Partial drainage effects in the interpretation of piezocone tests in Venetian silty soils

The paper presents the results of a field study based on a consistent set of piezocone tests performed within a more ambitious research programme carried out at the Treporti Test Site (Venice, Italy), with the aim of better understanding the behaviour of the heterogeneous and highly stratified silty sediments forming the shallowest layers of the Venetian lagoon basin.Such programme included the construction of a full scale vertical-walled cylindrical test bank together with a comprehensive monitoring system for surface settlements, water pressures, subsoil strains and stresses beneath the loaded area. The paper refers in particular to the last in-situ testing campaign, carried out after the complete removal of the test bank and provides a preliminary attempt to recognize partial drainage conditions during cone penetration in Venetian soils according to recent interpretation procedures proposed in the literature.