Geotextiles and Geomembranes 22 (2004) 1735

A eld trial for soft clay consolidation using

electric vertical drains
S.H. Chew
a,
*, G.P. Karunaratne
b
, V.M. Kuma
a
, L.H. Lim
c
,
M.L. Toh
d
, A.M. Hee
e
a
Civil Engineering Department, National University of Singapore (NUS), Engineering Drive 2,
Singapore 117576, Singapore
b
Geo5 R&D and Services Pte Ltd, (NUS Spin-off Company), P.O. Box 1048, Singapore 911102, Singapore
c
KTP Consultants Pte Ltd, Singapore 159471, Singapore
d
IMRE, National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore 117576, Singapore
e
JTC Corporation, Singapore 609434, Singapore
Received 7 February 2003; received in revised form 1 April 2003
Abstract
Electro-osmosis (EO) has been employed successfully in a number of eld cases in the past
using metal electrodes. For large-scale eld applications such as soft clay stabilization under
reclaimed land from the sea, metal electrodes are unwieldy and expensive. With the advent of
conducting plastics, it has become possible to use electrically conductive vertical drains in the
same manner as prefabricated vertical drains for accelerated consolidation of soft clay. This
paper presents some laboratory studies and a large eld trail conducted with an electric
vertical drain in a reclaimed land in Singapore.
r 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Electro-osmosis; Soft clay; Conductive plastic; Shear strength; Consolidation; DC voltage
1. Introduction
Deposits of soft clay soil pose construction problems related to settlement and
stability. A common soil improvement technique in such deposits is the application
of prefabricated vertical drains (PVD) with or without surcharge to eliminate a large
proportion of primary consolidation settlement and secondary settlement. To reduce
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*Corresponding author. Tel.: +65-6867-6472; fax: +65-6779-1635.
E-mail address: cvecsh@nus.edu.sg (S.H. Chew).
0266-1144/$ - see front matter r 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0266-1144(03)00049-9
this waiting time further and to be less dependent on the need to place and remove
surcharge, National University of Singapore initiated work in an old science of
electro-osmosis (EO) but associated with a relatively new area of technology. Here,
the electricity is passed through conducting polymer vertical drains (EVDs) to
accelerate consolidation of clay.
Clay particles carry a net negative charge balanced by net positive charges in the
pore water. In EO, when electrodes are placed in soft soils for passing direct current
electricity the ions in the pore water are attracted to the oppositely charged
electrodes and dragging with them the surrounding free water molecules. The net
water movement is towards the cathode and if drainage is provided, consolidation
occurs beginning at the anode. The usefulness of EO lies in its suitability for rapid
improvement in clay rich soils. For this type of soils, EO is potentially more effective
in reducing the water content than conventional PVD that uses only hydraulic
gradient created by external loading. Extensive research with EO has been carried
out on clay rich soils in Canada, Germany, Norway and the UK (Casagrande, 1952;
Casagrande et al., 1981; Chappel et al., 1975; Eggestad and Foyn, 1983; Fetzer, 1967;
Gray and Mitchell, 1967; Lo et al., 2000; Shang, 1998; Wade, 1976) and recently in
Southeast Asia countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore (Bergado et al.,
2000; Bo et al., 2000; Toh et al., 2001 and Karunaratne et al., 2002).
Improvements in shear strength followed EO treatment in clay soils.
Recently, a proposal to consolidate soft marine clay utilizing the EO principle
by means of electric vertical drains (EVDs) was accepted for trial funding
by The Enterprise Challenge Unit in Singapore. The location of the trial site was
at Tuas View Reclamation Project with JTC Corp acting as the Piloting Agency for
the trial.
This paper summarizes the laboratory investigations of EO in Singapore marine
clay and presents details of a eld trial and some observations. The trial consisted of
installation of a patented electrically conducting polymer drain for consolidating a
8 m thick soft clay layer underlain by a 18 m thick recently placed sand deposit.
Despite the initial high excess pore pressure in the clay EO process with reversed
polarity did make measurable change in pore pressure and record substantial
increase in vane shear strength.
2. Laboratory investigations
2.1. Small specimens
In laboratory studies, one-dimensional consolidation tests were carried out with
and without EO. A modied oedometer built with non-conductive acrylic material
was used as a cell, and the consolidation stress was applied mechanically. Two
insulated wires, soldered to horizontally placed stainless-steel anode at the bottom
and cathode at the top, were then connected to the DC power source.
Remolded Singapore marine clay (W
P
35; W
L
80) mixed to initial water
content equal to its liquid limit was used to ensure uniform soil properties
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S.H. Chew et al. / Geotextiles and Geomembranes 22 (2004) 1735 18
throughout the test series. All specimens, 20 mm thick initially, were consolidated to
100 kPa in stages so as to enable comparison. Two series of specimens, designated as
1A and 1B, were then subjected to EO under a voltage difference of 2 and 3 V,
respectively, while specimen 1C was held as a control specimen without EO
application. At the end of EO, the treated soil was subjected to further investigation.
The loading was extended to further two days to examine the changes in the
coefcient of secondary compression C
a
: EO treated soil was tested for water content
variation with depth and pH.
Fig. 1 shows the void ratiopressure (e vs. log p
0
) relationship of samples. EO
treated soil lacked a well-dened sharp kink at the pre-consolidation pressure as
observed by Bo et al. (2000). EO treatment shows an apparent increase in the
coefcient of consolidation C
v
; and apparent decrease in compression index C
c
and
coefcient of secondary compression C
a
determined in a two-day test period. For
loading above 300 kPa, C
v
became stabilized, with Test 1A having an average
increase of about 40% and Test 1B about 200%. A decrease in C
a
of EO treated clay
amounted to 1030% in the stress range up to 800 kPa (Toh et al., 2001).
2.2. Large specimens
The feasibility of applying EO to Singapore marine clay was also investigated in
moderately large diameter cylindrical samples, 500 mm diameter and 150 mm thick.
A particular aspect of this study centered on the type and spacing of vertical drains
and other eld implications (Lim, 2002). Fig. 2 shows the plan and cross sectional
elevation of the apparatus, where two electrodes were introduced in the clay at liquid
limit. The position of electrode probes for measurement of voltage and current in the
clay and the pore pressure transducers (PPT) is also shown. The sample after
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0.30
0.40
0.50
0.60
0.70
0.80
0.90
1.00
1.10
1.20
10 100 1000
Load (kPa)
V
o
i
d

