Failure Process of Stone Columns in Collapsible Soils

Many countries in the word have loose and unstable soils encompassing a wide range ofgeological materials, which when inundated, may collapse and cause very significant distress to the structure. Stone columns have been used to strengthen such soils; even so, there are still cases where failure has occurred. In this technical note, the process and causes of stone column failure in reinforcing collapsible soils is examined. A behavior analysis of a typical element of soil in the vicinity of column during inundation was studied. The difference between the behavior of a stone column in a collapsible fill and a column in a non-collapsible fill is reported in this paper. Also asolution for the problem of stone column failure is suggested.