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By Cemal Can Maslak, Vijaya Bhushan Rao, Vidyaranya Bandi, Karsten Beckhaus

A Large Earth Cum Rock Fill, ECRF Dam is under construction at Polavaram in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India as part of an irrigation project. The Embankment crest width of the dam is 12.5m and base width is of approximately 136.75m with a stepped sloping height of 27m on both upstream/downstream sides. Once the 1.2m Thick Plastic concrete cut-off wall is constructed below the dam along the longitudinal central axis to avoid seepage, this magnificent structure will be supported on a series of Deep Mixing Columns and Stone Columns that are evenly arranged under the footprint of ECRF Dam forming a smooth transition of gradually reducing stiffness moduli of treated ground from the center of the embankment, where the foundation stresses are high, towards the edges in order to be able to progressively limit the settlements under the dam to a specified allowable limit. As such the required post treatment stiffness in case of stone columns is 2 times of the in-situ stiffness of foundation soil, whereas it is expected to be 5 times improvement for Deep Mixing as per project specifications. Laboratory testing and Field Trials undertaken successfully to verify the design.

Sep 1, 2022

By D. G. Bishop

This paper is intended as a review and update of the use of Pressure Injected Footings as deep foundation units in North America. We will discuss various aspects of this pile and then discuss a particular project - the Mobile Alabama Convention Centre which is currently under construction. Pressure Injected Footing is a generic name used to describe a foundation unit that has been in use around the world for some 80 years. It has been used on all types of structures. It is an excellent pile in both compression and tension. It is particularly economic where a layer of granular soils can be found at relatively shallow depths. Other types of piles would penetrate these layers. Caissons are often difficult to construct in these soils because of their lack of cohesion and the often present water table. PIFs can density these shallow layers and carry relatively heavy building loads on them.

Jan 1, 1992

By Abid Adekunte

"In recent years, developers have had to deal with complexities associated with numerous cases of deep basement construction in built-up areas. Design and construction of deep excavation support systems in urbanised zones come with many technical challenges. Restricted working spaces often render the use of temporary struts as wall restraint systems unpopular, as working space needs to be maximised. Also, tie-back anchors are often inapplicable due to the existence of adjacent structures. Therefore, developing alternative restraint systems for deep basement structures in builtup areas is becoming increasingly important to the present day basement engineer.This paper is centred on the design, construction and monitoring of enabling works for deep basement structures on three sites in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Traditional tieback anchorage and propping systems were inapplicable on the sites. As alternatives, separate novel wall restraint systems were developed and adopted, to enable excavation on each of the three sites.Performances of the novel wall restraint systems, as well as the responses of adjacent structures were monitored. Numerical modelling and field monitoring results show the three alternative wall restraint systems to be safe and effective. The paper also highlights the advantages of the novel solutions over conventional methods.INTRODUCTIONRecently, deep basement structures have become popular components of urban building developments. As pointed out by Pearlman et al., 2004, this could be attributed to the inadequacy of surface parking spaces in urbanised zones, while underground parking facilities are also believed to improve both aesthetic and commercial qualities of urban structures.However, while the incorporation of basement structure into new urban development appeals to developers and architects, the engineering design and construction aspects of basement works typically come against a whole lot of complexities and challenges. As highlighted by Wong, 2002, engineering problems associated with basement construction in built-up areas are numerous, some of these include; complicated sub-soil conditions, dealing with excessive active pressures, complex temporary works, proximity of sensitive adjacent structures, high level hazards to construction workmen and surrounding community, inadequate working space, etc."

