Estimating Hydraulic Conductivity of Overconsolidated Soils Based on Piezocone Penetration Test (PCPT)

Authors

Binyam M. Bekele, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Chung R. Song, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Gyunam Jin, Land Technology Research Institute, Korea Land CorpFollow
Mark Lindemann, Nebraska Department of Transportation, LincolnFollow

ORCID IDs

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4075-9428

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2021

Citation

Citation: Bekele,B.M.;Song,C.R.; Jin, G.; Lindemann, M. Estimating Hydraulic Conductivity of Overconsolidated Soils Based on Piezocone Penetration Test (PCPT). Infrastructures 2021, 6, 32. https:// doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures6030032

Comments

2021 by the authors.

Abstract

Overconsolidated (OC) soils may develop a low or negative pore pressure during PCPT. Thus, it is challenging to develop an “on-the-fly” estimation of hydraulic conductivity from PCPT results. This study presents a method to estimate the hydraulic conductivity of OC soils from PCPT results based on a previously developed method for normally consolidated (NC) soils. To apply the existing method, PCPT pore pressure in OC soils is adjusted by using a correction factor. An equation for the correction factor is derived based on the concepts of critical state soil mechanics, cavity expansion, and consolidation theories. Then, it was reformulated so that traditional cone indices could be used as input parameters. It is shown that the correction factor is mainly influenced by the cone tip resistance, pore pressure, and the rigidity index. The comparison of predicted, which is based on corrected pore pressure and measured hydraulic conductivity showed a good match for four well documented data sets. With the findings of the study, it is expected that an “on-the-fly” estimation of hydraulic conductivity of overconsolidated soils is possible.