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NSCP 2015
EARTHWORKS & FOUNDATIONS
LECTURE SERIES ON THE UPDATES OF THE NEW STRUCTURAL CODE
OF THE PHILIPPINES, VOL. I BUILDINGS, TOWERS AND OTHER
VERTICAL STRUCTURES, SEVENTH EDITION (2015)
3-4 FEBRUARY 2017
MLQU QUEZON CITY 4TH FLOOR VICTORIA SPORTS TOWER,
EDSA, QUEZON CITY

MARK ALBERT H. ZARCO, PH.D.

MEMBER, PICE GEOTECHNICAL SPECIALTY DIVISION

PROFESSOR, GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING GROUP

INSTITUTE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES DILIMAN

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SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT REVISIONS
Provisions for cut slopes have been modified and the figure for fill slopes
has been amended for clarity.
The figure for fill slopes has been amended for clarity and some
provisions have been modified.
Provisions pertaining to minimum dimensions of ditches have been
modified.
Provisions pertaining to the conduct and interpretation of foundation
investigations for cases involving liquefiable, expansive or questionable
soils have been revised.
Table 304-1 has been revised with increased allowable bearing
pressures for foundation on rock based on local experience.

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SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT REVISIONS
The section on excavations and fills has been amended to incorporate
provisions for scouring and erosion protection as well as support of
excavations and open cuts.
The subsection on Erosion Control has been expanded to include
specific provisions for scour protection.
A subsection on Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) Structures and
Similar Reinforced Embankments and Fills has been introduced.
A table on the minimum required number of boreholes has been added to
the section on foundation investigation.
Provision pertaining to general pile requirements have been expand to
include design of piles and pile groups subjected to lateral loads.
Provisions for construction in Zone 4 pertaining to reinforcement of
Precast Pre-stressed Piles have been revised based on ASCE 7-10

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Section 302 Cut Slopes

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 Section 302.7 Erosion Control

Section 302. 7.2. Scour Protection

Retaining structures and foundations located on stream banks and beds
shall be provided with appropriate countermeasures, designed on the basis
of a detailed engineering study, for long-term protection against scouring
and erosion.

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 Section 302.8 MSE Structures and Similar
Reinforced Embankments and Fills

The design of Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE)

Structures and Similar Reinforced Embankments and
Fills shall incorporate provision for internal and external
drainage.
The design for the requirement reinforcement shall take
into consideration the detrimental effects of corrosion,
chemical and biological attack, mechanical damage,
creep, installation damage and pH conditions to the
reinforcement.
Select Granular Backfill shall consist of sound, durable,
granular material free from organic matter or other
deleterious material (such as shale or other soft particles
with poor durability).
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Section 302.8 MSE Structures and Similar
Reinforced Embankments and Fills
The select granular backfill materials for these earth structures shall
conform to Grading Requirements as stated in Table 302.1

Standard Sieve Percent by Mass

Opening (mm) Passing
Designated Sieve
(AASHTO T 27 and T
11)
100 100
0.0425 0 60
0.075 0 15

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 Section 302.8 MSE Structures and Similar
Reinforced Embankments and Fills

The angle of internal friction for the backfill material shall

not be less than 34.
The assigned cohesion value during the design stage for
the backfill material within the reinforced zone shall not
exceed 5 kPa.
The soils should be compacted to no less than 95% MDD
determine according to AASHTO T 99 Method C or D and
corrected for oversized material according to AASHTO T
99, Note 9.
The material shall have a Plasticity Index of not more
than 15 for rigid faced MSE structures, and not more than
20 for flexible or ductile faced MSE structures, as
determine by AASHTO T 90.
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 Section 302.8 MSE Structures and Similar
Reinforced Embankments and Fills

Electrochemical requirements for Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE)

retaining walls with metallic reinforcements shall comply with
summarized in Table 302-2.

Test Requirements
Resistivity, AASHTO
T 288 3000 -cm min.

pH, AASHTO T 289 5.0 to 10.0

Sulfate Content
AASHTO T 290 200 ppm max.

Chloride Content
AASHTO T 291 100 ppm max.

