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By Lu Yitan, Frances Badelow, Manish Tiwari

"Large ‘design and construct’ projects often present significant geotechnical risks. However, these also present significant opportunities for value engineering in design. These opportunities can be realised through systematic site investigation and close collaboration with the Contractor to dovetail the design solutions to suit construction methods. This paper presents a case study of a large infrastructure project in Singapore which involved design optimization of an earth retention system for a deep excavation in a constrained urban environment. The project also required installation of over one thousand bored piles in highly variable ground conditions - identified as a key risk. Systematic site investigation was undertaken to develop a reliable ground model. A detailed value engineering exercise identified opportunities for design optimization by changing the retention systems and construction sequence in some segments. An innovative low cost ground improvement method was used in some areas to reduce the forces on the retention system. An extensive instrumentation and monitoring plan was implemented for verification of design and to mitigate the remaining risks. This paper includes the lessons learnt on this challenging project, which are relevant to a wide range of construction projects.INTRODUCTIONSingapore has been rapidly expanding its underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) network over the past two decades. The Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) forms part of this expansion and is 43 km long and fully underground comprising 31 stations. This paper describes the value engineering and design optimizations undertaken during detailed design of the earth retaining and support structures (ERSS) for one of the underground stations along TEL. The station, currently under construction, is up to 24m deep and 350m long. The edge of the station excavation is less than 10m away from the existing MRTviaduct. The proposed station is surrounded by high-rise residential and commercial structures, somewithin 2m of the excavation. Land Transport Authority (LTA) of Singapore imposes stringent technical and contractual requirements on MRT construction works to ensure high quality and safety standards. These include minimum requirements for embedment of retaining walls, groundwater control, additional site investigation, instrumentation and monitoring, and compliance to LTA’s Civil Design Criteria (CDC). Any deviations from the minimum requirements can only be approved by LTA after detailed calculations, analysis and field testing are completed and additional monitoring and control measures are proposed."

Jan 1, 1900

By Darren S. Diehm

"Construction for the restoration and expansion of 102-year-old Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois began at the conclusion of the 2014 baseball season. This six year project involves structural upgrades to the Stadium, improvements to the facade, infrastructure, restrooms, concourses, suites, press box, and bullpens, as well as the addition of restaurants, patio areas, batting tunnels, video boards, an adjacent Office-retail Tower and a new Hotel. The Bleachers were demolished and replaced, and a new underground Clubhouse was constructed for the Chicago Cubs beneath a new open-air Plaza. The 1060 Project is privately funded, projected at $750 million (US). The work will be completed in phases during consecutive off-seasons, each with a maximum 23-week duration extending through the Chicago winter. Ownership mandated that on-going construction cause no disruption to the Major League Baseball season, have no impact on hosting concerts and other special events, and it should not adversely affect seating capacity, or diminish the fan experience.The 1060 ProjectAfter purchasing the Chicago Cubs baseball team in 2009 from the Tribune Company, the Ricketts family began planning the renovation and improvement of Wrigley Field and its near neighborhood surroundings in Chicago, Illinois. What came to be known as the 1060 Project was officially announced at the annual Cubs Convention in 2013. Construction began on the $750M privately funded project in October 2014 at the conclusion of the Major League Baseball season. In their vision, the Ricketts committed the 1060 Project to three primary goals. First and foremost as a MLB franchise, the work should provide a meaningful contribution toward winning the World Series and ending the championship drought which stretched to the last win in 1908. Second, the project should be focused on preserving and improving Wrigley Field. Finally, the project should be committed to outcomes that enable the team to be a good neighbor and provide economic and social benefit to the local community.Constructed as Weeghman Park in 1914 for an estimated total cost of $250,000, the stadium provided seating for 18,000 fans and a home for the Chi-Feds and Whales of the National Federal League. The Chicago Cubs were enticed to move from the West Side Grounds in 1915. In the next 100 years, the Wrigley Field would be sliced apart and expanded, double its seating capacity with the addition of double deck grandstands, be enclosed by bleachers (and an ivy covered wall), and, in 1988, experience its first nighttime baseball game with the addition of lighting.The 1060 Project has a total budget of $750M, with an expected construction value of $350M. It is projected to add over 2,100 jobs to the economy and be completed before the 2020 baseball season. The work will be completed in phases during consecutive off-seasons, each with a maximum 23-week duration extending through the Chicago winter. Ownership mandated that on-going construction cause no disruption to the Major League Baseball season, have no impact on hosting concerts and other special events, and it should not adversely affect seating capacity, or diminish the fan experience."

