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A braced sheetpile excavation in soft Singapore marine clay

Excavation dans les argiles marines molles de Singapour à l'abri d'un rideau de palplanches butonnes

S. B. T A N , D e p u ty D ire c to r, P u b lic W o r k s D e p a rtm e n t, S in g a p o re

S. L. T A N , H ig h e r E xe cu tive E n g in e e r, P u b lic W o r k s D e p a rtm e n t, S in g a p o re
Y. K. C H IN , E n g in e e r, P u b lic W o r k s D e p a rtm e n t, S in g a p o re

SYNOPSIS In Singapore, the growing need for landspace has in recent years necessitated
deeper and larger basement excavations. It is not uncommon that ground movements and stability
problems associated with excavation in soft soils have endangered and caused damage to surrounding
property. This paper presents instrumentation results of the 2 level basement excavation for the
Ministry of the Environment Building project. Ground movements, larger than expected, were recorded
in the areas where the factor of safety against base heave was low. High strut loads were also
measured at a few strut locations. Generally, the measured strut loads agreed with the values
calculated using Peck's (1969) empirical envelop. The results from the Finite Element analysis
using a hyperbolic stress-strain model compared favourably with the measured field response.

INTRODUCTION Clay are well documented by Tan & Lee (1977)

and Tan (1983). The Lower Member, having been
The sub-structure contract for this project exposed to the atmosphere and weathering agents
called for the design and construction of a 2 during a period of low sea levels in the
level basement in soft marine clay. The loca ­ Pleistocene, has a lower moisture content and a
tion of the site relative to Scotts Road, stiffer consistency (especially so in its top
Cairnhlll Road and Cairrihill Garden (a twelve l-2m) than the younger Upper Member. The rele­
storey residential block of flats) is shown in vant soil data are summarised in Table 1.
Pig 1. The excavation area measured 110m by
70m. The depth of excavation varied from 6.4m
to 7.5m at the pile cap locations. The p r o ­ EXCAVATION PROCEDURE
posed support system comprised interlocking
steel sheetplles (type YSP III and IV) braced The reduced level (RL) of original ground varied
by 3 levels of bolted struts. The sheetpile from 102.5 to 103.6m. The excavation procedure
lengths ranged from 12m to 24m. A comprehensive for the various stages is outlined below:
instrumentation program was adopted to monitor
the performance of the temporary support system Stage 1: Excavate to RL 101.1 to install the 1st
and the resulting ground movements. This p r o ­ level struts.
vided an important check on the validity of the Stage 2: Excavate the central area to RL 99.15
design assumptions and also yielded useful field leaving a 10m wide earth berm around
data for comparison with various theories. the entire site. Excavate through the
berm to install the 2nd level struts.
Stage 3: Excavate in strip to RL 97.8 to install
S O IL C O N D IT IO N the 3rd level strut. Excavation in the
central area was permitted subject to
G e o lo g ic a lly , th e s ite is lo c a te d in a fo rm e r leaving a minimum 20m wide berm against
tr ib u ta r y of th e B u k it T lm a h r iv e r v a lle y the sheetpile.
s y s te m . As sh o w n i n th e s u b s o il p r o f ile in P ig Stage 4: Excavate in panels to RL 96.1 to enable
2 , s o ft m a r in e c la y d e p o s it of c o n s id e r a b le the casting of basement slab/pile caps.
th ic k n e s s e x is ts as tw o d is t in c t upper and
lo w e r m e m b e rs at th e S c o tts Road s id e .
INSTRUMENTATION AND
The g e o t e c h n ic a l p r o p e r t ie s of S in g a p o r e M a r in e OBSERVED BEHAVIOUR DURING EXCAVATION
W ?I v The field instrumentation consisted of inclino­
% % KPa KPa KN/m3 meters for monitoring lateral sheetpile m o v e ­
Upper ments, settlements gauges and survey points for
Marine 100 70 14.5-18 150-300 Cu 14.8
vertical and lateral ground movements, vibrating
Clay wire strain gauges for strut loads, piezometers
Lower for pore water pressures, water standpipes for
Marine 65 45 18-22 300-600 Cu 15.8
water table level, and tiltmeter and precise
Clay levelling to determine the effects of excavation
Table 1. Soil Data for Marine Clay on the adjacent building. The type and location
* from Duncan and Buchignani 1976 of instruments and the survey plan layout are
** from field vane tests. illustrated in Pig 1.

