Geotechnical Engineering Volume 164 Issue GE2 The design and construction of lled building platforms McNicholl

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers Geotechnical Engineering 164 April 2011 Issue GE2 Pages 8999 doi: 10.1680/geng.2011.164.2.89 Paper 1000021 Received 22/02/2010 Accepted 22/07/2010 Keywords: buildings, structure & design/embankments/land reclamation ICE Publishing: All rights reserved

The design and construction of lled building platforms

Denis Patrick McNicholl, MSc, PhD, CEng, FICE, FIStructE, FHKIE
Director, Denis McNicholl Technology Ltd, Alton, Staffordshire, UK

Building platforms are described, and their purposes are explained. Historically, construction standards for engineered ll were not good, but following development of new specications in the UK, and after major failures in Hong Kong, good practices were established to improve the construction of building platforms. In the UK this work was strengthened by the Building Research Establishment, with valuable contributions from individual authors. The paper summarises the advice in the literature in the context of almost 50 years experience in the UK, central Europe and China, and sets out recommended procedures for constructing lled building platforms. Site practices in the UK and elsewhere do not always follow the established guidelines. Several examples of good practice and departures from best practice are provided, with some photographs. For legal and commercial reasons the cases are not identied.

1.

Introduction

A building platform is dened as the engineered ll that is constructed over low or uneven terrain, and which supports the oor and foundations of a building. The platform may include a capping layer, but generally excludes traditional oor construction. Figure 1 shows a cross-section through a typical building platform. Platform engineering has become important in developing topographically difcult sites, in the redevelopment of browneld sites, and because of a trend towards larger buildings, particularly for supply chain and industrial purposes. Although the consequences of failures in platform engineering can be serious, evidence shows that platform design and construction do not always follow best practice. So, by reference to the literature, experience and case histories, a 10-step procedure has been developed for the design and construction of lled building platforms.
Capping layer

The narrative and case histories are drawn from professional experience spanning over almost 50 years, and gained in the UK, central Europe, Scandinavia and greater China, including Hong Kong SAR.

2.

Historical summary

In the 1950s and 1960s the UK government increased housing production signicantly, and to meet the need for new sites in the industrial Midlands and North of England new development platforms were formed by cutting and lling former coal waste and steel waste tips. Some earthworks volumes exceeded 250 000 m3 , and were carried out without a full understanding of compaction theory and best practice. Contemporary specications called for the ll to be well compacted or thoroughly consolidated; little attention was given to layer thickness, compaction methods or testing. Some engineers introduced end-product specications to site formation contracts, but this introduced difculties in setting target performance measures with acceptable tolerances. Argu-

Engineered fill

Benching Geotechnical separation layer Granular starter layer

Underdrainage

Figure 1. Section through a typical building platform

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ments about sampling ensued, and there were problems in the time required for testing when high volumes of ll were being placed quickly. Sometimes it was too late to remedy nonconforming ll layers that had been covered by thousands of cubic metres of succeeding ll. As the UK National Specication for Highway Works (SHW) evolved, engineers began to use the Series 600 earthworks specication for the design and construction of lled building platforms, as well as for highways. Excavated or imported lling material was broadly classied as suitable (acceptable), unsuitable (unacceptable) or marginal (material that could be improved and used benecially). By referring to detailed material classication tables, engineers could follow a reliable method specication that described how to spread and compact a particular type of ll material. The SHW tables and appendices provided details of maximum and minimum moisture contents for each material, expressed as optimum moisture content plus or minus an operating tolerance. This allowed specifying engineers to set target moisture contents that were slightly wet of optimum, and which produced ll of high relative density with air voids of less than 5%. Engineers could select the roller weight and number of passes for a particular layer thickness. This use of a detailed method specication brought simplicity and clarity, and allowed contractors to proceed quickly with earthworks, minimising disputes about the attainment of end-product specications. Moreover, as layer thickness is easy to monitor, and provided the correct roller was on site, it became easy to count the number of passes. The SHW was not followed exactly in every instance. In the early 1970s, in Warrington New Town, where contract periods were short and where there were difculties in working the local glacial soils, a policy decision was taken to use only granular material (and occasionally pulverised fuel ash (PFA)) for platform construction. Surplus unsuitable (unacceptable) cohesive and organic materials were diverted to the construction of large noiseattenuation mounds (up to 7 m high), which can been seen today north of junction 21 of the M6, and around the approaches to the M6/M62 junction. In the backll and redevelopment of some large open-cut coal mines, the consequences of compaction failures were viewed as serious, and although the UK Specication for Highway Works was used as a base document, some engineers reinforced the SHW method-related approach by the use of control testing. It became possible to carry out rapid assessments of density using nuclear density gauges (NDG), and these were sometimes used to control and verify compaction in projects specied on the basis of SHW. Although SHW continued to be a guiding document for the placement and compaction of lls, case histories had arisen in the 1980s and early 1990s where lling carried out notionally to SHW methods became unstable, possibly because supervising 90

