Numerical modeling of sand drain performance - a case study of the Salter Street Bridge construction

Several bridge crossings proposed for the Red River Floodway expansion project were recently constructed using vertical sand drains to accelerate excess pore-water pressure dissipation and settlement caused by embankment fill loading. With limited local data regarding the performance of sand drains, the calibrated model presented here addresses the need to optimize the design of sand drain configurations, maximize cost savings, and minimize construction delays for future structures. This study presents a coupled finite element embankment consolidation model calibrated against measured pore-water pressure and settlement data from the Salter Street Bridge embankment fill construction, which used vertical sand drains to dissipate excess pore-water pressures. A hydraulic conductivity modification procedure was used to simulate the axisymmetric flow conditions with a plane-strain model neglecting well resistance but incorporating the effects of a smear zone. A sensitivity analysis was performed using the calibrated model by varying the smear zone radius and hydraulic conductivity and the undisturbed soil hydraulic conductivity. The sensitivity analysis predicted that the observed behaviour was predominantly sensitive to the hydraulic conductivity of the smear zone and the surrounding soil.