Jan 1, 2015

By Donald R. Clark

"Drilled shafts are being used as foundation support for parabolic solar troughs at the Genesis Solar Project being constructed near Blythe, California. Three types of drilled shaft foundations are required for the project. At project build-out, there will be a total of 23,008 drilled shafts installed at the site. Preliminary designs for the axial and lateral capacity of the drilled piers were based on conventional geotechnical engineering methodologies and soil-structure interaction. The drilled shafts and subsurface conditions were modeled through the use of the computer program LPILE v6.0.Conducting lateral load testing of drilled shafts was considered appropriate to confirm or modify the geotechnical parameters used in the preliminary design. The lateral load testing program was conducted to provide site-specific test data that would allow the design engineers (both geotechnical and structural) to predict the actual performance and adequacy of the proposed drilled shaft foundations and improve the efficiency and hopefully reduce project costs.The lateral load testing was conducted within two solar fields at the site. Three pairs of drilled shaft foundations were installed in each field, instrumented, and laterally loaded to determine load-deflection response. A value-engineered option, proposed by one of the drilled shaft contractors, was also load tested. The results of the load-deflection data obtained in the field was used to modify the soil modeling used in the original L-PILE analyses and adjust the production drilled shaft lengths.Based on the results of the lateral load testing, the in-situ moduli of the subsurface soils were significantly increased over that assumed in the preliminary analyses. Based on the final soil-structure interaction analyses, the preliminary drilled shaft lengths were reduced by 2 to 2-1/2 feet. This resulted in an overall reduction of 55,654 feet of drilled shaft construction on the entire project, a savings of approximately 16.5% over the preliminary"

Jan 1, 2017

By Donald R. Clark

Drilled shafts are being used as foundation support for parabolic solar troughs at the Genesis Solar Project being constructed near Blythe, California. Three types of drilled shaft foundations are required for the project. At project build-out, there will be a total of 23,008 drilled shafts installed at the site. Preliminary designs for the axial and lateral capacity of the drilled piers were based on conventional geotechnical engineering methodologies and soil-structure interaction. The drilled shafts and subsurface conditions were modeled through the use of the computer program LPILE v6.0. Conducting lateral load testing of drilled shafts was considered appropriate to confirm or modify the geotechnical parameters used in the preliminary design. The lateral load testing program was conducted to provide site-specific test data that would allow the design engineers (both geotechnical and structural) to predict the actual performance and adequacy of the proposed drilled shaft foundations and improve the efficiency and hopefully reduce project costs. The lateral load testing was conducted within two solar fields at the site. Three pairs of drilled shaft foundations were installed in each field, instrumented, and laterally loaded to determine load-deflection response. A value-engineered option, proposed by one of the drilled shaft contractors, was also load tested. The results of the load-deflection data obtained in the field was used to modify the soil modeling used in the original L-PILE analyses and adjust the production drilled shaft lengths. Based on the results of the lateral load testing, the in-situ moduli of the subsurface soils were significantly increased over that assumed in the preliminary analyses. Based on the final soil-structure interaction analyses, the preliminary drilled shaft lengths were reduced by 2 to 2-1/2 feet. This resulted in an overall reduction of 55,654 feet of drilled shaft construction on the entire project, a savings of approximately 16.5% over the preliminary design.

By K. Rainer Massarsch

"Part 1 of 2 By K. Rainer Massarsch, Geo Engineering AB, Stockholm, SwedenINTRODUCTIONConstruction activities, such as driving of piles and sheet piles, soil compaction or excavation generate noise and vibrations. In populated areas these can have a negative impact on the environment, disturb inhabitants and, under unfavorable conditions, cause damage to buildings and installations. This condition is aggravated by the growing public awareness of environmental issues and the increasing use of vibration-sensitive electronic equipment and machinery in industry. In many countries, environmental regulations are enforced more stringently and limit or even prohibit the use of impact or vibratory hammers. This development has restricted the use of cost-effective foundation methods, such as driven and vibrated piles and sheet piles.Vibration problems are gaining importance in many European countries and extensive research has been performed during the past decade, especially with respect to traffic vibrations (Massarsch, 2004). Significant progress has been made owing to the availability of high-quality field measurements and an improved theoretical understanding of how vibrations are generated and transmitted through soil layers. These findings can also be applied to vibration problems associated with construction activities. However, this information is not yet appreciated by the geotechnical profession and even less by the construction industry.This paper discusses the effects of ground vibrations on the surrounding soil and on buildings, with particular emphasis on the different mechanisms of damage that may occur. Guidance is given on the elements which should be taken into account in an assessment of risks associated with piling projects. A simplified method is proposed for assessing the risk of settlements or strength loss in soil deposits. Limiting vibration levels are presented, based on the Swedish standard, which can be used to assess the risk of damage to buildings. Aconcept to predict ground vibrations caused by pile driving and the mechanisms which control the propagation of ground vibrations, will be presented in the second part of this paper."