engineers relaxed requirements on layer thickness and compaction methods while claiming to work within the SHW guidelines. Later schemes beneted from the Building Research Establishment (BRE) report entitled Building on Fill: Geotechnical Aspects (Charles, 1993), which brought together the results of research on many lled sites and, most usefully, provided a denition of engineered ll. This work was extended by Trenter and Charles (1996), who noted that most engineered lls were based on the Department for Transport Series 600 specication, and introduced a model specication for engineered ll for building purposes. Although the model specication was limited to overall depths of ll not exceeding 5 m and for low-rise buildings, it provided simple, direct advice, and was later incorporated into the second edition of the BRE report (Charles and Watts, 2001). Charles and Watts provided an explanation of a mechanism now known as collapse compression. Partly saturated lls that might have remained stable for several years may sometimes settle abruptly, with no externally applied increase in effective stress, as a result of increases in moisture content brought about either by vertical inltration or by long-term rises in the water table. This mechanism may be inhibited if the ll is heavily compacted to at least 95% of maximum dry density (MDD), and in clay lls to a state where air voids are less than 5%. Events in Hong Kong in the late 1970s also suggested that building platforms built by end-tipping or with relaxed layer thicknesses, and without due control, were prone to rapid catastrophic failure. Personal experience between 1978 and 1984 of call-outs in Hong Kong during typhoons, and after failures in ll platforms, illustrates that lled material that is not compacted to better than 85% or 90% MDD can fail in a rapid and brittle fashion when inundated. Debris may liquefy, and travel paths can extend over several hundreds of metres in steep topography. Eyewitness accounts and other evidence pointed to the extreme speed of such events. One such event occurred on 25 August 1976, at Sau Mau Ping in Hong Kong. A 30 m high lled building platform failed catastrophically, claiming 18 lives and injuring 24 others. According to eyewitnesses, the failure mass travelled at about 40 miles per hour, and according to those involved in the clear-up, the failed mass extruded itself through the ground oor and between the cross-walls of an occupied building up to the height of the ground oor ceiling (Bates, personal communication, 1980, 2010). The failure occurred very near to the site of a similar June 1972 failure on the same development platform, which claimed 71 lives. The Hong Kong Governments Independent Review Panel on Fill Slopes (Hong Kong Government, 1977) reported that the failure occurred as a result of water penetrating into the exposed slope face of the poorly compacted platform, leading to consequent loss of strength and an almost instantaneous conversion of the slope into a mud avalanche. The report pointed to the

