Geotechnical Engineering Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers

http://dx.doi.org/10.1680/jgeen.16.00146
Compressibility and stress history of very Paper 1600146
Received 06/08/2016 Accepted 17/11/2016
soft organic clays
Keywords: field testing & monitoring/geotechnical engineering/
Baroni and Almeida site investigation

ICE Publishing: All rights reserved

Compressibility and stress history

of very soft organic clays
&
1 Magnos Baroni DSc &
2 Marcio de Souza S. Almeida PhD, MICE
Lecturer, Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), Santa Maria, Brazil Professor, Graduate School of Engineering (COPPE), Federal University
of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (corresponding author:
almeida@coc.ufrj.br)

1 2

The compression index, swelling index and preconsolidation stress values are essential for reliable settlement
calculations. However, it is a challenge to obtain representative parameters for very soft, organic, high-plasticity clays,
which are often found in the Jacarepaguá Lowlands, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In recent decades, several geotechnical
correlations have been proposed for estimating the parameters to check oedometer test data. The compression index
can be estimated based on simple laboratory index tests and the preconsolidation stress can be found by means of
piezocone and vane tests. In this paper, data from 24 different investigation clusters located in the region are
analysed. Undisturbed samples were collected from 20 different locations; 67 piezocone tests and 48 vane tests were
carried out, which resulted in a comprehensive data bank. Then correlations were developed and compared with a
number of equations to assess their reliability. Special emphasis was given to correlations between the compression
index and soil water content, and also between the preconsolidation stress and the corrected cone resistance and
shoulder pore pressure measured in the piezocone tests.

Notation these high-water-content organic soils may prevent reliable

Cc compression index compressibility and stress history parameters from being
Cs swelling or recompression index obtained, in particular owing to difficulties in obtaining truly
e0 initial void ratio undisturbed samples. Correlations for the estimation of these
Gs specific gravity of soil particles parameters through laboratory index tests or in situ piezocone
IL liquidity index (CPTU) and vane tests (e.g. Hight and Leroueil, 2003; Ladd
IP plasticity index and DeGroot, 2003; Leroueil and Watabe, 2012; Mayne and
qt corrected tip resistance from piezocone test Mitchell, 1988; Mesri and Ajlouni, 2007; Nagaraj and
St clay sensitivity Srinivasa Murthy, 1985; Wroth, 1984) are thus quite important
su undrained shear strength to assess measured parameters.
sur undrained remoulded strength of clay
u0 in situ pore pressure Large deposits of very soft organic clays form the Jacarepaguá
u2 pore pressure from piezocone test Lowlands subsoil, located in the western region of the city of
wL liquid limit Rio de Janeiro. Urban real estate occupation in the region
wn natural water content started in the 1970s and, since then, this region has undergone
α empirical overconsolidation ratio factor growing urban development, alongside government invest-
γ bulk unit weight ments. Among these investments, it is worth mentioning the
′
σv0 initial effective vertical stresses infrastructure works required for the Pan-American Games
′
σv0 effective vertical stress (2007), the FIFA World Cup (2014) and the Olympic and
′
σvm preconsolidation stress Paralympic Games (2016). Therefore many site investigation
studies have been carried out in this region, with the aim of
achieving a better understanding of the compressibility and
1. Introduction strength properties of these deposits (e.g. Almeida et al., 2007,
The magnitude of settlement in soft soil is directly dependent 2008; Futai et al., 2008; Riccio et al., 2013).
on the compression index Cc, the swelling index Cs and the
′ , found by means of oedometer tests
preconsolidation stress σvm By using a new local data bank the compression index (Cc) is
performed on high-quality samples. However, the nature of correlated with the natural water content (wn), the liquid limit

