Property owners along the Houston ship channel have been developing dredge spoil disposal sites for use as tank farms and industrial facilities. The undocumented dredge spoils, obtained during channel maintenance operations, are not compacted and highly variable materials which are not suitable for foundation support. Ground improvement systems, such as deep soil mix columns and stone columns, have been successfully used throughout the Gulf Coast Region to improve unsuitable dredge spoils and weak soils for tank and foundation support. The following paper presents a case history review of the hydrotest performance of fourteen new storage tanks constructed on a dredge spoil disposal site located near the inlet of the ship channel. Both stone column and deep soil mix ground improvement systems were utilized at the site due to the highly variable subsurface conditions encountered at each tank location. Field verification testing, data acquisition monitoring, and modulus testing (stone columns only) were utilized prior to and during construction to confirm design assumptions and settlement predictions. Perimeter settlements were also recorded during the tank hydrotests to compare with the predicted tank settlements, and allowed a direct comparison of the performance of the stone column and deep soil mix column ground improvement systems.
展开▼
