A series of direct shear tests were performed on cement-admixed silty clay to investigate the effect of cement content and nano-magnesia (MgO) on its shear strength properties. For each normal stress, shear strength increased with cement content. However, an obvious increment in shear strength was achieved when the cement content was adjusted from 13% to 17%. Both cohesion and friction angle of cemented soil increased with cement content, and exponential function was adopted to correlate both the factors with cement content. For cement content of 10% investigated in this study, the optimum nano-MgO content was 10‰, wherein the cohesion could reach the peak value. The microstructure of the mixture revealed that the structure of the mixture was compacted for the optimum nano-MgO content. However, micro-cracks were formed when the amount of nano-MgO exceeded its optimum content.

Evaluation of the strength of cement-treated clay with a broad range of mix ratios and curing periods was conducted using unconfined compression tests (UCTs). The influence of cement content, total water content, and curing period on the unconfined compressive strength of cemented clay are investigated. It is found that, at constant total water content, higher cement content results in higher unconfined compressive strength, while the total water content has an opposite effect. A power function can be used to correlate the unconfined compressive strength with the cement content or the total water content. For a fixed mix ratio, the unconfined compressive strength of cement-stabilized clay increases with the curing period, the effect of which can be characterized by a semi-log formula. Also, a strength-prediction model that considers both mix ratios and curing periods for cement-admixed marine clay is developed and validated; the model can capture the effect of clay type by considering the plastic index of untreated soils. It is also proved that the proposed framework for strength development is also applicable for other cement types.

In this paper, the construction of a section of Nanjing Metro Line 2, a shallow underground tunnel constructed with an underground mining method, was analysed. Due to the existence of two aquifer soil layers near the tunnel, water and sand inrush occurred during the tunnelling process. This disrupted tunnelling project was covered until the artificial ground freezing technique was used to achieve a waterless environment. After the 40-day active freezing period, the ground temperature conditions satisfied the design requirements, thereby ensuring the construction schedule. The ground freezing technique and other supplementary measurements were introduced in this study, which could be useful for other similar projects.