R
a
t
i
o
Test 1A
Test 1B
Test 1C
1C (controlled specimen)
1A (2V)
1B (3V)
Fig. 1. Void ratiopressure relation of clay after EO (Tests 1A and 1B) compared with untreated clay
(Test 1C).
S.H. Chew et al. / Geotextiles and Geomembranes 22 (2004) 1735 19
treatment was subject to geotechnical property investigations using oedometer
and laboratory vane shear tests. The properties of Singapore marine clay used are
W
P
35; W
L
80; IP 45 and sand, silt and clay proportions=2%, 46% and
44% respectively.
2.2.1. Test scheme
Three EO consolidation tests, designated as Tests 1, 2 and 3, were conducted in the
large tank. The clay for the three tests was consolidated to 31, 52 and 30 kPa
respectively, simulating the range of conditions of in situ soft clay normally
encountered in Singapore. Upon completion of 90% average degree of consolida-
tion, as observed by settlement and pore pressure readings, the vertical consolidation
pressure was removed. Undrained shear strength proles via laboratory vane and
water content prole were determined across the electrode positions. After
establishing the initial parameters, the clay was reconsolidated to the original
vertical pressure.
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Fig. 2. Large diameter apparatus for EO application in soft clay: (a) plan view and (b) elevation.
S.H. Chew et al. / Geotextiles and Geomembranes 22 (2004) 1735 20
During the subsequent EO consolidation, a constant DC voltage of 20 V was
applied between the electrodes made up of perforated metal plates. Tests were
stopped when settlement was observed to have petered out and pore pressure
readings have stabilized.
2.2.2. Results
The proles of shear strength after electro-osmotic consolidation, shown in Fig. 3
for Test 1 at four different decreasing depths, A; B; C and D; across the electrodes,
are similar to those reported by Abiera et al. (1999) and Bergado et al. (2000). The
soil near the anode had the largest increase in undrained shear strength followed by
the soil at the cathode. The undrained shear strength in the mid-section had minimal
strength increase. Fig. 3 also shows the initial shear strength of the remoulded clay.
Fig. 4 shows the percentage increase in undrained strength between the electrodes
in Tests 1, 2 and 3. Fig. 5 shows the proles of percentage decrease in water content.
The decrease was lowest in the mid-section and highest near the electrodes, similar to
reported laboratory tests by Abiera et al. (1999) and Bergado et al. (2000). These
water content proles correlated well with the undrained strength proles.
There was a large undrained shear strength increase in Test 1, which had higher
initial water content, than in Test 2, especially near the cathode. It is observed that
there is a greater percentage improvement in softer clay (Test 1) by EO than in stiffer
clay (Test 2) as also observed in Lo et al. (1991). This clearly showed that EO is more
efcient in softer clay than stiffer clay.
Fig. 6 shows the variation in the pore pressure within the clay between the
electrodes, the larger variation being associated with the proximity to the anode. A
large positive pore pressure in the electronic transducer P5 in Fig. 6 could be due to
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0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Location from Cathode (mm)
U
n
d
r
a
i
n
e
d

