Stone Columns
The Stone Columns Method
The deep vibrator plays a big role in cohesive soils improvement for construction engineering. The reason for this is that the vibrator can easily penetrate into cohesive soils without removing the soil.
In the process of installation, the soil is displaced sideways – phase 1 in our diagram.
Thus it inevitably becomes close to the machine. Once the final depth has been reached, pressurized air or water may be injected by means of special jets at the tip of the vibrator during the process of withdrawal, thus avoiding the formation of a vacuum. The deep vibrator is then pulled out without the hole caving in. Now suitable additional material – such as coarse gravel or slag – is filled into the hole and the vibrator is inserted again – phase 2.
The actual compacting process is now carried out. The radial forces produced by the vibrator force the added material horizontally out into the original cohesive soil – phase 3.