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 Section 303 Foundation Investigation

FOOTPRINT AREA MINIMUM *The minimum required

OF STRUCTURE REQUIRED number of boreholes
(m2) NUMBER OF
should in no way be
BOREHOLES*
construed as an upper limit
A 50 1 value.
** A corresponds to the
50 < A 500 2 footprint area of the
A 500 2 + (A/1000)** structure in m2.

(Rounded Up to
Nearest Integer)

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 Section 303 Foundation Investigation

The minimum required number of boreholes should

in no way be construed as an upper limit value.
All boreholes should fall within the footprint of the
structure.
Boreholes should be distributed uniformly
throughout the building footprint.
Time settlement effects due construction of the
proposed structure to existing adjacent structures
should be evaluated.

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 Section 303 Foundation Investigation

An exhaustive geotechnical investigation should also be conducted in cases of:

1. questionable soils, expansive soils, or problematic soils (e.g. liquefiable,
organic, compressible, sensitive, etc.);
2. to determine whether the existing groundwater table is above or within 1.5
meters below the elevation of the lowest floor level;
3. where such floor is located below the finished ground level adjacent to the
foundation;
4. in cases where the use of pile foundations and/or ground improvement are
anticipated;
5. in areas underlain by rock strata where the rock is suspected to be of
questionable characteristics or indicate variations in the structure of the rock
or where solution cavities or voids are expected to be present in the rock;
and
6. other cases deemed necessary by the Geotechnical Engineer.
7. The building official may require that the interpretation and evaluation of
the results of the foundation investigation be made by a geotechnical
engineer.
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 Section 304 Allowable Foundation and
Lateral Pressures
Lateral
Bearing
Allowable Lateral Sliding
Below
Foundation
Class of Materials1 Natural
Pressure2
Grade Resistance
(kPa) Coefficient
(kPa/m of (kPa)
depth)

1. Intact Tuffaceous Sandstone 1,000 300 - -

2. Lightly Weathered Tuffaceous

500 150 - -
Sandstone

3. Sandy Gravel and /or Gravel(GW & GP) 100 30 0.35 -

4. Well-graded Sand, Poorly-graded Sand,

Silty Sand, Clayey Sand, Silty Gravel and
75 25 0.25 -
Clayey Gravel (SW, SP, SM, SC, GM and
GC)
5. Clay, Sandy Clay, Silty Clay and Clayey Silt
50 c 15 - 7
(CL, ML, MH, and CH)
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 Section 304 Allowable Foundation and
Lateral Pressures

Intact sandstone must satisfy both UCTmin= 3MPa and RQD 70

Lightly weathered sandstone must satisfy both UCTmin= 1Mpa and
RQD 50
A geotechnical site investigation is recommended for soil
classification (Refer to Section 303).
All values of allowable foundation pressure are for footings having a
Minimum width of 300mm and a minimum depth of 300mm into the
natural grade.
Except as noted in Footnotes a and b an increase of 20% is
allowed for each additional 300mm of width and/or depth to a
maximum value of three times the designated value. Except in cases
of liquefiable soils, an increase of one-third is permitted when using
the alternate load combinations in Section 203.4 that include wind or
earthquake loads.
For clays and clayey silts, no increase shall be allowed for an
increase of width. 15
Section 305 Building Clearance for
Slopes

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 Section 305 Footings

Reinforced slopes.
Footings on or adjacent to slopes reinforced using rock
anchors, soils nails, geosynthethics or any other similar
ground improvement technique shall be founded such that it
does not interfere or impair the function of the reinforcing
elements.
The building official may require the recommendation of a
geotechnical engineer to demonstrate that the reinforced
slope can safely carry the structural loads it will be subjected
to.

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 Section 306 Lateral Loads

The design of piles subjected to lateral loads shall be

consistent with the design rules given Sections 306.1 through
306.7, where applicable. For foundations involving piles
subjected to lateral loads, the investigation and report
provisions of Section 303 shall be expanded to include, but not
be limited to:
1. Allowable lateral load capacity of recommended pile type.
2. Resulting lateral displacements at allowable lateral load.
3. Lateral pile load test requirements.