S
h
e
a
r

s
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

(
k
P
a
)
Row A
Row B
Row C
Row D
Before EO
-v e +ve
Fig. 3. Undrained shear strength of clay after EO in Test 1.
S.H. Chew et al. / Geotextiles and Geomembranes 22 (2004) 1735 21
an experimental error in the electric eld. Shang (1998) also observed reduction of
pore pressure at the anodes. Other phenomena observed are (1) the current through
electrodes initially rose, became stable and then dropped, (2) gases evolved at
electrodes, (3) settlement continued to occur following nearly the trend shown by the
current variation (4) all samples strained vertically between 3.3% and 5.6%, (5) pH
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-50
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Location from Cathode (mm)
A
v
e
r
a
g
e

P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

I
n
c
r
e
a
s
e

i
n

U
n
d
r
a
i
n
e
d
S
h
e
a
r

S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

(
%
)
Test 1
Test 2
Test 3
Fig. 4. Percentage Undrained shear strength increase at mid-depth of clay in Tests 1, 2 and 3.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Location from Cathode (mm)
D
e
c
r
e
a
s
e

i
n

W
a
t
e
r

C
o
n
t
e
n
t

(
%
)
Test 1
Test 2
Test 3
(?)
(?)
(?)
-ve +ve
Fig. 5. Percentage decrease in water content in Tests 1, 2 and 3.
S.H. Chew et al. / Geotextiles and Geomembranes 22 (2004) 1735 22
rose to about 14 initially at the cathode and decreased to about 12, at discharge and
(6) electrical energy used up varied from about 14 to 28 kWh/m
3
.
2.2.3. Compressibility of soil
Figs. 7 and 8 show the void ratioconsolidation pressure (e vs. log p
0
) of the
marine clay before and after EO treatment, respectively, for Test 1. There are
signicant changes in compressibility characteristics, such as C
c
decreasing from
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-100.00
-50.00
0.00
50.00
100.00
150.00
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000 1000000
Time (s)
C
h
a
n
g
e

i
n

P
o
r
e

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
k
P
a
)
P1
P2
P3
P4
P5
P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
-ve
+ve
Fig. 6. Variation of pore pressure in clay between electrodes.
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
1 10 100 1000 10000
p (kPa)
V
o
i
d

