Sajjad Sepehr - Mogaddase Ardabili University, Ardabil, Iran
Sajjad Mirsalehi - Eastern Mediteranean University, Famagusta, N. Cyprus

The target of present paper was to determine the influence of stone columns in alluvial deposits of Tuzlaarea. The settlements versus time and depth, excess pore water pressure dissipation and consolidationtime were studied by finite element analysis using Plaxis software. An undrained analysis was carried outfor alluvial soils, and a drained analysis for stones and the compacted embankment soil using Mohr-Coulomb’s criterion. The results of this study indicate that, stone column has a remarkable influence ondecreasing settlements and accelerate the consolidation time. Also, the stone column model designated by15 m height has significantly reduced settlement and consolidation time

Alluvial soil, embankment fill, Plaxis, stone column