Jan 1, 1900

By Burt G. Look, David W. Lacey

"Certification of foundation capacity during the construction phase is often assessed by strength or weathering state descriptors based on visual observations. This case study used the Point Load Index (PLI) test as a quantitative tool in the construction certification of a pile’s design capacity. Construction phase tests were completed on irregular sized rock samples whilst comparable design phase testing was completed on intact rock core samples. Statistical comparisons were made to assess the repeatability between the PLI tests, with best-fit Probability Distribution Functions (PDFs) determined for both datasets. Pronounced differences were observed based on the PDF adopted to characterize the PLI dataset, the consequence of which would be a significant change to the pile’s design capacity. The adoption of the lower quartile value is shown to satisfy both design conservatism and construction simplicity requirements. The commonly held belief that rock samples produced during socket excavation may be biased towards the higher strength portion of the rock mass, is shown to be invalid for this site. As the central bridge piers were certified using Plate Load Tests (PLTs), the resultant load-settlement relationships were compared with the PLI strength assessments made for similar materials recovered from the adjacent abutment piles.INTRODUCTIONThe upgrade of the Foxwell Road Overpass across the Pacific Motorway in South East Queensland required the duplication of an existing four span bridge structure. The foundations of the new bridge included the installation of 1.2m diameter cast in place (bored) piles at the bridge abutments and 900mm diameter cast in place (bored) piles below a retaining wall to be constructed adjacent to the existing abutment.The site geology was dominated by the Palaeozoic Neranleigh–Fernvale Beds, predominantly comprised of argillite, sandstone and greywacke. Limited soil materials existed at the site, with Extremely Weathered (EW) rock typically encountered within metres of the existing ground surface. The exception to the existence of shallow rock were locations where existing filling of the site had occurred – i.e. approach embankments to existing bridge structure.Capacity of pile sockets is typically assessed onsite by descriptive rock strength or weathering assessment. Such descriptors encompass a wide range of values and lack precision. Due to the subjectivity of such assessment techniques – a factor of 3 is often observed in terms of strength assessment based on one’s interpretation of rock strength descriptors alone – uncertainty on site often occurs regardless of whether a lower bound, average or other characteristic design parameter applies."

Jan 1, 1900

By Stephen Darmawan, Mahdi M. Disfani, Arul Arulrajah, Alireza Mohammadinia

Deep mixing using cementitious compounds is an in-situ method of ground improvement for improving the strength, compressibility of loose sand. Artificial light cementation can increase the stiffness of loose sands significantly and reduce the settlement of loose deposits. The increase in contact area between the particles with a thin layer of cementitious agent depends on the confinement and void ratio of the soil mass. Hence, the stiffening effect of cementation not only depends on the type and amount of cementing agent and inter-particular force chain of loose deposit but also depends on the stress level at the time of cementation. In addition, the cementation effect in loose deposits can be deteriorated at relatively low strain levels. Decementation softening can cause detrimental and irreversible impacts on the soil deposit. This study investigates the effect of initial confinement and subsequently the initial void ratio at the time of cementation on small strain behaviour and decementation softening of cemented loose sand under ko loading. The effect of inter-particular contact of sand particles based on the specific surface area and also soil density was also investigated by means of shear wave propagation. This study present insightful information on effect of primary consolidation stress levels, density of soil and cementation level on softening and collapse of loose deposits improved using deep soil mixing technique. Better understanding of soil-cement interaction by optimization of binder content for deep mixing activation can lead to increasing the level of confidence in using this technique in ground improvement applications.

