A study on interaction between pile and prefabricated vertical drain in soft clay

Pile foundation and prefabricated vertical drain (PVD) are two well established techniques used by geotechnical practitioners when dealing with soft compressive foundation materials. Driven stakes or piles were adopted since man first attempted to build secure dwellings near streams and rivers, as mentioned by Fleming et. al., (2008). Indraratna et. al., (2015) pointed out that PVDs has been adopted by the industrial practice to form radial drainage in low permeability soil for a fast consolidation. Even though both pile foundation and pre-consolidation with PVDs are widely adopted as geotechnical solutions in many projects, limited attempts of combined use of PVDs and piles were reported in the literature (Bradshaw and Baxter, 2006; Holtz and Boman, 1974; and Tefera et. al., 2011). The potential benefits of combining two ground improvement methods were not studied sufficiently by researchers and engineers.