EFFECT OF GROUTED GRANULAR COLUMN ON LOAD CARRYING CAPACITY OF EXPANSIVE SOIL

Abstract

In the recent years granular columns have came under the widespread use for increasing the load bearing capacity and reducing the settlement in the expansive soil and loose sand. For the improvement of the stability of large area of foundation granular columns are being widely used. Conventional granular columns are driven into the loose expansive soil and they maintain their stability from lateral confinement due to the reaction from the surrounding stiffened soil. However, this may not be possible in very loose soil and additional lateral support may have to be provided to stabilize it and reduce its settlements. This study attempts to improve this weakness by wrapping the granular column in geotextile layer to enhance the lateral reinforcement. In the present project the discussion is about the variation in load carrying capacity and settlement characteristics of granular column (made up of cement fly ash and sand in a definite proportion instead of aggregates and stones) and analyzing its effect on the expansive soil by comparing its results with geo textile encased columns. In this process the study investigates the improvement of load carrying capacity of a single granular column encased in geotextile through model test.