Environmental systems optimization

This book is described as a Symposium in Print. It contains five papers on vertical drains which were printed initially in the March 198 1 issue of Geotechnique. In May 1981, a half-day meeting was jointly organized by the British Geotechnical Society and the Institution of Civil Engineers to discuss vertical drains using the papers as a basis. The Institution subsequently published the five papers, together with their discussions in this book entitled Vertical clrains. Of the 160 pages, 90 are devoted to the papers and 70 to the discussions. With the development of new types of prefabricated drains and installation equipment and the economies associated with them, there has been renewed interest in the use of vertical drains to improve soil conditions. The various papers deal with the many aspects of the subject, from the types of field and laboratory investigations required to the practical aspects of drain installation, design methods, and costs. A number of case histories are also presented, including some describing unsuccessful examples. In the discussion section, some of the authors provided additional performance data that was not available at the time of preparing the original papers. The discussions deal with all aspects of the subject and provide a valuable addition. For anyone interested in the application, design, and installation of vertical drains, this book provides an excellent state-of-the-art coverage of the subject and should be considered as "must" reading for the practising foundation specialist.