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structural collapse of poorly compacted soils when undergoing deformation, and to how this can lead to liquefaction. Compaction was said to improve stability by increasing density and strength, and the reviewers quoted a standard density of at least 85% as being necessary to prevent structural collapse of a deformed inundated ll. It was said that saturated permeability can be reduced tenfold by increasing compaction standards from 80% to 95% standard density. The panel also said that although adequate specications for the construction of lls had been available in Hong Kong since at least 1966, there was little evidence to suggest that these specications had been applied to any signicant extent. As a result of these fatalities and others, the Hong Kong government (now the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) set up a Geotechnical Engineering Ofce (GEO) at the end of 1977, which has carried out a great deal of research, and has produced a series of documents that guide practising engineers in the investigation and methodology of earthworks. Best practice has been dened in GEOs Technical Guidance Note 7 (Government of Hong Kong SAR, 2004). Although this document focuses on the recompaction of existing ll slopes, it has several recommendations that are relevant to new platforms in Hong Kong and elsewhere. (In the Hong Kong context, building platforms are termed ll slopes because of the emphasis on preventing failures in the exposed ll slope faces.) In addition to advances in compaction methodology, work in the 1970s by Knill, which was rened by Price and Lumsden (personal communication, 1982) and later published by Knill (1982), drew attention to the difference between the material and mass characteristics of soils, including ll, and established a system for considering engineering structures in the context of their engineering geological environment. Burland (1987) presented a clear view of geotechnical engineering comprising three nodes of a triangle: establishing the ground prole, dening ground behaviour and modelling (physical and analytical) all interlinked, and considered in the context of well winnowed experience. This arrangement has become known as the Burland Triangle. The work by Knill and Burland is important in understanding how to conceptualise and analyse lled building platforms, including placement of the ll slopes into an existing environment, and in considering how the old and new structures will interact. This is particularly important in assessing elements such as underdrainage and benching, and in assigning geotechnical characteristics to the lled mass of the platform. In order to make the construction process more reliable, project teams are now using risk registers such as those introduced by Godfrey (1995) and Clayton (2001). The guidelines in these documents have been found to be easily assimilated by multilingual project teams. They are sufciently straightforward that they can be used throughout the construction team, and experi-

ence has shown that the methods suggested by Godfrey and Clayton are preferred by clients and non-engineering professionals, since risk quotients can be expressed in clear and simple terms. Since the 1990s, long-term settlement of nished oors has become important everywhere in very large logistics and manufacturing buildings and also, sometimes, to meet the long-term settlement limits for high bay racking and high-speed crane access to very narrow aisle storage. (Floor areas of 60 000 120 000 m2 are becoming more common, especially in China, Romania and elsewhere in central Europe.) The requirement for reliable long-term oor performance that is, acceptable longterm deections has focused attention on the need for highquality engineered ll, and this also has prompted the reengineering to higher standards of previously reclaimed sites that had been prepared without modern controls. Finally, the institutional funding and later resale of large buildings require that the overall construction process be recorded and transparent, demonstrating that the whole project, including the building platform, has been constructed with due care. This is sometimes difcult if the earthworks and building are carried out by different agencies. These two recent trends have also encouraged the use of method-related specications that are controlled and veried by index testing.

3.

Do we need further guidance?

Reference to case histories listed in the Appendix demonstrates that many engineers adhere to good practice, but some do not. Indeed, the number of non-conforming cases identied within the last 10 years indicates that good practice, as demonstrated in the literature, is sometimes ignored, occasionally with unfortunate consequences. To guide engineers in following best practice, the relevant literature has been summarised and, making use of Burlands terminology, the advice from the quoted sources has been winnowed against experience and reduced to a 10-step procedure for the design and construction of lled building platforms.

4.

A 10-step procedure for the design and construction of lled building platforms

The elements of each step are summarised in note form. 4.1 Studies

1. Carry out a desk study. Should include a walk-over survey, aerial photographs, assessment of existing topography and drainage regimes, site history and existing lled zones, culverts and water courses. May include a topographical survey and a ood risk assessment. 2. Understand the engineering geological model. Use sections and three-dimensional (3D) views to understand how the new platform ts into the existing terrain, and how the old and 91

