Formal Observational Approach to Staged Loading

Abstract

Construction of a major industrial facility on soft clay was accomplished by staged loading to consolidate and thus increase the strength of foundation soils before the complete final load was applied. Extensive in situ and laboratory testing allowed a formal observational approach to be used, in which uncertainty analysis of the preliminary design was combined with field monitoring data to update soil parameter and site condition estimates. Traditional Bayesian methods were used to modify initial estimates and thus to update predictions of facility performance in the later stages of construction.