Jan 1, 2004

By Ryan P. Sullivan, G. Alan Klevens, Jian Huang

"BACKGROUNDLake Hamilton in Hot Springs, AR was created in 1932 when the Arkansas Power and Light Co. completed Carpenter Dam on the Ouachita River to generate electricity. Today, the 7,200-acre (2,914 hectares) impoundment is one of Arkansas’s most popular recreational and residential lakes.U.S. 70 crosses Lake Hamilton by means of a seven-span bridge featuring nine steel girders per span. Constructed between 1982 and 1984, the 1,410-foot long (430m) bridge carries four lanes of traffi c across the lake. The bridge is supported by six intermediate reinforced concrete piers composed of hammer heads, stems, footings and seals, which sit on the underlying rock. (See Figure 1). The bridge rises to a maximum of 33 feet (10m) above the surface of the lake and the footings and seals extend a maximum of 29.5 feet (9m) below the surface of the lake. The seals are situated on hard, fractured sandstone and shale.Routine underwater inspections in 1993 revealed large cracks in the lean seal concrete and refl ective cracks in the reinforced concrete footings. Infrastructure Engineers, Inc., The Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department’s (AHTD) design consultant, then conducted an in-depth underwater inspection of the pier foundations. The investigation included cross-hole sonic logging, singlehole sonic logging, visual examination and strength testing of core samples, and petrographic analysis.The investigation revealed extensive cracking and low-strength concrete within the seals of all intermediate pier foundations. Many voids within the seal concrete had become fi lled with silt. There was evidence of continued seal deterioration between underwater inspections.AHTD and its engineers considered three rehabilitation solutions in the preliminary engineering stage: micropiles, a cofferdam supported concrete jacket, or a pile supported concrete jacket. The three alternatives were estimated to cost $1,250,000; $4,320,000; and $3,030,000 respectively. All three options would transfer the loads from the pier footing directly to the rock below, bypassing the seal concrete."

Jan 1, 2007

By Ryan P. Sullivan, G. Alan Klevens, Jian Huang

"BACKGROUNDLake Hamilton in Hot Springs, AR was created in 1932 when the Arkansas Power and Light Co. completed Carpenter Dam on the Ouachita River to generate electricity. Today, the 7,200-acre (2,914 hectares) impoundment is one of Arkansas’s most popular recreational and residential lakes.U.S. 70 crosses Lake Hamilton by means of a seven-span bridge featuring nine steel girders per span. Constructed between 1982 and 1984, the 1,410-foot long (430m) bridge carries four lanes of traffi c across the lake. The bridge is supported by six intermediate reinforced concrete piers composed of hammer heads, stems, footings and seals, which sit on the underlying rock. (See Figure 1). The bridge rises to a maximum of 33 feet (10m) above the surface of the lake and the footings and seals extend a maximum of 29.5 feet (9m) below the surface of the lake. The seals are situated on hard, fractured sandstone and shale. Routine underwater inspections in 1993 revealed large cracks in the lean seal concrete and reflective cracks in the reinforced concrete footings. Infrastructure Engineers, Inc., The Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department’s (AHTD) design consultant, then conducted an in-depth underwater inspection of the pier foundations. The investigation included cross-hole sonic logging, singlehole sonic logging, visual examination and strength testing of core samples, and petrographic analysis.The investigation revealed extensive cracking and low-strength concrete within the seals of all intermediate pier foundations. Many voids within the seal concrete had become filled with silt. There was evidence of continued seal deterioration between underwater inspections.AHTD and its engineers considered three rehabilitation solutions in the preliminary engineering stage: micropiles, a cofferdam supported concrete jacket, or a pile supported concrete jacket. The three alternatives were estimated to cost $1,250,000; $4,320,000; and $3,030,000 respectively. All three options would transfer the loads from the pier footing directly to the rock below, bypassing the seal concrete."

Jan 1, 2007

By A. R. Katti

The stone columns are widely used in the improving the bearing capacity of weak soils mostly for supporting flexible foundation systems. The load carrying capacity of a stone column is complex in nature. The load capacity is derived from the lateral stresses acting on the stone column due to load transmitted from the flexible structure due to deformation to soil mass and which in turn transmits lateral pressure in s3 direction. The load capacity is also function of the f value of the stone column, cohesion of the surrounding soil, K0 and Gb2 of surround­ing soil including passive resistance developed to lateral deformation of the stone column. The assessment of axial and radial deformation is much more complex. Recently Katti et.al. have developed a method based on a granular heap approach and computed with equivalent fe. which combines the effect of s3a and equivalent volume concept to estimate radial and axial strains. In this paper an attempt is made to put forward guidelines for design of stone column accounting for both stability with respect to shear and also with respect to settlement. The estimate of settlement are based on the internal properties of stone column and surrounding soil. It is considered thus the settlements computed are more realistic.

