BRIDGE AND ROOF CO.(I) LTD.

SANKOPARA NEW-FARAKKA DOUBLING PROJECT

METHODOLOGY FOR PLATE LOAD TEST AT BRIDGE No. 373

Name of Earth work in cutting and filling on Railway embankment, supplying and
work spreading sub grade material/crusher stone dust over formation,
construction of Major Bridges no.368(4x12.2 composite girder) and
construction of RCC Box Bridges,FOBs,PF Sheds,Station Buildings,
Retaining walls, platforms and other ancillary works including P.way
works in the section from Sankopara Halt to New Farakka excluding
Sankopara Halt and including New Farakka Station yard in connection
with Nimtita - New Farakka doubling.

Name of Client: Eastern Railway, Malda Division

LOA No.: Cao/Con/WT/9257 dated 20.02.2018

1. Scope : Conducting in situ full size Plate load test (PLT) at Bridge No. 373
between km 248/1 and 248/2 as per IS: 1888 including making loading
arrangements & excavation and refilling of trial pit with plate size 45 cm x 45
cm.
2. Details of Bridge:
1 Bridge No. 373
2 Drawing No. CE's Drg No. C-101-2018
3 Barrel Length 9.002m
4 Overall Span 4.5m
5 Thickness of footing 550mm
6 Loading Standard 25MT
7 Maximum pressure under Box foundation 11.9 T/sqm
8 Allowable Bearing Capacity of soil 6.23 T/sqm
3. Loading Arrangement:

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 BRIDGE AND ROOF CO.(I) LTD.
SANKOPARA NEW-FARAKKA DOUBLING PROJECT
METHODOLOGY FOR PLATE LOAD TEST AT BRIDGE No. 373

4. Apparatus:
a. Loading Platform of size 3mX3m consisting of 3 nos. ISMC 200 as
primary girger and 10 nos. ISMC 200 as secondary girder with sand bags
loaded on top for dead load.
b. 1 nos. hydraulic jack of capacity 500kN and least count 2kN.
c. 1 nos. bearing plate of mild steel of size 450mmX450mm, 25mm thick
with grooved bottom.
d. 4 nos. dial gauges with 25mm travel and least count .01mm for
measuring settlement
e. Ball and socket arrangement for jack to ensure non eccentric loading.
5. Procedure:
a. Excavate the test pit. The test pit size should be 5 times the size of test
plate i.e. 2.25mX2.25 with suitable depth.
b. The loading platform should be erected over the test pit such that, the
vertical line drawn through the center of gravity of the load passes
through the centroid of the base of the test pit. The load over the
platform should be at least 50% more than the anticipated load to be
transferred on the plate. This will ensure the safety of the platform for
any small shift of the CG of the loading platform from the vertical axis of
the pit.
c. Position the test plate centrally at the base of the pit. Ensure that the
ground surface below the test plate is perfectly horizontal and level so
that no stress concentration takes place below the plate during loading.
If the ground surface is slightly uneven a thin layer of sand is spread
underneath the test plate.
d. Position the hydraulic jack over the plate so that when hydraulic
pressure is built up the jack pushes against the loading platform. If
require place a loading column between the test plate and the jack to
ensure the jack reach the loading platform.
e. Position minimum of two dial gauges diagonally at the corners (preferably
4 at all corners of the test plate) to record its settlement of the plate. The
dial gauges should be supported carefully over a stable base which does
not settle with the plate. This can be achieved by placing two cross
beams at ground level over which the dial gauges are supported with the
help of magnetic bases. The settlement of the plate is transmitted to the
dial gauges through dial gauge stands.
f. The dial gauges should be positioned such that the plunger of the dial
gauges is at its beginning of rebound (i.e. the plunger is initially pushed
up) so that it will get released as the plate settles and the reading
changes and the difference in reading provided the settlement of the
plate.
g. The load is applied on the plate by pumping the hydraulic pressure into
the jack. The upward movement of the plunger of the jack tries to push
the loading platform up. Since the pressure built up in the jack (say 1 or
2 T) is much less than the load on the platform, the pressure in the jack
will push the test plate down by taking the loading platform (say 30 to 40
T) as rigid support. This is a case similar to the expansion of a system

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 BRIDGE AND ROOF CO.(I) LTD.
SANKOPARA NEW-FARAKKA DOUBLING PROJECT
METHODOLOGY FOR PLATE LOAD TEST AT BRIDGE No. 373

between two supports. Due to the expansion the weaker support (ground)
yields.
h. Apply a seating load of 0.7 T/m 2 which is released before the actual
loading is started.
i. Note the initial readings of the dial gauges.
j. The load is applied through the hydraulic jack in convenient increments.
The load increments may be one fifth of the expected safe bearing
capacity or one-tenth of the ultimate bearing capacity or any other
smaller loads. The applied load is read from the pressure gauge fitted to
the hydraulic pump.
k. Settlement of the plate is observed from the dial gauge readings.
Settlement should be observed for each increment of load after 1, 4, 10,
20, 40 and 60 minutes and thereafter at hourly interval until the rate of
settlement becomes less than about 0.02 mm per hour. Enter the
readings in the tabular form.
l. After completing the recording of settlement readings under a load, the
next load increment is applied and the dial gauges readings are noted
under the new load.
m. The loading increments and the recording of the settlements under each
load are continued until the maximum load is reached. The maximum
load that is to be applied corresponds to 1.5 times the estimated ultimate
load or to 2.5 times the proposed allowable bearing pressure.
6. Observations and calculations:
The load intensity and settlement observation of the plate load test are plotted.
The figure shown below shows a set of typical load settlement curves. The
ultimate bearing capacity is taken as the load at which the plate starts sinking
at a rapid rate, i.e. when the curve drops down to a vertical line. From figure it
can be observed that in dense sand or stiff clays the failure is not pronounced.
In such cases a plot of load and settlement, both being taken in logarithmic
scales, gives two straight lines. The intersection of these lines is taken as the
ultimate bearing capacity of soil. The observations are to be recorded in the
following format.
Sl. Load Time Settlement (mm) Average
Remarks
No. (kN) (min) Gauge-1 Gauge-2 Gauge-3 Gauge-4 Settlement (mm)
1
1 10 4
10
1
1 20 4
10
1
1 30 4
10

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 BRIDGE AND ROOF CO.(I) LTD.
SANKOPARA NEW-FARAKKA DOUBLING PROJECT
METHODOLOGY FOR PLATE LOAD TEST AT BRIDGE No. 373

B&R JE/W/C Sr.AEN/CON/NFK

 BRIDGE AND ROOF CO.(I) LTD.
SANKOPARA NEW-FARAKKA DOUBLING PROJECT
METHODOLOGY FOR PLATE LOAD TEST AT BRIDGE No. 373

7. Load Calculation:
Maximum pressure as per drawing: 11.9 T/sqm
Load : 11.9X0.45X0.45X9.81 = 23.639 kN
Dead load to be put up : 2.5X23.639 = 59.097 kN = 6.024 MT
Loading arrangement

3mX3mX0.40m heap of sand

bags

ISMC 200, 3nos. for primary girder

And 10 nos. for secondary girder

Load for sand: 3X3X0.4X1750 = 6.300 MT

(Considering unit weight of sand as 1750 kg/cum)
Considering 5% voids, effective weight: 0.95X6.30 = 5.985 MT
Weight of 13 Nos. 3m long ISMC 200: 22.1X13X3 = 0.862 MT
Total load = 5.985+0.862 = 6.605 MT > 6.024 MT
Hence OK.

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