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    Foott Et Al (1987)

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    of 11
    Test Fitt at Cuex Lap Kox, HonG KonG By Roger Foot,’ Demetrious C. Koutsoftas;? Members, ASCE, ‘and Leo D. Handfelt,) A. M. ASCE ‘Assreacr: A tes ll was constructed to evaluate the feasibility of a proposed ‘Srport reclamation over extemaly soft marine clay. The test fl invent the feaculty of reclaiming in layers to avaid creation of mudwaves and the ttectivencssof vertical dising fo accelerate consolidation. The fl was heavily Instrumented, and good performance data were obtained. The layered com. ‘Sructon succesfully prevented mudoaves, and vertical band drains were ef ieee in aerating conacidaton. Sond drain were not effcive, due to mud ‘Penetrating the pores. Wwrmopucrion ‘The proposed replacement airport at Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong, would be constructed by leveling the islands of Chek Lap Kok and Lam Chau and reclaiming approximately 600 ha (1,500 acres) of land from the sur- rounding sea. The sea is up to 10 m deep with a tidal range of 2m, and reclamation would involve placing approximately 80,000,000 mi of fill in thicknesses up to 20 m. Fig. 1 shows the site and airport boundaries. The offshore site investigation (6) revealed the presence of up to 15 m (ut frequently 6-8 m) of soft marine mud on the seabed, underlain progressively by a stiff alluvial crust up to about 8 m thick, a relatively strong lower marine clay layer of up to 15 m, and alluvial sand and gravel above residual soils and bedrock. Fig. 2 shows typical soil prop- erties for the upper marine clay (mud) and lower marine clay layers. Applying the Reavy reclamation loads to this soil profile will result in settlement of up to 4m in the seabed mud layer. It could also result in the development of mudwaves {mud undrained shear strengths as low as 3 kPa (60 psf) and a liquidity index greater than 1.0], with obvious potential for construction problems and large, erratic, long-term settle- ments. Settlement tolerance after completion of the airport is very lim- ited, since it would result in differential movement of the runways (which extend onto the granite island pedestals) and could create major prob- Jems with infield drainage and structural foundations. It was therefore necessary to ensure that most of the consolidation settlement would oc- cur during the construction period. ‘The need for vertical drains to accelerate consolidation followed di- rectly, although the effectiveness of these drains in a clay experiencing vertical strains up to 50% was questionable. It would also be necessary ‘Pres,, Roger Foott Assoc, Inc, 94 Natoma St., San Francisco, CA 94105; for merly Partner, Dames & Moore, San Francisco, CA 94111 *assoc., Dames & Moore, San Francisco, CA’ 94111. ‘sr. Engr., Dames & Moore, Los Angeles, CA 94111. Note.—Discussion open until july 1, 1987” Separate discussions should be sub- mitted for the individual papers in this symposium. To extend the closing date gne month a writen request must be filed with the ASCE Manager of Joutmals, The manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and possible publication fon December 17, 1985. This paper is part of the Journal of Geotechnical Engi secring, Vol. 113, No. 2, February, 1987. ©ASCE, ISSN 0733-9410/87/0002-0106/ $01.00. Paper No. 21227. 106 FIG. 2.—index Properties, Stress History, and Field Vane Strengths for Chek Lap Kok Clays: (a) Upper Marine Ciay (Mud); (b) Lower Marine Clay 107 to place the fill in sufficiently thin layers to prevent mudwave formation. A test fill was built to assess both of these key construction questions, and also to gain experience with the excavation and placement of Chek Lap Kok materials and with seawall construction and performance. ‘This paper describes the design, construction, and performance of the test fil. It presents an analysis of the deformation and pore pressure data recorded, with conclusions regarding the practical effectiveness of the vertical drains and the construction techniques employed, Compan- ion papers present the site investigation work performed for the project (6) and the details of the test fill instrumentation program (3). Test Fit Desion ‘The test fll location is shown in Fig. 1. The site was selected primarily on the basis of land availability on Chek Lap Kok. The subsequent site investigation then showed it to be an ideal geotechnical location in view of the rapidly shelving offshore bedrock which provided the full seabed soil profile within 100 m of the shoreline. It was thus possible to build the test fill out from Chek Lap Kok using largely land-based construction operations and still obtain representative seabed performance data, The site configuration also allowed development of a quarry near the test fill, which produced the characteristic Chek Lap Kok material profile of completely decomposed granite (CDG) grading erratically into fresh rock at depth. ‘The key objectives of the test fill were the development of specific information regarding the consolidation characteristics of the seabed mud layer, the behavior of the mud near limiting equilibrium, and the via- bility of constructing the reclamation in layers to avoid the development of mudwaves. The design to meet these objectives involved three key construction elements and a carefully specified construction sequence, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. ‘The key construction elements (Fig. 3) were: 1. A main test area that provided one-dimensional loading conditions and in which the consolidation characteristics and the effectiveness of vertical drains could be evaluated. 