Jan 1, 1900

By Rae Mackay, Kaveh Ranjbar Pouya, Ali Tolooiyan

"A major part of Melbourne’s central business district is underlain by a very soft silty clay deposit known as Coode Island Silt (CIS). Due to the low strength of CIS, most construction in the region is based on pile foundation systems. Traditionally, the design of pile foundations is mostly based on empirical and analytical methods. However, numerical methods such as Finite Element Methods (FEM) can be utilised for more accurate estimation of the bearing capacity and deformation of pile foundation systems, especially in complex loading scenarios. Unfortunately, no systematic effort is made yet to calibrate a realistic nonlinear constitutive model to describe the geomechanical behaviour of CIS in a numerically based solution. Among the nonlinear constitutive models, the Hardening Soil (HS) model is an advanced hyperbolic model which accounts for the nonlinearity of stress-strain relationship as well as the stress dependency of the soil stiffness. In this study, the HS model is calibrated based on laboratory tests performed on CIS. Also, to validate the accuracy of the calibration, the wellknown cavity expansion theory is employed to model the CPT cone tip resistance (qc) in CIS, and results are compared against the measured CPT qc profile at the field.INTRODUCTIONA large percentage of world’s coastal areas are covered with soft marine clay deposits. Having very low shear strength and high compressibility, the alluvial deposits are known as one of the most problematic soil layers for the design and construction of infrastructure facilities. A major part of Melbourne’s central business district is underlain by a very soft silty clay deposit known as Coode Island Silt (CIS). Basically, there are two main solutions for construction in such weak soil conditions. One is the use of pile foundations transferring the applied load to deeper and stronger soil layers, and the second one is to employ ground improvement techniques such as using deep soil mixing columns to improve the bearing capacity of the soil. In both cases, a practical geotechnical design should incorporate both stability analysis and deformation analysis to achieve a cost-effective and reliable solution. Most of the classic solutions for stability analyses such as limit equilibrium analysis disregard the stress-strain relationship of the soil for the sake of the simplicity (Chen, 2007; Sokoloviskii, 1965). In a similar simple approach, most of the past studies of deformation analysis have been established on the basis of linear elasticity. However, it is well recognised that the soil stress-strain behaviour is highly nonlinear even at very small strains (Burland, 1989). Hence, for a precise deformation analysis of the foundation of important geotechnical structures, the application of advanced nonlinear constitutive models is extremely beneficial. Precise deformation analysis is essential as geotechnical designers have to predict the displacement of geotechnical structure and the adjacent soil as well as the induced displacement and forces to adjacent structures. This issue is more highlighted recently in the analysis, and design of highly important infrastructures as geotechnical engineers are facing new challenges in the analysis and design of infrastructures in congested areas. Rapid population growth, especially in the major cities all around the world necessitates the design and construction of more integrated infrastructure facilities. Consequently, geotechnical engineers should employ more advanced design approaches to address the new challenges in geotechnical engineering practice. Complicated geometries, different loading scenarios and the application of nonlinear deformation models which is believed to be essential for a precise deformation analysis, necessitate the application of numerical methods to satisfy most of the design requirements."

Jan 1, 1900

By Sastry Putcha, Santosh Mummaneni, Avasarala Swamy

"Inspection of bored pile hole bottom prior to placement of concrete is one of the most crucial element of foundation design and construction, especially for end bearing piles. Pile hole bottoms that are not cleaned well for sediments could potentially result in settlement. Although many projects have specifications in-place for drilled pile hole inspection, they are rarely implemented as the current available tools are either unsafe or cumbersome and costly, thus making it very unattractive for owners and contractors. Further, sometimes the post-construction nondestructive quality control testing such as PIT or sonic logging on piles resulted in unanswered questions related to soft bottom. This generates costly disputes with additional testing including concrete coring and possible repairs. Currently, there are several bored pile bottom inspection devices in USA, namely, SID, DID, and SQUID which can either provide video and photo documentation or measure sediments.“ShaftCam”, a patented advanced Digital Borescope, was invented to address the issues related to pile hole bottom inspection with its ability to measure sediments as well as photo and video documentation. Shaftcam device consists of 8-inch diameter bell with a camera, led lights, air hose connection and penetrometer with digital measurement that are connected to a control power box and laptop through a cable. The bell is fitted with a round clear open fiberglass skirt to form an open chamber. A simple motorized winch frame allows the user to lower the ShaftCam equipment gently to the bottom of the shaft at the desired location. Once the bell with camera is lowered to the bottom of the hole, air is pumped into the clear chamber to displace the water/slurry/polymer and get a clear view of the hole bottom to record the conditions and measure the sediment thickness and resistance. The skirt can also be enclosed and lowered to the desired location to allow for inspection of shaft walls.ShaftCam weighs less than 15 lbs. (6.8 kgs) in water and allows for inspection of the hole by one person in less than 30 minutes. Use of ShaftCam has saved significant time and money and thus allowed owners and contractors to readily accept and implement the quality control measures in many projects in USA over past few years."

