Journal of the Korean Geo-Environmental Society ISSN:1598-0820(Print) 2714-1233(Online) 한국지반환경공학회 논문집

Grounds of the western coast of the Korean Peninsular are mostly composed of soft and cohesive soils, and it is necessary to carry out soil improvement before construction. The CGS (Compaction Grouting System) method has been commonly applied for the purpose of not only improving soft ground but also serving as the pile foundation of a bridge. In this paper, the CGS method was applied to the Incheon International Airport facility site, which consists of reclaimed landfill and soft clay soil, so as to evaluate the applicability of this soil improvement method to soft clay ground formations. Futhermore, results of construction were intensively studied along with a series of field experiments and theoretical consideration. The cone penetration tests were performed to assess the ground improvement effect of the CGS method. Consequently, the application of CGS method led to an increase in soil strength enough to be used as the pile foundation to support the bridge at the site. In addition, the size of the upper grout-bulb was estimated by adopting the cavity expansion theory and compared with that of actual grout bulb exhumed in the field. Therefore, it is proved that the cavity expansion theory can be utilized to predict and evaluate the improvement of soft ground.