9360798 Fox A method is proposed whereby subsoils for support of roadway, airfield, and parking area pavements will be improved and reinforced by the incorporation of a grid of small diameter, short, stabilized, vertical, granular columns. The proposed method is a smaller-scale variation of a patented process developed by the proposers to reinforce bearing soils beneath building foundations, which recently won a national award for innovation in construction. the columnar material can consist of soil, soil with chemical agents, soil with special synthetic inclusions, artificial soil, or stone. The grid of columns will be constructed simultaneously using a single apparatus. The improvement of subsoils in this manner will be rapid and economical many applications. To determine qualitatively and quantitatively there degree of improvement which can be obtained, a finite element analytical study and laboratory and field experimental research programs will be conducted on a variety of soils using the proposed stabilization method. Laboratory tests to be conducted include one-dimensional compression, triaxial, and large-scale plate bearing tests. A series of plate bearing tests, as well as borehole shear, K0-blade, and dynamic penetrometer tests, will be conducted in the field on in-situ will be produced and used to construct the granular columns for the field experiments. The finite element analyses will be conducted to model the results from the laboratory and field tests, and to perform a parametric study of the important factors influencing the degree of improvement which can be obtained from incorporation of granular columns constructed of a variety of materials within a different subgrade soils. In this manner, the results from the laboratory and field tests can be extrapolated to subgrade soils and conditions not tested in the experimental research program. Evaluation of the results from the analytical and experimental studies will establish the feasibility of the proposed meth od for stabilizing subsoils to support pavements. ***