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 Section 306.1 Lateral Loads

The design resistance of piles subjected to lateral

loads, should be assessed based on one of the
following failure mechanisms:
For short piles, rotation or translation as a rigid
body (Broms, 1964)
For long slender piles, bending failure of the pile,
accompanied by local yielding and displacement
of the soil near the top of the pile. (non-linear p-
y method e.g. COM624).

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 Section 306.8.2 Pile Groups

The group effects shall be considered when

assessing the resistance of laterally loaded pile
groups.
Group interaction effects as well as head fixity shall
be accounted for when deriving the lateral
resistance of pile groups from results of load tests
performed on individual piles.

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 Section 306.8.2 Pile Groups

When assessing lateral load resistance from results

of subsurface investigation and pile strength
parameters, the transverse resistance of a pile or
pile group shall be calculated using a compatible
set of structural effects of actions, ground reactions
and displacements, and consider the possibility of
structural failure of the pile in the ground as well as
the degree of freedom of rotation of piles at the
connection with the structure.

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 Section 308 Foundation
Construction in Seismic Zone 4
Section 308.5.2 Precast Prestressed Piles

For the upper 20 ft (6 m) of precast prestressed piles, the minimum

volumetric ratio of spiral reinforcement shall not be less than 0.007 or
thea mount required by the following formula:

. (308.5.1)

where

= Specified compressive strength of concrete, MPa

= Yield strength of spiral reinforcement, 586 MPa
= Spiral reinforcement index (volume spiral/volume of core)

A minimum of one-half the volumetric ratio required by 308.5.1 shall be

provided for the remaining length of the pile.
(Adopted from ASCE 7-10 14.2.3.1) 22
 Section 308 Foundation
Construction in Seismic Zone 4
Section 308.5.2 Precast Pre- stressed Piles
Where a structure is assigned to Seismic Zone 4, the following
requirements shall be met:

Where the total pile length in the soil is 35 ft(10,668 mm) or less, the
lateral transverse the ductile pile region shall be taken as the entire
length of the pile.
Where the pile length exceeds 35 ft (10,668 mm), the ductile pile
region shall be taken as the greater of 35ft (10,668 mm) or the
distance from the underside of the pile cap to the point of zero
curvature plus three times the least pile dimension.

(Adopted from ASCE 7-10 14.2.3.1) 23

 Section 308 Foundation
Construction in Seismic Zone 4
Section 308.5.2 Precast Pre- stressed Piles (Continued)
Where a structure is assigned to Seismic Zone 4, the following
requirements shall be met:

In the ductile pile region, the center to center spacing of the spirals
or hoop reinforcement shall not exceed one-fifth of the least pile
dimension, six times the diameter of the longitudinal strand, or 203
mm, whichever is small.
Spiral reinforcement shall be spliced by lapping one full turn, by
welding, or by the use of a mechanical connector. Where spiral
reinforcement is lap spliced, the ends of the spiral shall terminate in
a seismic hook (cross reference to ACI 318), except that the bend
shall be not less than 135. Welded splices and mechanical
connectors shall comply with (cross reference to 12.14.3 of ACI
318).

(Adopted from ASCE 7-10 14.2.3.6) 24

 Section 308 Foundation
Construction in Seismic Zone 4
Section 308.5.2 Precast Prestressed Piles
Where the transverse reinforcement consists of spiral or circular hoops,
the volumetric ratio of spiral transverse reinforcement in the ductile pile
region shall comply with
.
. . . (308.5.2)
but not less than:
.
. . (308.5.3)
and need not exceed:
. (308.5.4)

(Adopted from ASCE 7-10 14.2.3.6) 25

 Section 308 Foundation
Construction in Seismic Zone 4
Section 308.5.2 Precast Prestressed Piles
When transverse reinforcement consists of rectangular hoops and
cross ties, the total cross-sectional area of lateral transverse
reinforcement in the ductile region with spacings, and perpendicular
to dimension, , shall conform to:
.
. . (308.5.5)
but not less than:
.
. . (308.5.6)

(Adopted from ASCE 7-10 14.2.3.6) 26

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