ABSTRACT
An overview of the development of ground improvement by deep vibratory compaction started in Germany between the two world wars. The worldwide economic crisis from 1929 to 1931 had a severe impact on the German construction industry. The compaction of sand at large depths was required for the construction of the new Congress Hall at Nuremberg. The designers of this gigantic project had high demands for the durability of its foundations in the light of the aggressive groundwater, and this could not be fulfilled by conventional methods. Of much greater importance in the development of the vibro compaction method were observations made in 1942 in connection with the foundation of an I.G. Farben facility at Rolingheten in Norway. The new findings gathered on-sites formed the basis of considerations to redesign the original vibrator which was used unaltered for more than 20 years in sand compaction and to make it suitable for the treatment of cohesive soils.
