FE analyses of horizontal deformations due to excavation processes in Gothenburg clay

As part of the reconstruction and expansion of the railway between Gothenburg and Trollhättan, a new highway had to pass under the railway in a grade-separated intersection. The unloading caused by the excavations resulted in horizontal movements in the soil, in the direction of the excavated corridor. In this paper, field measurements documented throughout the project as well as results from laboratory and field investigations, were used along with four soil models, in a series of numerical analyses using the software Plaxis 2D. The aim was to find which soil model, and method of deriving input parameters, was best in capturing the horizontal deformations observed in the slopes of the excavations at the site, and also the impact which the inclusion of anisotropy and small-strain behaviour had on the analyses