Virtual Booth

The problem with soft ground is common in Malaysia, as most infrastructures such as highways, roads, railways, etc. are located on clay soil. Soft ground causes instability to the infrastructure foundation and consequently incurs high costs for the mitigation works if the ground is not well treated before construction. It is important to carry out suitable and good ground improvements for the soil foundation. This study proposed E&R PU foam for ground improvement works on soft ground. The soft soil is excavated and replaced (E&R) with lightweight polyurethane (PU) foam at shallow depth. PU are made of polyol and isocyanate whereby the polyol is made of plant oil known as palm kernel oil. An alternative equation on consolidation integrated buoyancy is produced in this study for the design of the E&R PU foam. The simple calculation is developed as a handy tool for practitioners to apply this type of ground improvement. The foam is a lightweight material; therefore, apart from imposing less burden on the underlying soft foundation, the buoyancy of the lightweight material assists in reducing the overburden load on the underlying soft soil, thus preventing excessive settlement problems