1.5. Secondary Consolidation Settlement

Try these first

1. 1.

   What is secondary consolidation?

   Hint

   Think about changes that occur after the primary settlement.

2. 2.

   Define primary consolidation.

   Hint

   What happens first when you apply stress to saturated soil?

3. 3.

   What is secondary consolidation also known as?

   • Instantaneous settlement
   • Creep settlement
   • Primary consolidation

   Hint

   What term indicates slow movement?

4. 4.

   True or False: Secondary consolidation results from expulsion of pore water.

   • True
   • False

   Hint

   Consider the process timeline.

5. 5.

   A new building is constructed on clay soil. If the immediate settlement is 10mm and the secondary consolidation is expected to cause an additional 5mm settlement, calculate the total expected settlement after one year.

   Hint

   Sum the immediate and secondary settlements.

6. 6.

   Given a soil with a compression index of 0.2 and applying a load increase of 100 kPa, calculate the expected primary consolidation using consolidation formulas.

   Hint

   Plug in the values to the given consolidation equation.