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Legend the soft clay extends for considerable depths,

the sequential lateral wall movements increased
x . y. z' i
X SETTLEMENT GAUOE rapidly with the depth of excavation. The m a x i ­
• 1-1 INCLINOMETER mum movement occurred below the excavation b o t ­
T1,T2 TH.TMETEÄS tom. This trend of behaviour, which is typical
□ G2.GE STRAIN GAUGE LOCATIONS of base heaving, is also reported in other well
®PP2 udometers documented projects (e.g. Clough (1984)). In
contrast, in the other areas where the soft clay
-4-W1 WATER STAND PIPE
T W2 is of limited depth, the maximum lateral def l e c­
tions were significantly smaller and occurred at
or above the excavation bottom. Throughout the
excavation phase, it was observed that the
lateral sheetpile deflections were creeping on
W 1> 1-1 pP U
P P2
*7-3 an average of 1mm a day. It is possible that
these creep deflections occurred in relation to
h ■ P f
the on-set of large zones of plastic yielding in
SCOTTS ROAD p
___ !
the clay; the rate of creep increasing with
_____ Id .. INTERVAL____ decreasing factor of safety against base heave.
Fig. 1 LOCATION OF INST R U M EN T S A ND SU RVEY POINTS
V///X l»t »tag« «xcawtlon
K&ffi 2nd »tag« «cavation

100
R.L. ■ 102-9 scons
I»
RO llllllll 09
J'd «< « «cavation

MEO OENSE TO

OENSE CLAYEY SILT

Fig. 2 SOIL PRO FILE ALONG SECTION 1-1

Rg3 FINITE ELEMENT MESH

The maximum values of lateral deflections, strut U EXCESS PORE WRTER PRESSURE FOR PIEZOMETER
loads and ground settlements at various stages PPI RND PP2 AT MOE SITE P P I 14m BOI I

of excavation are summarised below. PP2 Ilm B G lI

Stages Max lateral Max strut Max ground

of deflection load ** settlement
Excav. (mm) (kN) (mm)
1 st 160 (1-7) - 117(lm from 1-7)
2 nd 152 (1-1) 550 (G7) l80(lm from 1-1)
3 rd 200 (1-1) 1300(G7) 2 2 5 (lm from 1-1)
Y EAR
4th 400 (1-3)* 2 2 8 0 (G10) 400(5m from 1-7)
Excavated depth = 7.5m, **minus initial preload DEFLECTION IN m m

200 2 50 300 350

The profiles of lateral deflections and m a g n i ­
tude of strut loads at various stages of e x cava­ D E F L E C T IO N IN mm
tion for 1-2, 1-9, G7 and GP are presented in 100 200
Figs 5, 6, 7, 8 respectively. The settlement _J___i___i___i___i_ ‘
patterns for Scotta Road and Cairnhill Road are
plotted in non-dimensional form in Pig 11.
Peck's (1969) settlement zones are included for
comparison. Pig 4 shows the excess pore water 3 -U m
pressures recorded from piezometers 1 and 2. 4 -7 m
The initial reading indicated an excess which
was probably caused by the driving of steel H
piles. During the first stage of excavation,
the cantilever sheetpile wall deflected s i gnifi ­ --------- F E M SOLUTION
cantly (160mm) near 1-7. The total excavated
depth at this location (including a lm surcharge
of the driveway) was estimated to be 3m. In
other areas, where the excavated depth was less TOE OF S H E E T P ILE
than 2m, the lateral deflections were substan­ TO E OF SH E E T P ILE

tially smaller. For the first stage of excava ­

tion, the maximum depth should have been limited F ig . 5 IN C L IN O M E T E R F ig . 6 IN C L IN O M E T E R
to 2 Cu = 2m. Along Scotts Road side, where D E F L E C T IO N 1 -2 D E F LE C T IO N 1-9

