Palm Jumeirah, Dubai: cone penetrometer testing data from the carbonate sand fill

Abstract

Palm Jumeirah was the first of the iconic Palm Islands to be reclaimed from the sea off the Dubai coastline. Extensive cone penetrometer testing (CPT) of the hydraulic fill was undertaken, both pre- and post-vibro-compaction, in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the ground improvement. A study of these data, together with standard penetration test (SPT) and shear wave velocity results, is presented for this shelly carbonate sand fill. Large peaks in cone resistance qc were recorded at the start of penetration, which were not considered representative of the undisturbed fill. These were possibly caused by crushing of the friable shelly particles during cone penetration, leading to the formation of a high-density soil plug around the cone. Secondary compression or other ageing mechanism may have occurred at depth in the fill, as well as an apparent longer-term increase in cone resistance with time in the fill above and around groundwater level. However, at a nearby site, in the short term, an apparent decrease in cone resistance with time was observed at the same depth in a similar fill material. In addition, the effect of vibro-compaction point spacing on post-densification CPT results is presented, along with the effect of mean particle size on SPT–CPT correlation.

Distribution of grain size and resulting hydraulic conductivity in land reclamations constructed by bottom dumping, rainbowing and pipeline discharge

“…Data of Maasvlakte II-study area D2 has been supplemented with the grain-size distribution curves and cone-penetration tests that were previously presented in the work of Lees et al (2013), Chua et al (2007), Lee (2001) and Lee et al (1999). They studied land reclamations that were constructed in the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, and China, respectively.…”

“…Quartz sand of marine origin was used at Changi Airport (Chua et al 2007), Chep Lap Kok (Lee 2001) and West Kowloon (Lee et al 1999). Shelly carbonate sand is used at Palm Jumeirah (Lees et al 2013). Shells are very angular and typically have a wider grain-size distribution than quartz grains, which is mainly due to crushing during construction (Lees et al 2013).…”

“…Shelly carbonate sand is used at Palm Jumeirah (Lees et al 2013). Shells are very angular and typically have a wider grain-size distribution than quartz grains, which is mainly due to crushing during construction (Lees et al 2013). Fig.…”

“…In the literature, the hydraulic conductivity in land reclamations is generally considered fairly homogeneous compared to natural soils in which layering, and anisotropy are Fig. 1 The minimum and maximum grain-size distribution curves of samples taken from the Maasvlakte II, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (Lees et al 2013), Changi Airport, Singapore, Malaysia (Chua et al 2007), Chep Lap Kok, Hong Kong, China (Lee 2001), West Kowloon, Hong Kong, China (Lee et al 1999) ubiquitous. Jiao et al (2001Jiao et al ( , 2006 and Huizer et al (2017), for instance, applied a constant porosity and conductivity for the land reclamation when they studied the increase of the freshwater volume under adjacent old land caused by land reclamations in Hong Kong, China and along the Dutch North Sea coast, respectively.…”

Editorial

“…The second paper, by Lees et al (2013), presents data from cone penetrometer (CPT) testing in carbonate sands during the construction of Palm Jumeirah, Dubai. The project involved the construction of artificial islands using hydraulic fill, which were subjected to vibro-compaction in order to enhance their liquefaction resistance.…”