STABILITY OF STAGE-CONSTRUCTED EMBANKMENTS ON SOFT CLAYS.

The stage construction of seven high embankments on soft clays on the north shore of the St. Lawrence Valley has provided an excellent opportunity to check the applicability of the concepts of limit and critical states to the analysis of the behavior of clay foundations. The construction pore pressures have confimred the development of a significant consolidation in the initial period of construction. The consequences of this consolidation on the behavior of the clay, in particular in terms of available strength, and on the method of stability analysis have been found entirely consistent with the general model proposed by S. Leroueil and others. Refs.