Practice of High-Filled Foundation in Construction of the Underground Space in Urumqi International Airport

This paper examines the challenges associated with constructing underground spaces on high-filled foundations, using the case study of the northern expansion project at Urumqi Airport in Xinjiang, China. Given the region's collapsible loess soils with extremely low moisture content, dynamic compaction methods were employed after rigorous indoor and field testing. Layered rolling and dynamic compaction techniques were utilized during high-fill construction. The reliability of the engineering scheme was verified through large-scale testing, including deformation monitoring during and after construction. Moreover, the temporal interplay and mutual impact between high filling and underground structure construction are analyzed, with details provided on mitigation measures. Findings from this project serve as guidelines for designing and building underground spaces on comparable high-fill foundations.