Abstract：The soft foundations of expressway must be strengthened to keep the settlement within the permitting value especially for the high road embankment. There are many engineering methods to strengthen soft foundations，and the expense，result，and construction period are different for different methods. The vacuum-mound preloading method is one of these methods that have many advantages such as low expense，short construction period，and good effect to very soft soils. This method has been used in many kinds of engineering project to strengthen the soft foundations. At a test section at Nanjing-Jingjiang-Yancheng expressway has been used the vacuum-mound preloading method，the effect and valid depth become known through the test results. The conclusions are useful for spreading this method in the expressway construction.
2002, Vol. 21 