2. A haul road built alongside the main test area and constructed by successive placement of fil layers, to assess the behavior of mud at lim iting equilibrium and the viability of using a layered construction se- ‘quence to minimize mudwave generation. The haul road also provided preliminary indications ofthe effectiveness of vertical drains, which were included for stability reasons. 3. A seawall founded on the upper alluvial crust after excavation of a trench in the mud. The primary functions of the seawall were to limit the test fill size and provide sea protection, but it also provided data regarding mud excavation and trench stability. ‘The main test area was located approximately 200-m offshore and was 100-m square in plan. It was built over a soil profile (Fig. 4) consisting of a fairly uniform mud thickness of approximately 7 m, above 5-6 m. of upper alluvial crust deposits, 3-8 m of lower marine clay deposits, 108 FIG. 3—Plan of Test Fill and 7-13 m of lower alluvial deposits. CDG residual soils underlay this transported soil sequence. The original seabed level at the main test area was in the range ~2 to -3 mPD, giving an average water depth of about im ‘The main test area was divided into quadrants, one being used as a control area, with no treatment of the mud, and the remaining three being used to test vertical drains. With only three quadrants available for drain testing, it was necessary to be very selective regarding the drain types used. After careful evaluation it was therefore decided to install 500-mm diameter displacement sand drains at 3-m triangular spacings in one quadrant, and plastic band drains at 1.5 and 3-m triangular spac- ings in the other two. This choice recognized the need for overwater installation of drains in the site reclamation process, plus the desirabi of applying proven technology for the ultimate airport reclamation. The sand drains selected were of a widely used design, installed by vibrating a hollow mandrel into the ground, filing it with sand, opening, a trap door at the base of the mandrel, and extracting the mandrel by vibration to leave the sand in place. Although this displacement process ‘was not ideal from a soil disturbance viewpoint, it did allow overwater installation. Successful applications of these drains in very soft and sen- sitive muds were reported, e.g., (5) Prefabricated band drains were an obvious choice in view of their rel- atively low cost and versatility of installation, although in common with all types of drain, their ability to tolerate the anticipated large vertical strains was uncertain. The selection of a specific band drain for use in the test fill was complicated by the lack of industry standards, and the likelihood that different proprietary products would have significantly different performances. It was therefore decided to use the Alidrain brand forthe test fil as being representative of the better band drains available. 109 FIG, 4.—Test Fil Construction Stages 1 the Alidrain proved effective, it was recognized that a difficult spec- ification problem would have to be addressed in order to allow com: petitive Bidding on the future reclamation works, The Aldrin was 7 fhm thick and the conventional 100mm wie. it was inslaled otto Spacings, since evaluation of the effect of spacing on performance was Considered more important than evaluation ofa third Gain type ‘The vertical drains were typically installed through the md to ter mina a, oF, the top of the upper alluvial crust. Inthe 1.5m spaced Alirain quadrant the drains were extended through the upper alluvial crust and most of the lower marine cay, to provide addttonal infor: mation regarding consolidation and settlement in the lower day stra. tum, “The haul road was designed asa sequence of fil ayers. In the north- evly dzection the ayer sated reclamation filing to avoid mud wave formation. To the south ofthe haul road the inital fil layer was of lane ited extent and the sabilty factor of safety was expected to fall below 10 during placement of the final ifs. Contingency plans were devel oped to stabilize the anticipated fallre condition ast developed, orto stabilize the slope once it had failed, by placing additional fil to form a berm outside the south toe of the test fll. This berm, and/or strength increase in the mud beneath the haul roed, was alse required for Se bility ofthe main test area. Alidrains were therefore insalled bencath the haul road to help provide this mud strengthening "The seawall was constricted by using rock om the Chek Lap Kok quarry. It was designed with a 1 on 1°5 seaward slope to withstand @ design storm of 20-7 recurence pesid. It used facing rock of up to 2500 kg The sequence of test il construction involved five main stages as shown infig Stage I consisted of dredging a trench in the mud and filing