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new will interact. Understand drainage regimes and water catchment areas. Design a site investigation to conrm understanding of the engineering geological model, and to characterise the engineering materials. Visualise potential problem areas. Figure 2 is an outline model of a ll slope that failed during rainfall, partly because the model was imperfectly visualised and understood. The potential presence of underlying shear planes, mentioned in memoirs, was not identied. 3. Site investigation and report. Should include a realistic and economically justied scheme of drilling and probing to conrm and validate the model, and to investigate difcult areas. Laboratory testing should be sufcient to give preliminary characteristics for underlying terrain, cut areas and excavation characteristics, and possibly for lling source materials. A good report would also pre-gure the likely foundation and oor settlement, based on the available project details. Set up a risk register. 4. Characterise ll materials at source. May be carried out as a sub-study of the main site investigation, but is usually carried out when cut/ll drawings have been carried out, and source materials have been identied. Establish maximum and target dry densities, and also optimum moisture content. If materials are to be differently sourced, devise a method for integrating them into a reliable lled mass. If material properties are inadequate, but clay-based, consider use the of lime/cement stabilisation. At this stage some engineers set target indices such as California Bearing Ratio and modulus of subgrade reaction (K value). In addition to conventional considerations of plasticity and moisture content, grading is also important. Some materials, at each end of the grading curve, are difcult
Infiltration assisted by shrinkage cracks Rainfall

to compact. These include ne sands and silty sands with uniformity coefcients less than 4, and gap-graded gravels or coarse ll (see Figures 3 and 4). The former may have to be mixed with other materials, whereas coarse and gap-graded materials such as those in Figures 3 and 4 are almost impossible to compact in layers of reasonable thickness. There have been failures identied as being due to inadequate compaction in thick layers of coarse ll and instability in gap-graded rock ll arising out of point-to-point contacts and point-to-plane contacts (see Figure 5). In short, gap-graded coarse lls require extra processing by crushing and grading. Migration of nes is also a possibility in coarse lls (Figure 6), and some form of geotextile separation layer may be needed. At source approval stage it is useful to calibrate nuclear density gauges against results from sand replacement tests. This process should be repeated during the course of lling for large projects.

4.2

Design

5. Design the platform lling. Design the interface between cut and ll areas. Consider basal drainage, platform drainage and slope face drainage. These are almost always required. The ll platform identied in Figure 2 failed in part because no underdrainage was provided. Set target densities, and an acceptable range of moisture contents. Prepare a specication. A simple approach based on Trenter and Charles (1996) is often better than large complicated specications, particularly in international projects. Consider whether or not a basal granular starter layer and /or a geotextile separation layer are needed at the base of the ll.
Pore pressure build-up No under drainage Pre-existing shear planes

Fill

Infiltration

Fill exerts pressure Infiltration

Through-flow on interface Through-flow in head/soft upper layer

Glacial till

Potential for elevated pore pressure in lenses

Potential lenses

Figure 2. Model of a modern ll slope that failed during rainfall

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Migration of fines

Figure 6. Showing migration of nes in gap graded ll

Figure 3. Gap grading

The use of very large boulders, sometimes called plums, may be appealing in difcult terrain (see examples in Figures 7 and 8; photographs taken in Scandinavia in 2009), but it is often a source of problems, because it is almost impossible to compact such material, and successive layers often become gap-graded through migration of nes. The placement of a selected intermediate layer above the boulder layers is very expensive, and the jagged nature of the boulders rules out a conventional geotextile separation layer. Check the settlement of platform and underlying soils under service loading. If settlement is excessive or unreliable, then consider ground treatment (including surcharge) to ll or underlying in situ soils. Pregure the oor slab design, and whether or not a capping layer is required. Consider instrumentation. Rene risk register and price alternatives. 4.3 Construct

Figure 4. Unprocessed quarry material being spread and compacted by Hymac

6. Site preparation. Carry out excavation; proof-roll basal formation and remove soft spots; install underdrainage. Bench into the existing terrain as necessary, restricting bench thickness to 300 mm. Install instrumentation; install granular starter layer or other basal layer as required. Set up site lab,

