Study on Stress Distribution in Soft Ground Consolidated with Deep Cement Mixing Columns under Road Embankment

Soil consolidation using deep mixing method (DMM) is commonly used to protect soft ground in alluvial stratum in deltas such as Mekong Delta. In this study, the finite element method (FEM) using PLAXIS software is adopted to analyze the stress distribution on columns and ground base of the deep cement mixing (DCM) columns system combined with geotextiles in the consolidation of soft ground under road embankment in Tien Giang Province. With this method, the behavior of the DCM columns in soft ground treatment is examined by the distribution of stress and settlement of the DCM columns and soft soil layers. Simultaneously, the settlement of road base construction is monitored. The stress distribution on DCM columns and their settlement are also given from the analysis of FEM. The FEM models simulating the soft ground consolidated with DCM columns combined with geotextile under the road embankment in Tien Giang with the DCM columns of 0.6 m diameter, 11.2 m length and 1.0m center –to- center spacing show the largest settlement of 0.120 m and the stability coefficient of 1.679.