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By Bengt H. Fellenius

It is a truism that in the design of pile foundations one must consider both capacity and settlement. As to capacity, most basic text books contain simple methods of design of capacity of single pile. More sophisticated methods are the subject of many journal papers. However, methods for design considering settlement of pile foundations are scarce. (Most confuse settlement with the movement due to load-transfer?the transfer of load from the pile to the soil). Furthermore, for both capacity and settlement, most methods include several simplifying assumptions regarding soil layering and neglect the effect of the frequently occurring fill and excavations, as well as changes of the groundwater table and pore pressure distribution. Therefore, the methods may provide qualitative results, but not quantitative. Because of this situation, pile design often appears as somewhat of a guessing game and a very subjective?and risky?occupation. This need not be. Pile foundation design is controlled by three factors: capacity, strength, and settlement requirements and these have been combined in a method called "the unified design of piles and pile groups considering capacity, settlement, and negative skin friction" (Fellenius, 1984; 1989), which method is summarized in this guide.

Jan 1, 1991

By Thomas C. Anderson

Thirty-four retaining walls are part of the $46 million upgrade of a 1942 depressed highway in Highland Park, Michigan near Detroit. This project will close a missing link between two newer roadways, I-75 and the John Lodge Freeway. The existing 75 ft. wide, six lane Davison Freeway is being replaced by a eight to ten lane, 200 ft. wide depressed highway in a limited right of way. The highway will be 20-25 ft. deep and 1.5 miles long. A design/build decision by the Michigan DOT saved about 37% of the engineers estimated cost of $19 million for the walls. The successful pre-qualified specialty contractor utilized an innovative solution for the walls consisting of tiedback/cantilevered walls on the north side and mechanically stabilized earth walls on the south side. All of the walls have an identical cast-in-place architectural facing.

Jan 1, 1999

By Arturo Ressi di Cervia

The utilization of diaphragm wall construction in Hong Kong began in 1974 with the construction of the New World Center, the first diaphragm wall job built in the British Colony. That landmark job of which I am presenting a few slides and a schematic description, embodied all of the difficulties and problems which are encountered in the difficult geology of Hong Kong. A small rocky island in the South China Sea, Hong Kong provides one of the finest natural harbors in the world. It is its splendid harbor, coupled with the enterprising attitude of the Hong Kong Chinese and the laissez-fair attitude of the British government which has resulted in the explosive growth of this speck of land soon to revert to the political control of mainland China.

Jan 1, 1993

By Mu Chen, Ye-Shuang Xu, Dong-Wei Hou, Shui-Long Shen, Huai-Na Wu

"This paper presents a laboratory investigation on the mechanical behaviors of the cement-clay admixture improved by polypropylene fiber. Cement can significantly improve the clay admixture. The fiber additive also improves the strength and ductility of the improved clay. The Unconfined Compression Strength (UCS) of the polypropylene fiber-reinforced cement-clay presents an overall trend to grow with the increase of fiber length. The improved clay reached its peak strength at the fiber content of 0.5%. Then the UCS of the improved clay will slowly reverse if the fiber content continues to rise. For study of curing time, improved clay behaves better in its early strength, but an inhibition will be brought about if fibers are excessive.INTRODUCTIONGround improvement technology is essential for construction of structures in soft ground. Some traditional techniques often cost much but result in little. For instance, along the coastal region of China, soft ground is often improved by backfill with high quality sandy soil transported far away, leading to high additional haulage costs and long construction period. Reutilizing the excavated soil as backfill or subgrade after treatment, by contrast, will be more economical and effective (Hufenus et al., 2006). Many researches have been conducted to improve the compression strength of soft soil, among which, the method of mixing the soft soil with cement and fly ash is one of the most common ways (Kolias et al., 2005; Horpibulsuk et al., 2009; Porcino et al., 2012). It is known that soil resists well against compression and shear force but behaves poorly in resistance to tension. Therefore, utilizing tensile elements such as fibers and strips to improve the tensile strength will be effective because of its strength isotropy, better durability and cost effective (Haeri et al., 2000; Kaniraj and Havanagi, 2001; Consoli et al., 2010)."

