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Wick Drain Design

Wick drains, sometimes called prefabricated vertical drains, have gained very rapid acceptance since the late 70’s within the geotechnical design and construction industry. Many hundreds of million feet of wick have been installed in the U.S. alone and several billion feet of wick worldwide. The design of wick drains is complex in that a detailed knowledge of the subsurface conditions is necessary, as well as an understanding of the design equations for wick drain spacing and their limitations.

This article is intended to provide designers with a brief overview of the equations and discussions of the limitations of the design assumptions.

The full document can be downloaded in PDF format below.

Wick Drain Design

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