Point-to-point contacts

Point-to-plane contacts

Figure 5. Showing point contacts in ungraded ll

Figure 7. Boulders to be placed in basal layer

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Figure 10. Compaction in progress at a large site, Rugeley, Staffordshire, UK Figure 8. Placing boulders in basal layer

or procure visiting test facilities. Carry out compaction trials on large jobs and re-calibrate index testing, such as plate bearing test and NDG results. Arrange ventilated and secure storage facilities for samples and equipment. 7. Placement and compaction. Carry out lling works to predetermined methodology and complying with the specication. Place differently sourced material in layers, or as designed, in order to engineer the ll to a reliable endproduct. Control layer thickness (rarely should this exceed 300 mm); Figure 9 shows non-engineered ll laid in 2 m thick layers; validate roller type and roller weight. (Figure 10 shows compaction in progress on another site.) Ensure that layers are more or less horizontal, or regular. Provide temporary drainage facilities in poor or doubtful weather. 8. Control testing. Carry out or commission independent monitoring. Initiate control testing on each layer. Use plate bearing tests to assess surface modulus values, and as an index of performance. Additionally or alternatively, use a
Figure 11. Nuclear density gauge

Figure 9. Non-engineered ll in Scandinavia

nuclear density gauge (NDG) (Figure 11) to assess whether or not target densities have been achieved. The usual frequency is one test per 10001500 m2 of oor area. Carry out occasional sand replacement or other tests to verify test procedures. Ensure that the results and locations of tests are properly recorded. 9. Check imported materials. Filled platforms sometimes require imported materials for granular starter layers, and for capping layers. It is important that delivery certicates are thoroughly checked, and that independent testing is carried out, as the quality of materials often varies day by day, and off-theshelf suppliers certicates are sometimes erroneous. This is particularly the case when there is a large proportion of recycled product, or in overseas locations where national testing regimes are not well developed. Figure 12 shows non-

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Figure 12. Non-conforming granular ll

Figure 14. Plate bearing tests in Zagreb on nished platform

Figure 13. Non-conforming capping layer

conforming granular ll, and Figure 13 shows nonconforming capping layer material. Both had conforming certicates. The checking of imported materials by direct observation is very important. 4.4 Verify

Figure 15. Heavy load plate bearing test Zagreb

10. Verify the completed works. On completion of the platform, it should be proof-rolled before placing the capping layer. Carry out further verication testing on the completed formation. The usual frequency is one test per 500 m2 . Use plate bearing tests or similar to establish K values, CBR, and in continental practice Ev1 and Ev2 values. Figure 14 shows a plate bearing test in progress in Croatia, and Figure 15 shows

a heavy load plate bearing test on the same site. For surety, consider carrying out DPT testing at the rate of one test per 3000m2 . If a DPT rig cannot be mobilised, then a simple sitefabricated penetrometer can be used to locate soft or loose areas. Figure 16 shows a site-manufactured probe that was used in Croatia. For institutionally funded buildings and some others it is usual to 95

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Load

45 kg

50 cm

Gas pipe Dia. 30 mm

Sliding of rebar into pipe

Rebar Dia. 20 mm

Figure 16. Site-made penetrometer

assemble a completion report, with details of all elements of the procedure, backed up by test data.

5.

Concluding remarks

(a) Although there is advice in the literature, some engineers fail to give adequate consideration to lled building platforms, and failures can and do occur. (b) Filled building platforms, if properly investigated, designed and constructed, can perform satisfactorily in service, and even deep lls of 30 m thickness or greater can be engineered to provide a competent long-term subgrade for oors and foundations. (c) A 10-step procedure has been outlined; it provides a check list and advice on how to approach lled platforms, and how to ensure that they are adequately constructed. (d ) The principle steps may be summarised as follows. (i) Carry out a proper desk study. (ii) Understand the engineering geological model and the placement of the lled platform in the existing terrain.