Jan 1, 2015

By Mike Muchard

Augered cast-in-place piles are one of the most cost effective deep foundation options available to designers but have been largely underutilized due to skepticism associated with quality assurance and hence capacity. When installed correctly, unit friction values can rival any other competing foundation system. To this end, many means have been implemented to increase confidence in the competence of the foundation. One such method is load testing via the Statnamic test method. This paper presents an overview of the Statnamic test method, advantages and disadvantages of its use, and several case studies where Statnamic testing of augered cast-in-place piles confirmed quality construction, brought about design changes, or proof tested problematic installations.

Jan 1, 2000

By Mohamed A. Eliwah

This paper deals with the determination of hydraulic conductivity of the coastal coralline limestone aquifer of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This coastal area has witnessed urban development and establishment of towers which requires deep foundations, excavation and dewatering of huge quantities of unconfined groundwater. It is occupied with successive layers of soft detrital and consolidated massive cavernous coralline limestone of the Quaternary age. These layers are encountered at a depth of 1.5m and extend for more than 100m. Hydraulic conductivity values were obtained by analyzing the pumping tests data under steady and transient state conditions. Hydraulic conductivity values help in selecting the proper and safe dewatering system, as well as determination of discharge rates and quantities of groundwater to be withdrawn. Test results obtained from two surveyed sites showed that the values of hydraulic conductivity are greatly variable. It ranges between 118.1 and 1559.6 m/day at the first site, whereas at the second one it ranges between 94.6 and 350 m/day. These high values are attributed to the cavernous nature of the water-bearing formation. Jeddah city could be divided into three different dewatering zones extending from north to south parallel to the coast line. Well point dewatering system could be applied in the first zone while ditches and sumps are the most suitable dewatering method in the second and third zones. Dewatering using deep wells in such highly permeable formation will require withdrawal of huge quantities of water which will be accompanied by washing out fine sediment filling the cavities in the surrounding areas. This will badly affect the nearby buildings through settlement, crakes and other structural damages. Therefore, construction of grouting plug/blanket with thickness of 3.0 m at a depth of 20.0 m is recommended. This depth will be enough to support the plug against the hydrostatic pressure. Moreover, it is highly recommended to transfer the site into closed box, by using diaphragm walls or secant bored piles.

By Leonello Sciacca

Deepening of harbours has become a priority, necessary to the ongoing operation of the wharves in the face of deeper draft merchant vessels and cruise ships. It is now standard practice in many areas to provide for harbours to be dredged to significant depths below mean sea level, in the order of 12.00 m (39 ft) for existing berths and 15.00 m (49 ft) for new wharf construction. The Ravenna Port Authority initiated a project to deepen the harbour bottom at selected wharves to a depth of 12.00 m (39 ft). In preference to reconstruction of the wharves with longer and heavier sheet piling or other equally disruptive reconstruction, they identified the structural reinforcement of the existing wharves by means of deep underwater tie rods as a possible alternative cost-effective solution. Having defined the design concept, effort was concentrated on developing the required technology. A technique, already in use for the installation of tie rods by means of robotics, was identified as potentially suitable for underwater use. It was decided to carry out the fine tuning and the evolution of the technology for a marine environment of the robot unit and of the related remote control software that controls the installation of the tie rods. An experimental test site was set up to refine the drilling, installation, grouting, monitoring and testing of underwater tie rods. The purpose was to confirm the feasibility of the proposed solution and the reliability of these tie rods for use in the reinforcement and construction of wharves. The paper also discusses the theoretical and experimental study of underwater tie rods dealing with the theoretical analysis of the interaction between tie rod and soil, aimed at identifying the correlation between the forces of applied traction and the corresponding measured elongations. A series of tests were carried out with positive results, both at the operating load of 300 kN (67 kips) and at the nominal maximum load of 630 kN (142 kips). The tests were carried out on seven tie rods, of which three were installed at a depth of 5.00 m (16 ft), principally to test the reliability of the operating and remote control systems in the presence of a significant hydrostatic pressure, and four were placed at a depth of 8.00 m (26 ft) to check the load bearing capability of the tie rods positioned at the depth called for by the current project.

