Case Study of a Failed Port Slope in Tianjin New Harbor

摘要

Tianjin New Harbor is located in the Northeastern coastal area of China. This area is covered with a soft clay layer of about 20m thick. Since Tianjin New Harbor is constructed on such a soil, the stability of slopes in port construction has been a great concern. A failed slope of a port for nonmetal transformation in Tianjin New Harbor is described and the geological and design details of the slope are presented. The instability of the failed slope may be caused by several factors, such as excessive excavating, violating the normal construction procedure, inducing of excessive pore water pressure by earlier piling and sudden water-level fluctuation in front of the slope. This case may give valuable information for building new ports in soft soil foundations. The procedure for reconstructing the port is as follows: 1) Strengthening of the failed slope with vibrato sand piles; 2) Filling up the crushed stone layer; 3)Step excavating; 4)Optimizing pile driving strategy.