Abstract: The soil replacement by blasting method is often used for the improvement of thick, soft soils, such as, roadway subgrade over tidal zone and nearshore embankments, that conventional soil improvement methods are difficult to apply. This method has the advantage of high efficiency and low construction cost. Based on the literature review, the mechanism, construction sequence and result monitoring aspects of the soft soil replacement with stone by blasting are discussed in the paper. From the mechanism point of view the “cavity theory” and the “sudden drop of undrained shear strength theory” are the widely accepted by the practitioners, but both theories could not completely explain the on-site performance of the blasting replacement, specially, the blasting replacement in the excessively thick soft soil layers (more than 60 meters thick). In the past 40 years, the construction technology of this method has been improved significantly, and the thickness of the treated soft soils has increased from the initial 12 meters to the current more than 40 meters. The testing of the soil replacement by blasting is mainly a combination of several testing methods. This paper briefly introduces the principle and advantages and disadvantages of each method. The application of soil replacement by blasting exists areas to be improved, such as, uncertain improvement mechanism, uneven treatment depths and the unclear effect on the adjacent.

Key words: Soil Replacement by Blasting, Mechanism, Construction Control, Construction Monitoring Methods, Environmental Impact