to bring the seawall above the adjacent seabed. Meanwhile, a rock toe mound approximately 31 high was placed along the southern boundary ofthe Fal ona Sen wide bamboo matoess The mates wes fonses oft agi of bamboo at 500-num centers encased in Polyflt 13 60 fer fabric Alidains were meanwhile installed from a barge along the ine of the haul ond, through a 00-mim thick sand Bianket dumped onto the seabed, In Stage 2 the sand blanket was extended by hydraulic ling to form an approximately 2m thick layer across the entie test il Stage 3 consisted of forming the haul road as consecutive -m and 1.5 m thick layers of hydraulic snd fl with a fina layer of CDG approx: imately 2m thick placed by land equipment. The body of the test fll was then brought just above sea level by hydraulic filing (Stage 4). Stage 5 began with instalation of drain inthe main test ares using a land-based operation with very cael contol ef drain spacing and stallaon procedures. The main test area was then filed to elevation +65 mPD (principal datum) using CDG placed by truck and dover, TMs completed the ital construction ofthe fest fil, which was allowed fo sete for approximatcly 8 months. An additional 3.7-5.7 m of fil was then placed to bring the main textarea elevation to #11 mPD im the 1. m Alldrain quadrant and'+9.5 mPD elsewhere, The +11 mPD elevation approximated the highest anttpated redaation load. a Design analyses for the test fill included stability consideration of the excavated seawall trench, of the seawall itself, and of the southern slope of the haul road-and main test area. The magnitude and rate of settle. ment in the main test area was also assessed, along with the potential effect of the vertical drains. These design analyses were performed early in the airport project using preliminary soils data to yield a suitable test fil scheme. It was intended that more precise analyses would be per- formed during the evaluation of observed test fill behavior, incorporat- ing soil data from the full airport site investigation. Soil parameter values for use in final airport design would then be selected, based on both the observed field behavior and the site investigation data, ‘Test Fiut INSTRUMENTATION ‘The test fill was extensively instrumented to measure the rate and amount of: (1) consolidation and settlement of the subsurface soils; (2) Jateral movement in the fill and subsurface soils; (3) pore pressure gen. eration and dissipation; and (8) embankment Alling, Tie males Sore straints on the instrumentation program were the need to accommodate large movements in the mud, the need for overwater/underwater in. stallation of the inital instrumentation units, and an anticipated large damage rate due to ongoing construction activities, particularly during the marine work. The following instrumentation approach was therefore adopted: 1, Use of instrumentation specifically designed to accommodate lange strtins 2 Duplication of instruments to allow for loss of some installations. 3, Dupliston of the method of measurement by using tan oes diferent instrament types in case one type proved parkealehy ene tible to damage or malfunction. Pe a . 4. Extensive protection measures, especially for instrumentation in- stalled offshore. Table 1 indicates the instrumentation types used in the test fill and the parameters which each instrument measured. The numbers of cach ‘unit installed prior to initial completion of the test fill are also indicated “The instruments were located around and in the seawall, oe mound, ‘aul road, and main test area, to provide key measurements of the te matic and hydraulic piezometers within and outside the Alidrain tented rep Settlement plates, settlement pipes, subsurface settiement anchors and inclinometers were installed to measure vertical and lateral anton, ‘mations, surface settlements, and fill thickness. 12 TABLE 1.—Test Fll Instrumentation Number] Number instalied | operational Instrument Measured parameters | to June, 1982 | Nov., 1982 ow @ 8 ) Pneumatic piezometer | Porewater pressure 3 0 Hydraulic piezometer | Porewater pressure B B Settlement plate Surface settlement and 58 a groundwater level Settlement profile pipe |Surface settlement pro- Ft 5 files Pneumatic settlement gage Subsurface settlement 10 2 Inclinometer Subsurface lateral move- 9 7 ‘ment Subsurface settlement |Subsurface settlement 2 10 anchors/Indiinometer | and lateral movement Surface movement —_| Surface settlement and. ry 54 point horizontal movement Each quadrant ofthe main test area was extensively instrumented via a caster of instruments induding one scent anchor incnometer Assembly, approximately 13 pneumatic and hydraulic plesometer an two ot thre pneumatic setiement gages, Fach instrument duster was arranged to monitor performance throughout the subsoil profile, with the individual instruments located centrally among the vertical daains and with the various instrument leads brought to cental reading sta. tion. Readings for the entire cluster were obtsined et ths stalion, which was contained within a mantole capable of being extended as the main sears wa placed The min et en was ao neue wih settement profile (PVC) pipes up to 130m long, peripheral incinom tes and numerous setlement plates paced ot Stren’ levasone, The instrumentation program incorporated very dealed monitoring and calibration. Questionable installations and readings were quickly int vestigated and problems generally resolved, With this meticubus ater. tion {o deta the program was extremely succesful, producing consi. tent and reliable dats. The only systematic problems were fall the settlement profile pipes, which tended to move during adjacent hy= draule filing, and with the pneumatic settement point. These units fave erratic and dubious readings, probably due to the limited precision Of the pneumatic sensor compared fo the relatively minor changes being measured. Table 1 indicates the number of instruments stil operating six month after inital completion ofthe tes il. Test Fit Consrmucnion, 3 fill was constructed between November, 1981, and July, 1982, wee Segoe ren Novem, 18a uy ‘mPD in January /February, 1983. Construction proceeded as planned (Fig. 5), with some overlapping of activities between the different construc- 113 @ oO) © FIG. 5.—Test Fill Construction: (2) March, 1982, Seawall Coming above Water; (b) ‘April, 1962, Drain installation in Main Test Area, Haul Road on Left; () July, 1982, Completed Test Fill tion stages to expedite the program. Pertinent geotechnical comments and observations follow. ‘The seawall trench excavation was initially cut with side slopes ap- proaching vertical before being trimmed to the specified slope of 1 on 1.5 and backfilled. No slope failures occurred. ‘A total of 1,998 Alidrains of length 10-14 m were installed beneath the haul road from floating equipment: A 37-m long barge was used from which a crane placed the Alimak installation mast onto the 500- mm seabed sand blanket for drain installation. The installation mandrel enclosed the Alidrain in a diamond-shaped cross section with axial di- mensions of 75 and 166 mm. The mandrel was pushed into the soil at a rate of up to 1 m/sec, and a hydraulically operated guillotine cut the drain 1 m above the blanket. The barge was moored transversely across ‘the haul road and a line of drains installed by moving the crane along the barge. The barge was then pulled on its anchors to the position of m4 the next row. A placement rate of over 100 drains/day was achieved and the drains were placed at approximate triangular spacings of 1, 2, and 3 m ig. 3). Hydraulic sand filling used two suction dredgers that pumped from temporary storage areas outside the test fil. The test fil site was divided into a 20-m square grid for placement of the first 2-m fill layer, which ‘was pumped in an initial 0.5-m (nominal) layer followed by a’ second 1.5-m lift. In both cases the sandfill was distributed by mooring the dis- charge nozzle in the center of each 20-m square and directing the dis- charge jet vertically upwards. This process resulted in undulations in the sandéill surface, but it provided an acceptably uniform placement without the need for special equipment. Hydraulic sanding for the haul road layers was intially placed within small rockfill retention mounds (Fig. 4), with the higher layers formed directly to approximately the required shape. The final layer was formed of CDG, which was excavated from the quarry area, trucked to the proj- ect, spread by a heavy bulldozer, and lightly treated with a small vi- brating compactor. As the final lift was being placed, a surface crack was observed running along the south slope for about 100 m. Inclinometer data during the following few days showed large lateral movements de- veloping within the mud, which was consistent with the anticipated in- stability of the haul road southern slope. Haul road construction was accordingly suspended until contingency plans to place a 150-m long, 30-m wide and 2-m thick stabilizing berm outside the southern em. bankment toe had been implemented. Vertical drain installation in the main test area began after the area had been brought above sea level. 330 sand drains, 500-mm in diameter and 13-m long were installed in the SW quadrant using clean, medium/ coarse sand: The mandrel penetrated the fill and mud without difficulty, although progress during the required approximately I-m penetration into the alluvial crust was slow and difficult. Installation of 35 drains/ day was achieved 330 Alidrains 13-m long were installed in the NE quadrant at 3-m tri angular spacings, and 1,307 Alidrains 22-22.5-m long were installed in the NW quadrant at 1.5-m triangular spacings. These deep drains were pushed through the alluvial crust and the lower marine clay, using the conventional Alimak equipment and mandrel. About 20 of the drains met refusal before reaching the full installation length. After installation ‘of a cooler to prevent overheating of the hydraulic fluid in the rig, place- ment of up to 100 deep drains/day was achieved. The shallower drains n the NE quadrant were installed at the rate of approximately 150/day. The main test area was raised to the interim elevation of +6.5 mPD using end-tipped CDG by June 28, 1982 (Contract day, CD, 228) and the seawall was completed at about the same time. Extensive in-situ density testing was performed on the fill during and after construction, with average total unit weights of 1.71-2.05 Mg/m’ recorded. ‘Test Fit GeovechNIcal, RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION Key aspects of the geotechnical behavior of the test fill were identified from the instrumentation data. These observations were evaluated qual- 115 itatively and compared as appropriate with analytical predictions incor- porating current best estimates of soil parameter values. Analyses were also used to backfigure empirical values of key soil parameters from the field data. The objective of this interpretation program was the devel- opment of an understanding of the characteristic field behavior, plus development of the best predictive techniques for use in reclamation de- sign. The program considered each component of the test fill in turn. Seawall.