Jan 1, 1900

Victor G. Hills, Cripple Creek, Colo. (communication to the Secretary): In continuation of the subject of the perform ance of "baby machine-drills," presented by Mr. Thane, I sub mit the following records of work done with these drills in the Cripple Creek district of Colorado. Two years ago, the Anchoria-Leland mine began to use baby drills ; and, to make the experiment more complete, began by purchasing two machines, of the same size, but of different make. The little drills were first used for stoping and up raising, in which they achieved at once an unqualified success. Soon after, they began to be used for the smaller branch-drifts and prospecting cross-cuts, while the large two-man drills were still used for the main drifts. Now they have almost entirely superseded the large drills, since it has been found that they will do any ordinary work in the mine at less cost, both for labor and for powder, per ton of rock broken. The large drills, of course, make more rapid progress; but it is only where time is a specially important factor that they are now used. The Portland mine, where, until within a year, only the large machines were used, is now using some small drills for stoping, and also for drifting. Mr. Thane speaks of having two men to operate a baby-drill; but in this district the baby-machine is always worked by one man without help. Again, in Prof. Christy's postscript, the quoted extract from a letter of Mr. L. T. Seymour, the South African engineer, mentions a " 2 1/2-inch Little Giant," as though that were the smallest machine used in that region. These statements leave some doubt as to just what Mr. Thane means by a " baby-drill." To avoid any such uncertainty as to the present communication, I will say that the large or two-man drill in common use at Cripple Creek has a 3 1/8-inch cylinder; while a few mines employ a 3-inch, and a few, in running large tunnels, a 3 1/2-inch drill. What we call a baby-drill here has a

Jan 1, 1900

Frank Clemes Smith, Deadwood, 8. D. (communication to the Secretary): The reading of Mr. Chance's interesting paper suggests a few ideas relative to his discussion of certain Black Hills gold-ores. Mr. Chance refers to his examination, in 1897, of " the (Carboniferous) limestone plateau-country which encircles the central area of the Black Hills," and says that " it had been generally assumed that the mineralization of this formation was confined to the northern area;" further, that he "found, however, a general mineralization, extending in zones or belts throughout the region," and that the ores, being more or less specially

Jan 1, 1900

Frank 11. Probert, Neudorf, Anhalt, Germany (communication to the Secretary): I have read with much pleasure Mr. Collier's valuable paper. But the system of timbering which he describes as used in the levels, stopes, etc., though it must be admitted to be very strong and safe, seems to me somewhat extravagant. The amount of timber required every month for such a system must be enormous; and only where suitable material could be cheaply obtained would such a plan be economically practicable. The first point which strikes me is the unusually great diameter of the timber employed. In the mines of Pfaffenberg and Meiseberg, which are under my supervision, the country-rock consists of argillaceous slates, traversed by innumerable small fissures or joints, dipping at all angles and striking to all points of the compass. Undoubtedly, this net-work has been caused by the upheaval of granite masses in the vicinity. Each fissure is accompanied by a more or less well-c1efinc.d gouge or fluccan, caused by the rubbing together of the slates at or after the original disturbance. In such

Jan 1, 1900

Secretary's NOTE—on page 176,of this paper, in the fourth line of the first footnote, " 4° " should, be " 1" )'; and on page 180, at the beginning of line 23, ('lined boot" should be " unlined boot." Discussion. Frank Owen, London, Eng. (communication to the Secretary) : In his very interesting and valuable paper, Prof. Snow