1
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 Geotechnical Engineering
(wL) and the initial void ratio (e0). In addition, the preconsoli-
′ ) is estimated from CPTU and vane tests
dation stress (σvm
data, and then compared to oedometer test values. Overall
results are then compared to equations in the literature.
Finally, new correlations are proposed for the preliminary esti-
mation of the magnitude of settlements of very soft clays.
2. Rio de Janeiro soft clays
The soft clay deposits in Brazil found all along the coastline
originated in the Quaternary period (Suguio and Martin,
1981). These deposits are generally formed by mineral grains
(inorganic components) resulting from the weathering of rocks
present in the local contribution basin and by organic matter
(organic clays) resulting from the decomposition of plants and
animals. Soft clays in general have a higher overconsolidation
ratio (OCR) at the superficial soil layers, which decreases with
depth to values between 1 and 2; this pattern result from aging
and water table fluctuations (Bjerrum, 1973; Parry and Wroth,
1981). The soft clay deposits found in the city of Rio de
Janeiro (Almeida et al., 2008) follow this clear pattern of OCR
decreasing with depth, also owing to aging and water level
fluctuation.
2.1 General characteristics of the
Jacarepaguá Lowlands
The Jacarepaguá Lowlands, shown in Figure 1, is a coastal
region formed mainly by thick deposits of soft to very soft
organic clays with high plasticity. It is limited to the south by
the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and north by the Pedra Branca
Massif, and to the east by the Tijuca Massif. Its east–west axis
extends to around 22 km, as against 4 to 6 km for the north–
south axis, with a total area of 120 km2.
N
W E Pedra Branca
S Massif
(b)
(c)
Atlantic Ocean
Figure 1. Deposits investigated in the Jacarepaguá Lowlands, Brazil
2
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Compressibility and stress history of very
soft organic clays
Baroni and Almeida
The local subsoil was formed by cycles of erosion and sedi-
mentation which occurred during periods of marine regression
and transgression (Costa Maia et al., 1984), and is character-
ised by the presence of alluvium, sandy and sandy clay soils.
Granites and gneisses originating from the decomposition of
materials carried from the surrounding massifs formed most
sediments. Figure 2 shows sedimentary deposit ages found
through carbon 14 dating (14C ), which confirm that the depos-
its are geologically recent and originated from events of
marine transgressions and regressions occurring between 6000
and 3500 years before present (BP) (Costa Maia et al., 1984).
Figure 3 shows geotechnical profiles of various deposits
present in this region. The thickness of the soft soil generally
varies between 7 and 20 m, but deposits with a thickness of
28 m have already been found (Riccio et al., 2013). For the
present study, the results of tests performed in 24 different
investigation clusters were compiled (see Figure 1), in which
undeformed samples were collected from 20 different locations,
with 67 CPTU soundings and 48 verticals of vane test.
2.2 Laboratory tests
Oedometer and index tests were carried out at 15 of the 24
sites investigated; the number of samples collected from a
single vertical borehole was a minimum of three and a
maximum of eight. The total number of samples collected was
110, which followed the procedures recommended by Ladd
and DeGroot (2003) adapted to the local clays. Shelby station-
ary piston samplers with 100 mm dia. were using in accord-
ance with Brazilian Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas
(ABNT) recommendations (NBR 9820 (ABNT, 1997)). Test
depths varied according to the construction needs of the
24 sites studied
Tijuca Massif
(a)
Olympic and Paralympic Games
(a) Olympic Park
(b) Olympic Village
(c) Rio Centro Park
 Geotechnical Engineering Compressibility and stress history of very
soft organic clays
Baroni and Almeida

(Figure 4(a)). ‘Peat soils’ have organic matter content larger

5970 5883 than 80% and water content up to 3000% (Landva and
5590
6000 Pheeney, 1980), which is not the case for any soil studied in
4955
this paper. ‘Organic soils’, however, have organic content (OC)
Age: years before present

4657 4517
5000
3780 in the range 5–60% and water content in the range 100–500%
3483
4000 (Landva and Pheeney, 1980). Therefore, all soils analysed here
3000 are essentially organic soils.

