Creep of organic soils due to small load increments

Abstract

Organic soils are susceptible to creep. When predicting settlement of organic deposits due to small load increments, the initial conditions, particularly the initial strain rate should be assessed carefully. Recent developments in predicting creep behaviour of clays are tested in an ongoing study on organic soil behaviour. A series of incremental loading tests on peat and organic clay shows that a framework of undisturbed isotachs cannot be used to predict strain rates in overconsolidated conditions. This complicates the applicability of conventional incremental loading test results for assessing field conditions. Additionally, the tests show the relevance of a large strain approach when dealing with soft organic soils.