Geotechnical Engineering Commons^™

Behavior Of The Underpinning Of A Building In Venice, F. Colleselli, G. Cortellazzo

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

This paper examines the behavior of a building constructed in 1960 and subject ever since the end of its construction to considerable total and differential settlements in time. Monitoring of the building revealed an increase in the settlement rate during the first years of the 1990s, such as to require underpinning with micropiles in 1992. In the first part of the paper, the evolution of settlements until the beginning of the restoration is analyzed, and real and anticipated behaviors are compared. In the second part, the behavior of the building during and after micropile underpinning is explained. Back-analysis was carried …

Calculated And Observed Settlements Of Multistory Building Founded On Loess, Sasha D. Milovic, Zuhtu S. Ozden, George S. W. Chow

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

ln the Paper are presented the results of laboratory and field tests which were carried out on loess soil in Belgrade In order to determine the type of the foundation for the 13-storey building a preliminary investigation was made. In this phase of investigation exploratory borings and sampling were performed in a standard way. On the basis of the available laboratory and field test results it was concluded that the soil was made of macro porous land loess 14-20 m in thickness. lt was found that the loess on this location had the dry density varying between the limits γd …

Case History Of Two Building Experience Large Post Construction Settlements - Wilmington, Delaware, R. David Charles

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

This paper discusses a case history involving two buildings which were constructed over compressible soils at a site along the Christina River in Wilmington, Delaware. The buildings, which were constructed in 1987, have undergone significant settlement of both shallow and deep foundation elements. As of early 1995, some of the pile foundations for one of the buildings were observed to have settled as much as 8 inches, while portions of the floor slab were observed to have settled as much as 9-112 inches since the completion of construction. As a result of these large settlements, the owner retained the author's …

Design, Construction And Behavior Of Bored Cast In-Situ Concrete Piles In Bangkok Sub Soil, Narong Thasnanipan, Wanchai Teparaksa, Aung Win Maung, Ganeshan Baskaran

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

This paper briefs design considerations, construction methods and materials, static load test results and pile integrity test results of the cast in-situ bored piles constructed as foundation elements for a wastewater treatment plant. The treatment plant is located in Bangkok, capital of the Kingdom of Thailand and is to serve about 195,000 inhabitants of the city. A total of 402 piles, 296 nos. of 1500 mm diameter and 96 nos. of 1000 mm diameter, were designed to carry the whole structural load of the treatment plant. Maximum working load on individual piles was designed to be 1000 tons and 500 …

Foundations Performance Of Large Diameter Tanks, J. L. M. Clemente, A. Desai, H. Senapathy, L. W. Young Jr.

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

The paper presents a detailed case history of foundation performance of six 60-m diameter, 15-m high, floating roof fuel oil tanks and six 96.8-m diameter, 20-m high, fixed roof process water tanks built for a large power plant. Tank walls were supported by concrete ringwall footings. General subsurface conditions at the site are discussed, along with proposed site grading and the rationale for tank foundation selection. Because vibro-replacement improvement of site soils had been used beneath settlement-sensitive structures, there was skepticism regarding the decision to support the tanks on unimproved soils. To allay doubts about the adequacy of tank foundation …

Ground Modifications By A Combination Of Dynamic Compaction, Consolidation, And Replacement, Jie Han

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

Modification of weak soils can be accomplished by dropping a heavy weight onto a ground surface. The mechanisms for improving the ground by this technology can be described as dynamic compaction, dynamic consolidation, or dynamic replacement. The importance of each mechanism at one site is dependent on soil conditions, impact energy, weight dimensions, etc. A case study presented herein demonstrates how each mechanism affects the treatment effectiveness of this technology. The selected site has a mix of cohesive and cohesionless soil layers. A pilot study was conducted before the construction program for the whole site. Evaluation of the treated ground …

Load Tests On Drilled Shafts For Highway Bridges, Raghu N. Dass, Vijay K. Puri

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

Most of the highway bridges arc supported on deep foundations. Safe and economical design and construction of deep foundations requires the use of rational procedures to determine the load capacity of the foundation. A static load test may be conducted to measure the response of a pile under applied load. Conventional static tests include axial compressive, axial tensile and lateral load testing. The purpose and advantages of load testing are explained in the light of large-scale construction of deep foundations for highways for the new millennia. This paper presents a case history of load tests on high capacity drilled shafts. …

Osterberg Load Cell Testing Of A Deep Reinforced Concrete Pile, Martin B. Hudson, Marshall Lew, Brian D. Skyers