2000
1000
0 non-representative values may be found (Almeida and
Sedimentary deposits
External lagoonal cusps
Alluvium-covered lagoonal sands
Internal lagoonal bottom sands
Washover fans
Figure 2. Age of the sedimentary deposits in the Jacarepaguá
Lowlands (adapted from Costa Maia et al., 1984)
studied location and the thickness of the compressible layer;
the minimum and maximum total depths of the profiles
studied here were 7·0 m and 20·5 m, respectively. In the follow-
ing sections different geotechnical parameters will be pre-
sented. Only good-quality test results were used, and for that
reason the number of data points analysed will be different for
each parameter presented.
2.2.1 Index tests
In general, the deposits present a superficial layer of organic
clays varying from 1·0 to 4·0 m in depth and around 50–60%
of organic matter. These deposits have a high water content,
which may reach 1200% in the organic clay layers and from 60
to 500% in the soft clay layers below the organic clays
The determination of Atterberg limits of organic soft clays in
Brazil is performed without prior sample drying; otherwise
Marques, 2013). The overall results in Figure 4 show values
Fluvial clay that are more disperse and elevated at the organic clay layers,
Beach ridges
Internal lagoonal cusps but less so for the deeper layers. In general, the plasticity index
External lagoonal sediments (IP = wL − wP) is higher than 80% in the deeper clay layers,
reaching 510% in the shallower clays layers, showing that the
deposits are overall of high plasticity. Nevertheless, there are
sites with a plasticity index as low as 39% due to the occur-
rence of sand lenses. Below 3·0 m depth the average value of IP
is 110% (see Figure 4(b)).
The typical values of soil natural water content (wn) and liquid
limit (wL) below 3·0 m depth are wn = 175% and wL = 150%,
respectively; that is, soil water content is higher than the liquid
limit (Figure 4(a)). Values of water content close to or higher
than the liquid limit are usually found all along the Brazilian
coast (e.g. Almeida and Marques, 2003; Coutinho and Bello,
2014; Coutinho and Lacerda, 1987; Jannuzzi et al., 2015;
Magnani et al., 2010; Schnaid et al., 2001).
As seen in Figure 4(c), in most sites analysed, the liquidity
index (IL = wn − wP/IP) is similar to or higher than the water
content, suggesting that the local soil deposits are close to the
normally consolidated condition (Mitchell and Soga, 2005).

Jacarepaguá Lowlands
Barra da Tijuca Recreio
)
na
)

o P er
do

rk
oF r
roi nte

avu

)
roi ent
ac

Pa

04
un
en

a
(Ar t.Ce

Ne spo
(20
(Ar t. C

ics

sul

o
ro
/S

xim
ela

nín

tei
hle

e
SC

Me

Me

to
p

Cr
n

e
Ma

Má
Ou

l
SE

Pa

At

Pa

Pe

Lif

Pa

10
Depth: m

15

20

25

30

Fill High-organic-clay soil Very soft clay Medium clay Sand

Figure 3. Types of soil and thickness of different deposits in the Jacarepaguá Lowlands (adapted from Riccio et al., 2013)

3
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 Geotechnical Engineering Compressibility and stress history of very
soft organic clays
Baroni and Almeida

wL; wn: % IP: % IL St

0 150 300 450 600 750 900 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 0 1 2 3 4 5 0 5 10 15 20
0 0 0 0
No = 233
*HOCS *HOCS
–2 –2 –2 *HOCS –2

–4 –4 –4 –4
Sand
–6 –6 lenses –6 –6
Depth: m

–8 –8 –8 –8
Natural water
content Site 1 Site 2
–10 –10 –10 –10
Site 3 Site 4
–12 –12 Z > 3 m, –12 Site 5 Site 6 –12
Z > 3 m, IP(average)~100
wL(average)~150 Site 7 Site 8
–14 –14 No = 74 –14 –14
wL: No = 74 I II III IV
Skempton and Northey (1952) St
I Low 2–4
–16 Z > 3 m, –16 –16 IL = 1 –16 II 4–8
Medium
wn(average)~175% No = 74 III High 8–16
IV Very high >16
–18 wn: No = 87 –18 –18 –18
*High-organic-clay soil (HOCS)
(a) (b) (c) (d)

Figure 4. (a) Liquid limit and natural water content; (b) plasticity index; (c) liquidity index and (d) clay sensitivity

Moreover, a liquidity index close to the water content is associ-
ated with extra-sensitive clays (Mitchell and Soga, 2005).
The clay sensitivity St is defined here as the ratio of the vane
peak strength (su) to the remoulded vane strength (sur),
(St = su/sur), the analysis of undrained strength values being,
however, outside the scope of this paper. The sensitivity values
shown in Figure 4(d) originate from 235 vane tests and range
from 2·9 to 18·3, with 7·9 being the average value and 3·8
being the standard deviation. The clay deposits studied herein
may be classified as sensitive or extra-sensitive (Sandven et al.,
2016a, 2016b; Skempton and Northey, 1952).
Figure 5 shows the relationship between the soil plasticity
index and the liquid limit. The results are close to
Casagrande’s ‘line A’, with most values above this line for

