Field load tests and modelling of soft foundation reinforced by soilbags

A study was performed to investigate the bearing capacity of foundations reinforced by soilbags filled with excavated soft soils by conducting field load tests and numerical analysis. The effect of the number of reinforcement layers on the bearing capacity of the soilbag-reinforced foundation was investigated. Both the experimental and numerical studies indicated that soilbag reinforcement with reused excavated soft soils as the contained soilbag material can substantially improve the bearing capacity of the soft foundation and reduce settlement under vertical loading conditions. The bearing capacity was also found to increase with increasing number of soilbag reinforcement layers. The numerical analysis indicated that stress dispersion occurred through the soilbag reinforcement to reduce the load transferred to the underlying soft soils. High-quality compaction of the soilbag layers during construction is very important to improve bearing capacity. In addition, the excess pore water pressure generated in the soft foundation was less with the soilbag reinforcement and decreased with an increasing number of reinforcement layers due to the relatively high permeability of the soilbag reinforcement.