Proceedings of Indian Geotechnical Conference

December 13-15, 2012, Delhi (Paper No.B219)

Investigations, Design and Execution of Soil Nailing Under Varied Geotechnical Environment

S.B. Suri, Chief Consultant, AECS Engineering & Geotechnical Services Pvt. Ltd., Noida, sbsuri@aecs.co
Nakul Dev, Senior Consultant, AECS Engineering & Geotechnical Services Pvt. Ltd., Noida, enndev@aecs.co
Thomas Joseph, GM (Technical), AECS Engineering & Geotechnical Services Pvt. Ltd., Noida, thomasj@aecs.co
Sanjeev Trehan, Senior Manager, AECS Engineering & Geotechnical Services Pvt. Ltd., Noida, strehan@aecs.co

ABSTRACT: Soil Nailing Technique is gaining popularity for stabilizing insitu natural & steep cut slopes. It is increasingly being
employed in urban environment for protection of underground structures like multilevel basements, underground parking lots &
shopping malls. Soil nailing involves investigations for soil parameters, analysis of slope using geotechnical software with input
parameters determined during field & laboratory investigations to determine a factor of safety and execution of soil nailing
technique using details such as diameter, spacing & length of nails obtained in analysis. Anchoring with wire mesh and shotcreting
for facial treatment/aesthetics is also often resorted to. This paper presents case histories of 3 Nos. projects wherein AECS
Engineering & Geotechnical Services Pvt. Ltd. (AECS) was associated with investigations, design & analysis and installation of
nails in one project, while in the other two projects, only investigations & execution of the soil nailing system were the
responsibility of AECS. These projects were located in different regions of the country and had varied geotechnical settings in
terms of soil type, shear strength parameters and pull out strength. Detailed methodology, analysis and steps for installation of nails
have been presented for each of the presented case studies. Based on experience gained in investigations, design, analysis and
installation, points needing special attention are enumerated.
.

INTRODUCTION
Soil nailing consists of reinforcing the soil mass by introducing
a series of thin elements called ‘Nails’ to resist tension, bending
and shear forces. The reinforcing elements are made of round
cross-section steel bars called Nails which are installed sub-
horizontally and are either driven or grouted in pre-bored holes.
Soil nailing technique has been used for stabilising both insitu
natural and steep cut slopes. In urban areas, this technique is
also used to construct temporary or permanent retaining
structures to support the ground close to neighbouring
structures that is sensitive to deform, for protection of
underground structures like multi level basements, underground
parking lots, malls and other commercial & residential high rise
buildings and has proved to be a suitable & economical option.
It is reported in the literature that this technique can save about
10% to 30 % of the cost as compared to other retaining
structures [1&2]. AECS experience supports this statement.
INVESTIGATIONS
Prerequisite for undertaking analysis of slope to be stabilized is
determination of the index & engineering properties of soil.
Besides, co-efficient of friction between nail and surrounding
soil (driven nails) or between grout and soil (grouted nails) is
required. A comprehensive soil investigations programme is
planned to obtain the required parameters and/or adopted from
available soil report. To determine the coefficient of friction,
pull out tests are performed in the slope cut to a desired angle
with the horizontal.
ANALYSIS & DESIGN
First of all, stability of an unsupported slope is checked by
evaluating the factor of safety of the unreinforced slope,
wherein a large number (of the order of 10000 slip circles) are
analysed using the Bishop’s simplified method. The factor of
safety value of less than 1.00 indicates that the slope is in an
unstable condition and needs to be designed for stability.
The design of the reinforced slope consists of determining the
factor of safety of the slope for various combinations of support
systems to ensure adequate factor of safety and to find an
optimized solution. The tensile capacity of the driven/grouted
nails is assumed to be adequate enough so that component
failure does not occur. The parameters for driven/grouted nails
which are variable in the design process are:
1. Spacing of the nails
2. Length of the nails
3. Inclination of the nails from the horizontal
Use of commercial software was made in the case studies
presented below for analyzing the unreinforced as well as
reinforced slopes.
INSTALLATION OF NAILS
General Arrangement of Nailing System
General arrangement for stabilization of the slope of excavation
using soil nailing technique with driven/grouted nails comprises
of:
S.B. Suri, Nakul Dev, Thomas Joseph & Sanjeev Trehan
 Soil nailing normally starts from the top of the slope and
gradually proceeds towards bottom of the slope in stages.
