SYNOPSIS

Cai Mep Port is a new container terminal along the Thi Via River in the Mekong delta approximately 80 km southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.  The soil profile consists of about 35 m thick soft, deltaic silty clay deposited on dense to compact sand.  The conditions required up to 10 m of preconstruction fill to raise the ground by 2.5 m and included a 7.5 m of surcharge kept on for about six months.  The settlement was accelerated by means of wick drains at a spacing of about 1.2 m.  The settlements were monitored and amounted to about 3.5 m.  After removal of the surcharge, 0.4 m square precast concrete piles were driven to depths ranging from 18 through 30 m to serve as piled foundation of the Port buildings.  The monitoring showed that the area and the piles continued to settle after the removal of the surcharge, which was due to the wick drains not functioning below about 20 m depth.  The measured settlements and the adopted remedial solution are discussed.


BIODATA

Dr. Bengt H. Fellenius, formerly Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Ottawa, is an internationally recognized foundation engineering consultant and the author of more than 300 technical papers.  His professional experience comes from a wide variety of assignments that encompass foundation design for industrial plants, water and sewage treatment facilities, bridges and highway projects, marine structures, and urban area development, as well as participation in special investigations, instrumented field tests, etc.  Dr. Fellenius has given lectures and courses to several universities and international conferences throughout America, Europe, and South-East Asia.  He currently lives in Sidney, BC, Canada.