Welcome to Volume 173, November Issue of Ground Improvement. There are 5 papers related to rigid inclusions, geosynthetics reinforcement, and use of waste materials in pavements. A summary of each paper is given below.
Godoy et al. (2020) showcase the application of industrial by-products by mixing coal fly ash, carbide lime and a minute amount of sodium chloride to enhance mechanical properties of recycled asphalt pavements under freeze–thaw conditions. The results show that improvements in the strength and durability of the mixture can be observed during freeze-thaw cycles due to the formation of the thomsonite.
The second paper by Dang et al. (2020) present the numerical study on columns and fibre-reinforced load-transfer platform-supported embankments using equivalent plan strain finite element modelling. Their novel analyses show that fibre-reinforced load-transfer platform can reduce overall deformations and enhance consolidation. Shear strength parameters including cohesion and friction angle control the performance of the novel platform.
Liu et al. (2020) develop a simplified approach to analyse the long-term settlement of a piled raft system. The results obtained from the proposed method are in good agreement with those from an existing solution. A parametric study was performed based on various pile configurations including the number of piles and length to diameter ratio. It shows that the ratio between time-dependent settlement and immediate settlement is in the range from 1·5–2.
The paper by Rajabian and Viswanadham (2020) analyses the stability of reinforced slopes using centrifuge model tests under 50 g. A model test shows that the introduction of seepage can mobilise tension in the first and second row of the anchors.
An experimental program including heave, pull out and compression tests, was conducted on expansive clay beds reinforced with encased granular pile anchors and geogrids by Phanikumar et al. (2020). Based on their test results, the inclusion of pile anchors and geogrids can reduce heave and settlement upon loading. The encased anchors increase the pull capacity further in comparison to geogrids alone.
The aforementioned papers have been peer-reviewed to meet the standards of the Journal. The journal publishes its most recent articles Ahead of Print on its Virtual Library homepage (https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/toc/jgrim/0/0). This allows the community quicker access to fresh content. The time and efforts of the Reviewers and Associate Editors, as well as the cooperation of Jaskarn Rai of the ICE Publishing editorial team, are gratefully acknowledged. The Guest Editor also wish to extend their sincere appreciation to the Chief Editor of Proceedings of the ICE – Ground Improvement, Distinguished Professor Buddhima Indraratna (Director Transport Research Centre, University of Technology Sydney) for providing the opportunity and leadership.