Jan 1, 2011

By Chandramohan P. V., Ravi Kishore

"An underground reservoir was to be constructed at Doha in Qatar. Simsima lime stone is present at the bottom. When the reservoir is empty, there will be uplift at the bottom but this will change to downward load when it is full. The rock at the bottom had high bearing capacity to resist downward load. But uplift had to be resisted by piles or anchors. The reservoir has a size of 120mx80m. Shrinkage and creep of concrete coupled with thermal contraction imposed a horizontal movement of 26mm on the extreme piles. So, piles have to accommodate this as well. This unique situation needed a unique solution. The solution was to provide piles with flexible high tensile strands to take tension. An annular space near the head of the pile would facilitate horizontal movement as well. Compression load was directly passed on to the raft bearing on rock.INTRODUCTIONAn underground reservoir for storage of drinking water was to be constructed at Doha, Qatar. The reservoir was proposed to have a plan size of 120m x 80m. Clear height inside the reservoir was proposed as 17.2m, from the bottom of roof to the top of bottom raft. Overall height of the reservoir at the outlet from the top of the roof to the bottom of raft was to be 21.2m. For the sake of inspection and in order to prevent pollution from the surroundings a gallery was planned around the reservoir. This could accommodate pipelines as well. This gallery was 3.0m wide on three sides and 8.4m wide on the outlet side.The gallery had removable gratings as cover in order to facilitate maintenance. Capacity of the reservoirwas proposed to be 40million gallons. The reservoir is divided into four compartments with baffle walls in each one for water circulation. Roof of the reservoir is kept at 300mm above ground level. There are two levels of car park on top of the reservoir. Top of the reservoir roof is at +14.35. Bottom varies from - 6.68 to -7.08. Lowest water table is at +6.00. Concrete structure of the reservoir was designed by a local consultant. The Navayuga Engineering Company was entrusted with the construction. Please see Figs 1 and 2."

Jan 1, 2017

By Louay Owaidat, Daniel Jabbour, Allan Frappier, Jose Gomez, Mark Stanley, Tino Maestas

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is implementing a levee strengthening program along the Sacramento River East Levee (SREL) designed to correct 11 miles of deficient levees as identified by recent hydraulic and geotechnical investigations. The first project, the subject of this paper, completed in 2020 resulted in approximately 3.0 miles of improvements to the California Central Valley Flood Protection system. The project area lies along the east bank of the Sacramento River in Sacramento. The program consists of constructing cutoff walls through existing levee embankments to remediate levee through seepage and under-seepage. Key challenges included designing and constructing measures to remediate a 100-year-old legacy levee system, the presence of both industrial and residential properties immediately adjacent to the landside of the levee creating severe space and access limitations, and performing this work during the 2020 statewide mandate to shelter-in-place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The project team of contractors, USACE, state and local agencies, and engineering firms partnered to bring this project to successful completion within budget and on schedule expending more than 60,000 man-hours with no lost time accidents. With the issuance of future planned contracts, the program will significantly reduce flood risk to the City of Sacramento.

Sep 8, 2021

By Li Tiemin

It is one of important tasks in research of vibratory pile driving to increase speed of pile driving and depth of pile driving -- this means to increase capability of penetrating hard layer. In general, vibratory pile driving hammer make pile be situated in vibratory situation to drive pile by means of weight of hammer and pile, but the depth of pile driving and capability of penetrating layer are limited by dead weight of hammer. This paper introduces a new kind of vibratory pile driving hammer which differs from general ham­mer. A set of pressing system is attached to hammer and pile driving frame. The pull of winch installed on frame passing guide pulleys bring downwards press to pile through absorbing system of hammer. The practice and comparison test have showed that the new hammer is faster in pile driving and bigger in capability of penetrating layer than general one. Now, the vibratory pile driving hammer with pressing device has been applied widely in China. RESUME: The vibratory pile driving hammer based on vibratory principle to design have applied wide­ly in foundation engineering in many countries over the world. In order to suit the needs of deep foundation, at present, how can quicken speed of pile driving and increase depth of pile driving have become even more value to many countries in the world. This paper introduces a kind of rapid vibratory pile driving hammer which can drive pile deeper and more faster comparing with common vibratory pile driving hammer. Therefore, a kind of simple and reliable method has been offered for rapid vibratory pile driving in deep foundation.

Jan 1, 1991

By G. W. Plant

This paper describes the design philosophy and construction details of piles between 25m and 32m deep to support 160m high and 110m base diameter cooling rowers for a major power station. It is sited on deep expansive soil where a vast plantation of Eucalypts had been felled. The depressed water table is expected to rise, leading to swell of the soil and uplift forces on the piles. These forces, combined with the complex loading from the cooling towers, led to design tensile loads up to 20MN (2 000 tons) per pile. When competent stable material was present hand excavated underreams 3m in diameter were constructed for the piles sup-porting the shells. However, in some areas it was not possible to form an effective underream and an innovative solution was sought. This comprised unstressed dowels in the underlying sandstone which were formed by percussion drilling through void formers cast into the piles.

