On the dissipation of negative excess porewater pressure induced by excavation in soft soil

INTRODUCTION Since Terzaghi founded his one-dimensionalconsolidation theory, the studies on consolidation ofsoft soil have been made by many researchers (Gray,1945; Gibson et al., 1967; 1981; Schiffman and Stein,1970; Xie, 1994; Xie et al., 2002a). However, al-though as we all know, negative excess porewaterpressure will be induced by unloading in excavation,the dissipation of the negative pressure and its effectsare rarely studied because of their complexity (Chenand Wen, 1999; …

On the dissipation of negative excess porewater pressure induced by excavation in soft soil

Unloading induces negative excess porewater pressure in soil mass around a foundation pit during excavation. In this work, the dissipation rule of negative excess porewater pressure after excavation was studied. Analytical formulas for calculating the negative excess porewater pressures and the effective stresses were derived based on one-dimensional consolidation theory and Terzaghi's effective stress principle. The influence of the dissipation of negative excess porewater pressure on earth pressure inside and outside a foundation pit and the stability of the retaining structure were analyzed through a numerical example. It was indicated that the dissipation of negative excess porewater pressure is harmful to the stability of the retaining structure and that rapid construction can make full use of the negative porewater pressure.