Jan 1, 1900

By F. E. Bachman

Although it has been apparent to me for a long time that too great weight was currently given to the silicon-contents of foundry-iron, and that the theory of the control by silicon of the carbon-contents of cast-iron is unsound, or that, at best, the influence of silicon is too small to be of much practical value as a guide in foundry-work, it never seemed to me desirable to enter the lists against either the " silicon-fad " or the theory, for the reason that I had neither the time nor the facilities to prove my position, nor any better theory to offer. But since Mr. Summers has taken the step, it seems but right that I should give such facts as are at hand in support of his contention. At the same time I do not think these are enough to prove the case if the contrary proposition were not itself, as it seems to me, based on insufficient evidence. Both Keep's and Turner's conclusions seem to be drawn from irons carrying less than the normal amount of carbon; Turner's " base " being, moreover, a steel rather than a pig-iron, and both the white base and the ferro-silicon of Keep being so low in carbon that compounds of them would not give a material approaching the carbon-contents of a normal casting, and having, therefore, little value as showing the effects of silicon on foundry-irons, even if his samples were treated under the same conditions as those to which pig-metal is subjected in making castings.

Jan 1, 1899

By Erwin S. Sperry

Brass or bronze chips, grindings, buftings, washings, and miscellaneous scrap metal sooner or later find their way into the hands of the so-called metal-smelter or " refiner," whose refining or smelting operation consists simply in melting the material, adding the requisite amounts of other metals, and then casting it in the form of ingots, which are afterwards sold

Jan 1, 1899

By Courtenay de Kalb

So far as the writer is aware, no detailed investigation into the behavior of ores or rocks when subjected to crushing under digerent conditions has yet been made. He cannot himself claim to have carried such investigations very far; but the results of some studies which he has been pursuing for a couple of years, as opportunity permitted, seem sufficiently interesting and suggestive to warrant a brief statement of them, preliminary to nildertaking a more exhaustive course of experiments. Criticisms and suggestions are earnestly invited, with a view to making these studies as instructive as possible. As a part of the examination of ores, preparatory to concentration, my students have been required to take lots of 100 pounds each, and crush them. These are then screened through a series of hand-sieves, 15 inches in diameter. The products remaining on each screen are weighed, and from the results is plotted a curve, called the sizing-curve. It was assumed at first that different ores would yield, under like conditions of crushing, curves showing unlike characteristics as to the quantities remaining on the various sieves. After a number of such curves had been obtained it became evident, as often happens, that this a priori reasoning was faulty. The curves presented practically identical characteristics, and only by varying the crushing-conditions were variations in the curves obtainable. Another peculiarity, which was as little anticipated, appeared by inspection of these results, namely, that successive crushing to smaller sizes did not greatly augment the quantities of the filler products, so long as the machines employed applied the crushing-force to the ore-particles in the same manner. In these experiments the fines were not eliminated between successive crushings. I believe it will be readily admitted that rock can be crushed

Jan 1, 1899

By C. W. Purington, H. B. C. Nitze

The Kotchkar mining-district, known as the Kotchkar System, is situated in the Orenburg government, in Eastern Russia, in the great plateau- or steppe-country immediately adjacent to the eastern slopes of the Ural mountains. Its longer dimension is north and south about 27 miles, while in the widest (northern) portion the distance across is 22 miles. The district lies 40 miles southwest of Miass, a station of the Trans-Siberian railway, and half-way between this village and that of Troitsk. It contains also the not inconsiderable settlements of Kotchkar and Eosobrodskoit., the last a Kossak town. So far as explored, the district is known to contain from 300 to 400 auriferous veins. ? Although the topography is generally of an exceedingly flat character, the country is traversed by several small rivulets running from west to east, and flowing into the Sanarka and Kamenka rivers. Since 1844 placers have been worked in the district, but it was not until 1867 that veins were discovered, and these have been worked only since the impoverishment of the alluvial deposits. The deposit with which this paper especially deals is known as the Ouspensky mine, one of twelve owned by MM. de Zelenkoff & Cie., five of which are situated in the Kotchkar System. An opportunity of visiting this mine was afforded the writers, in eonnection with an excursion of the VII. session of the International Geological Congress; held in Russia during the summer of 1897. The mine is reached by a 40-mile '(troika" journey from the railway station of Bichkil, itself