—Three inclinometers installed 5-m outside the top of the seawall trench exhibited. total movements of less than 10-20 mm throughout the trench excavation, filling, and seawall construction. It was thus evident that only limited penetration of the trench-filing ma~ terial (quarry run consisting of all grades of granite from CDG to large boulders) into the adjacent mud had occurred. It was also apparent that the mud had sufficient strength and stiffness to provide the limited lat- ‘eral support required for the seawall configuration used. Both chain and echo soundings indicated that the seawall trench was initially excavated with slopes of 72-86" to the horizontal, remaining in this condition for up to-one week. No failures occurred along the entire 500-m length of trench. Coupled with the minimal lateral deformations indicated by the inclinometers, it is therefore considered reasonable to assume that the slopes had a minimum stability factor of safety of about 12-13. With this safety factor assumption, stability of the initial trench, slope were performed using the method of Gibson and Morgenstern (2) for soils having linear strength increase with depth. These analyses in- dicated a normalized undrained strength ratio, 5,/é» (undrained shear strength /vertical effective overburden stress), in the range 0.40.48, This value compares with 0.42 from the field vane strength data (Fig. 2) and 0.49 computed from laboratory triaxial compression test data using the SHANSEP procedure (7) with an estimated average overconsolidation ratio (OCR) of 1.8 (see Fig. 2). It thus follows that the steepest trench slopes were probably close to’a marginal stability condition, and that future trench design could reasonably tse the average field vane strength profile. Stability analyses of the seawall itself indicated that the critical slip surfaces passed through the upper alluvial crust, and that stability was very dependent on the strength of that crust. Crust strength varies greatly across the site, but parametric stability analyses with varying crust strength assumptions, coupled with an assumed minimum factor of safety of 1.3 based on the good observed behavior of the wall, suggests that the min- imum average crust strength at the test fill was probably about 70 kPa. Seawall crest settlements of approximately 80 mm were recorded in the 6 months following initial test fill completion. These settlements in- dicated that the lower marine clay was not being stressed into the virgin range and that the seawall itself was not slumping significantly. Toe Dike.—Fig. 6 shows typical settlement and lateral deformation data associated with toe mound construction, subsequent infiling of the test embankment area, and construction of the stabilizing toe berm. Rapid settlement and lateral displacement of the mud following placement of the mound on the bamboo mattress can be seen, with a reversal of the incinometer movement accompanying placement of the inboard hy- 16 Ones FIG. 6.—Typical Toe Mound Deformations pad weer om worm] a2 mmo] FIG. 7.—Characteristic Lateral Mud Deformations, South of Haul Road Araulic fill. The effectiveness of the mattress in limiting the undrained ‘mud settlement under the toe mound is. apparent. Haul Road.—The haul road performance was reviewed relative to the incipient instability to the south of the haul road, the lateral deforma- tions in the mud to the north of the haul road resulting from the layered filling, and the behavior of the drains installed beneath the haul road. Fig. 7 presents characteristic lateral deformations measured in the mud to the south of the haul road during the test fill construction. The top curve represents deformations at the mudline and the lower curve pre= sents movements 3 m below the mudline. The difference between the two curves thus represents the shear deformation in the top 3 m of mud, "7 where much of the lateral deformation took place. Fig. 7 shows that lateral movements during the initial construction of the haul road were minimal, with the mud exhibiting stiff behavior. During placement of the final two haul road layers, however, the mud began to experience southerly deformations, which accelerated very rapidly to approximately 220 mm in the case shown and sufficient to make inclinometers inop- erable in other locations. The rate of deformation slowed dramatically when the stability berm was placed and rose only slightly as the haul road was completed. Construction of the main test area then caused ad-

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