Geosynthetic-encased stone columns: a review of key design principles

Rapid urbanization and infrastructure growth have greatly increased the demand for land, challenging geotechnical engineers to improve sites with soft soil deposits that are otherwise unsuitable for construction. Pile foundations are often used to support structures by transferring loads through soft soils to a competent end-bearing stratum. However, the construction of pile foundations of significant length into soft soil layers deposits in several scenarios can be expensive. For this reason, several ground improvement techniques have recently been employed to modify in situ soft soil deposits, especially to support structures with widespread loading conditions. Among the many available ground improvement techniques, reinforcing soft soils using geosynthetic-encased stone columns has attracted the geotechnical engineering community in recent times due to the simplicity associated with its design and installation process and associated economic benefits. This chapter provides a comprehensive summary of key aspects involved in designing geosynthetic-encased stone columns.