Jan 1, 1996

By Osvaldo Valdez, Matteo Bertoni, Aem Ragy

The East St. Louis Deep Cutoff Wall project is located in the area of East St. Louis, Illinois, across the Mississippi River from the city of St. Louis, Missouri, along the left descending bank of the river. The project is a fundamental part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) effort to rehabilitate and secure the aging East St. Louis levee system that provides flood protection to approxi- mately 250,000 residents and more than $4.5 billion in economic value. The project was devised and de- signed by USACE as a cutoff wall to be installed in the Metro East Sanitary District levee segment, one of the levee segments that form the East St. Louis system. The contract for the construc- tion of the cutoff wall was awarded in November 2019 to Bauer Foundation, the American subsidiary of the Bauer Group.

Sep 1, 2023

4.5.1 General The provisions of the article shall apply to the design of axially and laterally loaded driven piles in soil or extending through soil to rock. 4.5.1.1 APPLICATION (Revised Article 4.3.1.1) Piling may be considered when footings cannot be founded on rock, or on granular or stiff cohesive soils within a reasonable depth. At loca-tions where soil conditions would normally permit the use of spread footings but the potential for scour exists, piles may be used as a protection against scour. Piles may also be used where an unacceptable amount of settlement of spread footings may occur. 4.5.1.2 MATERIALS Piles may be structural steel sections, steel pipe, precast concrete, cast-in-place concrete, prestressed concrete, timber, or a combination of materials. In every case, materials shall be supplied in accordance with the provisions of this Article.

Jan 1, 1989

By Alan Alhadeff

Why is mediation being hailed as the wave of the future? The high cost of putting on a trial, over-crowded court calendars and long trial delays have resulted in what prominent attorneys and leading jurists are calling a litigation crisis. In no segment of the legal world are these pressures greater felt than in the trial of the serious construction case. Furthermore, the siege mentality of both the plaintiff and defense bar often leads to a reluctance by either side to make the first reasonable offer for fear of showing weakness. Attorneys operating in the serious construction case arena express concerns that there exist insufficient opportunities for the parties to meet, tell their stories, and negotiate settlement prior to the eve of trial. Mediation, by opening lines of effective communication and encouraging meaningful settlement negotiation, has proven to be a very effective antidote to the litigation crisis.

Jan 1, 1990

By Bernard H. Hertlein

The introduction of LRFD methods for structural design has been a gradual process by AASHTO, ACI, AISC, ASCE, and the FHWA, which has largely been ignored by the deep foundations industry. In 2007, however, the industry has been obliged to embrace LRFD for any deep foundations on projects involving federal funds. The authors are concerned that the risks caused by the need for, and the difficulty of providing, reliable quality assurance, will result in unnecessarily high safety factors that will defeat part of the purpose of LRFD. A primary attraction of LRFD for owners and engineers alike is that it promises more efficient design, and therefore cost reductions. Unfortunately, a key element of LRFD philosophy is often overlooked - that the applied safety factors can be rationally reduced, often allowing less material to be used, thus saving costs, but only if all the risk factors involved are identified and closely controlled. This means that both the quality of the materials and the quality of the construction work must be adequately monitored, and held to an acceptable standard. In the case of deep foundations, the soil in which the foundation is constructed is also a critical component that must be taken into account in the assessment of risk factors.

