Permeability of High Clay Content Dredger Fill Treated by Step Vacuum Preloading: Pore Distribution Analysis

In this study, the step vacuum preloading method was used to reinforce high clay content dredger fill in the laboratory. The pore structures and permeability characteristics of dredger fill under different vacuum pressures were tested. The correlation between the pore structure parameters and permeability coefficient was analyzed using the grey T’s correlation analysis method. The research results indicate that the pore ratio, large pore (the diameter with a range of 4–40 μm) content, and permeability coefficient of dredger fill decreased with the increase in vacuum pressures, but the decrease rates of the pore ratio were different at various sampling locations. The contents of micropores (the diameter with a range of