R
a
t
i
o
,

e
Sample 1
Sample 2
Fig. 7. Void ratiopressure relation before EO application in Test 1.
S.H. Chew et al. / Geotextiles and Geomembranes 22 (2004) 1735 23
about 0.67 to about 0.43, 0.45 and 0.57, and Cr from 0.17 to 0.13, 0.14 and 0.15 for
the Tests 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The percentage increase in pre-consolidation
pressure based on the assumption of a virgin compression curve with C
c
0:67
ranged from 21% to 173% for the same three Tests. There is, therefore, a tendency
for the EO treated clay to have reduced compressibility, which would reect
in the eld as observed settlement of smaller magnitude under the same applied
pressure.
3. Field trial
A eld trial was conducted in 2001 in Singapore to examine the feasibility of EO in
consolidation of soft clay using vertical drains. The trial consisted of installing and
electrifying two plots of land with a patented electrically conductive plastic vertical
drain known as EVD. The site under the jurisdiction of the JTC Corp was at Tuas
View Reclamation Phase IV, Singapore, in the Western part of Singapore Island.
The site consists of 18.7 m of recently placed sand ll on 8 m thick in situ soft
marine clay in the seabed underlain by stiff clay and sedimentary rock of Jurong
Formation. The excess pore pressure in the soft clay from the reclamation ll was
about 100180 kPa at the time of initiation of this trial.
In a 50 m50 m area anode and cathode drains, all with lter sleeves, were
installed on a 1.2 m
2
grid using a standard PVD installation rig with no special
equipment or modication. Fig. 9 is an illustration of the installed EVD with the
installers in the background.
There were four sub-plots to investigate various EVD congurations, as shown in
Fig. 10.
1. Sub-plot X contained the normal EVD with two stainless-steel wires at 1.2 m
spacing. Additionally it contained another set of copper EVDs with 6 mm
2
copper
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0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
1 10 100 1000 10000
p (kPa)
V
o
i
d

r
a
t
i
o
,
e
Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3
Before EO
Fig. 8. Void ratiopressure relation of soft clay after EO treatment in Test 1.
S.H. Chew et al. / Geotextiles and Geomembranes 22 (2004) 1735 24
wires attached to the exterior of the drain lter, the copper wires being fully
insulated in the upper sand layer but fully exposed within the underlying soft
marine clay layer. These were also spaced at 1.2 m so the effective drain spacing
became 0.6 m. The inclusion of the copper wires was designed to indicate the
maximum power input capable of each drain despite the fact that the copper wire
at the anodes might not last more than a day due to electro-chemical corrosion.
2. Sub-plot Y had the same conguration as Sub-plot X; except that the wire with an
area of cross section of 4 mm
2
in area was a bare copper wire, throughout the
whole depth of sand and soft marine clay. This again would not last but between
X and Y; the loss of energy in the sand layers could be established.
3. For Sub-plot 2A EVD drains were produced with 2 copper wires and 3 copper
wires in place of 2 steel wires within the core. These were installed in the section
marked in Fig. 10 as Sub-plot 2A.
4. Sub-plot 2B was a representative of the remaining area where two steel-wired
drains were used but with 1.2 m spacing.
All EVDs were electrically insulated from the metallic anchor plates so as to
prevent any possible short-circuiting via more conductive stiff clay underneath the
soft clay.
Each sub-plot had a piezometer and a deep settlement gauge located
approximately at the center. After EO treatment, in situ vane shear tests were
carried out in the soft clay.
Voltage probes and voltage lines were installed to take voltage readings at depths
at designated points in each subplot.
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Fig. 9. Installed EVD with drain installation machines in the background.
S.H. Chew et al. / Geotextiles and Geomembranes 22 (2004) 1735 25
3.1. Site operation and observations
1. Sub-plot Y was electried rst as it was meant more to provide information on
the maximum electric power required. Also during the intended polarity reversal,
both anode and cathode exterior copper wires would be lost under electro-
chemical corrosion. An input voltage of only 5 V was applied at the start because
a fairly high current would be reached due to the high conductivity of copper
wires and the huge losses in saline saturated sand layers. Electro-chemical
corrosion, shown in Fig. 11, ended the treatment with polarity reversal in 72 h.
Since the bare copper wire is exposed to both sand and clay of about equal
thickness, about half the voltage would be lost in the sand layers. This had a very
slight effect on the pore pressure, as shown in Fig. 12.
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Fig. 10. Plan of trial site with different sub-plots and instrumentation (bare symbols are EVD locations).
S.H. Chew et al. / Geotextiles and Geomembranes 22 (2004) 1735 26
2. In Sub-plot X the exterior copper wires were insulated within the sand layer, so
more voltage could be applied into the marine clay and the treatment could last a
little longer due to the larger wire cross-section area (6 mm
2
instead of 4 mm
2
).
For the rst treatment of this sub-plot, only drains with exterior copper wires
were connected to the power source. An input start-up voltage of 14 V was
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Fig. 11. Electro-chemical corrosion.
230.00
250.00
270.00
290.00
310.00
330.00
350.00
11-Jun 16-Jun 21-Jun 26-Jun 1-Jul 6-Jul 11-Jul 16-Jul 21-Jul
Date and Time
P
o
r
e

