BRIDGE FOUNDATION DESIGN

Siva
Theivendrampillai
Sivakumar
Principal Engineer (Geotechnical)

Geotechnical Branch
 Overview
Brief Discussion on:

• Foundation Type

• Foundation Design

• Pile Load Testing

• Approach Embankment to Bridge

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 TMR-Specifications
• Cast-in-Place Piles – MRTS63 and 63A
• Driven PSC Piles – MRTS65
• Driven Steel Piles –MRTS66
• Dynamic Testing of piles—MRTS68

• Project Specific- Geotechnical Design

Standard – Minimum Requirements

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 Basic Foundation Types

• Shallow Foundations
¾ Bearing strata at shallow depths

• Deep Foundation (Piles)

¾ Deeper bearing strata
ƒ Driven Piles
ƒ Cast-in-Place Piles

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 Basic Foundation Types

SHALLOW FOUNDATIONS

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When can we use Shallow Foundations?

When Surface strata are:

• Strong ( Adequate bearing capacity and no
settlement issues).
• Not vulnerable to Scour
• Non-expansive
• Low ground water level

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Shallow Foundation Design – Things
to Consider

• Concentric / Eccentric Loading

• Overturning moment

• Sliding

• Global Stability ( esp. footing on / adjacent to

slope)

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Basic Foundation Types

DEEP FOUNDATIONS - PILES

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 When do we need piles?
• When surface strata are
¾ Weak
¾ Compressible
¾ Erodable
¾ Expansive

• To resist flood, earth pressures

¾ Lateral loads
¾ Uplift loads
¾ Overturning loads
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Pile Use: Transfer load through surface strata which
may be weak, compressible, expansive etc.

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Pile Use: For resisting lateral loading

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Pile Use: For resisting uplift

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Pile Use: Support against scour or lateral loading
due to excavation

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Pile Use – Further example of lateral support for deep
excavation induced lateral loading

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 Deep Foundations - Pile Types
• Driven piles
¾ Displacement piles

¾ Soil is ‘displaced’ within the adjoining soil mass

(displaced volume ≈ pile volume)

• Cast-in-place piles or Bored piles

¾ Non-Displacement piles
¾ Soil is removed
¾ The excavation may or may not be supported

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 Driven Piles - Types and basic
requirement in design
• Types
¾ Octagonal Prestressed Concrete
(PSC)
¾ Reinforced Concrete (RC)
¾ Steel “H Pile”
¾ Timber Piles

• Limitations on maximum length

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 DRIVEN PILES

PSC Piles in use at Wetheron Creek Bridgesite

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Pile Driving Frame

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SITE INVESTIGATION FOR DRIVEN PILES

1. Soil strength and stiffness

2. Soil chemical analysis ⇒
corrosion/aggressiveness
3. Possible obstructions to installation
4. Potential for damage to adjoining
structure due to “ground heave”
5. Vibrations 20
 Driven Piles
• Will refuse in SPT N>50 material
• Loads: e.g.,550mm PSC working 1500kN
• Settlement: ~ 10 mm
• Vulnerable to:
¾ Lateral movement / Negative skin friction
¾ Excess vertical settlement
• Drive after construction of approach
embankments
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Example of Negative
Skin friction

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 Bored or Cast-in-place Piles

• Types
¾ Short bored piers
¾ Cylinders on rock
¾ Cylinders socketed into rock**
¾ Belled sockets Bedrock

• Bored piles
¾ Could be up to 4 x cost of driven pile
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 Bored Piles - Construction
• Bored piles are cast in place cylindrical piles
• Excavated by
ƒ Augers
ƒ Buckets
ƒ Large drill bit (for hard rock)
ƒ Chisel grab and casing oscillator for bouldery
ground, etc.

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Bored Pile Excavation- Augering

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 Bored Pile Excavation - Bucket

Cleaning Bucket

Drilling Rig

Excavation Bucket 26
 Bored Piles – Cylinders
Socketed into rock

Rock Sockets
 Rock Sockets
• High compression loads
• Greater resistance to lateral movement
• Socket length 2 to 5 x diameter
• Diameter from 900mm to 1800mm
• High strength rock
¾ Point Load (Is50 > 1 MPa)
¾ Rock anchors preferred to resist large uplift
loads

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 Rock Sockets
• May need casing in overburden soils and
XW rock (SPT N<50)
• Sealing/control of groundwater important
• Capacity to take heavy loads dependent
on extremely clean socket bases –
inspection important (WH&S)
• More expensive - so fewer, larger piles
may be more economical
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 Loads on Bridge Foundations
Structural Engineer to advise, consists of but not limited to