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

A pedestrian bridge was constructed between two portions of a hospital in Southern California. Potentially liquefiable soils were present to a depth of about 72 feet below the ground surface. Because of the liquefiable soils, the bridge was to be supported on 30- inch-diameter cast-in-place piles drilled to a depth of approximately 90 feet below the ground surface. A test pile was constructed to confirm the soil capacities for the bridge. An Osterberg Load cell (O-cell) was placed near the middle of the test pile, and the downward load capacities of the deeper soils (below the elevation of potentially liquefiable …

Performance Of Bored Cast-In-Situ R.C.C. Piles In Bangladesh, Md. Nurul Amin, Sabina Shanaz

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

The major part of Bangladesh is formed of young fluvio-deltaic sedimentary deposits, laid down by the mighty rivers Ganges and Brahmaputra. There are some older deposits in the hilly regions and Pleistocene terraces. The young fluvio-dcltaic deposits are composed of unconsolidated sediments, where the upper strata are very soft. The water table remains near to the surface throughout the year. As such construction of deep foundations has become essential for tall buildings, bridges and hydraulic structures. Bored Cast-in-Situ reinforced concrete pile is widely adopted as deep foundations. It is cost effective, time saving and the equipment and technology are readily …

Soil Improvement For Storage Tank Foundations, P. C. Sudarshan, Y. C. Chen, J. Lin, C. F. Chen

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

Three 30,000m³ storage tanks are located at a hydraulic-filled reclamation site and close to an earthquake active area in Taiwan. In order to reduce the risk of liquefaction in loose silty sand of foundations, the soil improvement methods of both dynamic compaction and vibro-replacement stone column are applied. One storage tank foundation was improved using vibro-replacement stone column approach only, and the treatment pattern consisted of stone columns on a triangular grid arrangement with three spacing patterns. A combination of the dynamic compaction and vibro-replacemenr stone column technique was utilized on foundations of the others. The dynamic compaction was …

Arresting The Moving Slopes Of Andamans − A Case Study 2.51l, Shri Pal

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

Some cases of soil erosion, slope instability, mass movement of soil and damage to structures were observed in Navy and Coast Guard Area of Port Blair. Field and laboratory tests in the area were carried out which revealed that the area is unstable and prone to landslides. Main causes of instability are soil characteristics and poor subsoil drainage conditions. Some preventive measures, in the past were taken which have achieved limited success. Additional solutions based on latest technology and construction materials are suggested which shall be economical and eco-friendly.

The Behaviour Of Two Trial Embankments At Perlis, Malaysia With Different Rates Of Construction, A. N. Hussein, A. Mcgown

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

Two trial embankments namely the North and South trial embankments were constructed in the state of Perlis, Peninsular Malaysia. The embankments have a finished height of 4m and dimensions of 60m in width and 90m in length and wen; constructed side by side. The trial embankments were staged constructed with a counterberm at 2m and side slopes of 2:3. The South trial embankment was rapidly constructed in 36 days while the North embankment was slowly constructed in about one year. Detailed site investigation works included borehole logging, field and laboratory testing. These were carried out to obtain the subsoil profile …

Case Study On Landslide Investigations In Himalayas, D. V. Singh, Jai Bhagwan

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

The great Himalayan mountains are a majestic cluster of several, more or less parallel, hill ranges intervened by numerous vallies and extended plateaus. At the two ends of Himalayan ranges, other mountain ranges converge. Burmese ranges are in the Eastern and Karakoram-Hidkush mountain ranges in the North-Wester end. The individual hill ranges generally present a steep slope towards the plains of India and are more gently inclined towards the north. There are large variations in the geological features of different areas, however, the common phenomena in the landslides occurrence is that they are generally induced by rainfall. In this paper …

Effect Of Smear Due To Vertical Drains On The Behaviour Of Two Embankments Constructed On Soft Clays, B. Indraratna, I. W. Redana

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

This paper describes the methodology to include the effect of smear in the prediction of settlements beneath two embankments stabilized with vertical drains. The extent of smearing around the drains was studied using a detailed analytical formulation developed by the authors and used in conjunction with the finite clement code, CRISP. The smear zone propagation around vertical drains was studied in the laboratory using a large radial drainage consolidometer. The case histories selected in this study include (a) embankment stabilized with vertical sand drains at a Naval Dockyard, Thailand, and (b) embankment stabilized with vertical band drains in soft Muar …

The Performance Of Turlough Hill Upper Reservoir, Michael Long, John Godden

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

The upper reservoir of the Turlough Hill pumped storage station was commissioned by the Irish Electricity Supply Board in 1974. This upper reservoir comprises a rockfill embankment within which there is a useful capacity of 2.3 million cubic metres. It was constructed in difficult conditions on a very isolated and exposed site at the top of a mountain, using rockfill derived from the local granitic bedrock. The reservoir is lined with asphaltic concrete.