Jan 1, 2010

By Richard F. Sliwoski

The Virginia State Capitol was designed by Thomas Jefferson and constructed in 1785. The Capitol is of great historic and architectural significance to not only the Commonwealth of Virginia but to the nation. It is the oldest operating Capitol in the U.S. and required a total restoration/renovation as well as an expansion to continue to remain functional. Site conditions dictated that the expansion (a new visitor center) be placed underground on the south side of the Capitol building, requiring a 40-foot deep excavation approximately 5 feet from the Building. Because of its historic significance, every measure had to be taken to ensure the safety and function of the Capitol during construction. The construction techniques that were used to make the deep excavation and protect the historic Capitol included a tied back concrete slurry wall, jet grouting, compensation grouting, and instrumentation monitoring. This paper describes the history of the Capitol building, the techniques that were employed for construction of the deep excavation, results of the latest movement monitoring, and factors contributing to meeting the restrictive movement goals.

Jan 1, 2006

By Stefan Larsson, Sebastian Adevik, Sadek Baker, Razvan Ignat

"Abstract Uncertain strength, deformation and flow properties in dry deep mixing columns often lead to conservative choices concerning design values where the design is regularly complemented with a surcharge fill. The surcharge not only leads to increased cost but also to logistical problems where the surcharge is a physical obstacle. The deformation properties of a ground improvement were studied by means of two small embankment load tests. The settlement measurements were also used in FEM analyses, where the effect of surcharge on creep settlements was investigated. Based on the results, the effects of the surcharge were considered negligible and could safely be ignored. The project is an example how the contractor can use a field test as an effective design approach.IntroductionGround improvement of soft soils with dry deep mixing columns, or lime-cement columns, is often combined with a surcharge fill. The main reason for using a surcharge is to force the primary settlement and some of the secondary settlement that would have occurred under the final embankment height alone, to take place under the surcharge loading. Another reason is to level out uneven settlements. Strength and deformation properties in improved soil cannot be sufficiently assessed in advance, before columns have been tested on-site, and this uncertainty often lead to conservative choices concerning design values. In order to compensate for a slow forecasted consolidation process, the design is regularly complemented with a surcharge. The surcharge not only leads to increased cost but also to logistical problems where the surcharge is a physical obstacle.Extensive research undertaken by Åhnberg (2006, 2007) shows, by means of triaxial and oedometer tests, that cementation processes and a load acting on the columns during hardening, makes the improved soil to behave as a heavily over-consolidated soil due to an increase in quasi pre-consolidation pressure. The effects of using a surcharge on the time for consolidation and creep properties are thus probably small, since the stress level does not normally exceed this quasi pre-consolidation pressure. A study presented by Venda Oliveira et al. (2013) shows that the stress level within small ranges has limited effect on the creep properties.This paper presents a case study where the deformation properties of a ground improvement using dry deep mixing columns was investigated by load tests on two small test embankments. The tests were performed at the Interchange Värtan project site, which is part of the Norra länken infrastructure project in Stockholm. The tests were not performed as a research project but simple load tests performed by the contractor with the purpose of rationalizing the design delivered by the client. One purpose of the load tests was to assess the deformations when the columns are loaded temporarily by overlaying concrete works. Another purpose was to provide some input data to a study of the effects of using surcharge on creep settlements. The analysis was conducted as finite element modeling using the commercial code PLAXIS, where creep settlements can be simulated using the built-in Soft Soil Creep model."

Jan 1, 2014

By Amy B. Cerato

The application of this study is to use helical anchors as a foundation system for small wind tower (1 ? 10 kW) guyed cables. Helical anchors are currently used to anchor guyed cables of telecommunication and electric towers. However, the increased dynamic vibrations a wind turbine adds to the tower and foundation system under working loads, as well as extreme environmental conditions (e.g., straight line winds, ice load or sudden furling shocks), require additional knowledge about the behavior of helical anchors. These field conditions were simulated in this study by instrumenting a working tower with load cells and 3-axis accelerometers to gather data on wind speed and tower response. These tower responses were then transmitted to the helical anchors through an extensive, large-scale testing program that included monitoring the performance of the helical anchor foundation under dynamic loads, subject to natural variations in both wind regimes, precipitation (water level) and variations in helical anchor geometry. This paper specifically discusses the effects of helical anchor geometry on helical anchor performance under long-term dynamic loads.

