About

Dynamic Compaction (DC), developed by Louis Menard in 1969, is a powerful ground improvement technique that has seen widespread use in treating loose and compressible soils. Despite its effectiveness, it remains relatively unknown to many geotechnical engineers. This presentation aims to shed light on DC and its various aspects, and will discuss its concept, its variants, i.e., Dynamic Replacement (DR) and Dynamic Surcharging (DS), their applicability to various ground conditions, depth of influence, improvement magnitude, QA/QC and acceptance criteria. A section of the presentation will also be allocated to DC generated vibrations and equipment that are used.

A case study of a very challenging project will also be presented where 2.6 million m2 ground improvement works had to be performed in a very tight timeframe. The complexity of the project was further compounded by the fact that the ground conditions exhibited significant variability, the available geotechnical information was limited, and design changes were implemented during the works. Despite these challenges treatment solutions were successfully implemented using DC, DR and DS, resulting on completion within 8 months.