ECV3304 – Foundation

SURFACE & SUBSURFACE INVESTIGATION Engineering

Table of Contents

1.0 A thin wall tube (Shelby tube) (Question 1)..........................................................................................2

2.0 Site Investigation for a Small Building to House Precision (Question 2)..............................................2

2.1 Objectives..........................................................................................................................................2

2.2 Condition...........................................................................................................................................2

2.3 Site Investigation Procedure..............................................................................................................2

2.4 Surface Investigation.........................................................................................................................3

2.5 Subsurface investigation....................................................................................................................3

3.0 A Site Consisting of Soft Clays Underline by Medium to Dense Sands & Gravels (Question 3)........14

3.1 Lightly Loaded Surface Footings.....................................................................................................15

3.2 Piled Foundation for a Heavy Mill..................................................................................................16

4.0 Determining the Magnitude of Undrained Cohesion in the Vertical and Horizontal Direction
(Question 4)...............................................................................................................................................18

List of Tables

Table 1: Common soil laboratory tests used in geotechnical engineering....................................................9

Table 2: Emprical method for Dr and qu of granular and fine soils based on SPT blow numbers.............13
Table 3: The friction angle and relative density of sand and silts as well as its relative density................13

List of Figures

Figure 1: Rotary Boring Equipment............................................................................................................5

Figure 2: Seismic Reflection Geometry.......................................................................................................7
Figure 3: The place of borehole by considering the location of large gravel...............................................8
Figure 4: Plate load test: Reaction by truss................................................................................................11
Figure 5: Standard penetration test............................................................................................................12

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1.0 A thin wall tube (Shelby tube) (Question 1)

A thin wall tube (Shelby tube) has an outside diameter of 76.2mm and an inside diameter of
73mm. What is the area ratio of the tube?

AR (%) = [(Do² - Di²)/ Di²] x 100

= [(76.2² - 73²) / 73²] x 100

= 8.96%

2.0 Site Investigation for a Small Building to House Precision (Question 2)

Describe briefly the site investigation that you would propose for the foundations of a small
building to house precision equipment, for which settlements must be kept to minimum. The site
is level and is known to consist of a considerable depth of glacial till consisting of clay with a
large content of gravel.

2.1 Objectives
Propose the site investigation for the foundations of a small building to house precision

2.2 Condition
The site is level and is known to consist of a considerable depth of glacial till consisting of clay
with a large content of gravel and boulders.equipment, for which settlement must be kept to
minimum.

2.3 Site Investigation Procedure

The site investigation is usually considered to be two types including the Surface investigation
and subsurface investigation. Each of the site investigation is explained carefully as below:

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2.4 Surface Investigation

Before any ground investigation work on-situ, a desk study should be conducted. This involves
collecting available relevant information about the site to assist in planning the subsequent field-
work. A study of geological maps and memoirs, if available, should give an indication of the
probable soil conditions of the site in question. If the site is extensive and if no existing
information is available, the use of aerial photographs, topographical maps or satellite imagery
can be useful in identifying existing features of geological significance.

In other words, Firstly, a desk study of the proposed site must be carried out to get all the
information or history about the site. A desk study is considered to be a good practice since it is
cheap and valuable; also, it helps plan a proper subsurface investigation for the site area. All the
information required for a desk study can be obtained in many ways such as aerial photos,
geological maps, topographical maps, geomorphologic maps and others.

Before the start of fieldwork an inspection of the site and the surroundings area should be made
on foot. River banks, existing excavations, quarries and road or railway cutting, for example, can
yield valuable information regarding the nature of the strata and groundwater excavations;
existing structures should be examined for signs of settlement damage. Previous experience of
conditions in area may have been obtained by adjacent owners or local authorities. Consideration
of all of the information obtained in the desk study enable the most suitable type of investigation
to be selected, and allows the fieldwork to be targeted to best characteristics of the site. This will
ultimately result in a more effective site investigation.

2.5 Subsurface investigation

A glacier is a mass of accumulated snow and ice that originates in a mountain range and takes
hundreds to thousands of years to form. The frozen water moves over the land, carving and
transforming the landscape. Therefore, glacial till is the rock and soil material that has been
carried by a glacier as it moves and is left behind when the glacier melts or retreats.

