SYNOPSIS

This course will cover the following topics:
1)    An update will be given on the recent development in prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) and fill surcharge methods. Specific issues related to new PVDs materials, design methods, design parameters, construction methods, and quality control methods will be discussed. Case histories on use of PVDs and preloading for land reclamation projects will be presented.
2)    The latest development in vacuum preloading methods will be introduced. The advantages and disadvantages of different methods will be compared. Technical issues such as mechanisms of vacuum preloading and dewatering, improvement depth, vacuum pressure distribution in soil, and evaluation of the degree of consolidation will be discussed. Existing and new methods for assessing the effectiveness of vacuum preloading methods will be introduced. Case histories on the use of vacuum preloading for soft soil improvement projects will be presented.
3)    Various columns and other rigid inclusion methods will be introduced. These include cement mixing columns, stone columns, dynamic replacement columns, sand compaction piles, geotextile encased sand columns, controlled modulus columns, multiple stepped piles, PCC piles, and Y and X shaped piles. Some case histories will be presented.
4)    A new approach, the microbial soil improvement method and its applications will be introduced.
5)    Some recent development in land reclamation methods in particular in the use of soft or excavated soil as fill materials for land reclamation will be presented.  



BIODATA OF SPEAKER

Dr Chu Jian is a professor and the James M. Hoover Chair in Geotechnical Engineering at Iowa State University, USA. He has also worked for Nanyang Technological University in Singapore for more than 20 years and served as the Director of the Centre for Infrastructure Systems. Dr Chu has more than 25 years’ experience in geotechnical engineering in general and soil properties, in-situ and laboratory testing, soil improvement and land reclamation in particular. He was the Vice President of the Geotechnical Society of Singapore and the past Chairman of the technical committee TC39 under the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE). He is also serving other three ISSMGE technical committees as the Vice Chairman for Land Reclamation and Committee Member for Ground Improvement and Coastal and River Disaster Mitigation and Rehabilitation. He has been a keynote or invited speaker at 40 over international conferences.  He is a co-editor or editorial board member for 10 international journals. Dr Chu has published more than 280 technical papers in international journals and conferences, co-authored a book on “Soil Improvement –Prefabricated Vertical Drains”, and is writing another book on “Ground Improvement Biogeotechnologies”. He won the R.M. Quigley Award from the Canadian Geotechnical Society in 2004.