Applications of the Dry Soil Mixing (DSM) Method

The dry soil mixing method—applied both on land and in marine environments—can be performed as deep mixing or mass mixing for various purposes.

Primary applications include:

  • Settlement reduction

  • Stability improvement

  • Ground vibration mitigation

  • Foundation construction for structures and houses

  • Mass mixing of organic soils and dredged sediments

  • Strengthening and stabilizing contaminated soils

Secondary applications include:

  • Increasing passive earth pressure in sheet pile walls in soft clay

  • Reducing active earth pressure on retaining and sheet pile walls in soft clay

  • Liquefaction prevention in seismic areas

  • Creating cut-off barriers against groundwater flow

Combination with Other Ground Improvement Techniques

DSM columns and mass mixing are often combined with other soil improvement methods to achieve more cost-effective and technically efficient designs:

  • DSM columns + lightweight granular embankments or EPS blocks: Common for transit bridge embankments and pile-supported structures.

  • DSM columns + wick drains: Used especially in deep clay deposits, where DSM improves stability while wick drains reduce deep settlement.

  • DSM columns + vibro-replacement: DSM increases shear and confining strength of the soil, enhancing the bearing capacity of vibro-replacement columns.

Column spacing, improvement ratio, layout, diameter, and length must all be tailored to project-specific requirements.