Each stage is normally between 1.5m to 2.0 m deep.
 Shotcrete (of adequate thickness) is applied on any layer
comprising of loose debris (normally removed) all along
the periphery of the area to be stabilized in case the loose
debris is to be left in place.
 Face of the excavation to the designed slope is made for a
width of 10 m and a bench wide enough to accommodate
driving hammer at the bottom at each stage. On completion
of nailing of first full length of an excavated face in the
same plane, next stage is excavated and nailed. The
process is repeated till the bottom of proposed excavation
is reached. Completion process shall include nailing, fixing
of steel mesh and welding/bolting of bearing plates to each
nail.
 The driven nails as per nailing scheme for stabilization of
cut slope are installed with a ‘Pneumatic Hammer- Head’
without prior boring to accommodate the nail upto desired
length. The nail is driven at an angle of 10-15 degree to the
horizontal [1].
 Based on above procedure, the calculated number of top
layers of ‘Driven Nails’ of given length and specified
diameter at designed spacing both in vertical & horizontal
directions as per approved design are installed.
 Fixing of steel mesh of designed gauge with specified
opening size to protect the surface erosion.
 Fixing bearing plates of as per design (say 200x200x6 mm)
to each nail.
 Finishing with shotcrete of suitable proportions & adequate
thickness for surface protection Shotcrete provides a
continuous supporting layer over the excavated face that
can also serve to fill voids and cracks on the excavated
face [3].
CASE STUDIES OF SOIL NAILING
Case Study 1: Slope Stabilisation of Foundation Excavation
at the ‘GYS Vision’ Site
Background & Project Details
M/s Dignity Buildcon Pvt. Ltd is constructing a high rise
commercial complex in Sector – 62, Gurgaon. During
excavation of the foundation, a localized slope failure occurred
on the slopes of western & eastern faces. It was observed that
seepage of effluent from a close by surface sewage drain
(Nallah) running parallel to the excavated area was charging
into the sub-soil mass. This, along with high water table
condition, was causing instability of the slope.
To stabilize the affected slope surface of about 500m 2 and some
similar patches of the failure on the excavated face just on the
opposite side of the slide on the nallah side, Soil Nailing
Technique was employed.
The project site is located on Golf link extension road of Sector
- 62, Gurgaon (Haryana). The proposed site was excavated with
the help of heavy duty excavating machines in stages. The
water table was encountered at about 5m depth from the
existing ground level. Since the water table was encountered at
shallow depth, numerous pumps were installed for dewatering
the entire area.
Investigations
6 Nos. pull out tests were conducted on the cut slope at
different elevations. Tests were performed in accordance with
Indian Standard Code [4]. A special Central Hole Jack in which
ram has a central hole throughout the height of the jack was
employed. To perform these tests, suitable scaffolding
arrangements were made for installation of these nails. The test
results were used to find out apparent coefficient of friction or
actual pull out strength of the nail which was used in the design
of the soil nail system.
Design & Analysis
The design of the soil nailing system was carried out using
SLIDE software first for unreinforced section which gave a
Factor of Safety (FOS) of 0.7. Therefore, grouted nails
consisting of slotted GI pipes with a diameter of 50 mm with
suitable subsurface drainage system was considered which gave
optimum FOS of 1.26. For analysis, it is assumed that the
grouted nails will be having an effective diameter of 100 mm
(an increase in the diameter by 25 mm has been assumed due to
the grout percolating in the adjoining soil).The input parameters
adopted in design are as follows:
Unit Weight = 16.2 kN/m3, Pullout strength – adhesion = 5
kN/m, Pullout strength – friction angle = 30°, Bond length =
100%, Shear strength model – Linear.
Fig. 1 depicts simulated excavation profile. Factors of Safety
(FOS) for reinforced section are indicated in Fig. 2. Provision
of 50 mm dia. and 10.0 m long grouted nails (GI slotted pipes)
installed at an inclination of 15° from the horizontal (downward
direction) with 2.0 m c/c spacing (both in-plane and out-plane)
stabilizes the excavated cut-slope of 16.5 m height and 11.0 m
width and 1H : 1.5V slope was found to be satisfactory.
Additionally, a sub surface drainage system was also installed.