H V E H = high plasticity
V = very high IP = 0·7003wL–4·29
600
E = extremely high plasticity R2 = 0·9241
No = 72
500 wL = 90

wL = 70 14 ·3
w L–
400 0·73
B line – IP=
wL = 50 A-line
IP: %

300

Site 1 Site 2
Site 3 Site 4
200
Site 5 Site 6
Site 7 Site 8
100 Site 9 A-line
H V
E
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650
wL: %

Figure 5. Casagrande plasticity chart for the region studied

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 Geotechnical Engineering Compressibility and stress history of very
soft organic clays
Baroni and Almeida

liquid limits wL lower than 300% and values below this line the void ratio e0 ranges from 3·0 to 6·0, with values as low as
for wL higher than 300% (maximum value is 610%). 1·35 corresponding to sand lenses. The average value of the
Measurements of organic matter content were performed in 26 compression index is 2·55, and Cc = 1·05 and Cc = 4·0 are
samples and soils with OC higher than 20% are generally values for mean ±1 standard deviation, with Cc close to 7·0
located below line A. The British standard BS 5930 (BSI, corresponding to the high-organic-clays layer, see Figure 6(b).
1999) classifies soils with wL higher than line B (wL = 50%) as Most swelling index (Cs) values (not shown) range from 0·1 to
high-compressibility materials, calling them H (high plasticity) 0·5. The relation Cs/Cc (Figure 6(c)) ranges from 0·05 to 0·18,
for the range of 50% < wL < 70%; V (very high plasticity) for with 0·13 (Cs = 0·13.Cc) being the average value. Figure 6(d)
70% < wL < 90%; and E (extremely high plasticity) for shows the variation of the compression ratio CR = Cc/(1 + eo)
wL > 90%. Following this classification, the great majority of with depth. The values found range from 0·25 to 0·55,
clayey deposits studied present extremely high plasticity (E). showing that the local clay has high compressibility and that
Based on 72 data points (R 2 = 0·92) Equation 1 represents the there is no particular trend of variation of CR with depth.
IP plotted against wL relationship, the angular coefficient Values of CR of the same order of magnitude were found in
a = 0·70 being quite similar to a = 0·73 as originally suggested the region (Lacerda and Almeida, 1995).
by Casagrande.
3. Correlations with the compression index
1: IP ¼ 0
70 wL  4
29 The estimation of the compressibility parameters representative
of soft clays is only possible by means of tests performed with
good-quality samples (Ladd, 1973). However, in many soft
clay deposits, collecting undisturbed samples requires careful
procedures (Ladd and DeGroot, 2003). In order to overcome
2.2.2 Compressibility parameters the inherent difficulties, several empirical correlations have
Compressibility parameters were obtained by standard incre- been developed in the literature for clays with different lithol-
mental oedometer tests, with secondary consolidation being ogy aiming to correlate Cc with index soil properties.
outside the scope of the present paper. In the region studied, A summary of the most widely used correlations, namely,
secondary compression settlements are usually computed as natural water content, liquid limit and void ratio, is presented
discussed by Almeida and Marques (2013) and compensated in Table 1. These correlations have been proposed to assess test
during the construction period as primary consolidation settle- results and may be useful for preliminary calculations, but not
ments by applying additional embankment surcharge. to substitute laboratory oedometer tests.

Figure 6(a) shows the expected trend (Atkinson, 1981) of the 3.1 Correlation between soil compression index (Cc)
decrease in the initial void ratio (e0) with the increase in depth. and natural water content (wn)
In the organic clays layer (0·0 to 4·0 m), the void ratio is A favourable aspect in using the correlation between the soil
higher, with e0 values up to 12·4. Below the superficial layer, water content and the compression index is the possibility of
e0 Cc Cs /Cc CR = Cc /(1 + e0)
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 0·1 0·2 0·3 0·4 0 0·1 0·2 0·3 0·4 0·5 0·6 0·7 0·8 0·9
0 0 0 0

–2 –2 *HOCS –2 –2
*HOCS
–4 –4 –4 –4
No = 71 No = 67
No = 67 No = 67
–6 –6 –6 –6 Sand
lenses Site 1
Site 2
Depth: m

–8 –8 –8 –8
Site 3
–10 –10 –10 –10 Site 4
Site 5
Site 6
–12 –12 –12 –12
Site 7
Site 8
–14 –14 –14 –14
Site 9
Site 10
–16 –16 –16 –16
1·05 to 4·0 0·05 to 0·18 0·25 to 0·55
–18 –18 –18 –18
*High-organic-clay soil (HOCS)
(a) (b) (c) (d)