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STRU T LO A D S STR U T LOADS LA TERAL EARTH PRESSU RE

200 iOO 600 800 1000 1200 HOO 1600 1800 200 400 600 800 1000 40 50 60 70 80
—i -----1----- 1-----1----- 1----- 1
KN

A - 1st. level S tru t

B - 2nd. le ve l S tru t
-M E A S U R E D \(d e d u c e d
C - 3 rd . le v e l S tru t 2-7 m c c u 1 from s tru t
-F E M > loads )
M e a s u re d - P E C K (1 9 6 9 )
FEM

4-7 m

m = o-4
6-8m
F ig .9 C o m p a ris o n o f m e a s u r e d ,
* F ig .8 S tru t lo a d s c a lc u la te d a n d P e c k 's
GP p r e s s u r e d ia g r a m a t G7

LA TERAL EA R T H PRESSU RE Distane« from E * ca v .

Max. D«p1h of E x c a v .

_ _ SETTLEMENT ZONES
AFTER PECK (1969)

SCOTTS ROAD

7Z71 CAIRN HILL ROAD

F i g . 10 C o m p a ris o n o f m e a s u r e d and
P e c k 's p r e s s u re d ia g r a m a t GF
Edge of she e tp ile DISTANCE FROM SHEETPILE(m )
0 15 20 25 30 35 F i g . 11 L a te ra l d is tr ib u tio n of
u
s e t t le m e n t s b e h in d
S h e e tp ile

------- F.E.M
------- M E A S U R E D N U M E R IC A L A N A L Y S IS

Fig 12 C O M P A R ISO N OF PR ED IC TED A N D The mesh used for t h e Finite Element analysis is
M E A S U R E D SU RFACE LATERAL 3 hown
In Fig 3. T h e l e f t and bottom boundaries
M O VEM EN T OF G R O U N D are fully fixed. The right boundary allows for
The maximum measured settlement occurred next to vertical movement only. The 3truts are pin-
the sheetpile wall; the magnitude being a p proxi ­ connected to the mesh nodes. The stiffness of
mately equal to the maximum lateral deflection. the strut is calculated based on per m length of
Along Scotts Road side, noticeable settlements wall. A non-linear hyperbolic stress strain
were observed to a distance of five times the behaviour of the soil is adopted for analysis.
depth of excavation. The tangent modulus is changed Incrementally
according to the expression
The use of 10m wide earth berms proved to be
quite effective in controlling the lateral m o v e ­ E,. = |"l - R„ (<71 -173)] 2 Eu
ment of the sheetpile. However, this control L 2 Cu J
was only temporary as the eventual removal of
the berms resulted in large deflections. The parameter Rf is taken to be 0.95 which is
typical for most clays. Failure of the soil
The measured pore water pressures indicated a element occurred when [c T l - c 7 '3 ] > 2 Cu or when < f3
typical trend of a decrease In excess pressure < 0 (tensile c o n d i t i o n ) . After failure a low
during excavation which was reported by Clough modulus (Eu = 1 k N / m 2 ) is used. Unloading and
(1984). This trend reflects the unloading effect reloading of the soil is handled by setting E t =
of the excavation. After preloading, an increase Eu. The results of the analysis are shown in
in excess pore water pressure was observed. Fig 5, Fig 7 and F i g 9.

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DISCUSSION The hyperbolic model gives results that are in