Jan 1, 2008

By Frederick C. Rhyner

Drilled shafts have become an economical foundation choice for bridges in the northeast United States, especially when they can be constructed over water without the use of cofferdams. For the Boscawen-Canterbury Bridge over the Merrimack River in New Hampshire, an unusual design was used to avoid the use of cofferdams and avoid the need for pier caps at the waterline. This design used a pair of integral drilled shaft ? columns to form a bent type of substructure for support. Drilled shafts were 8-foot diameter, about 90 feet deep, with 16-foot long rock sockets. These are integrally constructed with 6-foot diameter reinforced concrete columns extending 37 feet from the waterline to the superstructure. Design load cases focused on lateral loads from ice flows, stream flows, wind and seismic events. Alternative analyses using different methods were made to check the design results. This paper discusses the subsurface conditions, design of the drilled shafts and columns, rebar and joint detailing issues, and construction of the drilled shafts.

Jan 1, 2004

By Peter O. Wilkinson

Ascot Racecourse in the UK is a major international venue for horseracing. The racecourse is being redeveloped to provide entirely new public facilities. The development includes the construction of a new grandstand. A site investigation was earned out comprising mainly cone penetration testing. The site is underlain by the Bagshot Formation, comprising predominately cohesionless deposits of medium dense becoming dense, silty fine to medium sand, containing occasional layers of clay. Shallow foundations would present uncertainty regarding total and differential movement; hence a piled foundation solution was chosen using a continuous flight auger (CFA) piling system. The possibility that piles may found either directly on or within the influence of cohesive material suggested uncertainty regarding toe resistance. In order to measure shaft friction, an instrumented preliminary test pile was undertaken. The results were compared to published correlations of cone and shaft resistance. This approach resulted in a net saving in terms of pile length which resulted in optimum value engineering and hence a cost saving to the client.

Jan 1, 2006

By Ali Porbaha

The use of soil nailing technology as a cost effective alternative for excavation support and slope stabilization has substantially increased in the United States during the last decade. For example, in the past thirteen years, more than 185,800 square meters of soil nail walls have been constructed in California alone. The conventional soil nail systems pose difficulties when ground conditions are subject to caving, for instance for silty sand (sugar sand) or cobbles and boulders. The construction industry has developed self drilling hollow bar systems (or pressure injected bored, IBO) that combine both drilling, placing and grouting in a single operation as a solution to speed up construction. While the system is extensively used for temporary applications, nevertheless, some concerns, particularly about corrosion, has limited the use of this technology as a permanent system in North America. This study presents several issues related to self drilling soil nail systems, the results of a field investigation and a summary of the research project.

Jan 1, 2006

By Christian Divis

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Jan 1, 2002

By David R. Beadman

This paper discusses how modern techniques of design and construction were used to create the deep stations for the Copenhagen Metro. The deep stations are located in small squares within the city adjacent to many old and sensitive buildings. The architectural design provides a large open atrium to allow natural light to reach the column free platforms to give the citizens of Copenhagen a feeling of safety and security and encourage them to use the Metro. The design and construction contract was undertaken using the relatively new and untried Eurocodes. The resulting stations set new standards of design for underground metros and have pushed forward the frontiers of what is appropriate construction practice to protect the existing and enhance the future environment.

Jan 1, 2000

By Walter I. Paniagua

Drilled shafts and precast concrete piles were installed for the foundation of several structures in a reconfiguration project of a refinery in Minatitlan, Veracruz, in the Gulf of Mexico. The soils are alluvial deposits of flat land from the Coatzacoalcos River, which are embedded with layers of sand, soft clay, and peat. As part of a QC/QA program, load tests, both static and dynamic, axial and lateral, were performed. In this paper results of 32 axial tests are presented, in which typical load-displacement curves were measured at the top of the foundation elements; from the interpretation of these plots, data were recorded for ultimate side shear and in some cases for end bearing capacities, which are compared with the theoretical results of the final stage of the foundation design. The comparison shows that under allowable loads, side shear determines the bearing capacity of piles, even when the tip is embedded in a hard layer. Underestimation of the side shear is evident; therefore design criteria, as well as the methods used for obtaining soil parameters, should be reviewed.

Jan 1, 2007