Figure 6. (a) Initial void radio; (b) compression index; (c) recompression index/compression index; and (d) compression ratio

5
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 Geotechnical Engineering Compressibility and stress history of very
soft organic clays
Baroni and Almeida

Table 1. Summary listing of empirical correlations for Cc region studied of organic high-plasticity clays is
Correlation with wn
Cc = awn + b a b 2: Cc ¼ 0
011wn

1 Al Khafaji and Andersland (1992) 0·0100 0·0000

2 Bowles (1989) 0·0115 0·0000
3 Koppula (1981) 0·0100 0·0000
4 Mesri and Ajlouni (2007) 0·0100 0·0000
5 Moran, Proctor, Mueser & Rutledge 0·0150 0·0000
(1958) 3.2 Correlation between the compression index (Cc)
6 Nagaraj and Miura (2001) 0·0103 0·0000 and the initial void ratio (eo)
7 Almeida et al. (2008) 0·0130 0·0000 Figure 8 presents the correlation between the compression
8 Azzouz et al. (1976) 0·0100 −0·0500 index and the initial void ratio and the equations proposed in
9 Herrero (1980) 0·0100 −0·0755
10 McCabe et al. (2014) 0·0140 −0·3178
the literature (see Table 1). Correlations Cc–wn and Cc–e0
11 Coutinho and Bello (2014); wn < 200 0·0070 0·4010 differ as perfect saturated conditions are not necessarily the
12 Coutinho and Bello (2014); wn > 200 0·0060 0·8040 case, and also because the specific gravity of soil particles (Gs)
ranges from 2·20 to 2·66 for the soils studied here.
Correlation with wL
Cc = mwL − n m n
The equation proposed by Sowers (1970) presents values above
1 Azzouz et al. (1976) 0·0060 0·0540 the 20% range, while the propositions of Hough (1957) present
2 Cozzolino (1961) 0·0046 0·0414 values below the 20% range. The other equations in the litera-
3 Mayne (1980) 0·0092 0·1196
4 Schofield and Wroth (1968) 0·0083 0·0747
ture present values inside the ± 20% range in relation to the
5 Shouka (1964) 0·0170 0·3400 equation found. As shown in Figure 8, even with initial void
6 Skempton (1944) 0·0070 0·0700 ratios ranging from 1·3 to 8·8, practically all points analysed
7 Terzaghi and Peck (1967) 0·0090 0·0900 had a maximum dispersion of ± 20% in relation to the average
8 Yamagutshi (1959) 0·0130 0·1300 trend. For the local soil deposits, the expression that best
9 McCabe et al. (2014) 0·0118 0·24426
10 Ogawa and Matsumoto (1978) 0·0150 0·2850
reproduces the experimental data (R 2 = 0·81) of organic high-
11 Tanaka et al. (2003) 0·0090 0·0900 plasticity clays is
12 Chung et al. (2003) 0·0084 −0·1640
3: Cc ¼ 0
5284e0
Correlation with e0
Cc = se0 − t s t

1 Azzouz et al. (1976) 0·4000 0·1000

2 Cozzolino (1961) 0·4300 0·1075
3 Nishida (1956) 0·5400 0·1890 3.3 Correlation between the compression index (Cc)
4 Sowers (1970) 0·7500 0·0375 and the liquid limit (wL)
5 Hough (1957) 0·3500 0·1225
As with water content, the liquid limit values are not influ-
6 Dames and Moore Inc. (1983) 0·5400 0·0810
7 Chung et al. (2003) 0·4400 0·0040 enced by the soil structure, therefore being a suitable corre-
8 Tan (1983) 0·3440 0·1754 lation with Cc. Figure 9 shows the proposed correlation based
9 Coutinho and Lacerda (1987) 0·6300 0·7000 on the analysis of 78 points and the comparison with the
10 Aragão (1975) 0·5600 0·3136 equations presented in Table 1.