• Vertical Compressive (Dead + imposed) loads

¾ Imposed Loads
¾ + ½ Dead Load – highway bridges

¾ + 2/3 Dead Load – railway bridges

• Vertical Uplift
¾ flood loads in transverse direction

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 Loads on Bridge Foundations

• Horizontal Loads
¾ braking force of vehicle in longitudinal
direction
¾ flood loads in transverse direction

¾ Earthquake

• Horizontal Loads create Bending

Moments
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 Selection of Foundation Type

What influences the decision for driven

or bored piles?
The following factors will influence the
choice of foundation type:
9 Loads
9 Environment
9 Logistics and
9 Geology

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 Selection of Foundation Type: Loads

• Structural Loads
¾ Heavy compressive loads from large spans

• Hydraulic Issues
¾ Lateral and uplift loads from flood loading
¾ Scour in loose sands and silts

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Selection of Foundation Type: Environment

• Vibration
¾ proximity to people
¾ vulnerable structures
¾ damage to services
• Aggressiveness due to groundwater
• Obstructions
¾ overhead power lines / headroom

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Selection of Foundation Type: Logistics

• Transporting fresh concrete in western

Queensland
¾ Distance and temperature
• Availability/Transporting PSC piles
¾ Max length around 25 – 27m
• Quality of access roads
• Accessibility at foundation locations
¾ Crane pads, piling rig pads
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 Selection of Foundation Type: Geology

• Depth to competent strata

• Obstructions to pile driving
¾ Coffee rock (Indurated Sand)
• Steeply dipping bearing strata
¾ Basalt flows
• Interbedded rock types with different
properties

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 Selection of Foundation Type: Geology

• Compressible deposits
• Defects with soft infills
• High head of groundwater
¾ Sealing issues
¾ Hole stability
¾ Concreting
• Rock excavatability

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Coffee Rock (Indurated Sand)

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Steeply Dipping Bearing Strata

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 Pile Design - Approaches

PILE DESIGN

THEORY EMPIRICISM EXPERIENCE FIELD LOADING TESTS

Static
Engineering Geology Dynamic
To account for Regional (geology +
Soil Mechanics
various methods of local construction
Rock Mechanics
pile installation practices) Construction
Structural Mechanics Design
Stage Stage

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 PILES - design

The following aspects should be considered in

design:
1. Load carrying capacity (Geotechnical Engineer)
- strength and stiffness ⇒ “serviceability”
2. Pile material strength (Structural Engineer)
3. Pile material durability (Structural Engineer)

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 Pile Design - Geotechnical
The following DESIGN ELEMENTS should be accounted
for in design:

• Foundations: • Approaches
¾ Load capacity ¾ Stability
¾ Settlements ¾ Settlements
¾ Lateral Fixity
¾ Uplift resistance • Interaction
¾ Abutments
• Scour Issues
¾ Widening/
¾ Land/water structures
duplication
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 Pile Capacity
Q
• Q = Pile Capacity
• Qend = End Resistance
• Qshaft = Shaft Resistance Qshaft
• Q = Qend + Qshaft

Qend
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 End versus Shaft Bearing Piles
• Pile in Clay • Pile in ƒ End Bearing Pile
Sand

Qshaft Qshaft Qshaft

Qend
Qend = 5-10% Qshaft Qend
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Low load Ultimate load

fs = τ max
fs = τ max
for the
full
fs << τ max length

Base resistance,
fb, mobilized
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Driven Pile Capacity
 Design of Piles
Traditional Approach
Ultimate Geotechnical Capacity =
Ult. Skin Friction + Ult. End Resistance

Allowable Geotechnical Capacity =

Ult. Skin Friction/1.5 + Ult. End Resistance/3.0

OR

Allowable Geotechnical Capacity =

Ultimate Geotechnical Capacity/2.5

The allowable geotechnical capacity should be compared with

design load (unfactored) from the structure.
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 Design of Piles
Limit State Design (e.g AS2159)
Rug (Ultimate Geotechnical Capacity) =
Ult. Skin Friction + Ult. End Resistance

Rg* (Design Geotechnical Capacity) = Ф x Rug

Rg* >= N* or S* (Design Action Effect or Ultimate Design Load)

Rg* should be compared with ultimate design load (not driving

capacity or structural capacity)
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Load and Settlement- (idealized)
(600 mm, 10 m long bored pile in stiff clay)
 PILE DESIGN – WIDELY ACCEPTED BEHAVIOUR