(iii) Validate the model, investigate the ll site in general, and directly investigate the underlying terrain and the lling source material. (iv) Characterise the ll materials, and take care in assessing very ne or very coarse, gap-graded materials; set target standards for dry density and moisture content; carry out index testing, and calibrate special testing equipment. (v) Design the lled platform, including the interface between the ll and the existing terrain and underdrainage, after choosing a specication, preferably modelled on Trenter and Charles (1996). Having regard especially for layer thickness and grading, go on to estimate the likely settlement under service loading; consider the need for ground treatment; and establish a risk register. (vi) Carry out site preparation, including engineering the interface between ll and the existing terrain, underdrainage and instrumentation; then carry out compaction trials and/or recalibrate test instruments. (vii) Carry out the lling works according to the specication, paying particular attention to layer thickness and grading. (viii) Carry out control testing to a predetermined schedule. (ix) Check imported materials, relying on observation and not wholly on conforming test certicates. (x) Verify the works by carrying out testing to a predetermined schedule. (e) Caveat aedicans (Builder beware). Based on experience gained of call-outs during Hong Kong typhoons between 1978 and 1984, it is important to note that lled platforms constructed of medium-density materials (say 8085% MDD) can fail catastrophically if stressed when saturated. The failed mass can move very quickly almost explosively and this may not allow people to evade the failed mass. The construction of lled building platforms therefore requires due care and respect.

Appendix. Selected case histories

For commercial and legal reasons these case histories are abbreviated, and presented in note form.

No. Location

Date

Building end-use Special features

Outcome

Related to studies and design 1 UK Midlands 2002/03 Storage and distribution

712 m high embankment on glacial site with pre-existing shear planes mentioned in geological memoirs but not highlighted in desk study or identied in trial pits. No underdrainage to embankment. No platform drainage (Figure 2)

Slope failure after rainfall

( continued) 96

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No. Location 2 UK

Date

Building end-use Special features

Outcome Under monitoring

No specic desk study; no project-specic site 2008/09 30 000 m2 storage, packing investigation. Building situated over inlled lagoons and distribution with no specic ground treatment Related to design and construction 3 Leabrook Road site, 1990s Black Country development area, UK Telford Forge, UK 1990s

Several Satisfactory redevelopment of a browneld site Site formation and completed incorporated with an open-pit recovery of unworked building successfully buildings. 26 ha coal. Engineered ll placed to a depth of 35 m (Hake, completed 2007) Retail buildings totalling 30 000 m2 Storage packing and distribution, including high bay storage Satisfactory redevelopment of a browneld site. Successfully Following extensive SI, existing ll was re-engineered completed to meet current standards (Hake, 2007) A coal waste site had been reworked and treated Successfully (modied dynamic compaction) by a development completed authority. Following comprehensive SI, decision taken that current settlement tolerances required reengineering by vibro-columns and high-energy dynamic compaction Non-engineered ll placed over existing ponds lled with untreated, soft organic silty clay Floor settlement exceeded 350 mm. Currently being jacked back to level using expanding resins Successfully completed

Donnington Wood, 2005 Telford, UK

China

2006

20 000 m2 workshop for precisionengineered products

China

2009

30 000 m2 depot Previous non-engineered ll placed over alluvial ats for UK-based plc by development authority. Fill re-engineered and alluvial soils strengthened by cement-soil piles to reduce settlement to tolerable standards

China

2009

20 000 m2 depot Building platform designed to have a graded gravel Material rejected and layer (75 mm0). Material delivered to site was up to removed from site 400 mm in largest dimension, and was unprocessed blasted quarry material, despite having a complying certicate as gravel Successfully (a) 6 m high embankment to be constructed over a completed pre-existing valley in loess-derived soils. Engineered ll designed to accept oor loading; column loads to (Figure 17) be supported by vibro gravel columns. Platform design included underdrainage, careful selection and use of materials and benching. Filling carried out by a separate agency in contract to development authority, but supervised by building contractor by agreement. Underdrainage and controlled engineered ll emplaced and quality veried (b) Neighbouring site had non-engineered lled Localised internal platform without positive drainage and rodent scouring failure of activity (ground squirrels) (Figure 18) neighbouring ll slope, later repaired ( continued) 97