The paper describes briefly the design and construction of the embankment. It then summarises the results of monitoring and inspecting, with particular emphasis on movement, seepage and …

Pile Design Procedure For Stabilizing Channel Slopes, Richard L. Bateman, Francke C. Walberg

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

A case history is presented for slope stabilization of channels using piles. The Kansas City District, Corps of Engineers has used various pile designs and types of piles for projects along the Blue River Channel in Kansas City Missouri to stabilize sections of unstable channel slopes in previous slide areas, since June of 1986. Low existing soil shear strengths and limited rights-of-way precluded use of more conventional stabilizing methods. Although a pile analysis method had been used for initial projects, with several piles instrumented with slope indicator devices, an improved analysis method was needed. In July of 1994, through a …

Remediation Of River Des Peres Slope Failure − A Case History, Khaldoun Fahoum, Philip A. Jozwiak

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

This paper describes the remediation of a 300-foot long slope failure on the north bank of River Des Peres along Ellendale Avenue near the intersection with Wellington Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri. The slope failure threatened the cast bound driving lane of Ellendale Avenue and a 24-inch high pressure gas line under a concrete swale along the south shoulder, and damaged the concrete channel side and bottom lining and a foulwater interceptor sewer in the River Des Peres channel. The failure occurred within a soil stratum that consists of soft to very soft, gray silt, clayey silt, silty clay and …

Seismic Evaluation, Soil-Cement Mix Wall And Outlet Pipe Installation, Ivins Bench Dam, Utah, Russell L. Owens

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

An inspection of Ivins Bench dam and reservoir was performed following a 5.8 magnitude (M_w) earthquake in southern Utah. Sand was observed flowing from the drainage collection system and the Utah Division of Dam Safety requested that the reservoir be drained and the embankment repaired. Dames & Moore evaluated the liquefaction potential of the embankment and concluded that the embankment was not suitable for maximum storage. A repair concept using a soil-cement mix wall was developed and a dynamic stability analysis was performed using the computer program PLAC. The dynamic analysis indicated that the soil-cement wall would improve …

A Slope Instability Case History Involving Swelling Clay In Southern Brazil, L. A. Bressani, A. V. D. Bica, W. Y. Y. Gehling, M. R. Bianchini

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

This paper describes a slope instability case history involving swelling clay. A 9-m high slope was cut in 3 sedimentary layers during the construction of a single-carriage road. A complex slope failure mechanism was identified during site investigation, consisting of: (a) a progressive surficial degradation, particularly of the lower swelling clay layer. (b) a deep-seated slope failure, and (c) the toppling failure of the upper stronger layers. Site investigation included SPT testing, undisturbed sampling and in situ suction measurement. Laboratory testing consisted of: (a) soil characterization by X-ray diffraction analysis, particle-size analysis and Atterberg limits tests; (b) evaluation of effective …

A Study On Prediction Of Improvement Of Watertightness Of Rock Mass By Grouting, Isao Nagayama, Yosuke Niitaka, Michio Ota, Masahiko Yamashita

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

Grouting is a principal technique to improve watertightness of the foundation of dams. But it is not easy to predict the amount of grouting work until attaining the required improvement of watertightness of rock mass, since the improvement mechanism of watertightness by grouting is not understood comprehensively. Therefore, the grouting work is conducted with the split spacing method until attaining the required improvement. In this paper, the method to predict the effects of grouting is discussed analyzing grouting data obtained from the Hattabara Dam construction site. As the result or the analysis, it is understood that the logarithm of the …

The Tale Of Two Slides, W. Ken Beck

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

Why do some residential structures slide downhill? This paper illustrates how a residential developer and home builder did not appreciate the geotechnical aspects of developing on a steep hillside, even when the site is within about ¼ mile of a known slide, and previous problems occurred at the site. Due to this indifference, the house in this study was constructed over an apparent previous slide, and destroyed by renewed slope movement. Our study was performed on behalf of the city who maintains both sanitary and storm sewers adjacent to the house. The purpose of our investigation was to determine the …

Use Of Geofabrics For Controlling Landslides − Case Histories, Dipak Mukherjee, Satish Kumar

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

Four case histories on erosion and rock fall control by the use of natural and synthetic geogrids are described. Each of the affected area was analysed and treated adopting different techniques of installation of geofabrics mantle as control measures which resulted in significant improvement of slope stability. Treatment also helped in maintaining ecological balance of the hills.