Glacial till is unsorted sediment deposited directly by glacial ice. Glacial till is a soft rock
identified by large angular rock fragments on the surface and within the soil. Because of their
huge mass, ice sheets flow outward as if they were huge piles of peanut butter. Glacial till is

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unsorted sediment deposited directly by glacial ice. Glacial till is a soft rock identified by large
angular rock fragments on the surface and within the soil. Because of their huge mass, ice sheets
flow outward as if they were huge piles of peanut butter. As the ice moves, it pushes along soil,
bedrock chunks, and other sediments and surface materials. Glaciers are extremely effective at
eroding and transporting these materials and everything from clay- to boulder-sized particles are
moved as one large mass. As a result, ground-up bedrock, plant fragments, and even animal
remains can be found in glacial till. Glacial till can make excellent farmland. As the ice sheet
travelled southward, it scraped away the existing soil and rock down to the bedrock. The soil and
rock were carried in the ice until it melted, at which time the soil was re-deposited as a well-
graded mixture of gravel, sand, silt, and clay called glacial till.

Based on the desk study that has been carried out, a method of subsurface investigation is chosen
to identify the subsurface distribution of materials in each layers of the soil, and also to
determine depth of groundwater level; in addition to that, to determine the properties of soil
below the ground surface.4 Based on the information given, the site of proposed area is level and
is known to consists of considerable depth of glacial till consisting of clay with a large content of
gravel and boulders. Also, the settlement of the soil must be kept to a minimum.

Corresponding to this question, there are several investigations that can be carried out but here
each of them would be explained in details and at the end it would be concluded which method is
the suitable method to be used compared to other methods.

Firstly Auger boring method is one of the suitable methods that can be carried out regarding the
subsurface investigation for light structures such as a small house; moreover, they are very
simple, economic and they give representable disturbed samples. However, respective to this
case or this question, where gravel and boulders exist below the ground in the site area, auger
borings will not be suitable as they cannot penetrate beyond large boulders of rock. Also the test
pit is not advised to be conducted since they cannot penetrate beyond large boulders of rock in
addition to the reason that the penetration depth is very limited. That is why they are not
recommended to be conducted as soil exploration for this site investigation.

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After looking at the condition of question and analysis we have done, it could be concluded that
rotary boring or drilling is the suitable method since there is a large content of boulders and
gravels. Rotary boring or drilling is a very fast method of advancing holes in rocks and soils.
Figure 1 shows the schematic diagram of rotary boring equipment. In this method, the borehole
is advanced by rotating a hollow drill rod, which has a cutting bit at its lower end. The drill rod is
rotated by a drill head, provided at the top of the drill rod. The drill head consists of a rotary
drive mechanism and an arrangement for applying downward pressure.

Figure 1: Rotary Boring Equipment

As the drill rod is rotated, the cutting bit shears of chips of the material penetrated. A drilling
mud, usually a water solution of bentonite with or without other admixtures, is continuously
forced down the hollow drill rod. There are following advantages that this method could be used
for the site investigation mentioned above compared to others as listed down below:

• It is more rapid, in general, than the other methods of boring.

• It also causes less disturbance to the soil during sampling. Due to this reason, its
applications are increasing day by day.

• It has strong capability to drill into any type of soil or rock including even hard rocks and
boulders.

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In contrast, one of the disadvantages of using this technique is if the soil contains large gravel
and boulders, it will rotate beneath the drill bits and cannot be easily broken. Thus, a nest of
gravel will continually remain at the bottom of the borehole, preventing or delaying the progress
of advancing the borehole. Therefore to tackle this problem in order to maximize the efficiency
of use of Rotary drilling system, Seismic refraction method is required to be done first since the
layer beneath. Seismic refraction is a geophysical principle governed by Snell's Law. Used in the
fields of engineering geology, geotechnical engineering and exploration geophysics, seismic
refraction traverses (seismic lines) are performed using a seismograph(s) and/or geophone(s), in
an array and an energy source. The seismic refraction method utilizes the refraction of seismic
waves on geologic layers and rock/soil units in order to characterize the subsurface geologic
conditions and geologic structure. The methods depend on the fact that seismic waves have
differing velocities in different types of soil (or rock): in addition, the waves are refracted when
they cross the boundary between different types (or conditions) of soil or rock. The methods
enable the general soil types and the approximate depth to strata boundaries, or to bedrock, to be
determined. The figure 2 below shows the seismic reflection geometry:

Figure 2: Seismic Reflection Geometry

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This method enables the general soil types and the approximate depths to strata boundaries, or to
bedrock to be determined. From this method, two important information is expected to be
retrieved. The first one is the layer beneath the large boulder. The second one is the depth and
area of the large boulders underneath the soil.

