125

∑I > Is
from step 3

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Figure 1.1
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Figure 1.2

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• Worked Examples of the DC design …

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Question 3-- For the development of an industrial project at Jurong

area, reclamation works was carried out recently to bring the
ground level to 104.0 m RL with 8 m of reclamation sandfill on top
of the stiff residual soils of Jurong formation.

Contractor decided to use Dynamic Compaction (DC) method to

treat the reclaimed sandfill.

The specification stated clearly that the relative density of the

sandfill after treatment should be at least 80%. The sandfill is a
medium sand with D50 = 0.3 mm, emax=0.85, and emin = 0.42, Limit
Pressure from pressuremeter test = 100 kN/m2.

Design the DC treatment scheme for this project using Saturation

Energy Method. Justify the assumed value for any key parameters
that were not given. Sketch the cross-section to demonstrate that
the whole depth of sandfill can be effectively treated by the
proposed treatment scheme.
[12 Marks]
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Thank you for

your attention

The end…...
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