In the last few centuries, rapid industrialization and population increase resulted in massive demand increase for new buildings. Then, it became necessary to make more constructions on previously uninhabited lands some of which included weak soils. My hometown (Eskişehir, Turkey) is an example of that.
On the other hand, as soil mechanics emerged as a new science in the 20th century, the importance of soil conditions on structural serviceability and integrity has been realized better.
The combination of these two factors has led to the development of ground improvement techniques. Today, thanks to ground improvement techniques, geotechnical engineers are more confident that the buildings on originally weak soils are safe.
One of these methods is deep soil mixing, which is applicable for a wide range of soils. Also, it is being applied in more and more residential buildings in my hometown as a precaution against a possible earthquake, which may trigger soil liquefaction.
You can visit the following links for more information on deep-soil mixing. The first video shows an example application in Portland, Oregon.
The second video explains what deep soil mixing is and how it is useful in terms of improving the soil as needed.