After using the seismic refraction method, the structure underneath the soil can be determined.
What has to be taken into consideration is that the soil underneath the large boulders are
classified to be soft soil such as soft clay layer, the sampling should be conducted to take out the
sample to be tested to check if in case of settlement it is considered to be safe. This is because
even though large boulder is hard to settle, it doesn’t mean the soil below it will not be settle
throughout time especially when it comes to formation of soft soil such as soft clay layer
underneath of the large boulders. Moreover it has to be taken into consideration to drill the rotary
boring system where the drilling system would not pass through a very large sized hard boulders
so as to avoid the possibility in decreasing in efficiency of rotary boring machine and to avoid
occurrence of any disturbance or drilling system breakdown. The identification of the place
where the rotary boring needs to be installed would be determined by Seismic refraction method
analysis as explained above which could from few meters to few hundred meters far from where
the site is located. The place of borehole is indicated as below:

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Figure 3: The place of borehole by considering the location of large gravel

In that place, there is no hard boulder especially in large size beneath the surface so this would
decrease the possibility of breaking down and increasing the efficiency of rotary boring system.
Hence, sampling will be done at that area to retrieve the same sample that lie underneath the
large boulders. . The borehole should be more than the depth of the large boulders in order to
retrieve the soil sample below it to ensure the safety of settlement rate of soil below the large
boulders. The sample will be transferred to the lab to be tested and the results would be recorded
accordingly. The test will give several information as shown below:

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Table 1: Common soil laboratory tests used in geotechnical engineering

Plate Load Test is a field test for determining the ultimate bearing capacity of soil and the likely
settlement under a given load. The Plate Load Test basically consists of loading a steel plate
placed at the foundation level and recording the settlements corresponding to each load
increment. The test load is gradually increased till the plate starts to sink at a rapid rate. The total
value of load on the plate in such a stage divided by the area of the steel plate gives the value of
the ultimate bearing capacity of soil.

To obtain more accurate loading for in situ settlement of soil layer, plate load test is the best
option be carried out in both where there is no significant size boulders based on the reflection
seismic test as geophysical method and where there is a large boulder underneath. This is
because the hard structure of the large boulder might not give us the accurate reading of bearing
capacity and settlement. The soil needs to be excavated until the footing level where the large
boulder reached. Respective to plate load test type reaction truss method would be selected. In

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case of reaction truss method, a steel truss of suitable size is provided to bear the reaction of the
hydraulic jack. The truss is firmly anchored to the ground by means of steel anchors and guy
ropes are provided for ensuring its lateral stability. When the load is applied to the test plate, it
starts sinking slowly. The settlement of the plate is recorded to an accuracy of 0.02 mm with the
help of sensitive dial gauges. At least two dial gauges are used to account for differential
settlement. The dial gauges are placed at diametrically opposite ends of the plate and one dial
gauge is mounted on independently supported references beam or datum rod. As the plate sinks,
the ram of the dial gauge moves down and the settlement is recorded. The magnitude of load is
indicated on the load-gauge of the hydraulic jack. The static load would be applied in regular
increment of about 2KN or 1/5th of the expected ultimate bearing capacity, whichever is less.
Settlement should be observed for each increment of load after an interval of 1, 4, 10, 20, 40 and
60 minutes and thereafter at hourly intervals until the rate of settlement becomes less than 002
mm per hour. By comparing the results obtained from the two areas as mentioned earlier this in
situ test can give us better understanding of the behavior of soil. The picture below is showing
the figure of reaction truss method of plate load test.

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Figure 4: Plate load test: Reaction by truss

In addition to that, bearing capacity in the site can be tested by using standard penetration test
(SPT). SPT also would provide us with disturbed sample. SPT can be used to put a relationship
between Penetration Resistance and Strength of Soils. The method of carrying out is as below:

1. The split spoon sampler is connected to a string of drill rods and is lowered into the bottom of
the bore hole which has been drilled and cleaned in advance.

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2. The sampler is driven into the soil strata to a maximum depth of 450 mm by making use of a
65 kg weight falling freely from a height of 75 cm on to an anvil fixed on the top of drill rod.
The weight is guided to fall along a guide rod. The weight is raised and allowed to fall by means
of a manila rope, one end tied to the weight and the other end passing over a pulley on to a hand
operated winch or a motor driven cathead.