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

R
e
a
d
i
n
g
s

(
k
P
a
)
P1 at Sub-plot Y
P2 at Sub-plot X
P3 at untreated area
Electrical Treatment of
Sub-plot X
(at 14.0V)
2nd Electrical Treatment of
Sub-plot X
(at 33V)
Electrical Treatment of
Sub-plot Y
(at 6.0V)
Fig. 12. Pore pressure variation in Sub-plots X, Y and untreated area.
S.H. Chew et al. / Geotextiles and Geomembranes 22 (2004) 1735 27
feasible. Within 6 h, pore pressure dropped by 2.6 kPa. Water bubbles were
observed at the cathode wire ends, between the wire and its plastic insulation, as
shown in Fig. 13. The measured drop in pore pressure is a point measurement and
can be estimated as being half the maximum (at anode) since the piezometer was
placed approximately mid-point between a pair of anode and cathode drains.
Treatment of Sub-plot X continued for 22 h with no polarity reversal. The
maximum pore pressure drop measured was 10 kPa (refer to Fig. 12). There were
two reasons for not reversing the polarity during treatment of Sub-plot X: One
was to leave the cathode copper wires intact so that a further treatment of this
plot is possible where the current is forced to get into the clay layers. The other
was to have a comparison with another sub-plot where polarity reversal was done.
Sub-plot X was given a second treatment by connecting all the remaining drains
(comprising EVD with two embedded steel wires with or without the external
copper wire) as anode drains and leaving the cathode drains unchanged. Thus the
current was forced to move to the marine clay layer since access to the cathode
drains is predominantly via the exposed copper wire within the soft clay. In order
not to loose the cathode wires, polarity reversal was not applied. Again a clear
drop in the pore-pressure was registered as shown in Fig. 12. The build up of
resistance in this sub-plot is shown in Fig. 14.
3. Sub-plot 2B was a representative of the remaining area where two steel-wired
drains were used but with 1.2 m spacing and insulated from the anchor plate. It
was powered up but again it had little or no effect on the pore-pressure (Fig. 15).
4. In Sub-plot 2A, only copper wired drains, a section of which had 3 wires and the
balance 2 wires encapsulated within the conductive plastic core, were used. Since
the wires were all encapsulated, the treatment could continue for a longer period,
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Fig. 13. Salt deposits at cathode wire.
S.H. Chew et al. / Geotextiles and Geomembranes 22 (2004) 1735 28
free from the fear of electro-chemical corrosion. About an hour after the
generators were switched on, tiny bubbles of water were noticed surfacing at the
little gap between the wire and its encapsulation (by the conductive plastic) at the
cathode drains, as shown in Fig. 16. These occurred on the cathode (previously
anode) drains when polarity was reversed. Treatment was carried out for 314.8 h
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0.000
0.200
0.400
0.600
0.800
1.000
1.200
1.400
Jul-01 Jul-01 Jul-01 Jul-01 Jul-01 Jul-01 Jul-01 Jul-01 Jul-01
Date
R
e
s
i
s
t
a
n
c
e

(
o
h
m
)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
C
u
r
r
e
n
t

(
A
)
Resistance
Current
Fig. 14. Resistance of Sub-plot X during 2nd E-O treatment.
300.00
310.00
320.00
330.00
340.00
350.00
360.00
370.00
380.00
19-Jun 21-Jun 23-Jun 25-Jun 27-Jun 29-Jun 1-Jul 3-Jul 5-Jul 7-Jul 9-Jul 11-Jul 13-Jul 15-Jul 17-Jul 19-Jul
Date
P
o
r
e

