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Contribution to geotechnical database for Tunis City

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 Contribution to geotechnical database for Tunis City
Nadia Mezni1, Mounir Bouassida1
Université de Tunis El Manar, Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Tunis, Laboratoire de
1

Recherche Ingénierie Géotechnique, LRI4ES03, BP37, Le Belvédère, 1002, Tunis, Tunisia

mounir.bouassida@enit.utm

Abstract. For soil characterization, the use of geotechnical tool is detrimenta lto
proceed for studying the stability of foundation for all civil engineering constructions.
Given the imperative importance of geotechnical soil investigation in the field of
construction, it becomes a must to perform it before hand. Considering the budgetary
constraints, timeline, as well as the necessity of the compliance with geotechnical
standards, it is necessary to proceed for a preliminary geotechnical investigation.
Accordingly, the geotechnical report is a key step for a primary geotechnical campaign.
By consequence, geotechnical database are becoming more significant. This paper
focuses on thecontribution to develop a Tunis City geotechnical database in the area of
the Republic Avenue that extends over a distance approximating more than two
kilometers. Collected data comprised pressuremeter borings, boreholeswith cored
samples, and results from SPT , cone penetration with piezocone and vane shear tests.
Keywords: Soil characterization, parameters, database.

1 Introduction

Geotechnical study is a vital step in civil engineering construction. This study is organized
and controlled by standards and regulations that manage the geotechnical mission and
itsrelated tests. The purpose of the regulations is to ensure that the tests are carried out
correctly. The information collected from geotechnical investigations forms a database that
can be used in preliminary geotechnical design of a certain project. İn fact, not only in situ
and laboratory tests data are required, geotechnical reports which resulted from the follow-up
and/or monitoring of related projects are equally foreseen. This work is a continuation of
prior investigations carried out in the geotechnical engineering research laboratory at the
National Engineering School of Tunis: Bouassida (2006), Klai and Bouassida (2009&2016).
Highlighting the usefulness of geotechnical data and contributing to a digital geotechnical
database constitute the main objectives of the present work.

2 Usefulness of geotechnical database

A database is a platform that stores a massive quantity of information related to a certain

activity in paper format or in digital format designed by a "software" computer tool. It can be
designed, saved, updated and,importantly,it can be viewed with easy access. The collected
information is the fundamental step for the set-up of the database. Reliability of stored data
depends on a number of factors such as their consistency and organization.
The purpose of collecting data is to gather all the information obtained from either surveys,
laboratory or in situ tests, geotechnical expertise reports, follow-up monitoring reports
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(settlement, pore pressure), research works like technical articles or previous works related to
completed projects. The purpose of a database is to enrich the knowledge of geotechnical soil
parameters and to facilitate the access by researchers or engineers to those data in order to
learn about site conditions. This allows them to take essential precautions when preparing
geotechnical campaigns. In addition, it helps while preparing technical and financial offers
for geotechnical companies. The database is, therefore, a reliable tool for carrying out the
mission of the preliminary geotechnical study since it provides a useful document
comprising recommendations of design.

3 Previous contributions for geotechnical database

Collected geotechnical data usually result from research programs like the contribution
detailed in the PhD by Mezni (2018). Gandolfi et al (2001) developed a geotechnical
database for the Cayenne Island. Further, the work by Kvasnicka and Matesic (2001) about
the elaboration of the Zagreb City geotechnical database for the assessment of soil behavior
in relationship to earthquakes. Vucetic et al (1994) had worked on the context of the
implementation of a geographic information system (GIS) project using data from
topographic and geotechnical maps to study the seismological context of the site. Jongmans
et al (2006) developed a geotechnical, geodetic and geophysical database in the Trièves clays
to predict the mechanisms of the landslide in order to protect the land from their undesirable
and costly impacts. Related to Tunis subsoil, Mongereau and Kaaniche (1988) had carried
out the design of a logic model called "Tunis-Data-Bank". This database organizes and stores
geological and geotechnical data concerning the City of Tunis. Other research has focused on
the use of "GIS" as a tool for processing and storing available data, such as the work
proposed by Wan-Mohamad and Abdul-Ghani (2011) and the statistical analysis method for
geotechnical data proposed by Uzielli (2008). As for the contribution by Child et al (2014),
this work aimed at several objectives, which promoted database and requires its update.

4 Design and implementation of a geological and geotechnical database.

Application to Tunis City
The well-known contribution elaborated by Mongereau and Kaaniche (1988), called "Tunis-
Data-Bank "was oriented for designing the data of Tunis City. This work consisted in the
development of a logical model based on two main steps of data processing. The first step,
named the design phase, the collected information is subject to a preliminary analysis by
distinguishing between the numerical information in terms of quantitative aspect and their
interpretations qualitatively.
After this preliminary analysis, the compilation of a second step with specific concerns for
the purpose of analysis. It is the logical definition phase to adopt the conceptual scheme of
database. The second phase comprises the definition of the following concepts:
- A number of attributes, called identifiers, enables the identification of the individual,
representing the geological and geotechnical item.
- The class (group) of individuals: represents a category that includes individuals with a
common characteristic.
- Attributes: related to all information included in the database.
- Attribute values: represent the quantitative/qualitative data of the attributes.

