Comparative study on the behavior of soil fills on rigid acrylic and flexible geotextile containers

Comparative study has been performed to investigate the behavior of dredged fills on rigid (Model 1) and flexible (Model 2) containers. The study was focused on the sedimentation of soil fills and the development of total stresses. Model 1 is made of an acrylic cylinder and Model two is a scale-size geotextile tube. Results indicate that for rigid containers, significant decrease of the sediment height is apparent during the dewatering process. On the other hand, because the geotextile is permeable, the water is gradually dissipated during the filling process on flexible containers. Hence, significant loss in the tube height is not apparent during the duration of the test. Pressure spikes are apparent on rigid containers during the filling process which can be attributed to the confining effect due to hydrostatic pressure. For the flexible containers, the pressure readings gradually increases with time during the filling process and normalize at the end on the filling stage. No pressure spikes were apparent due to the gradual dissipation of pore water pressure.