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Surcharge Fill And Vertical Drain System Improves Soft Clay Site, Mark M. Petersen, Gary J. Van Riessen

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

The Intermountain Power Project in Delta, Utah required construction of a Railcar Service Center near Provo, Utah. Preliminary investigations related to the design of the proposed facility revealed the presence of soft clays at the site adjacent to the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains. Detailed geotechnical laboratory and field investigations were performed using relatively undisturbed California samples, thin-walled Shelby tube samples, and cone penetration test soundings. The detailed investigations revealed the presence of a significant layer of deep, soft varved clay. This soft clay layer originated from alluvial deposits from the old Lake Bonneville. Because of the need to develop …