Central Europe

2008/09 Chemical factory with precision machinery and high bay warehouse

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No. Location 10 G Park, Rugeley, UK

Date 2009

Building end-use Special features UK-based plc. Storage and distribution, 60 000 m2 22 000 m2 distribution depot Situated on 30 m deep reworked browneld site. Following comprehensive SI, ll was re-engineered and treated using DC techniques to meet current settlement requirements

Outcome Re-engineering was successfully completed (Figures 19 and 20)

11

Scandinavia

2009

Filled platform constructed in good faith by developer Voids apparent in up to 13 m deep formed in unprocessed rock ll, upper surface of and in layers 23 m thick. Basal surface formed by platform plunging large boulders (1 m3 +) into soft silty clays. All said to be compliant with Scandinavian practice

Figure 17. Successful project in Hungary built on 6m engineered ll platform

Figure 19. Re-engineering existing platform using DC

Figure 18. Non-engineered ll with rodent activity

Figure 20. G Park, Rugeley, built on re-engineered ll platform

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Acknowledgements
The author should like to thank Raymond Bates, Retired Construction Director Government of HKSAR, for recollections of the Sau Mau Ping disaster; Gazeley UK Ltd, for the use of photographs of successfully completed projects; GSE Group SA Avignon and UK GSE Ltd for access to information on successfully completed projects, and the provision of one photograph; Simon Hake, Director of Wardell-Armstrong LLP, for information on successfully completed projects; Nicolette LeRoux, for prepared gures; Alastair Lumsden, Editorial Manager of the Journal of Petrology, and formerly Principal Lecturer at the University of Leeds, for conrmation of personal communication, and other advice on publication; Keith Nicholls, Principal Engineer with Geotechnics Ltd, for constructive comments on the recommended procedure; Dr Graham Smith, Director, Geosynthesis Ltd, for useful comments and suggestions, and two photographs used in the publication; and Ir. William S. K. Wong, Chief Geotechnical Engineer, Government of HKSAR, who provided up-to-date references from Hong Kong.
REFERENCES

Burland JB (1987) Nash Lecture. The teaching of soil mechanics:

a personal view. Proceedings of the 9th European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Dublin 3, 14271447. Charles JA (1993) Building on Fill: Geotechnical Aspects. Building Research Establishment, Garston, BRE Report BR230. Charles JA and Watts KS (2001) Building on Fill: Geotechnical

Aspects, 2nd edn. Building Research Establishment, Garston, BRE Report BR424. Clayton CI (2001) Managing Geotechnical Risk: Improving productivity in Building and Construction. Prepared for ICE under the DETR Partners in Technology Programme. Thomas Telford, London. Godfrey PS (1995) Control of Risk: A Guide to the Systematic Management of Risk from Construction. Construction Industry Research and Information Association, London, CIRIA Funders Report FR/CP/32 (republished as CIRIA Report No. 125, 1996). Government of Hong Kong SAR (2004) Fill Slope Recompaction: Investigation, Design and Construction Considerations. Civil Engineering and Development Department, HKSAR, GEO Technical Guidance Note No. 7 (TGN7). Hake SS (2007) Applications in engineering geology. Engineering Geology and Geotechnics at Portsmouth: Alumni Conference Proceedings, pp. 1619. Hong Kong Government (1977) Report on the Slope Failures at Sau Mau Ping, August 1976. Government of Hong Kong, pp. 653 (Reprinted 1995 and 2002 as GEO Report No. 86, Geotechnical Engineering Ofce, Hong Kong). Knill JL (1982) Moderators report on engineering geology and rock mechanics. Proceedings of the 7th South East Asian Geotechnical Conference, Hong Kong 2, 161162. Trenter NA and Charles JA (1996) A model specication for engineered ll for building purposes. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers Geotechnical Engineering 119(4): 219230.

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