Effect of surcharge loading rate on the performance of surcharge–vacuum preloading with prefabricated horizontal drains

To understand the impact of the surcharge loading rate (SLR) on the prefabricated horizontal drain (PHD)-vacuum preloading reinforcement dredged fills, four sets of indoor model comparison tests were carried out to analyze and compare the soil surface settlement, lateral displacement, displacement, pore water pressure, vane shear strength, and water content. The degree of consolidation and bearing capacity calculations show that the surcharge loading–PHD-vacuum preloading scheme can effectively improve the soil reinforcement effect, effectively restrain the lateral displacement of the soil during the consolidation process, and improve its stability. The greater the SLR, the better the reinforcement effect and the smaller the lateral displacement; however, this increase is not significant. The optimal SLR found in this study is 4 kPa/d.