Abstract: In recent years, more and more storage tank farms are constructed in the coastal reclamation area with usually soft soil strata. As a result, the soil improvement for the proposed construction becomes more and more imperative. This paper presents a case history of soil improvement for a storage tank farm of a petroleum factory pier. High energy dynamic compaction replacement with gravel column was used for the foundations of the storage tanks. The results of the soil improvement were examined by various methods at locations inside the gravel columns and soil inbetween columns. The testing methods included standard penetration tests, heavy dynamic cone penetration tests and plate loading tests. The results indicated that the gravel columns formed by the high energy dynamic compaction method could be form with a long column with higher capacity and the soils between columns were also improved. It is also concluded that the high energy dynamic compaction replacement method is a viable method for the soil improvement for the soft storage tank farm soils.

Key words: soil improvement, dynamic compaction replacement, storage tank foundations, soil testing