Would You Gamble on Clay?
Keen to keep the gambling to the casino floor, the developers of the City of Dreams Mediterranean resort needed a careful check of the susceptibility of the swimming pools and landscaped areas to shrinkage and swelling of the clay soil.
The ground comprised a high plasticity clay and the groundwater level was shallow and fluctuated due to nearby extraction for irrigation. All ideal conditions for damaging heave and subsidence of the ground surface.
A combination of additional site investigation, satellite InSAR data and engineering expertise were used to assess susceptibiity and to specify some inexpensive measures during construction to help ensure this brand new resort will not suffer from swelling clay induced damage and to save a large stake on dig out and replace measures.
Highlights
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Additional site investigation specifically to assess swelling potential.
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Satellite Differential Synethetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR) data analysis to assess historical seasonal shrinkage/swelling cycles.
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Engineering interpretation of all data.
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Recommendation of construction measures to minimise risk of damage to landscaped areas and swimming pools during service life.
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Saved the client about 300k euros of dig out and replace measures.
Want to find out more about how swelling clays can be monitored by InSAR? Read this case study from Cyprus.
