ABSTRACT
Starting in the late 1980s, numerous geotechnical investigations were performed in the Venice area as part of the MoSE project. These investigations were aimed at drawing relevant soil profiles along with cross sections of the three lagoon inlets and assessing significant geotechnical properties.
To study and characterize Venetian soils more carefully, it was decided to concentrate research efforts on selected test sites.
At the first test site, known as the Malamocco test site located at the central lagoon inlet, investigations were performed on contiguous verticals within a limited area. One of the main goals of the Malamocco test site was to evaluate the applicability of piezocone and dilatometer interpretation on the basis of comparison with the results of the laboratory tests, to characterize the soil profile and the main geotechnical properties in detail.
A second test site was then selected, i.e., the Treporti test site, located at the northern lagoon inlet. Here the goal was to measure directly through an in situ load test the stress–strain–time properties of the heterogeneous Venetian soils. A huge circular embankment was constructed, and the relevant ground displacements together with the pore pressure evolution were measured, both during and after construction.
