الفهرس 
Literature ReviewOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The concept of value engineering has been recently applied with civil projects through finding out a lower cost alternative for a specific engineering problem, where the project performance function is preserved and both construction accessibility and structure safety are exerted. The efficient application of value engineering requires profound understanding of the encountered engineering problem and keen knowledge of different technical alternatives, construction techniques and associated costs.
The soft clay is widely spread in some region in Egypt especially along the east north part on the Mediterranean Sea coast (e.g. Damietta, Portsaid and east Suez Canal) where a lot of mega projects are planned and some of them are already under construction. Constructions on soft and very soft clay deposits are usually addressed with problems of very low soil bearing capacity and large amount of long-term settlements. Piles foundations and soil improvement with or without preloading are two common alternatives that can be examined to provide serviceable and safe foundations on soft clay.
The economic and adequate implementation of these two different alternatives, for a specific project, is assessed in this paper through applying the value engineering approach. A real case study is implicated that represents a project of construction of a gas treatment plant near Al-Manzala Lake at the northern east of Egypt. Available in-situ and laboratory soil data, field measurements throughout trial sections, design outcomes and results of cost analyses are exploited in evaluating the two alternatives (deep foundation and wick drains with preloading). The results of the conducted analyses and comparisons will be elaborated and discussed in details.