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

R
e
a
d
i
n
g
s

(
k
P
a
)
P5 at Sub-plot 2A
P3 at untreated area
P4 at Sub-plot 2B
Fig. 15. Pore pressure variation in Sub-plots 2A, 2B and untreated area.
S.H. Chew et al. / Geotextiles and Geomembranes 22 (2004) 1735 29
(or 13.12 days) in total, with polarity reversal commencing after the rst 25 h. In
order to provide the generators a cooling period, polarity reversal was applied at a
710 h-interval. Treatment was ended when it was observed that the resistance of
this plot had increased signicantly and exponentially as shown in Fig. 17.
Within 7 h of electricity application through EVD, piezometer reading in P5
surged approximately 3 kPa. When polarity was reversed 24 h later, pore pressure
reading surged 14 kPa within 3 h. Subsequent polarity reversals caused similar surge
in pore pressure readings but with decreasing magnitude. There was a signicant
drop in excess pore pressure between 28th June 2001 and 30th June 2001. Continued
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Fig. 16. Salt deposits near copper wire of EVD.
0.000
0.500
1.000
1.500
2.000
2.500
3.000
3.500
27-Jun 29-Jun 1-Jul 3-Jul 5-Jul 7-Jul 9-Jul 11-Jul 13-Jul
Date
R
e
s
i
s
t
a
n
c
e

(
o
h
m
)
Fig. 17. Resistance of Sub-plot 2A during EO treatment.
S.H. Chew et al. / Geotextiles and Geomembranes 22 (2004) 1735 30
electricity application and reversed polarity did not create further changes to pore
pressure readings. Fig. 15 shows pore pressure readings in (P5) Sub-plot 2A and in
(P3) nearby untreated section (Sub-plot 2B) in Plot 2.
The readings indicated that signicant pore water pressure changes had occurred
when electricity was applied. However, direction of pore water movement could not
be inferred from the single piezometer. In addition, pore pressure was not lowered as
expected in EO, but increased instead. Increase in pore pressure was expected in the
initial stages of EO.
3.1.1. Field vane shear test
All treatment of the various sub-plots as described above ended by tremendous
increase in electrical resistance and no further changes to pore pressures during
prolong treatment. The vane shear test, however, would show the strength
improvement of the clay in the variously treated areas.
Based on the pore pressure response to the electrical supply, Sub-plots Y and 2B
were unlikely to show any additional improvement. Therefore vane shear tests were
done in Sub-plots X and 2A. The primary difference between these two plots must be
noted. Sub-plot X had a mix of steel wired and copper wired drains plus drains with
external copper wires exposed in the soft marine clay (insulated in sand). It also had
no polarity reversal. In contrast, all copper wired-drains in Sub-plot 2A had polarity
reversed. For purpose of comparison, a vane shear test was done in the untreated
area as well.
Fig. 18 shows the eld vane shear results, VS-C-1, in the untreated area arising
from the improvement that comes from PVD only, and VS-C-3 in Sub-plot X. The
result here seems to indicate that electrical treatment in Sub-plot X had no effect at
all. Sub-plot X did register, during both treatments, a clear drop in the pore pressure.
Since polarity reversal was never applied in this plot, EVD improvement was
expected to be maximum at the anode and gradually reducing to nil at the cathode as
observed in laboratory trials. The result, VS-C-4 shown in Fig. 18, of the test near
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20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
0 20 40 60 80 100
Undisturbed Shear Strength (kPa)
D
e
p
t
h

(
m
)
120
VS-B-1, Before EO, 11 Jun, Near Sub-plot X
VS-C-1, 13 Jul, Non-EO treated Area
VS-C-3, 16 Jul
VS-C-4, 23 Jul
Fig. 18. Field vane shear in Sub-plot X.
S.H. Chew et al. / Geotextiles and Geomembranes 22 (2004) 1735 31
the anode displayed a signicant improvement, clearly due to EVD. Although in
both vane shear tests in this sub-plot started at the ground surface, mid-point
between anode and cathode, after boring 1828 m below, it is possible, with just a
small inclination, to end up on either side, nearer the anode or cathode drain. The
measurements from the 2nd test (Fig. 18) are likely to have been taken closer to the
anode. In the untreated area and in Sub-plot 2A, where polarity reversal was
applied, this did not quite matter. Fig. 10 shows the locations where the Field Vane
Shear tests are conducted.
The results of the Field Vane Shear test and percentage change in undrained shear
strength, as shown in Fig. 19 indicate a large shear strength increase especially in the
upper half of clay layer in Sub-plot 2A. The increase in Sub-plot 2A below 27.0 m is
affected by the closer proximity to stiff clayey silt, which has lower water content. In
addition, the massive amount of overburden pressure from 18.7m of reclamation sand
ll on the soft clay may have a slight depth effect as suggested by Lo et al. (1991).
The substantial difference between EO treated and untreated clay indicates that
EO caused greater improvement in the shear strength than conventional treatment
by PVD action.
The increase in undrained shear strength of soft marine clay with consolidation for
Singapore Marine clay follows a Cu/Po
0
of 0.260.28. If EVD were to perform as a
hydraulic PVD installed at the same 1.2 m spacing, the undrained shear strength
would increase with time as shown with the broken line in Fig. 20. The vane shear
strength before and after EO treatment yielded a Cu variation as shown by the solid
curve, which was achieved in 13 days. The time taken by the PVD for the equivalent
gain in strength would have been about 130 days illustrating a ten-fold reduction in
time to achieve the same strength in soft marine clay. It should be noted that
combined EO and PVD effect have been taken following Carillos concept and a
ARTICLE IN PRESS
15.0
17.5
20.0
22.5
25.0
27.5
30.0
0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0 120.0
Undisturbed Shear Strength (kPa)
D
e
p
t
h