As shown below, the ratio of the maximum lateral
deflection to the excavation depth increases
rapidly with a decrease in the factor of safety
as defined by Terzaghi (1943) . This is to be
expected as base heaving and plastic yielding of
the subsoil begin to dominate response as the
factor of safety approaches 1. (Clough, 1984).
L o c a ­ Depth Terzaghi's T Max de-
tion H Equation cal­ flectior H
(m) culated &H(mm)
1-2 6.8 F= NcCu 0.88 330
H(y-Cu/D)
1-9 6.4 F= NcCu 1.5 100
H ( t -Cu/
0.7D)
Peck (1969) classified three distinct settlement
zones for different soil conditions. Pig 11
shows that the settlement pattern along
Cairnhill Road side falls under zone II. Along
this side, the soft clay extends to only a
limited depth below the excavation bottom. In
contrast, the settlement at Scotts Road side is
classified under zone III which is for the case
of soft clays extending to considerable depths
below excavation bottom. The measured maximum
settlements are larger than generally reported.
This could be attributed to three main factors.
Firstly, creep movements were occuring during
lapses between the completion of excavation and
strutting. This was partly unavoidable in view
of the large volume of excavation involved.
Secondly, several third level struts were
overstressed and in one situation one row of
third level strut (along Grid 10) buckled
slightly. It would appear that the stiffness of
support system was Inadequate. Thirdly, heavy
constructional traffic loading along Scotts Road
side could also be a contributory factor.
The damaging effects of ground movements on
u nsupported aprons and walls were significant
within a distance of 2H from the sheetpile wall.
Cairnhill Gardens (on piled foundation) showed
no signs of structural damage even for lateral
sheetpile deflections of up to 350mm.
The design strut load at G10 basing on Peck's
empirical pressure envelop is 2200 kN whereas
the measured value is 2840 k N . The difference
between the two is approximately equal to an
initial preload of 560 kN. This suggests that
preloads should be taken into account in the
design of struts. Pig 9 and 10 show equivalent
pressure diagrams evaluated from strut loads at
GF and G7. At the location of the 1st and 2nd
level struts, the equivalent pressure deduced
from the measured strut loads is slightly higher
than Peck's empirical pressure envelop based on
m=0.4. However, in most cases, the empirical
envelop appears to give reasonable estimates of
the strut loads.
The inclinometer readings before and after p r e ­
load show that preloading does not push the soil
back by more than 5mm. It appears that pre-
loading is marginally effective when applied to
flexible sheetpile walls. However, one visible
advantage of preloading is the removal of any
slackness In the system which can be potential
sources of movement.
close agreement with measured values (Figs
5,7,9). The predicted surface lateral movements
at various distances from the sheetpile agree
well with the measured values (see Fig 12). To
study the surface settlements, an interface e l e ­
ment should be introduced to allow for slippage.
% CONCLUSIONS
1. Excavation beyond the critical depth in soft
Singapore Marine Clay can result in very
4.9 large ground movements.
2. Where the factor of safety Is low, creep
1.6 movement can be significant. In such a case,
careful planning to reduce the time lapse
between excavation and strutting is impor­
tant .
3. The advantage of preloading in reducing
ground movements was not observed in this
project. It appears that the design of strut
loads should take into account the magnitudes
of preloads.
4. Earth berms serve the purpose of reducing
lateral deflection of the sheetplles. Casting
of basement slab in alternate strips in c o n ­
junction with the use of earth berms can also
reduce ground movements.
5. Instrumentation is a very essential part of
any excavation project.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors wish to thank the Director of Public
Works for his kind permission to publish this
paper.
REFERENCES
Clough, G.W. and Reed, M.W. (1984). "Measured
Behaviour of Braced Wall in Very Soft Clay",
Journal of Geotechnical Engrg, ASCE,Vol 110,No.1
Duncan, J.M., and Buchignani, A.L. (1976). "An
Engineering Manual for Settlement Studies,"
Geotech. Engrg. Report, Dept, of Civil Engrg.,
Univ. of California, Berkeley.
Peck, R.B. (1969). "Deep Excavations and
Tunnelling in Soft Ground." Proc. 7th Int. Conf.
Soil Mech. Found. Eng..Mexico City, State-of-Art.
Tan, S.B. and Lee, K.W. (1977). "Engineering
Geology of the Marine Member of the Kallang
Formation in Singapore", Proc. Int. Sym. on Soft
Clays, Bangkok, 75-88.
Tan, S.L. (1983). "Geotechnical Properties and
Laboratory Testing of Soft Soils In Singapore",
International Seminar on Construction Problems
In Soft Soils, Singapore.
Terzaghi, K . (1943)."Theoretical Soil Mechanics",
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, N.Y.

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