Consolidation and settlement of peat under loading

Peat is a rather complex material containing fibrous organic matter as major constituent. The major involvement of peat in engineering work is in its use as a foundation. In this role, the high compressibility of peat stands out as a most significant engineering property. There is the major deviation from the usual assumption in the conventional consolidation theory, that is, the compressibility of fibrous organic matter, which forms the fibrous framework of peat. In this paper, some issues related to consolidation of pear, covering a wide range of application are discussed. Generic issues discussed are associated with the application of conventional consolidation theory, the distinctions of primary consolidation, the secondary compression, the preloading technique and the proposition of a phase chance consolidation model.