GEOTECHNICAL SOIL INVESTIGATION REPORT ON THE

PROPOSED FOUR-STOREY BUILDING LOCATED AT BARANGAY

SAN ROQUE, IRIGA CITY, CAMARINES SUR

Eduardo F. Villamor

1.0 INTRODUCTION

This report contains the geotechnical investigation for the proposed four-storey
building (18.5m) owned by Ms. Joyce Ong located at Barangay San Roque, Iriga
City, Camarines Sur.

The soil investigation was performed by Mayon Geotech and Geoenvironment

Services Incorporated and AER Drilling and Technical Services Incorporated,
using Standard Penetration Testing (SPT). Selected recovered samples were then
brought to the laboratory for analysis and testing.

The soil investigation program consisted of:

 Standard Penetration Test of three boreholes in the proposed building area.

 Laboratory Test on soil samples including:

-Soil Classification ( Unified Soil Classification System, ASTM D2487)

-Grain Size analysis (ASTM D422)
-Atterberg Limits (ASTM D4318)
-Determination of Moisture Content (ASTM D2216)

Building foundation should be capable of undergoing imposed load without

undergoing excessive movement that may cause structural damage or unwanted
effects to the planned usage of the facility. These considerations require that the
soil responsible for supporting the foundation system need not be stressed beyond
its strength limits.

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 The purposed of the soil investigation is to determine the layering of the soil
formation, the soil condition, and particularly the strength and deformation
characteristics of soil that will be utilized as soil foundation.

2.0 PROJECT LOCATION

The area under study is located in Barangay San Roque, Camarines Sur. The
proposed building is located in commercial and residential portion of the Iriga
City proper. It relatively flat and is located adjacent to PNB building, a vacant lot
and at the back commercial-residential building. Approximately 1.0 meter wide
open drainage system was observed on the side of the area.

The area is underlained by volcanic rocks to volcaniclastic sediment derived from

mainly from Mt. Iriga and adjacent volcanic cones. Soil profile of the area is
mostly sand to silt with clayey component at increasing proportion at depth.

3.0 FIELD INVESTIGATION

The program of soil investigation consisted boring which was carried out to
depths ranging from 8.9m to 9.95m. A total of three (3) boreholes were tested on
the proposed building site. The corresponding borehole depths are as follow.

Borehole No. Depth below ground level

BH-1 8.90
BH-2 9.12
BH-3 9.95

The Standard Penetration Test (SPT) was done in accordance with ASTM
specifications. For each test, a 2-inch (50.8mm) outside diameter Split Spoon

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 Sampler is driven into the soil of 18 (460mm) inches by means of 140lb. (63.3
kg.) driving mass free-falling from a height of 30 inches (760mm). The number
of blows needed to drive the split spoon sampler 18 inches (460mm) is recorded
and the number of blows needed to drive the last 12 inches (305 mm) is taken a
the “N-value”. Disturbed soil samples were recovered using split spoon and were
tested in the laboratory.

4.0 LABORATORY TESTING

Selected samples were obtained during the field testing and were subjected to the
following laboratory tests.

 Soil Classification ( Unified Soil Classification System, ASTM D2487)

 Grain Size analysis (ASTM D422)
 Atterberg Limits (ASTM D4318)
 Determination of Moisture Content (ASTM D2216)

5.0 RESULTS OF FIELD DRILLING AND LABORATORY TESTING

The following subsurface conditions is generally based on the subsurface

exploration conducted by joint venture work by Mayon Geotech and
Geoenvironment Services Incorporated and AER Drilling and Technical Services
Incorporated. Subsurface condition is depicted by the soil profiles drawn between
the boreholes, spaced at approximately 10 meters and is presented in Appendix 1.

