December 14th, 2009

Attention: Mr.Khalil Elsalfiti

Assessment

of

the

subsoil

conditions

and

potential

Soil

Improvement Works for the proposed Jaber Al Ahmed City and Northwest of Slubikhat construction project, Kuwait.

Dear Mr.Khalil, In accordance with your recent instructions, we have conducted a preliminary geotechnical review for the above-noted site and are pleased to present this report. A final and detailed report shall be sent in the upcoming week. We trust this information meets your approval. Please do not hesitate to contact us, should any questions arise. Yours very truly, Abdul Karim Elsalfiti, Eng. M.A.Sc

Introduction
This report discusses the findings of a geotechnical study carried out at the site of a proposed construction of two new cities, namely Jaber Al Ahmed and Northwest Slubikhat. The purpose of this study is to provide recommendations concerning bearing capacity, soil improvement, groundwater conditions and other pertinent information which may affect construction.

Foundations
Given the very loose nature and excessive thickness of silt deposits throughout the site, this precludes the use of conventional strip footings and spread footings for the proposed structures. The loose silty sand strata can offer only marginal allowable bearing capacity and the anticipated total and differential settlements may exceed the permissible criteria of the future villas and buildings. As recommended by the Kuwait Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW), ground improvement techniques such as dynamic compaction and dynamic replacement could render conditions acceptable to accommodate the use of conventional shallow foundations and paved areas. The dynamic compaction process consists of applying high intensity impacts by dropping heavy tamper weights of several tons from heights up to 25m, but generally limited to 5 to 15m for practical and economical constraints. The amount of compaction treatment is dependent on the in-situ soil

conditions and design requirements as given by the PAHW. These high energy impacts provide a rearrangement and densification of soil particles which is due to the inducement of the shock waves that penetrate the soil strata to a considerable depth and subsequently leads to a substantial increase in the bearing capacity, as well as reducing settlement after compaction. Dynamic replacement is generally applied in soft, saturated cohesive soils and soft organic soils. The technique involves the creation of holes from a falling mass and subsequently replacing those holes with granular material such as crushed stone or gravel, thus creating columns at depths of 2.5 8 m below the ground level. The latter creates a drainage pattern for the surrounding soils which hence allows seepage through these columns.

Allowable Bearing Capacity and Resulting Settlements

Allowable bearing capacity values in the order of 200 kpa to 250 kpa can usually be achieved by the dynamic compaction method for loose silty soils as those found at the site. Assuming an allowable and stress spread in that order of magnitude, within shallow

foundations

(strip

footings)

founded

successfully

dynamically compacted soil should settle well within the standard tolerances of 25mm total and 19mm differential. However, due to the size of the anticipated buildings and the future surcharging due to the lift up of the site and the imminent loading of the strip footings, significant settlement of the entire structures area is anticipated. It is considered likely that the dynamic compaction process would create a dense pad of a thickness of 0.5m to 1.5m over the site of the proposed villas and buildings. The dense pad should bridge any differential settlements depending and should thus settle as a unit (i.e., behave in a manner similar to a mat foundation).

Two types of settlement are expected to occur: elastic and consolidation. The former would occur within the cohesionless silt and sand deposits. These should occur rapidly, mainly after dynamic compaction or during construction period. Consolidation settlement is related to the clayey silt layers which were found at deeper heights and is more a long-term one, given the impermeable nature of such deposits. The placement of granular filled pillars shall accelerate consolidation of these soft layers. An adequate time should be given for these layers to be properly consolidated prior to the commencement of construction. In general, 30-45 days are given prior to construction in order to avoid excessive settlements of the anticipated foundations.

Preloading Preloading the site with a platform, as suggested by Kuwait Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW), would greatly reduce the anticipated settlements and hence improve bearing capacity of the existing subsoils. A surcharge of a layer of 1.0m to 1.5m of good quality granular fill could be placed over the footprint of the future Buildings/Villas, before construction. Prior to the placement of the fill, the topsoil layer should be removed, as to ensure the benefits of preloading and to allow for proper dynamic compaction and dynamic replacement. Materials used to create a platform layer shall meet the required criteria, as stated by Kuwait Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW): Free from debris, vegetation, organic matter and clay lumps. Percentage of fines not to exceed 30%. Plasticity index shall not to exceed 8%.

As for the materials that will be used for the dynamic replacement pillars, permeable granular materials are mandatory in order to allow for proper drainage of the nearby saturated clayey silt deposits found below the groundwater table. The PAHW requires the following criteria for these materials: Free from debris, vegetation, organic matter and clay lumps Percentage of fines not to exceed 10%. Plasticity index = Non Plastic.

The thickness of the platform will depend on the groundwater level. The elevation of the platform should have a minimum elevation of 1.5 1.7 m above the final elevation of the water table, as revealed in the borehole logs. The following scheme shows a typical platform layer that was put in place after removing approximately 0.5 m of top soil and organic material. Taking a random borehole log JBH-151, where the final water table was found at 1.17m, Hence: 1.17 0.5 = 0.67m removal of top soil. 1.7 0.67m = 1.03m final water level. this number represents the thickness of the platform 0.67m represents the depth of the water table after

needed to keep a distance of 1.7 between the platform elevation and the

New Ground Level

Initial Ground Level 0.5m removal of topsoil and organic material

Platform Layer = 1.03m

Water Level at 1.17m below initial ground level

Dynamic compaction/replacement is then conducted once the platform is placed. In order to have adequate results, the latter will require appropriate pounder weight, height of drop, impact grid spacing, and number of passes for a given site. Table 1 of the Technical Specifications given by the PAHW provides these data for each zone. From the latter, the maximum depth of improvement (dmax) can be achieved through the following equation: dmax = n (WH)0.5 Where: W is the dropped weight in tons. H is the height of drop in meters. n is coefficient depending on the soil type and level of saturation, ranging from 0.3 to 0.8. The PAHW recommends the n value = 0.4 for the entire site. However, it is important to mention that this factor should be subject to variation depending on the type of soil layer encountered during dynamic compaction.

We trust that this preliminary report meets with your present requirements. A final and detailed geotechnical report shall be handed in the upcoming week. Please do not hesitate to contact me should any questions arise.

Yours very truly, Abdul Karim Elsalfiti, Eng. M.A.Sc