Case History On The Foundation And Site Liquefaction Potential Evaluation For The Renovation Of A One-Hundred Year Old Building, Vassilios K. Magginas

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

This case history involves the foundation and site liquefaction potential evaluation for the renovation of a one-hundred-year old building. The subject project is a four story structure with one basement, built of thick masonry walls and supported on shallow foundations. The project site is located in a seismic zone 3 per UBC. The subsurface geology consists of alluvial inter-bedded layers of silt, sand, and clay. Substantial additional loads were considered during the proposed renovation, and thus an extensive study on the foundation and geotechnical aspects of the project were required, including site geology, evaluation of bearing capacity and settlement, evaluation …

Investigation Of Ground Cracking At The Van Gogh Street School, Granada Hills, California, Gerald Kasman, Marshall Lew, Paul Elliott

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

The Van Gogh Street School, located in the northern portion of the San Fernando Valley in the City of Los Angeles, suffered damage from the January 17, 1994 Northridge earthquake having a moment magnitude of 6.7. The school experienced significant cracking in some of the building walls and asphalt paving. The school, located approximately 7 miles from the epicenter, was within a zone of surface cracking coincident with the east-northeast to northeast trending Mission Hills syncline. There was speculation that either fault rupture, liquefaction and/or seismic settlement may have occurred at the school site.

A geotechnical investigation was performed to …

Morphoseismic Features In The New Madrid Seismic Zone (Central Usa) And Their Implications For Geotechnical Engineering, Ray Knox, David Stewart

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

Morphoseismic features arc new landforms produced by earthquakes or pre-existing landforms modified by them. The New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) contains thousands of earthquake-related surface features distributed over 13,000 square kilometers. They are attributable to some combination of (1) seismically-induced liquefaction, (2) secondary deformation, and (3) seismically-induced slope failures. Most were produced by the series of great earthquakes that occurred in 1811-12, but some predate and some postdate those events. They are being modified by ongoing activities such a fluvial processes, mass wasting, eolian processes, hydrologically-induced liquefaction (HIL), mechanically-induced liquefaction (MJL), and human activities.

Dynamic responses to ground motion include …

Test Track Low Frequency Vibrations Reducing Measure Near Oosthuizen, Herke G. Stuit

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

At the railway line north of Amsterdam the substructure of the track has been reconstructed to reduce vibrations at lower frequencies. Such a measure is sought for in the western Holland area where people are annoyed by railway traffic vibrations. Over a length of 300 m a 0.45 m thick concrete slab has been installed directly under the ballast layer. The thickness of the concrete plate has been determined by numerical calculations. To be able to compare the effect of the concrete slap a existing track with heavy passenger train traffic a representative weak soil profile has been chosen for …

Vibration Mitigation For Brewery Stockhouse Demolition, William J. Prosser, Thomas J. Mottin, George M. S. Manyando, Gary M. Andruska

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

Nineteen thirty's vintage reinforced concrete brewery stockhouses, collectively known as Borsari Cellars, were demolished to make space for the construction of a new stockhouse. (A brewery stockhouse is a refrigerated building containing beer storage or aging tanks.) The stockhouses to be demolished shared three common walls with two other stockhouses which were to remain intact during the demolition. It was necessary that the three shared walls remain attached to the remaining stockhouses and that the demolition take place without causing vibration damage to glass-lined tanks in the remaining stockhouse, adjacent stockhouscs, and to several underground tunnels present below the demolition …

An Anchored Band Bracing System For Deep Excavations In Clay, Linbing Wang

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

An anchored band bracing system was introduced for the bracing of a deep excavation in hard clay with low-level expansion. In this system, stress redistribution was considered to further deduce the thickness of the surfacing shotcrete, global stability was ensured by prestressed anchors and a concrete band for the distribution of the prestress. The bracing system was shown to be cost effective and reliable under certain conditions, it is the first project using prestressed anchors combined with shotcrete for deep excavation bracing in hard clay with low level expansion in P.R. China. In this paper, the design procedure and criteria …

Excavation Behaviour Of Soft Marine Clay Deposit In South Korea, Young-Nam Lee, Seung-Won Lee

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

In this paper, it is demonstrated that the shear strength of soil around jet grouting pile may be increased with the elapsed curing time of grouting cement. Because soil around pile initially experiences the disturbance due to the jet grouting work process, the soil gains the strength as grouting cement is cured and the soil is stabilized. In addition, excavation behaviour of marine clay at sheet pile wall and strut excavation site is analyzed using measured data from inclinometers, load cells, and strain gauges. The time to install supporting system and not only depth to but also area of excavation …

Failure Of Excavation Bracing System For New World Plaza At Changchun In China, M. S. Wang, X. Wu, M. C. Wang

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

This paper presents a case history on the failure of an excavation bracing system. The engineering projects involved the construction of the New World Plaza in Changchun, China. The plaza building had a 3-story deep basement which supported an 8-story building together with a 42-story main tower. The excavation area was surrounded by streets on three sides and an on-going 8-m deep excavation along the fourth side. The excavation varied from 15 m to 16 m in depth and was braced with 157 anchored cast-in-place reinforced concrete piles. The bracing system failed as soon as the design depth was reached. …