THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, SRI LANKA, PART II] REPEAT EXAMINATION- MARCH 2017 305 Geotechnical Engineering TENSE Answer FIVE questions only - Time allowed: 3 Hours Question 1; A proposed expressway is to be constructed over a low lying area. As this area is in the flood plain and frequently subject to flooding, it was decided to raise the finished road level by 6.0 m from the existing ground level. Proposed fill consists of a 1.0 m thick gravel blanket and a 5.0 m thick well compacted lateritic soil fill. The bulk unit weights of the gravel and lateritic soil can be taken as 20 KN/m? and 18 KN/m? respectively. An extensive site investigation was carried out using several bore holes and the subsoil condition was idealized based on the results obtained from the site investigation as shown in Figure QU.1. It was revealed that soft peaty soil layer of thickness 6.0 m overlies dense sand. Water table was found to be at the ground surface. The cross section through the natural ground and the proposed road embankment is illustrated in Figure QU.1. The void ratio versus effective stress graph obtained through laboratory oedometer tests on undisturbed samples of peat is presented in Figure QU.2. Coefficient of consolidation was found to be 2.0 m2/year. The bulk unit weight of soft peaty soil is found to be 14.0 KN/m®. The ground water table is found to be at the existing ground level. The unit weight of water can be taken as 9.81 KN/m?, You may refer Table QI.1 and Figure Q1.3 for necessary Ty values. a) Determine whether the peaty soil is normally consolidated or over consolidated. [2.0 Marks} b) What would be the expected primary consolidation settlement of the peaty soil due to construction of the embankment? {5.0 Marks} ©) If permissible settlement after surfacing of the road is 300 mm, estimate how long should the contractor wait to start the surfacing? [5.0 Marks] 4) To monitor the actual behavior of peaty soil, a stand pipe type piezometer is installed at a depth of 1.5m in the peat layer. What would be the expected water level in the piezometer after 1 year? [5.0 Marks] ©) Estimate the secondary consolidation settlement after one log, cycle of primary consolidation (t,/t,). The modified secondary compression index (Ct) is 0.02 [3.0 Marks}Embankment (Lateritic soil fill) 7718 kN/m> Gravel blanket_7=20kN/m? Dense sand Figure Q1.1 Cross section of earth embankment Loge (kNin') Figure Q1.2 Void ratio versus effective stress graph Table Q1.1 Variation of Ty with U| | ° ° 5 1 0.00008 52 oa12 | 2 0.0008 53 0221 | i 007s 4 0230 | 4 0.00126 55 0.239 5 9.90196 56 0248 6 00283, 37 0257 7 0.00885 58 0.257 8 0.00502 59 0.276 9 0.00636 50 0.286 10 0.00785 a 0297 a 0.0085 a 0307 2 oou3. 0318 3 0.0133, 64 0328 Mu 01st 6 0304 15 oor 6 0352 16 0201 a 0364 iw oozer a oar? B 0.0054 e 0390 9 0.0088 7 0403 2 014 m oai7 2 o.0346 mm * asst 2 0.0380 B 0.46 zB cons: ” 0461 m4 0.0482 % oar % 491 % 0.498 % 0.0581 n ost 2 0572 % 0529 2 0.0615 2 0587 2 0.0660 20 0567 30 oo707 81 0588 3h 0.0754 2 0610 3 0.0803, s 0.683 3 0.0855, Py 0.658 57 oar 8% 0.684 35 0.0362 % oni 36 102 a o7s2 a oxo? 88 774 | 38 ons 89 0.809 3 one 0 ose 0 0126 es ogo a 132 9% 0.938 2 0.138 FS 0998 Pc 0145 % 1.055 4 0.52 95 1129 45 0.58 % 1219 6 0.66 a 1336 a 0473 98 41500 8 0181 % 7a. a oss 100 ° 50 0.197.