Settlement of dredged and contaminated material placement areas. I: Theory and use of Primary Consolidation, Secondary Compression, and Desiccation of Dredged Fill

A 1D nonlinear numerical model, Primary Consolidation, Secondary Compression, and Desiccation of Dredged Fill (PSDDF), is presented to predict the settlement of fine-grained dredged material and/or underlying compressible foundation materials that may be over-, under-, or normally consolidated. The three most important natural processes affecting the long-term settlement and thus service life of dredged material placement areas are primary consolidation, secondary compression, and desiccation. Nonlinear finite-strain consolidation theory is used to predict the settlement due to self-weight and surcharge-induced consolidation. The C_α/C_c concept is used to predict the settlement from secondary compression, and an empirical desiccation model is used to describe the settlement from removal of water from confined dredged material by surface drying. This paper describes the modifications and improvements of PSDDF that present new functions and enhanced numerical efficiency. A companion paper describes the input parameters of PSDDF.