ABSTRACT
As a result, the soil mass moved towards the excavated space involving large slides on both sides accompanied by the subsidence in the surrounding area. The site is underlaid by thick deposits of soft marine clay to a depth of about 35m. Following the incident, detailed studies have been made including borings, sounding, sampling, lab. testing and numerical analyses simulating conditions at the time of the failure. The outcomeof the studieswas reported byTan (2006), Yong (2006) and Yong and Lee (2007). Although the probable causes of the incident were pointed out, the present paper will focus on one of the likely causes which is associated with poor understanding of soil conditions in the extremely soft soil area in Singapore.
2.2 Collapse of the strut-supported excavation
