Ground improvement - State of the art

The ground conditions of construction site became worse than ever due to the over-population in the urban areas throughout the world. Good quality material for the construction is becoming a precious resources to be left for the next generation. Due to these reasons and environmental restrictions on the public works, ground improvement is becoming a necessary part of the infrastructure development projects both in the developed and developing countries in the past decade. The basic principles of ground improvement were unchanged since the beginning of the history of mankind. The practices, however, are changing with time due to the development of new materials, new machinery, new technologies such as computer, soft ware and sophisticated instrumentation. The application is diversified due to the ever changing needs of practicing engineers. The present state of the art outlines the principles of ground improvement and focuses on the recent development of such traditional technologies as densification, consolidation/dewatering, and admixture stabilization.