Abstract:
It is well known that the Deep Mixing Method (DMM) has been widely used in North America in many applications since 1986. During that period, there have been many extremely positive developments in design and construction which have contributed greatly to the efficiency, quality, and competitiveness of the technique. Despite the availability of numerous guideline documents, the authors – who collectively and individually, typically serve in high level review capacities for individual projects – still find that approaches to QC, QA and Verification are not as well aligned as in other aspects of Deep Mixing (DM) such as design principles and construction techniques. In this paper, they present some fundamental observations and recommendations as a contribution towards the development of consistent and relevant practices. In particular, the advantages and disadvantages of testing laboratory samples as opposed to testing the in-situ properties of the DM structure are discussed, as are the advantages and challenges of verification drilling and sampling. This paper is presented at a time when the DMM is becoming progressively more popular and accessible to a new generation of designers and contractors who may be tempted to “ reinvent the wheel” from a lack of awareness of the previous decades of old arguments and hard-earned lessons. Keywords: Deep Mixing, QC/QA, Verification, Specifications