Abstract: The new dredged fill has the characteristics of high thickness, highly compressible, high water content and low permeability. The conventional sand blanket could not be placed for the drainage and as the construction access for the wick drain installation and other activities. This paper presents a case study of Reclamation and Soil Improvement of Dredged Fills of Cangnan, Zhejiang. The combination of wickdrain direct connection and vacuum preloading consolidation methods are introduced. This innovative approach is to install the wick drain and connects the wick drain directly to the vacuum pumps. A relatively hard crust at the surface could be formed due to the dewater effect. The vacuum preloading method was followed on top of the crust. The prediction results were compared with the construction monitoring results. It is concluded this method achieved satisfactory results. The advantages are: shorter construction periods, cost effective, and material savings, especially, in areas that sand supplies need to be imported.

Key words: Cangnan Reclamation Area, Shallow Layer Wick Drain Direct Connection, Vacuum PreLoading for Deep Layers, Shallow Crust Laye