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It is also noted the contribution by El May (2011) for the geotechnical zoning of Tunis City.
From the collected geotechnical reports, the author removed the parameters related to soil
lithology, relief, bedrock level. Maps for Tunis City had been prepared such as: the map of
floodable areas, the map at risk of landslides, as well as the map of areas containing swelling
clay using the GIS has been developed.
5 Geotechnical investigation of the“Republic” Avenue
5.1 Invetigated area:

The studied area is located at the Republic Avenue, which approximately extends over a
length of 2.5 km (Figure 1). The study focused on data collected from geotechnical investi-
gations from reports related to the following projects: interchange Cyrus Le Grand, the Z4
interchange, the culture city, the national transportation company, UBCI bank, M. Attia park-
ing and the National building of 20 store.

5.2 Geotechnical database

Table 1 summarizes the investigation programs, which comprise in situ and laboratory tests.
In situ tests mainly included pressuremeter borings (PB) and boreholes (BH) with extraction
of cored samples and SPT tests. Those tests correspond to 88%.

Fig. 1.Map of the studied areaand location of related projects

139
 Table 1.Detailed in situ geotechnical investigations of the Republic Avenue.
Survey
Project Depth
Type Number
(m)
PB 61 to 69 21
Culture City
CB 60 to 70 11
PB 65 to 70 11
Interchange "Cyrus
CB 65 9
Le Grand"
PCPT 28 2
PB 68 to 70 15
CB 70 6
Interchange Z4 CPT 40 2
PCPT 40 3
VST 15 4
National PB 70 3
Transportation CB 70 2
Society VST 51 to 55 2
PB 60 2
UBCI bank
CB 60 2
Twenty store PB 70 6
building CB 25 to 70 4
PB 60 2
M. ATTIA Parking
CB 60 2

of the total investigation programs. The pressuremeter borings represent 55% of those pro-
grams. In addition, there were cone penetration tests (CPT), piezocone (CPTu) and vane
shear tests (VST) which only represent 12% of the total investigation programs. According
to Table 1, the investigation geotechnical campaigns comprised sixty pressuremeter borings,
thirty-six cored borings, six vane shear tests, two cone penetration tests, five piezocone. This
distribution shows that pressuremeter borings is the most widely used tool of investigation in
Tunisia during geotechnical investigations, Haffoudhi et al (2005). However, the SPT test is
not of current. SPT tests are practically absent in the present investigation since this area is
recognized as having a particular lithology essentially composed by a soft soil layers. For la-
boratory tests, the different geotechnical reports carry out various laboratory tests done for
one hundred fifty seven samples: grain size distributions (157 tests), oedometer (29 tests), di-
rect shear (7 tests), triaxial CU+u tests (13) and twenty-two (22) UU triaxial tests.

In order to develop the database of the Republic Avenue area, the geotechnical reports have
been stored in digital format. Collected geotechnical information served as input data into
Excel tables. Classification of those data follows the type of performed tests either in situ or
in laboratory. The development of web application enables storage, archive and the update of
geotechnical data. This application provides access to the data by following the steps dis-
played in Figure 3.

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 Fig. 2.Database application module

a) Choice of test type b) Choice of governorat

c) Choice of the zone d) Choice of the available project

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e)Access to data

Fig. 3.Steps to access the WEB application data

The web application represents an aide tool for the geotechnical characterization of the Re-
public axis. All data make it possible to propose correlations between geotechnical parame-
ters as reported by Mezni and Bouassida (2019). In fact, the consistency of stored data con-
stitutes a key factor for the effectiveness of web application. Only geotechnical information
of the Republic avenue (Tunis City) are included within the elaborated web application. In its
first version, not all collected information is visible; because a permission must be granted
from the owner of project, especially from the private side, to authorize data access. There-
fore, to ensure the continuity in enriching the content of the elaborated web application, one
recommends the involvement of a structure like the geotechnical engineering research labor-
atory of the National Engineering School of Tunis.

6 Conclusion
The geotechnical database is an effective tool for the preliminary study of projects. It allows
the geotechnical recognition of the site and the identification of possible risks. It also makes
it possible to propose correlations between geotechnical parameters in order to optimize
geotechnical investigations. For this reason, the development of geotechnical bases becomes
a necessity. The geotechnical database developed includes geotechnical data from major
national projects with social, economic and cultural values. The actual accessible database is
used for geotechnical investigation of the Republic Avenue area of Tunis City. It allowed to
developed a geotechnical profile based on core drilling. Also, correlations between the
geotechnical parameters were suggested.
Further, this database can also be used for other purposes such as the creation of geotechnical
maps or the study of the optimization of the foundation projected projects in this area.

142
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