Jan 1, 2007

By Garland Likins

Where soil conditions are favorable, augercast piles have significant economic advantages, but they also have some uncertainty due to the in construction methods. To confirm structural integrity, static testing can be performed on a small sample of piles. Other Non-Destructive Evaluation methods like Pulse Echo are frequently specified for a large percentage of the remaining production piles. However, such NDE methods require testing the pile after the grout/concrete has hardened. If problems are found, then the repair or replacement can be relatively expensive. The confidence in the quality of these piles can be improved by automatically monitoring the grout pumped as a function of depth during the grouting phase of installation. If a low grout volume is detected, the pile can be redrilled and regrouted immediately while the piling rig is still in place and the grout still fluid. This considerably reduces remedial costs. To be effective, such installation monitors must accurately determine both grout volume and depth during installation and be rugged simple to operate. Such an equipment can be of great help to the installation crews. The assurance gained may reduce the need for subsequent NDE tests. The quality of inspection of driven piles depends heavily on the inspection personnel. While inspection is critical in a good installation, it is sometimes assigned a low priority. Inspection personnel in many cases are technicians with little pile experience. They may not understand the project needs or even how the pile driving equipment works. The task is often monotonous and any distraction makes accurate record keeping difficult. In some cases inspection is totally ignored for lack of qualified personnel. Electronic systems can automatically and accurately monitor driven pile installations and include documentation of certain hammer performance parameters. This paper describes equipment available and routinely in use for automated monitoring of both augercast and driven piles and demonstrates applications on typical construction sites. The paper also discusses benefits and limitations of the alternative NDE tests. KEYWORDS: Augercast Piles, Piles, Installation Monitoring, Pulse Echo Method, Integrity Testing

Jan 1, 1999

By Rob van Dorp

"AbstractThe Monitoring & Instrumentation Committee (MIC) of DFI Europe has the objective to support DFI members in concern of risk management of geotechnical matters, where monitoring and instrumentation have added value.Work of the CommitteeA study by the committee showed that there are already several existing (national) guidelines. They all have their strengths and limitations and their focus may vary a little per country due to local regulations and typical local building activities, but the main question remains what added value another new guideline would have. More likely it would add to the confusion instead of providing overview.Companies with larger experience in geotechnical monitoring (often larger consultancy firm, contractors or clients) are already quite familiar with its benefits do not really need a new guideline in how to design and effectively apply sophisticated geotechnical monitoring systems for special projects.Therefore the aim of the MIC is to focus a little more towards smaller organizations - that are less familiar with monitoring and instrumentation - and the more ‘regular’ type of project that they are mainly involved in. The MIC wants to create a tool which helps them to create risk awareness, to understand the benefits of geotechnical monitoring and to provide them information about how and where to find the right partners and equipment to setup and apply appropriate monitoring systems for their projects.Monitoring and instrumentation benefits are for example:• Risk control during construction stage;• Costs reduction in design and construction (taken limitation of geotechnical aspects into account).• Prevent of unnecessary delays in construction work• Increasing general awareness of geotechnical risks and possibilities of monitoring.The cost of monitoring compared to the cost of failure and/or the savings that can be achieved play a role in the work of the committee. DFI members benefit from the shared knowledge by the MIC on monitoring and instrumentation within their process of risk management."

Jan 1, 2014

By Frank Haehnig, Harald Krenn, Harm-Christoph Claassen

"The Wadi Dayqah Dam Water Supply Scheme represents one of the most important projects implemented by the Sultanate of Oman to ensure sustainability of water resources. The principal components of the project comprise two dams to impound the Wadi Dayqah, to store and supply drinking water to the local area and to Muscat, the capital city of the Sultanate.The Main Dam with a central spillway is a RCC Gravity Dam with a maximum height above foundations of 75m, crest length 400m; the Saddle Dam is a rockfill dam with central clay core, max height above foundations is 49m and crest length 360m. During construction of the Saddle Dam a key trench was excavated to 10m depth and filled with compacted clay connected to the central core of the embankment. Grouting utilizing cement grout was performed as a single line grout curtain prior to each filling operations. Both Dams are founded on soft Siltstone, Claystone, Sandstone and inter-bedded harder limestone.After construction of the Saddle Dam, once water was in the reservoir it became evident in early 2010 that some seepage was occurring apparently from the right abutment. This seepage became more marked when the reservoir first filled to discharge over the spillway in June 2010. In order to reduce the seepage, additional sealing works by drilling and grouting of a three row curtain up to 80 meter target depth were initiated to supplement the existing single row curtain. Part of this project for the sealing works has also been to drill additional investigation holes to provide more information and confirm extend of the additional sealing works and its limits.Züblin Ground Engineering was awarded the Additional Sealing Works Contract. Whilst Equipment was on Site, the opportunity was taken to carry out drilling and grouting on the Left Abutment of the Main Dam to reduce seepage through that abutment and to install additional standpipe piezometer for future monitoring of seepage patterns.Work on this Contract started on site in January 2013 and was substantially completed in January 2015.At the time of Tender Züblin Ground Engineering propose and Alternative Design in the form of a Secant PileCut-Off Wall, 85m long to a depth of 40m with additional drilling and grouting below the foot of the cut-off which was then included in the contractual scope."