The equations recommended in the literature correlating the

obtaining the water content by means of standard penetration
test (SPT) samples, as long as adequate procedures are
observed (Sandroni, 2006). Figure 7 correlates the compression
index to natural water content, showing a clear linear trend.
The wide range interval of wn, 60% to 700%, can be observed,
with a few points of wn lower than 100%. The highest data dis-
persion occurs for water content values ranging from 120 to
210%. With the exception of the correlations proposed by
Coutinho and Bello (2014) for soils with wn > 200%, all corre-
lations presented in Table 1 represent well the data available.
In general, results vary ± 15% in relation to the trend line,
including the points with water content above 300%. The
empirical equation found for 85 points (R 2 = 0·70) in the
compression index to the liquid limit present variable results;
only the ones proposed by Yamagutshi (1959) and McCabe
et al. (2014) are close to the local average trend. The equation
of Shouka (1964) is close to the upper limit of Cc. The remain-
ing equations result in lower Cc values. The highest data
dispersion occurred when the liquid limit ranged from 60 to
180%, with points presenting compressibility values above the
20% range. It is worth mentioning that samples with a liquidity
index ranging from 56 to 510% present the same average trend.
The equation which correlates Cc and wL for the present data-
base (R 2 = 0·78) of organic high-plasticity clays is
4: Cc ¼ 0
0125wL

6
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 Geotechnical Engineering Compressibility and stress history of very
soft organic clays
Baroni and Almeida

7
+15%
6 Region with the
highest dispersion
120 < wn < 210
Compression index, Cc

5 –15%

3
Cc = 0·0111wn
2 R2 = 0·6988
No = 85
1

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
Water content, wn: %
Moran, Proctor, Mueser & Rutledge (1958) Nagaraj and Miura (2001)
Azzouz et al. (1976) Bowles (1989)
Herrero (1980) Koppula (1981)
Mesri and Ajlouni (2007) Almeida et al. (2008)
McCabe et al. (2014) Coutinho and Bello (2014); w < 200
Present study Present study (–15%)
Present study (+15%) Linear (present study)

Figure 7. Correlations between the soil compression index and natural water content

6
+20%
5
Compression index, Cc

–20%

Constant dispersion
3
± 20%
1 < e0 < 9
2 Cc = 0·5284e0
R2 = 0·8141
1 No = 74

0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Initial void ratio, e0

Azzouz et al. (1976) Cozzolino (1961)

Nishida (1956) Coutinho and Lacerda (1987)
Aragão (1975) Dames and Moore Inc. (1983)
Chung et al. (2003) Present study
Present study (+20%) Present study (–20%)

Figure 8. Correlations between the compression index and the void ratio

4. Stress history ′ ), OCR = σvm

effective vertical stresses (σv0 ′ /σv0
′ is essential for
Knowledge of soil stress history, resulting from the relation the overall understanding of the behaviour of soft clays. To this
between the preconsolidation stress (σvm ′ ) and the initial end, correlations between σvm ′ and CPTU test data have been

7
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 Geotechnical Engineering Compressibility and stress history of very
soft organic clays
Baroni and Almeida

+20%
7

6 Region with the –20%

Compression index, Cc

highest dispersion
5 60 < wL < 180

Cc = 0·0125wL
2
R2 = 0·7845
1 No = 78

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Liquid limit, wL: %

Mayne (1980) Schofield and Wroth (1968) Shouka (1964)

Skempton (1944) Terzaghi and Peck (1967) Yamagutshi (1959)
Tanaka et al. (2003) McCabe et al. (2014) Chung et al. (2003)
Present study Present study (+20%) Present study (–20%)
Linear (present study)

Figure 9. Correlations between the compression index and the liquid limit

proposed (e.g. Chen and Mayne, 1996; Lunne et al., 1997), Figure 10 presents correlations between the preconsolidation
and similarly with vane test data (e.g. Chandler, 1988; Mayne stress and the net tip resistance qt − σvo (Figure 10(a)) and cone
and Mitchell, 1988). resistance minus pore pressure qt − u2 (Figure 10(b)), resulting
in correlation factors K1 = 0·125 (R 2 = 0·85) and K2 = 0·154
(R 2 = 0·83), respectively. The values of K1 and K2 obtained
4.1 Correlations with piezocone test data here are considerably lower than those suggested by Chen and
The literature provides many correlations to obtain the precon- Mayne (1996) (K1 = 0·30 and K2 = 0·53), and also lower than
solidation stress based on CPTU results, and the most relevant the values suggested for other Brazilian coastline deposits
correlations are (Karlsrud et al., 2005; Lunne et al., 1997) (Schnaid and Odebrecht, 2012). The lower atypical values
found for the coefficients K1 and K2 result from the particular
5: σ 0vm ¼ K1 ðqt σ v0 Þ characteristics of the deposits analysed, the high water content
of the soil (wn(average) = 175%), the extremely high plasticity
(IP(average) > 80%) and the presence of organic matter. Figure 10
also shows the prediction results of the 95% range, that is, the
6: σ 0vm ¼ K2 ðqt u2 Þ minimum and maximum variation ranges in which there is a
95% chance of any result obtained in the region under study
being situated.

