Ground improvement methods for port infrastructure expansion

The demand for reliable and efficient transport infrastructure is vital to sustain Australia's economic growth and quality of life. Due to the forecasted increase in the freight trade demand, existing Ports will need to undergo major expansion, e.g. for accommodating berths suitable for bulk cargoes and container handling. To maximise the use of available land, typically port expansions projects involve land reclamation which includes the use of dredged materials (e.g. Port of Brisbane) or other granular fill materials locally available (e.g. Port Kembla). In both situations, ground improvement methods need to be implemented to ensure the fills and the foundations for the port infrastructure have sufficient shear strength and bearing capacity to comply with serviceability requirements in terms of settlement and lateral displacements. In this paper, typical ground improvement methods employed in Port infrastructure are described and their application in two different Australian Port Infrastructure projects is discussed.