Jan 1, 2016

By Michael A. McNicholas

"Deep foundations utilize the varying soil conditions to provide the most cost-effective or practical scope for a given jobsite. Once the scope has been determined and the engineering applied, the element can be installed and tested to determine if it is suitable. QA/QC programs are vital for the assurance that the element designed by the engineer has not only been properly constructed but that the design assumptions are confirmed. The two deep foundation elements referenced are drilled displacement piles (DDP) and micropiles. Each of these elements allows for large loads to be distributed deep into the subsurface geology. Having the technology and ability to monitor the tests in real-time can be beneficial to a contractor in determining if the design is adequate or if adjustments need to be made on future piles. The proper QA/QC guidelines for installation and monitoring need to be in place to ensure that an accurate interpretation can be made on the pile. This paper discusses the typical testing and the positive results that the author has encountered using the latest advances in strain analysis.KEY TERMSDrilled Displacement Piles:A deep foundation system that has the ability to shed load into the geology through shaft resistance as well as tip resistance, similar to drilled shafts. This pile element is unique in that it has a consistent pile section and thus a consistent modulus of elasticity.Micropile:A deep foundation system used in applications where the foundation lies over material not suitable for a spread footing and the ideal soil stratum is deep below the foundation. Micropiles will have two different cross-sections consisting of a cased section and an uncased section. For this reason, this pile type requires additional analysis when computing stress-strain relationships.Geokon Strain Gauges:Instrumentation such as Models 4911A-4911 Vibrating Wire Strain Gauges ( known as Sister Bars) are designed to be embedded in grout and calculate loads based on the change on grout strain over a period of time.Stress:A pile element is under a compression (axial loading) load when a force acts along its axis and is normal to the plane of the section. The corresponding stress the pile is experiencing is described as a normal stress. The stress is obtained by dividing the magnitude of the load distributed over the cross-section by the area of the pile cross-section, as shown in Eq. 1."

Jan 1, 2017

By George Gazetas, Sissy Nikolaou, Fani Gelagoti, Irene Georgiou, Rallis Kourkoulis

"The need to shift geotechnical design from a “factor of safety” to a “performance based” design (PBD) approach has increased rapidly in the past years following examples from structural engineering. PBD supports sustainable engineered systems that target project-specific geotechnical behavior objectives and results in more rational and, in most cases, less conservative solutions. Resiliency, efficiency, risk optimization, and cost-effectiveness are key components of this approach. For design of retaining walls, the concept of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) systems combines these attributes, while being environmentally friendly and adaptive to variable construction conditions. Natural hazards, such as earthquakes, may drive the design of MSE systems whose reliability depends on their performance under extreme events. In this paper, the authors compare the seismic response of an MSE steel-reinforced vs. concrete-reinforced retaining wall. The MSE system is composed of a grid of longitudinal and transverse ribs which internally enhances the capacity of the soil backfill. Results of fully non-linear twodimensional (2-D) numerical finite element analyses using two commercial programs with emphasis on the interface conditions are presented. The pull-out resistance of the grid used in the numerical simulation was evaluated from actual pull-out experiments. The results demonstrate a superior performance of the MSE system as compared to the concrete one, especially when subjected to strong seismic excitations.INTRODUCTIONThe idea of performance-based geotechnical engineering is not new, and has been evolving as our perception for ‘good’ performance has also evolved (Kramer, 2008). In early practice, the only criterion for achieving good performance was to avoid failure; designers had only to ensure that the available capacity of the geotechnical system is sufficiently higher than the expected demand (i.e. Load and Resistance Factor Methodologies). Yet, even when the key design requirements against collapse are satisfied, the system may still be placed into a condition in which the deformation constraints are not met (Bolton, 2012). To address these issues, geotechnical design has been developing into a predominantly performance-based approach that correlates deformation considerations to the severity of the experienced loading. As such, in earthquake-related problems, the definition of good performance of a geotechnical system is no more unique; for a low intensity earthquake the system should remain serviceable (i.e., the developed deformations should remain low), whilst for the design earthquake the maintenance of lifesafety is the single performance criterion."

