Site Investigation Proposal

KAEA 4234 FOUNDATION ENGINEERING

GROUP MEMBERS LECTURER DATE OF SUBMISSION

: 1. LEE XUAN YEN KEA 090012 2. YAP ZJUN HUNG KEA 090048 : PROF. DR. ROSLAN BIN HASHIM : 5TH NOVEMBER 2012

CONTENT

CHAPTER TITLE 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 CONTENT LIST INTRODUCTION DESCRIPTION OF SELECTED STUDY AREA PROPOSED SITE INVESTIGATION (SI) METHODS DETERMINATION OF FOUNDATION DESIGN CONCLUSION REFERENCES

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1.0 INTRODUCTION Geotechnical investigations are performed by geotechnical engineers or engineering geologists to obtain information on the physical properties of soil and rock around a site to design earthworks and foundations for proposed structures and for repair of distress to earthworks and structures caused by subsurface conditions. Site Investigation (SI) is important to obtain information includes soil properties before the design and construction of foundations. It helps the engineers to select the type and depth of foundations suitable for a given structure, to evaluate the load-bearing capacity of the foundations, to estimate the settlements of the foundations and to estimate the potential foundation problems or changing of soil conditions. In this project, two site investigations methods were proposed to investigate the soil profile due to their suitability to be used in the selected study area. There are Mackintosh Probe Test and Bore Hole Investigation. After the soil profile and parameters are obtained, type of foundation which is suitable to be used in the selected area is determined.

2.0 DESCRIPTION OF SELECTED STUDY AREA

Location: Block P, Faculty of Engineering, UM

The selected study area is a two-storey building which is located at Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya. Faculty of Engineering was built on a slope with around 7-8m in height. The study area is located at the terrain platform in the middle of the slope. There is a block retaining structure right beside the study area to retain the upper part of the slope. The usage of the study building is the combination of office and laboratory. The study area is a RC system building and the superstructure loads are transferred to the ground safely through Pile Foundation. Soil condition in selected study area Location At Bottom of the slope (Toe Level) Photo Description Wet and Yellowish-grey color of soil. The grey colors indicate that it is exposed to water frequently throughout the year. It has an even stronger increase in clay content, but is still predominately sandy. Reddish-brown color of soil. It has a clayey texture. Reddish-brown color indicates that the soil had been weathered and can be classified as Grade 5 residual soil.

At Middle of the slope (Slope Level)

At Top of the slope (Top Level)

Dry and Yellowish color of soil. It has a clayey texture. The soil is dry indicates that the water table does not come into this layer throughout the year.

From the photos, the soil in the selected study area likely is sandy soils. Sandy soils are found throughout Malaysia, but are very common near the mountain foothills, along rivers and streams and certain coastal areas. Sandy soils are typically comprised of approximately 80 - 100% sand, 0 - 10% silt and 0 - 10% clay by volume. Sandy soils are light and typically very free draining, usually holding water very poorly due to very low organic content. Sandy soils have high proportion of sand and little clay. Also known as light soils, these soils drain quickly after rain or watering, are easy to cultivate and work. They warm up more quickly than clay soils. But on the downside, they dry out quickly and are low in plant nutrients, which are quickly washed out by rain.

Estimation of load in the selected study area Dimension of the building: around 120m2 for area and around 7m height. Dead Load: a. Brick wall (roughly distribute to area loading): 3kN/m2 b. SDL (finishes): 1.5kN/m2 c. M&E Loading: 1.5kN/m2 Live Load d. UsageLaboratory and office: 3.5kN/m2 Loading Self weight: Uncertainty: Total Load = (1.4x6kN/m2 + 1.5x3.5kN/m2) (120m2) =24kN/m2x120m2 x2 10% of load =1638kN =5760kN =164kN =7562kN
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3.0 PROPOSED SITE INVESTIGATION (SI) METHODS Site investigation methods (SI) play the role to obtain soil parameters for example cohesion, soil bearing capacity and friction angle. Hence, two appropriate methods have been proposed: Mackintosh Probe Test and Bore Hole Investigation. 1. Mackintosh Probe Test : The Mackintosh Probe Test is a simple and economic testing method to gather preliminary data on sub surface conditions. Such data maybe adequate for the designs of foundations for lightly loaded structures as this provides a very economic method of determining the thickness of soft deposits such as peat. The Mackintosh Probe development was based on the principles stated by Hvorslev (1948) for drive rods for sounding and sampling and recommended methods for static and dynamic sounding by European Group Subcommittee (1968). Since the Mackintosh Probe Test mainly used for soft soil, it is suitable to be used in the study area. This is due to the study area is located at the middle slope and its subsurface are mainly made up of residual soil which is sandy soils and its bedrock mainly is granite. The usefulness of SPT results depends on the soil type, with fine-grained sands giving the most useful results, with coarser sands and silty sands giving reasonably useful results, and clay and gravelly soils yielding results which may be very poorly representative of the true soil conditions. Soil Condition 1 Total Number blows N 10 Consistency and Description

