Mechanistic Investigation of Floating Stone Columns in Differentiated Subsurface Conditions: An Experimental Approach

In soft ground, stone columns have been very well known to be an excellent and cost-effective ground improvement approach.This study presents the findings of a series of experimental plate load tests conducted in unit cell vessel to explore the behavior of stone columns in stratified soils consisting the top weak layer of a soft clay, at the middle a stronger silty soil is placed and at the bottom a layer of sandy soil is compacted for the same thickness of the top weak soil layer.Two types of stone columns having different materials but same dimensions were used.Stone columns made up of building waste (Crushed Concrete and Crushed Bricks) were also investigated experimentally and the results show that these columns turn out to be good compotators for traditional stone columns in terms of load carrying capacity.Two types of tests were conducted in terms of loading (1) Entire cross-sectional area of steel vessel containing layered soil and stone