Consolidation Behavior of Soft Ground Improved by Vacuum Preloading Method at Ca Mau Electric Power Plant, Viet Nam

Vacuum preloading method was invented a long time ago. However, this method has not been widely applied in Vietnam. This paper presents the improvement work by the vacuum preloading method at Ca Mau electric power plant, Viet Nam. The project is located at the Mekong Delta, which is well-known by the thick layer of soft clay. The finite element method has been applied to analyze the vacuum induced consolidation process. The comparison between predicted results and monitored results showed a little difference between these two results. Based on the monitored settlements and pore water pressures, the back analysis showed the considerable difference between the real value and design value of the coefficient of horizontal consolidation. The further analysis of settlement showed the ability of reducing preloading time by vacuum pumping as compared with fill preloading method. From the studied results, the conclusions and the proposals are presented for improvements at Ca Mau electric power plant, Viet Nam.