10 N 40

Wet loose, fine sand, silt or clay which is generally unstable Pile must driven into the layer of soil in order to transfer load from the proposed structure to the soil For thin soil layer which is near to the ground surface, the soil layer must be removed Wet thin sand or sand which is mixed with lots of clay with the consistency ranges from soft to firm If plate bearing test is to be carried out on the soil layer, the result would be indicate that settlement does not exceed 0.15in. for every depth interval 30 cm with such number of blows The soil would behave elastically when subjected to loading
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N 40

Wet sand and sandy clay with consistency range from firm to very hard If the plate bearing test is to be carried out on the soil layer, the result would show that the ratio of loading to settlement is almost constant

2. Bore Hole Investigation The detailed investigation of the surface conditions is best carried out by advancing bore holes in selected locations in the project site. Extensive sampling of the soil, on site field tests and monitoring and observation of the sub surface conditions during drilling adds to the information that can be provided to the structural engineer for his designs. Such drilling, sampling and laboratory testing of samples are carried out under strict supervision and in accordance with the standard codes of practice. Additional and specific tests are carried out to meet the structural engineer's specific requirements. Ground investigation may include straightforward trial pit exploratory work of ground and foundations. Deeper investigation may be achieved with hand-augured boreholes or with advanced techniques including machine mini - boreholes, shell and auger boreholes and dynamic probing. A site record was prepared for every bore holes done on site to record the soil description and the SPT N value. This site report will be used for the proper borehole logs latter. The proper borehole logs were generally summarized all the field data and the laboratory tests results as well as give a general indication of the soil conditions at each location. Each borehole log shows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Soils and Rock description Stratum changes SPT result Laboratory testing result General information such as sample reference, sample recovery

Borehole investigation is suitable to be used in the study area to obtain soils parameter like soil classification, shear strength and cohesion as well as soil bearing capacity. All this information in the borehole logs is important to be used in the foundation design.
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4.0 DETERMINATION OF FOUNDATION DESIGN From the information that had been discussed above, the soil in the selected study area more likely is sandy soils. Once the SI methods and laboratory test had been carried out, the soil cohesion and friction angle are determined and the soil bearing capacity can be calculated using the formulation. For estimation, the unit weight , of sandy soils most probably is 13kN/m3 (for dry) and 18kN/m3 (for saturated). Its geotechnical property for example angle of friction should be in the range of 32 4 . Thus, as a conservative, the lower bound value, 28should be taken as the value of friction angle of the sandy soil. Besides, the sandy soils should not have the cohesion since the sand is cohesionless, c 0. The suggested foundation that can be used in this type of sandy soils most likely is Pile Foundation. This is due to the loading on the selected study area is large and cannot be sustained by pad footings or raft footings. Hence, from the information that obtained until right now, the soil bearing capacity can be estimated. Assume 400 x 400 mm2 RC driven pile penetrated 8m depth (included 2m empty bore) dry = 13kN/m3 c = 0 kPa = 28 qo = (13)(8) =104kN/m2 'v = (13)(6) = 52kN/m2 Ab = (0.4) (0.4) = 0.16m2 As = 4(0.4) (6) =9.6 m2 = (0.75) (28) = 21 (for concrete pile) Ks = 1.0 (for low density) For = 28, Nc = 26.372, Nq = 21.268, N = 27.092

Base resistance,

Qb = qo (Nq -1) Ab = 104(21.268 -1) (0.16) = 337.26kN

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Shaft resistance,

Qs = (Ks .'v .tan .As) = (1.0) (52) (tan 21 ) (9.6) = 191.62kN

Ultimate Bearing Capacity for a driven RC pile

= 337.26kN + 191.62kN = 528.88kN

Allowable Bearing Capacity for a driven RC pile

= Load / Factor of safety = 528.88/2.5 = 211.55kN

Hence, the number of piles required for the whole building is: Load/Pile Bearing Capacity = 7562kN/211.55kN = 35.7 36 piles Pile foundation can reduce probability of differentiation in soil settlement due to soil erosion and consolidation. Besides, the shaft resistance for sandy soils acting toward the piles is more effective than the soil bearing pressure on the pad or raft footings. On the other hand, the building surrounded the selected study area are multi-level buildings and their foundation most probably are Pile Foundation.

5.0 CONCLUSION The soil in the selected study area more likely is sandy soils. However, for more justifications, it is recommended to carry out Mackintosh Probe Test and Bore Hole Investigation at the selected study area for justification of soil parameters. The foundation that might be used in the selected study area most likely is pile foundation.

6.0 REFERENCES
1. Frank, K., Ross, A., & Murray, C. (n.d.). Soil profiles and descriptions . Retrieved from http://courses.soil.ncsu.edu/ssc570/student_projects/571_web_page/profiles.htm 2. Geotecdata.info. (2011, April 29). Geotechnical properties of soils. Retrieved from http://www.geotechdata.info/parameter 8