Performance of Geotextile-Encased Sand Column in the Field

The stone columns (or sand columns) have been utilized to enhance bearing capacity and accelerate soft soil consolidation. To increase the bearing capacity of ordinary sand column, the geotextile-encased sand column technique was recently developed. Furthermore, encasing inhibits lateral squeezing of sand into surrounding soft soil, contributes in the easy formation of sand column, preserves sand frictional properties, and the sand column's drainage function. Through field stress experiments, this research analyses the enhancement of load carrying capacity of ordinary and geotextile encased sand columns. Tests were conducted with various encasement stiffness, sand column diameters, and reinforcement lengths. The results of a field load test showed that the GESCs had a greater load carrying capacity than OSCs. The increase in load carrying capacity is influenced by the encasement length, encasement stiffness, and diameter of the sand column. Furthermore, it was revealed that the partial encasement, which extended from the top of the sand column for a length of two to four times its diameter, had a considerable influence on the performance of the sand column.