Effective Soil Stabilization Solution for Windfarm Development in Southern Vietnam

Vietnam was recorded as the strongest wind energy adopter among Asian countries with a rapid growth rate of wind power operation by the end of 2021 according to the Asian Center for Energy (ACE). Hoisting turbine components often require a stable working platform to ensure safe access and operation of heavy cranes. However, building temporary working platforms over soft ground with more efficient and cost-effective measures has always been a challenge for geotechnical engineers. Geosynthetics have been used for decades to improve the performance of working platforms, allowing them to reduce the thickness of platforms and increase the factors of safety. A new design approach called the “T-value” method has been adopted to capture the desired effect and benefits of geogrids, especially the mechanical stabilization of the working platform. This method has been validated against full-scale field tests and reshapes how geogrids are effectively incorporated in finite element analysis (FEA) for accurate prediction of platform capacity. The paper presents a practical implementation of this method to design multi-axial stabilization geogrids forming the Mechanically Stabilized Layer (MSL) in a windfarm working platform in the South of Vietnam.