Need for diversion of Nallah water was emphasized. In this
project, investigations, design & analysis as well as execution
of the designed soil nailing system were carried out by AECS.
S.B. Suri, Nakul Dev, Thomas Joseph & Sanjeev Trehan
Fig. 1: Simulated Excavation Profile
Fig. 2: Factor of safety contours for the reinforced slope
(effective drainage system)
Case Study 2: Stabilisation of Vertical Slopes for
Construction of Road Under Bridge at West End of Old
Yamuna Bridge No. 249, Delhi Shahdara Section
Background & Project Details
Delhi PWD constructed a Bypass ring road from Salimgarh
Fort to Velodrome road as a part of Commonwealth Games
2010 works. A road under bridge (RUB) consisting of 3 RCC
boxes was proposed under a railway track. RUB was proposed
at a location where rail level (RL 214.06) is about 6.00m above
Natural Ground Level (208.46m) and the rail embankment is
contained between two long rubble stone masonry retaining
walls. The said RUB was constructed by box pushing
technique. The precast box segments were required to be
pushed in highly unstable cohesionless sandy soil strata. The
rubble masonry retaining walls on reception & exit ends of the
box were required to be dismantled which would expose earth
face of more than 8.0m height prone to collapse. This
cohesionless soil strata was required to be stabilized using
suitable techniques before starting pushing operations. Based
on field & laboratory soil testing got conducted by the client,
the use of soil nailing for stabilization of the soil was selected.
Investigations
The investigations comprised of collection & testing of soil
samples from the embankment for use in design. One borehole
upto a depth of 6.0m was drilled from the top of the
embankment. Only disturbed samples were used to ascertain
the soil strata because of difficulty in obtaining undisturbed
samples. The tested soil was classified as sand with bulk
density of fill soil as 17kN/m3 and shear strength parameters c
(cohesion intercept) as 0 kPa and angle of shearing resistance
(φ) as 290. These parameters were adopted for design.
Besides, 6 Nos. pull out tests were conducted on 32mm &
28mm dia. driven nails of different lengths and 89mm dia.
perforated pipe nails with perforations 12mm@50mm c/c in
staggered manner to determine the apparent coefficient of
friction between insitu soil and nails both for grouted and
driven nails. Values of 9.0kN/m and 4.0kN/m were considered
for design of grouted and driven nails respectively.
Design & Analysis
Based on design of soil nail system, a system of grouted &
driven nails was considered. The input parameters considered
in design were as below:
Geometry of the Cut Slope: The batter of the soil mass-83.16 0
with the horizontal; the depth of overburden soil (rail top level)
above the box=1m; the height of parapet wall=0.7m.
Load Parameters: External loading (due to railway track)
including ballast-110kN/m per track as per suggestion of
railway authorities.
Fill Soil Properties: Cohesion, c=0 kN/m 2, angle of shearing
resistance, φ=290, bulk density of fill soil=17kN/m2.
Pull out Strength: Grouted Nail=9.0kN/m, Driven
nail=4.0kN/m.
Length of driven nails varied according to their location as per
design & details of length, diameter, spacing of nails required
for stabilizing the cut face at RUB location is presented in
Table 1. It is worthwhile mentioning here that at no stage of
the nailing operations, the running of the trains on the railway
tracks above was stopped; however, the speed was reduced to
about half the normal speed. In this project, pull out tests &
execution of the soil nailing system were handled by AECS.
Table 1: Proposed Nailing Scheme of Stabilizing Cut Slope
Depth Origi
Spacing (m)
Dia. Effective
Typ from nal
of Length
e of Rail Leng
Nail Vert. Hor. of Nail
Nail Top th of
(mm) (m)
(m) Nail
First row of Grouted nails deleted
100** Gro 1.3 0.3 0.5 15 15
uted
S.B. Suri, Nakul Dev, Thomas Joseph & Sanjeev Trehan
32** Dri 1.55 0.3 0.4 15 15
32* ven 2.3 0.2 0.3 15 15
32 Nail 2.6- 0.3 0.3 8 8.3
s 3.6
28 3.6- 0.4 0.3 6 6.3
9.0
**These nails should be grouted to another side of the retaining
wall; * indicates the nail comes under box top cover. Nails
should be cut at regular intervals during box pushing.
