Addressing some current challenges in ground improvement

Abstract

Ground improvement will be critically important in future geotechnical practice to achieve reductions in quantities of material used, reduction in carbon footprint, prevention and mitigation of natural disasters, treatment and recycling of industrial wastes, remediation of polluted soils, development of brownfield sites and maintenance and rehabilitation of existing structures. Challenges exist in providing cost-effective sustainable ground improvement under current economic conditions. These issues are addressed under categories of reduce, reuse and recycle in the first part of the paper. Selection processes for ground improvement methodologies, improved analysis, knowledge of long-term performance and understanding of effects of variability are required to develop more efficient designs. These issues are addressed in the second part of the paper.