The Equation 7 that correlates the normalised excess pore

7: σ 0vm ¼ K3 ðu2 u0 Þ
where σv0 is the total initial vertical stress; qt is the corrected
tip resistance from the CPTU; u2 is the shoulder pore pressure
from CPTU; and u0 is the in situ pore pressure. The fitting
coefficients K1 and K2 vary according to the characteristics of
the clays studied. Recommended values of K1 and K2 may be
found in the literature (Chen and Mayne, 1996; Demers and
Leroueil, 2002; Lee et al., 2003; Mayne and Holtz, 1988).
′ and OCR was tested, but it did not
pressure (u2 − u0)/σv0
produce good results, unlike Karlsrud et al. (2005).
Values of K1 and K2 can and should be assessed case by case
and should preferably be analysed together with OCR values
obtained by oedometer tests. Even in locations where OCR
values were found by means of oedometer tests, correlations of
OCR with CPTU should be used to obtain a continuous OCR
profile. OCR correlations are discussed below.

8
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 Geotechnical Engineering Compressibility and stress history of very
soft organic clays
Baroni and Almeida

140 test, it is possible to estimate the values of OCR. Chandler

Linear (present study)
Prediction limit (95%) (1988) assembled the results of su from 19 clay deposits,
120
Site 1 Site 2 obtaining m = 0·95, Equation 9. Tavenas and Leroueil (1987)
Site 3 Site 4
100 Site 5 Site 6
used results from Aas et al. (1986) and Chandler (1988) and
Site 7 Site 8 the Bjerrum curve (Bjerrum, 1973) as reference and found,
Site 9 Site 10
' : kPa

80 with small dispersions, a value of m equal to 1·0.

σ vm

60
 1=m
ðsu =σ 0v0 Þoc
K1 = 0·125
9: OCR ¼
40 σ 'vm = 0·125 (qt – σv0)
R2 = 0·85
ðsu =σ 0v0 Þnc
No = 67
20

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 Mayne and Mitchell (1988) gathered information from 96 clay
(qt – σv0): kPa deposits and assessed the values of OCR directly measured
in the laboratory with the values of su obtained from vane
(a)
tests. The deposits analysed presented OCR values ranging
140 from 1 to 40, the minimum plasticity index ranging from a
K2 = 0·154
σ 'vm = 0·154 (qt – u2)
minimum of 3% to a maximum of 300%, undrained shear
120
R2 = 0·83 strength ranging from 1·6 kPa to 380 kPa, and minimum sensi-
No = 67
100
tivity of 2. The correlation proposed by the authors was as
follows.
σ 'vm: kPa

80
 
Linear (present study) su
10: OCR ¼ α 0
60 Prediction limit (95%)
σ v0
Site 1 Site 2
40 Site 3 Site 4
Site 5 Site 6
Site 7 Site 8
20
Site 9 Site 10 As shown in Figure 11, α decreases as the plasticity index
increases, with α being defined by
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
(qt – u2): kPa 11: α ¼ 22ðIP Þ0
48
(b)

Figure 10. Correlation between the preconsolidation stress (σvm ′ )
and piezocone data: (a) net cone resistance (qt − σv0); (b) cone
resistance minus the shoulder pore pressure generated during
penetration (qt − u2)
The relationship between α and IP is shown in Figure 11. The
proposed α equation shows good agreement with Brazilian
plastic clays, including the region studied with a plasticity
index up to 510%.

