Assessment of strength development in cement-admixed high water content clays with Abrams' law as a basis

Composite soft ground formation with columnar inclusions by in-situ deep mixing or jet grouting is extensively used to mitigate the adverse effects of low bearing capacity and high compressibility of soft clay ground (e.g. Kawasaki et al., 1981; Terashi and Tanaka, 1981; Kamon and Bergado, 1992; Kamaluddin and Balasubramaniam, 1995; Yin and Lai, 1998). In general, many laboratory trials are needed for determination of strength before the execution of soil-cement columns. In order to minimise the number of trials needed to arrive at the quantity of cement to be admixed, it is desirable to have a simple method to predict strength development with time for various combinations of clay water content and cement content. This technical note presents such a method based on Abrams' law, which is extensively used in concrete technology.