Case Study 3: Stabilisation of Landslide on Nainital-
Haldwani Road, Nainital (Uttrakhand)
Background & Project Details
The landslide under consideration is located on Nainital-
Haldwani road (NH-35), about 3.5 Km from Nainital. It has
damaged a historic sewage disposal pipe system leading to
proposed sewage plant leading to free flow of sewage down the
slope causing erosion of slope and causing further instability
Investigations
Based on soil investigations got carried out by the client, the
soil was found to be non-plastic, poorly graded sand (SP) with
cohesion c of 0 kPa & angle of shearing resistance, φ as 420.
4 Nos. of pull out tests were conducted to determine field
values of coefficient of friction between proposed nail and
surrounding soil/grout [4]. The bond strength was found to vary
from 0.127 MPa to 0.286 MPa attributable primarily to the
geological condition of the drill hole, efficiency of grouting
around the anchor bar, the extent of curing cement sand slurry
& surface condition of the reinforcement bar. The indicated
values are based on 7 days curing and are expected to be 40 to
50% higher after 28 days curing. A value of 0.25 MPa or
mechanical anchorage of 2.00 Tonnes/meter at failure was
adopted for design.
Design & Analysis
During pull out tests it was observed that anchor bars failed in
bond between bars and the 1:3 cement grout. Accordingly, rich
1:1 cement grout was used and bond strength determined. The
bond strength (kg/cm2) was worked out as load taken by bar in
Kg divided by surface area of bar (cm 2) in contact with grout. A
berm about 2m wide was provided at mid height of 22m slope
that helped economise the design & later accommodated sub-
surface drainage pipe from top half of the slope for discharge
into the sump at road level. Input parameters adopted for
design are given below:
Vertical height of slope=16m, Angle of slope with the
vertical=1, 00, φ=420, c=0.0 kPa, seismic coefficients αh=0.15,
αv=0.075, allowable soil pressure=250kN/m 2 & friction
coefficient between grout & soil=0.60.
Stability analysis provided the following design features:
Horizontal & vertical spacing of nails=2.0m, length of
nail=6.5m, diameter of nail=25mm, material of nail=tor steel,
method of nailing=drilled & grouted, inclination of nail with
horizontal=100, Facial Material=shotcreting reinforced with one
layer of 3mm, 75mm c/c mesh & thickness of 100mm. About
800 sq. m area was stabilized.
Weep/drainage holes were provided through the finished slope.
Drainage holes were constructed with perforated 75mm, 5m
long GI pipes. It was stressed that there should be no leakage
from sewage containing pipes laid on the stabilised slope as the
seepage from pipes can make the slope unstable. In this
project, pull out tests & execution of the soil nailing system
were handled by AECS.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Based on the case studies presented, it can be said that:
Soil nailing is a suitable technique for stabilizing steeply
cut/natural slopes. Proper field investigations including pull
out tests on proposed nails i.e. driven or grouted need to be
carried out for determining soil parameters to be used as input.
Facial treatment comprising of chicken mesh held in position
with U bolts covered with a layer of shotcreting proves useful
and enhances aesthetics of the slope. Sub-surface drainage
system using perforated GI/PVC pipes of suitable length and
diameter filled with gravel/filter material & wrapped with
geosynthetics from outside should be provided at suitable
locations emanating through the face of stabilized slope. It is
desirable to monitor the performance of the nailed slope using
geodetic methods.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance &
cooperation of the clients of the all projects referred to in this
paper in conducting the field work.
REFERENCES
1. FHWA, 2003. “Geotechnical Circular No. 7.Soil Nail
Walls”, Publication FHWA-IF-03-017, U.S.
Department of Transportation, Federal, Highway
Administration, Washington, D.C.
2. FHWA, 1998. “Manual for Design & Construction,
Monitoring of Soil Nail Walls”, FHWA-SA-96-096R.
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway
Administration, Washington,
3. Tan, Y.C. and Chow, C.M. (2004), “Slope
Stabilization Using Soil Nails: Design Assumptions
and Construction Realities”, Malaysia-Japan
Symposium on Geohazards & Geoenvironmental
Engineering, 13-14 December, 2004, Selangor,
Malaysia.
4. IS:11309-1985 “Method for Conducting Pull Out Test
on Anchor Bars and Rock Bolts”