The three (3) boreholes (Attachment I) drilled in the proposed building footprint
showed an upperlayer consisting of soil deposits of varying thickness with
intertounging layers. Borehole findings indicate an upper layer consisting
consisting (0.0-2.3m) of interlayering of silty sand (SM) (Attachment II). A
relatively consistent layers of silty clay (CL-ML) follow this with low N-value
averaging from 1 to 2. Underlying this is soil formation of silty, clayey sand (SC-
SM) with erratic N-values from 1 to 8. Intertounging of SM and CL-ML were

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 noted on Borehole BH-1 and BH-2 especially below 3.6m. Dark grayish silty
sand (SM) reaches refusal (N>50) at an average depth 8.9 to 9.95m (Attachment
III).

6.0 DISCUSSION AND EVALUATION

The top layer of dense granular soil approximately 2.5 meter thick generally
characterizes the site under study. This material is normally considered as
competent foundation materials. However, the underlying soil layers are soft
layers of clay and silt with intertounging features with might account for erratic
N-values.

Plasticity index (PI) on samples (IRRI-3-4) revealed a relatively low value at 4 to

7 with liquid limit (LL) of 25-29% (Attachment III). Below the values given by
the Earth Manual, Second Edition, 1974, Bureau of Reclamation, US Department
of Interior for the soil to crack and swell.

On liquefaction potential the upper layer of silty sand (SM) from 0.0 to 2.3m is
the most prone due to is relative absence of clay component and low N-values.
However, samples IRRI 1-2 revealed the sandy layers has low susceptibility due
to its grain sizes which majority lies outside the very easily to liquefy of the
Tsuchida graph on liquefaction susceptibility. In addition the general condition, of
soil in the site is associated with clayey material thus decrease the liquefaction
potential of the soil in the site.

Utilizing the Fukushima-Tanaka deterministic model (Fukushima and Tanaka,

1990),

Log A =0.41M-log (R+0.032 x 10^0.41M)-0.0034R + 1.30

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 Where, A is the mean of the peak acceleration from two horizontal components, R
is the shortest distance between site and the fault rapture, and M is the surface
wave magnitude.

Based on the worst case scenario of Ms=7.5 from the most adjacent possible
earthquake source zone. The calculated ground acceleration values (g) of the
types of soil are outlined below:

A.) Philippine Fault - Bedrock-0.34, Medium-0.49, Soft-0.78

B.) Philippine Trench- Bedrock-0.024, Medium-0.035, Soft-0.055

However, since the soil is generally clayey sandy and silty components and gravel
types, and its is classified as medium to soft especially from 0.0-6.0 meters layer.

The National Structural Code of the Philippines 1992 (NSCP) placed Camarines
Sur under the seismic zone number 4 and a seismic factor of 0.4 (Z) (Attachment
IV). Together with site coefficient (S), are the two important factors used in the
seismic design as provided by the Association of the Structural Engineers of the
Philippines (ASEP) through the NSCP.

7.0 FOUNDATION RECOMMENDATION

Foundation analysis indicates that shallow footing may be adopted for structures
not exceeding about 166 Kpa. Bearing capacity computed from the top to about
1.35-3.98 with the base of footing (B) at 3.0 meters is from 42.48 to 1156.58 Kpa
(Attachment V). To avoid overstressing the underlying soft layers reduced
bearing capacity must be used in proportioning to the footing.

It is recommended that a 100mm layer of compacted granular fill must also be

placed beneath the footing and other measures to enhanced the rigidity of the
foundation.

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 For structures necessitating higher bearing capacities, deep foundation utilizing
bored or drilled reinforced concrete piles is recommended. Considering the
subsoil profile, the piles are expected to be predominantly end bearing and must
therefore be socketed to at least 2.0meters into the bedrock to mitigate settlement.
A full load pile test should be conducted before the actual pile foundation work is
to be undertaken.

8.0 CONCLUSION

The scope of this work is limited to the site mentioned and my understanding of
the significant aspects relevant to the soil and the foundation condition gather in
the study from the data of the three (3) boreholes. Should any difference in the
site subsoil condition be observed during the construction phase of the work, the
undersigned should be informed so that necessary corrections and changes in the
recommendation can be made.

In the event that others use the data, discussions, and recommendation contained
in this report, they are not the responsibility of the undersigned. This report has
been prepared to aid the Structural/Design Engineer in the design of the specific
project.