3. The number of blows required to penetrate each of the successive 150 mm depths is counted to
produce a total penetration of 450 mm.

4. To avoid seating errors, the blows required for the first 150 mm of penetration are not taken
into account; blows required to only increase the penetration from 150 mm to 450 mm constitute
the N-value. The picture below is showing the picture of SPT test.

Figure 5: Standard penetration test

This SPT test would indicate relative density and friction angle, untrained shear strength and
direct estimate of settlement of clay as well as sandy and silty soil. The tables regarding the
assessment of shear strength parameters of the layer of soil tested under SPT in this site are
shown as below:
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Table 2: Emprical method for Dr and qu of granular and fine soils based on SPT blow numbers

Table 3: The friction angle and relative density of sand and silts as well as its relative density

In conclusion, the major problem faced in this construction is the settlement causing by the
amount of clay and especially underneath the large size boulders and in addition to that the
difficulty that might be faced during the implementation of soil exploration to ensure the safety
of machinery and work equipment regarding the rotary drilling system. As explained above the,
by using the geophysical method of Seismic refraction method the safety of machinery and work
equipment regarding the rotary drilling system for soil exploration would be ensured.
Furthermore, the two sampling method including plate load test and SPT test are suggested to be
conducted in order to determine the relative density, friction angle, untrained shear strength,
direct estimate of settlement of clay as well as more importantly the bearing capacity to check

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safety factor of clay in terms of the settlement in short-term and long-term. If all the tests passes
the safety criteria, the site is safe to carry out construction.

3.0 A Site Consisting of Soft Clays Underline by Medium to Dense Sands &
Gravels (Question 3)
The site is expected to consist of soft clays underline at the depth of from 12m to 18m by
medium to dense sand and gravels. Thus, site investigation is carried out to ensure the actual
condition of this site.

For this project, there are 3 basic stages to be carried out;

1. Desk study
2. Survey
3. Subsurface Investigation

1. Desk study

 It is the first stage in this site investigation. At this stage, all the information of the site
that is already available has to be studied and analyzed.
 Large scale maps of the proposed site need to be produced at the beginning of this stage.
Also, from the maps, it is important to check all the existing structures around the site
area and to determine whether they are man-made or natural, or anything that may affect
the future building.
 Besides, geological maps, other written records, and local knowledge of the site area can
be used, which will help identify the likely nature of the subsoil and determine the extent
of difficult ground conditions.

2. Site Survey

 The second step for this site investigation is surveying. Usually, the surveying is
conducted by walk-over. From this step, we can get more information such determining

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the weather conditions at the area, potential hazard that may occur there, and obtain more
records on photographs about the area.
 Thus, from all the above, a detailed drawings of all the items can be produced which
includes items such as trees, existing buildings, etc. and these may give us some changes
on our designed building.

3. Subsurface Investigation

For this project, there are 2 cases that we have to handle, which are;

a) Lightly loaded surface footings

b) Piled foundations for a heavy mill

3.1 Lightly Loaded Surface Footings

The third stage in the site investigation is a subsurface investigation. For case (a), the
foundation must be located properly so as not to be adversely affected by outside influence
(adjacent structures, water, frost action, significant soil volume change, underground defects).
Thus detailed information is needed before it is set up such as:

 Depth of the bearing stratum.

 Frost action.
 Ground water location.
 Existence of soil which exhibit volume change.
 Adjacent structures.
 Underground defects (caves, utility pipes).

Mackintosh Probe Test is suggested to be used to carry out subsurface investigation. The
main purpose of the test is to provide an indication of the relative density of granular deposit. The
test is suggested mainly because of its widespread use; also, it is simple and inexpensive. The
soil strength parameters which can be inferred are approximate, but may give a useful guide in
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ground conditions where it may not be possible to obtain borehole samples of adequate quality like gravels,
sands, silts, clay containing sand or gravel and weak rock. Since the data collected is for a lightly
loaded surface footing, the complex test for subsurface investigation such as drilling and boring
is not necessary.
Another alternative approach to carry out the subsurface investigation would be a vane shear
test; the vane shear test is usually used to determine the undrained shear strength parameters of
soft clays. The advantages of this test is that it is very suitable for soft clays as soft clays can be
greatly disturbed if they were tested using any other method. The vane shear test can be carried
at the bottom of a borehole and the test may be repeated at 0.5 m intervals. Boring can be done
using a helical or a post-hole auger.

