Geotechnical Engineering – Soil Reinforcement – Design of working platforms for tracked plant

Introduction

Working platforms are required for the support of tracked plant during operations to prevent failure
and overturning. Tracked plants are all heavy duty, mobile, industrial machines in construction and
civils that move using the mechanical rotation of tracks; these include crawler cranes, piling rigs etc.
Large plant is regularly in use with weights in the region of 50 – 150 tonnes and thus most soils will
not be able to bear this. Even if the plant is light and the soil is strong, its composition may vary and
if ALL the soil below the track does not have the capacity to bear the pressure of the track equally
then failure is imminent. The working platforms are therefore designed against these forces. Due to
the complicated and varying nature of soil the design requires various considerations and
assumptions. These have been found through rigorous experimentation by experts within the field,
who have then developed formulae and constants. The compilation of the formulae and constants
forms a standard. One standard used, is the BRE (Building Research Establishment Ltd.) BR 470.
According to it, ‘Working platform is restricted to ground–supported working platforms, for tracked
plant, constructed of granular material. No other type of working platform is considered. The
working platform is taken as including not only the platform itself but also associated ramps and
accesses.’ (BR 470, 2004).

Standards and Design Methods

Working platforms are designed using roughly four methods; empirical, analytical, numerical and
observational. With the main parameter that requires calculation being the depth ‘D’ of the working
platform. Large construction firms will tend to use analytical methods with a hint of observational
coming from the experience and input of general foreman or site engineers. The reason behind this
is the ease of understanding and changeability with such formulae, numerical and empirical
methods tend to be much more complicated. This being said, the most recognised calculation
method is that proposed by BR 470. It is an analytical method that assumes a punching shear within
the platform in accordance with Meyerhof. Who along with Hanna developed this method after
experimentation of granular platform over cohesive subgrade or weaker granular sub-grade.

The main alternative to this design is the ‘shallow spread foundation’ method which assumes that
the load spreads through the working platform to act over a greater area once it comes in contact
with the subgrade. The increase in area means an overall decrease in bearing pressure. The angle of
spread factor ‘β’ is key in this method, as it determines the actual increase in the final area. This
method on its own however, does not fall under any particular standard.

It has been modified to some degree and been adopted into a standard for design – that is CIRIA
SP123. This standard is also very commonly used to design working platforms, it is not fully analytical
and uses a large amount of empirical information to present the design scheme. This means that
final depth ‘D’ is found using the aid of a graph as simple input of values into a formula will not
suffice to produce the required result. SP123 also takes into account ‘Lateral forces’ which is a
significant factor found in soil mechanics, something that BR 470 ignores. Another element that
BR470 ignores and that SP123 includes is the ‘Surcharge load’ produced by the self-weight of the
working platform itself. This gives added stability to the subgrade against general shear failure as can
be seen in the figure below (the surcharge prevents zone 3 from upheaval).
Load spread and general shear failure diagram (Saif Suleman, 2016)

You might be wondering why BS (British Standard) and EC (Euro codes) have not been mentioned
here, s good explanation is provided by the Temporary Works forum;

‘EC7 is now the accepted standard for geotechnical design within the UK and is widely used for the
design of permanent works. Currently, however, EC7 is only partly used for temporary structures
and is not generally used for the design of working platforms. EC7 provides great flexibility in the
methods of design adopted, encompassing empirical, analytical, numerical and observational
methods. It will, therefore, support methods currently in use, modified where necessary to meet the
fundamental requirements for limit state design set out in the Euro codes.’ (Temporary works
Forum c/o ICE - Working Platforms, 2016). This sums up the reason why EC7 is not really used as a
design standard, it serves only as a referral guide to other standards such BR470 and SP123.

Structural geo-synthetic reinforcement (SGF)

SGF is a reinforcement used to increase the bearing resistance of the working platform and thus
reduce the overall depth of the platform. It is designed to take tensile loads. According to BR470 the
design tensile strength ' T 'd is found by reducing the ultimate tensile strength by a safety factor. This
factor is usually 2, however ‘when the reinforcement is not stiff, a higher factor or the strength at 5%
strain should be used’ (BR470, 2004).

SP123 provides its own calculation variations due to the addition of platform reinforcements, it
focuses more on the effect of the reinforcement on the outward shear force caused by lateral force.
The balance between the unreinforced and reinforced working platform shows a support of the
outward shear stress by the synthetic reinforcement.

Conclusion

The design of working platforms like all soil mechanics is complex and volatile, this is due to the
unpredictable nature of soil. I have only just touched on the various design strategies that are used
in modern platform design, each has its own flaws and benefits, all in all a complete design would
require consideration from all these methodologies to a reasonable degree.

#civilengineering #geotechnics #soilmechanics #craneplatforms

References

BRE (2004). BR470. Working platform for tracked plant. Pp. 1-40

Working Platforms (2016). TWf. Design of granular working platforms for construction plant. Pp. 29.