Figure 12 shows examples of two sites in which values of OCR

computed by Equation 10 are compared with OCR values
4.2 Correlations with vane test strength
found in the laboratory with good-quality samples. For site 1
Critical state soil mechanics (e.g. Wood, 1990), as well as the
(Figure 12(a)), the average OCR value of 1·5 along the depth
Shansep method (Ladd et al., 1977), show that normalised
was found by means of the vane test. Laboratory results
undrained shear strength (su/σv0′ ) increases with the increase
suggest OCR values around 1·0. For site 2 (Figure 12(b)), the
in OCR.
OCR values found in the vane test were close to the OCR
    values found in the oedometer tests down to a depth of around
su su
8: ¼ ðOCRÞm 3 m. Below this layer, the results indicate that the soil is under-
σ 0v0 oc σ 0v0 nc going consolidation, which contradicts laboratory results. In
all deposits studied, the OCR values estimated from the vane
′ is the initial effec-
where su is the undrained shear strength; σv0 tests and CPTU tests present reasonable agreement with the
tive vertical stresses; oc and nc indicate the overconsolidated OCR values found in oedometer tests.
and normally consolidated states, respectively; and m is the
critical state parameter obtained in laboratory tests. The main application of the vane test is the determination of
the soil undrained strength. Therefore, correlations to obtain
′ )nc and m for a given clay, and
Knowing the values of (su/σv0 OCR value based on su and IP may be justified for the prelimi-
′ )oc in situ with the vane
having determined the values of (su/σv0 nary design stage and with caution, since the results may

9
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 Geotechnical Engineering Compressibility and stress history of very
soft organic clays
Baroni and Almeida

14
α = 20
Mayne and Mitchell (1988)
12 Brazilian soft clay
Present study
10 α = 22 Ip–0·48

8
α
6

4 Present study
No = 36
2

0
1 10 100 1000
Plasticity index, IP: %

Figure 11. Relation between α and IP (adapted from Mayne and Mitchell (1988) and Schnaid and Odebrecht (2012))

OCR OCR
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
0 0
1
2 1
3
4 2
5
6 OCR_oedometer test 3
7 OCR_vane test 1 OCR_oedometer test
8 OCR_vane test 1
Depth: m

OCR_vane test 2 4
9 OCR_vane test 3 OCR_vane test 2
10 5 OCR_vane test 3
OCR_CPTU
11 OCR_CPTU 01
OCR = 1
OCR = 1
12 6
13
14 7
15
16 8
17
18 9
(a) (b)

Figure 12. OCR estimate, oedometer test, vane test and CPTU test for: (a) site 1; (b) site 2

present great variability. In any case these correlations are also
useful to assess oedometer test data considering the challenges
in obtaining good-quality specimens.
5. Conclusions
This work has presented index and compressibility parameters
of organic soft clays of the Jacarepaguá Lowlands, located
west of the city of Rio de Janeiro. Emphasis was given to the
correlations of the compression index with soil water content,
liquid limit and void ratio. Soil stress history was estimated
through correlations with CPTU tests and vane tests. The fol-
lowing conclusions result from this study on high-plasticity
organic clays
& The deposits studied are generally lightly overconsolidated
clays with water content values higher than the liquid limit.

10
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 Geotechnical Engineering
The compression index usually ranges from 1·0 to 3·5,
with a typical organic matter content of 10%.
& The correlation (R 2 = 0·92) between the plasticity
index (IP) and the liquid limit (wL) is very similar to the
Casagrande equation for ‘line A’. The plasticity index
varies from 40 to 510%, and the liquid limit from
30 to 610%.
& Even with the water content values ranging from 60 to
700%, the value of R 2 = 0·70 was found through the
equation that correlates the compression index with the
water content.
& The correlation between the compression index and the
initial void ratio presented the best coefficient of
determination, R 2 = 0·81.
& The correlation between the compression index and the
liquid limit (R 2 = 0·78) presented the greatest discrepancy
among the correlations proposed in the literature. Most of
the proposed correlations, not for high-plasticity organic
clays, presented values of Cc lower than those
representative of the local subsoil.
& The correlations established between the preconsolidation
stress and the net cone resistance (qt − σv0) as well as with
the cone resistance minus pore pressure (qt − u2) resulted in
K1 = 0·125 (R 2 = 0·85) and K2 = 0·154 (R 2 = 0·82), both
recommended for the estimation of preconsolidation
′ ).
stress (σvm
& Even for the extremely high values of IP, the α–IP OCR
equation proposed by Mayne and Mitchell (1988)
proved consistent and applicable in preliminary design
stages. The OCR values found by the vane tests and
CPTU tests presented results similar to those found by
oedometer tests.
Acknowledgements
The authors are indebted to COPPE-UFRJ technical staff for
performing the tests and providing most data bank information
developed here, and also to all researchers and individuals that
have furnished information for the database. Financial support
for the present study was given by Brazilian funding agencies
CNPq, FAPERJ and MCT/INCT-REAGEO.
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