Samenvatting

This graduation report is a comparison of settlement mitigation techniques for embankments built on soft ground in the Netherlands. The research is focused on the soft deltaic soil conditions in the Netherlands, where clay, peat, and organic clay layers can cause high settlements, slow consolidation, and permanent residual deformations. CPT-based representative soil profiles and D-Settlement modelling are used to compare the behaviour of the baseline embankment with three mitigation strategies: lightweight fill, preloading, and preloading with prefabricated vertical drains.

The comparison is based on technical performance, construction cost, construction time, construction impact, and practical implementation requirements. The technical evaluation includes the total settlement, degree of consolidation, and the post-construction settlement. The results are presented in a trade-off matrix for comparing different mitigation strategies on a common basis.

The comparison of representative CPT-based soil profiles from Rotterdam/South Holland and Zeeland indicates that, in the analysed soft-soil profiles, embankments and lightweight fill alone generally do not meet the residual settlement target. Preloading can minimize residual settlement, but it may take a long time to wait. The most balanced solution is to use preloading and prefabricated vertical drains to achieve the fastest consolidation with residual settlement within or near the desired range. The result is a well-defined evaluation framework that can be used to help in the early decision-making process for embankments on Dutch soft soils.