Construction Control Chart Developed from Instrumented Trial Embankment on Soft Ground at Tokai of Kedah, Malaysia

In order to develop and successfully implement a cost effective ground treatment design for railway embankment traversing through soft alluvium deposits for high speed train, a fully instrumented trial embankment was carried out at Tokai, State of Kedah, Malaysia for verification of design. Cost effective ground treatment of prefabricated vertical drain (PVD) with temporary surcharging and geotextile basal reinforcement were widely adopted for the 200 km long railway embankment and were designed to meet the stringent performance requirements. From the back analyses using Finite Element Modeling (FEM) of the fully instrumented trial embankment, the performance of the ground treatment is evaluated and verified. Additional FEM analyses were carried out to develop a construction control chart to be used during construction to allow high embankments to be built without compromising on the stability during construction and to meet the tight construction schedule and technical requirements. This paper will present the FEM back analyses results of the fully instrumented trial embankment, the construction control chart developed together with the pre-planned action plan during construction.