Modeling PVD-Assisted Consolidation of Dredged Sediments in a Confined Disposal Facility

A confined disposal facility was constructed at the Ancona Harbor (Italy), to host marine contaminated dredged sediments and use it as a container storage area. In the framework of a research agreement of the Ancona Port Authority and Università Politecnica delle Marche, a study was carried out to improve the mechanical characteristics of the dredged fine-grained sediments by preloading combined with prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs). After the site investigation phase, a full-scale test field was set up, equipped with settlement gauges, piezometers and load cells. The paper presents and discusses a finite element model with plane strain geometry (simpler and more affordable than a 3D tool) to simulate the dredged sediments behaviour during the consolidation process. Modelling discrete mono-dimensional PVD elements in plane strain conditions was applied, taking into account the smear effect due to their installation. Model results are compared with the actual settlements to evaluate the model suitability for the case of concern.