3.2 Piled Foundation for a Heavy Mill

For case (b), where it involves heavy mill construction, it is important to determine all
characteristics of the soil below it, since it will be catastrophic if there is a soil failure beneath it.
The suggested method for soil sampling is by using the boring method. As boring can be divided
into many types, it is suggested to use wash boring method. Wash boring is the most common
method for advancing a boring because the technique is applicable to any soil, the depth is
limited only by the equipment employed, samples can be taken with a variety of tools, and in situ
tests can be performed as the borehole is advanced.
For the soil strata that contain soft clays, an undisturbed sample is more preferred due to a
better cohesiveness of the soil. Undisturbed sample is one where the condition of the soil in the
sample is close enough to the conditions of the soil in-situ to allow tests of structural properties
of the soil to be used to approximate the properties of the soil in-situ. Samples of soils for
undisturbed soil can be obtained through ‘Thin wall tube’ method.
For the soil strata which contains medium to dense sands and gravels, it is preferred to obtain
disturbed samples. A disturbed sample is the one in which the structure of the soil has been
changed sufficiently that tests of structural properties of the soil will not be representative of in-
situ conditions. The properties of the soil grains (e.g., grain size distribution, atterberg limits, and
possibly the water content) can be accurately determined. The sample of soils can be obtained by
using ‘Split spoon sampling’ method in SPT.

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The samples obtained from the site are later sent to the laboratory to be further tested. The
tests suggested for the soil sample are:
 Classification tests
 Chemical Tests
 Compaction Tests
 Shear strength and triaxial tests
 Consolidation Tests
 Permeability Tests
As an alternative approach to boring a good and effective method would also be Cone
Penetration Test (CPT), the CPT measures the side friction and resistance to penetration at all
times, which can be used later to determine the properties of the soil. The CPT has an advantage
such that no boring, or cutting of the soil is required. However, the only downside to the CPT
would be the fact that no sampling is involved and side friction and penetration resistance are
measured instantaneously, which means no sampling is retrieved to the laboratory for further
checking of soil properties; in addition to that, the CPT maybe considered quite costly.

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4.0 Determining the Magnitude of Undrained Cohesion in the Vertical

and Horizontal Direction (Question 4)

Vane shear tests have been carried out in a saturated clay deposit in order to measure the
undrained cohesion. The vane used was 100 mm long and 50 mm diameter. At a particular
location the undrained cohesion was measured at 50kPa, the calculation being based on the
assumption that the strength was equal in all directions. Other test information, however, showed
that the clay deposit was anisotropic with respect to strength, the undrained cohesion in the
vertical direction being four times the undrained cohesion in the horizontal direction. For the test
location mentioned above determine the magnitudes of the undrained cohesion in the vertical and
horizontal directions.

Solution:
The general expression used to give the relationship between the Torque and undrained cohesion
can be given as follows:

d2 h d3
T =π C u ( +β )
2 4
Where,

Cu = undrained shear strength of soil

β = 2/3 for uniform distribution of shear at the edges (fully mobilized strength)
= 1/2 for triangular distribution of shear at the edges
= 3/5 for parabolic distribution of shear at the edges

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In this case,
Cv

Ch

Given that:
i. d=50mm = 0.05 m
ii. h=100mm = 0.1 m
iii. Cu=50kPa
iv. β = 2/3
The calculation can be carried out as follows:
d2 h d3
T =π C u ( +β )
2 4
0.052 × 0.1 2 0.053
T =π 50 ( + × )
2 3 4
T =0.02291 kN /m2

However, the clay deposit was anisotropic and the undrained cohesion in the vertical direction
being four times the undrained cohesion in the horizontal direction (Cv = 4Ch).

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d2 h d3
T =π C v ( )
2 ( )
+ π Ch β
4
Substitute Cv = 4Ch
d2h d3
T =π 4 C h ( )
2 ( )
+π Ch β
4
2 3
0.05 ×0.1
0.02291=π 4 C ( h
2 )+ π C ( 23 × 0.054 )
h

C h=14 KN /m 2
C v =4 Ch =4 × 14=56 KN /m2

Hence, the magnitude of the undrained cohesion in vertical direction, C v is 56kPa and the
magnitude of undrained cohesion in horizontal direction, Ch is 14kPa.

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