Soil Improvement and Reinforcement Works

Abstract

The paper describes the principles of soil improvement and presents an overview on the initial  development of soil improvement techniques, their evolution and innovation during time as well as the  typical problems that are addressed through their application. The paper briefly covers the consolidation and  compaction principles and makes reference to complementary soil reinforcement techniques, their range and  widespread application. The paper presents three projects that were successful in applying some of the  highlighted techniques and details their design, monitoring and solution validation stages. Finally, key  recommendations that need to be considered during the implementation and monitoring of any design and  execution process on soil improvement techniques are presented.