Jan 1, 1899

By Persifor Frazer

The structure of the Caucasus as made out by the Russian geologists and represented in Pamphlet XXII. of the Livret Guide, by Loewinson-Lessing, is an overturned anticlillal from Lars to Passanour; a distorted synclinal with monoclinal dip from Passanour to near the summit of the anti-Caucasus chain south of Tiflis; and another overturned auticlinal from this point to Erivan on the Armenian border. Ng—Neogene; Pg— Paleogene ; J,—Upper Junssic (and Cretaceolls in other parts of the chain) ; J1—Lias ; Pz—Paleozoic schists plicated ; yd—massives of granite and diabase; —porphyries ; —trachytes, andesites; Pz, Mz, plicated sedimentary deposits of Armenia. The details of the geology, however, are extremely complicated—so much so, indeed, as to make it impossible for any set of men to have worked them out in a single season. For 'the structure as a whole it will be necessary, therefore, to rely implicitly upon the labors of the Russian Geological Survey, and it is intended here only to state these, and to record a few notes supplementing them. Setting out from Wladikavkaz in the early morning, we pass

Jan 1, 1899

By W. J. Loring

It is proposed to describe in this paper as accurately as possible the present practice at the Utica mills, of which I am superintendent. The Utica Company operates three mills, the Madison (40 stamps), the Utica (60 stamps), and the Stickle (60 stamps). My description will be based on the last-named, in which I have experimented more than in either of the other two; but the practice is the same, under the same management, in all three. Everything is run by water-power, under about 420 feet fall at the Utica mill, and 425 feet at the Stickle mill, giving a pressure of about 185 pounds to the square inch. The Madison mill is situated about three-quarters of a mile below the Utica and Stickle mills, and has only some 100 feet fall from one place, and 38 feet fall from the other. The water that runs the Utica and Stickle mills, and all machinery connected with the corresponding mines, is conveyed through ditch and pipe to the Madison mine and mill, where it develops power for the air-compressor and the 40-stamp mill. The mill is run by a

Jan 1, 1899

Jan 1, 1899

By Erwin S. Sperry

It is a tradition in the brass industry that bismuth is ail injurious element in brass, even more deleterious than antimony; but such a belief has lacked verification. The occasional presence of bismuth in commercial copper (although less frequent than was formerly supposed) led the author to investigate this tradition. The f'ollowing experiments mere conducted in the same man-

Jan 1, 1899

By Spencer Cragoe

I have read with much interest the elaborate and able paper of Messrs. Granger and Treville on the Mining Districts of Colombia, presented at the Atlantic City Meeting (ante, p. 33). Going into detail, however, as the paper does—and particularly with reference to the department of Antioquia, I am somewhat surprised that the property of the Frontino and Bolivia Company, probably one of the richest and most extensive in Colombia, should come off with such scant notice. The entire property embraces an area of some 28 square miles, and is situated at a distance of about 2 leagues from Remedios—after Medellin probably the most important town of the Department—and lying in approximately '7° N. latitude. The neighborhood of Remedios has been long celebrated for its production of the precious metal. Alluvial gold in large quantities has been obtained from the vicinity for upwards of two centuries; and even to-day a large proportion of the population finds a comfortable livelihood, during the dry season, in washing the sands of various rivers, notably the Rio Porce; while the amount of gold, in the form of nuggets, brought almost daily to Remedios and other points, from streams in the immediate neighborhood, is astonishing. These nuggets vary much in size. The majority, of course, are small, but larger ones are by no means scarce. I have been considerably surprised at the amount and value of the trade thus transacted between natives and merchants of the various towns. The property owned by the Frontino and Bolivia Company has been, I believe, for the larger part of the present century,

Jan 1, 1899

By F. B. Richards

For the last five years the furnace-men drawing their oresupply from the Lake Superior districts have had to solve the problem of using the very fine Mesabi ores as part of their oremixture. It is not my purpope to dwell on the early experiences and the progressive development in the use of these ores up to this time, but to lay before the members of the Institute one prominent feature concerning them, namely, the frequent and sometimes very disastrous slips (?) or explosions (?) occurring at furnaces where these ores are used. The Transactions of the Institute contain very little on this subject. Mr. F. E. Bachman, in his discussion of Mr. 0. 0. Laudig's paper (Trans., xxvi., 1061), advances a theory as to the cause of these occurrences; but this is the only reference to the subject in the Transactions up to this time, so far as I can recall. Probably all the furnace-men running the harddriven coke-furnaces in the central West have had more or less experience with this trouble; and I believe the majority of

Jan 1, 1899