f
r
o
m

G
r
o
u
n
d

S
u
r
f
a
c
e

(
m
)
Before EO, in untreated area
After EO, in untreated area
Before EO, Sub-plot 2A
After EO, Sub-plot 2A
Fig. 19. Field vane shear strength in Sub-plot 2A.
S.H. Chew et al. / Geotextiles and Geomembranes 22 (2004) 1735 32
conservative parabolic variation was assumed between the cathode and the vane
point, which was at mid-point between the anode and cathode.
3.1.2. Settlement
Although deep settlement gauges were installed in Sub-plots X and Y, they
registered virtually no change. This could be attributed to the fact that the sub-plots
were too small to register a settlement independent of its surrounding (Tan et al.,
1987). The main cluster of settlement plates for the entire plot was located in the
central area where it was untreated electrically, so it would only show PVD settlement.
The settlement of the center of the PVD area subsequent to EVD treatment was
not inuenced by the EVD treatment that lasted about 14 days.
3.1.3. Power requirement
Sub-plot 2A consumed a total energy of 6223 kWh during 315 h and roughly half
went to the soft marine clay. Taking the volume of clay to be 1728 m
3
the energy
consumed was 1.8 kWh/m
3
.
4. Conclusions
The eld trial has shown that the soft clay, beneath the 18 m of sand ll, can be
reached effectively by EVD under the following conditions:
(a) Sufciently high conducting EVD being installed in the clay;
(b) Effective insulation of the metallic shoe, and
(c) Provision for reversal of polarity.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Time (Day)
20
30
40
50
U
n
d
r
a
i
n
e
d

S
h
e
a
r

S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

(
k
P
a
)
Actual Path
Conventional PVD Path
EVD Treatment
Fig. 20. Vane shear strengthtime variation in EO application in comparison with that in PVD
application.
S.H. Chew et al. / Geotextiles and Geomembranes 22 (2004) 1735 33
Shear strength improvement is clearly visible in the EO treated clay, which is also
indicated by the pore pressure response observed. This aspect was observed both in
the laboratory small and large specimens as well as in the eld trial. Site pore
pressure arising from 18 m of sand ll was extremely high for EVD. Part of the
electrical energy would have spent in overcoming the hydraulic gradient towards
the drain lter. Pore pressure response to EVD would be much more apparent had
the pore pressure been smaller. Laboratory tests have revealed the importance of
voltage gradient between electrodes, which has been observed in the eld as well.
Since the EO treated plan area was small in extent compared with the depth, and
the positive friction from the sides of the untreated land partly overcomes the weight
of the treated block, the settlement was not observed in the treated area within the
time of treatment, apart from the change in pore pressure. Based on the vane shear
strength values, converted to effective stress or otherwise, it is estimated that EO
improvement is about 10 times faster than the PVD treatment.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge the TEC Unit, Public Service Division,
Singapore, for their support in funding the eld trial reported in this paper. They
also acknowledge JTC Corp, Singapore, for its nancial contribution, provision of
the trial site and collaborative eld support. The third and fth authors also wish to
acknowledge National University of Singapore for the provision of research
scholarships and the facilities at the university laboratories during the investigations
reported in this paper. The supply of EVD and the eld operation by RasWill
Representative Pte Ltd, Singapore, are also gratefully acknowledged.
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