Jan 1, 2016

By Walid El Kamash, Sadik Oztoprak

"Soft soil presents a challenge against multistory buildings in some cities of Egypt such as Port Said due to the consolidation settlement. Deep mixed (DM) columns are used to improve the soft foundation soil in order to reduce the total and differential settlements. Latest research revealed that this improvement technique also increases the rate of mechanical consolidation due to column yielding caused by stress concentration from the soft soil. In this study, extended poly-styrene (EPS) Geofoam is used to replace the soft soil over DM columns in order to control the stress concentration and settlement. To understand the effect of EPS geofoam on the degree of consolidation, stress concentration and settlement, a parametric study was carried out through a mechanically and hydraulically-coupled numerical method. A unit cell model is used, in which the soil was considered linear elastic; DM column and EPS Geofoam are elasticplastic materials. Results reveal that EPS geofoam is helpful for reducing the settlements and accelerating the consolidation. Increasing the length of the column of the deep mixed foundation with EPS geofoam has a significant effect on accelerating the consolidation.INTRODUCTIONExpanded polystyrene (EPS) geofoam is a lightweight polymeric material which is made by expansion of raw plastic beads. The expansion of the EPS beads are spherical-shaped particles containing closed hollow cells. EPS which plays an important role as an innovative lightweight construction material is now well recognized due to its low density in addition to high compressive and rupture strength. Inglis (1996) reported the first use of EPS geofoam as a seismic buffer to reduce potential seismic loads against a nonyielding basement wall. Gaskin (2000) and Bathurst et al. (2007) carried out reduced-scale shaking table test on a rigid retaining wall protected by EPS geofoam. The test data showed that the peak lateral loads acting on compressible model walls were reduced below values measured for nominally identical structure but with no compressible inclusion. Abdelrahman and El Kamash (2014) investigated the behavior of EPS Geofoam beneath raft foundation on soft soil of Port Said. They showed the ability of EPS to control vertical displacements. The investigation of the behavior of EPS geofoam with DM column has not attracted more attention of previous researchers. In this paper, the behavior of replacing the soft soil by EPS geofoam was examined in the presence of DM column."

Jan 1, 2015

By Sastry Putcha, Santosh Mummaneni, Swamy Avasarala, Vamshi Vemula

"This paper presents the results from a case study on the comparison of two strain acquisition instrumentation technologies, Geokon rebar strainmeters and Embedded Data Collectors (EDC) for the DC Water Main Pump Station project, in Washington D.C. These two instrumentation systems were installed by AVER in a single 18-inch (0.45 m) diameter augercast pile (with one-1.25 inch (3.175 cm) dywidag bar) at critical locations to determine the load transfer mechanism and establish a comparison between strain/load measured with these two systems along the pile. A quick static load test was performed on the test pile as per ASTM D1143 standard.Prior to the installation of the pile, a 24-inch (0.6 m) diameter outer casing was installed to the proposed cutoff elevation of -22.5 feet (-6.85 m) to discount the frictional resitance within the upper overburden zone. The pile was then drilled through the outer casing to the tip elevation of -65.02 feet (-19.8 m) with inner casing within the overburden zone. Strainmeters along with EDC were installed on dywidag bar at various locations and then wet set into the concrete following auger retrieval. The loads measured with EDC and Geokon sensors were within 15% percent of each other.PROJECT BACKGROUNDProject Background & Requirements:Like any other foundation piles, augercast piles are extensively used in the public and private sector structures in the United States for many years. It is a common practice to perform static compression (ASTM D1143), tension (ASTM D3689), and lateral load tests (ASTM D3966) depending on the project requirements. In recent years, embedded strain sensors, manufactured by Smart Structures, USA has gained prominence for its use to collect both static and dynamic measurements for driven piles. In addition, AVER has successfully used EDC for collecting long term static measurements for an abutment drilled shafts for I-95 Hotlanes project in Virginia, USA.Geokon sisterbar strain gages are widely used in the foundation industry to monitor the load transfer mechanism within pile foundations throughout the world. As the Geokon strainmeters are vibrating wire and are welded to a sister bar, there is often a debate within the engineering community with regards to what modulus to use when converting measured strains to loads. EDC sensors, unlike Geokon strain gages are embedded directly into the concrete and therefore do not have the same concern."

Jan 1, 1900