Consolidation of Fine-Grained Soils by Drain Wells by Drain Wells

Drain wells have been used to accelerate the consolidation of fine-grained compressible soils subjected to new loads. However, mathematical analyses of such wells have become available only recently, and are confined to wells having infinitely pervious well backfill and no peripheral smear. Complete formulas for consolidation by vertical and radial flow to wells, for cases with or without peripheral smear and drain well resistance, are presented in this paper; necessary derivations are given in Appendix II. Because soils are not homogeneous, and because of incomplete knowledge of stress-strain consolidation characteristics of soils, these solutions should be regarded as approximate when applied to practical problems.