Increasing unit base or shaft resistance

Pile

NONDISPLACEMENT CFA PARTIAL DISPLACEMENT FULL DISPLACEMENT

Drilled shafts (Auger cast) H-Piles Precast concrete
Micropiles in soils Open-ended pipe piles Closed-ended pipe piles
(in some soils) Open-ended pipe piles
(in some soils)
Franki

Spectrum of soil displacement caused

by pile installation and Its relationship to
bearing capacity.
 2nd Session
• Pile Load Testing
• Site Investigation – Need to get it right
• Design Elements – Stability and Settlement at
Bridge Approaches
• Selection of Design Parameters
• Design Charts – for estimating shaft resistance
and settlement of piles

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 Pile Load Test
• Why Pile Load Test
¾ Derivation of design parameter
¾ Verification of design load or pile carrying capacity
• MRTS63 Requires that at least 10% of piles at a
site to be tested
• Common methods of pile load test
¾ Static Load Test (Kentledge or Reaction Piles)
¾ Dynamic Test (PDA with CAPWAP)

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Static Load Test

Kentledge

Reaction Piles

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Kentledge Set up for Static Pile Load Test

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Static Load Test – Further example of
Kentledge

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Dynamic Load Test – Pile Driving Analyser (PDA)

• The PDA system consists of

¾ Two strain transducers (to measure strain/force)
¾ Two accelerometers (to measure velocity)
Attached to opposite sides of the pile (near the top of the pile).

• The measured force and velocity at the pile top

provide necessary information to estimate soil
resistance and its distribution.

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PDA – Set Up

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Typical arrangement of PDA - Schematic

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Force &
velocity
wave traces
recorded
during initial
driving and
restriking

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Load-settlement Behaviour
Test Pile: Predicted versus Measured Performance
 Site Investigation - Need to get it right

• What can go wrong?

• How can we manage undue contractual
claims as well as save construction time
• Limited investigation can be disastrous as
this could lead to undue claims
• Example – Six Mile Creek, Central Qld

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Six Mile Creek, Central Qld

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Six Mile Creek – Footing Plan Area

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Six Mile Creek: Additional Investigation-DCP

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Six Mile Creek - Footing Excavation

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Six Mile Creek: Footing re-design

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Design Element – Stability and Settlement at
Bridge Approaches

• Stability
• Settlement

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Different Origins that could Lead to Formation of
Bump at the Approaches to a Bridge

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 Abutment Stability and Settlement
• Compression of Natural Soil Due to
Embankment Load
• What are compressible Soils?
¾ Softclays (SPT N = HW to 6 or Su
<25kPa)
• Where can we find soft clays
(compressible soils)?
¾ Old River Channels
¾ Paleo-channels (very dangerous)

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 Paleo-channels

• GUP, near
Schultz canal
• From old
topography
maps and
airphotos
 Abutment Stability and Settlement

• Paleochannels
ƒ Old buried channels from previous creek
routes
ƒ Deposits of softer younger alluvium
ƒ Can be difficult to identify
ƒ Create a sudden change in ground conditions

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Paleo-channels – Long Section

10 – 15m soft clay

 Abutment Stability and Settlement

• Risks associated with soft clays

¾Embankment stability and settlement
¾Structures (damage, bumps)
¾Pavements Deterioration - unevenness
¾Retaining wall foundations
¾Construction delays
¾Construction access

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Abutment Stability: Soft Clay Issue
Slip Failure - Schematic

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Abutment Stability and Settlement: Soft Clay Issue

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Abutment Stability and Settlement: Soft Clay Issue,
Bump at Bridge Approach

Vertical Settlement
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Abutment Stability and Settlement: Soft Clay Issue,
Differential Settlement

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Abutment Stability and Settlement: Typical Examples
on Projects in South East Queensland

• Gateway Arterial @ Bald Hills Creek

• East – West Arterial @ Pound Drain
• Ipswich Motorway – BR340 @
Dinmore

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Gateway Arterial – Bald Hills Creek, Stability
 Gateway Arterial - Bald Hills Creek

• 3m high
embankment

• 100m failure
during
construction

• Boreholes
150m apart
 Bald Hills Creek - Mitigation Strategy

• Stability failure reinstated with timber piled raft

• Abrupt differential settlement between
embankment sections
ƒ Embankment on piles didn’t settle
ƒ Embankment on natural did (4-5mm /month)

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Bald Hills Creek, Settlement

≈ 150 mm
predicted
in 1986 by
consultant

≈ 800 mm
by Jul 98
East – West Arterial @ Pound Drain
 East – West Arterial @ Pound Drain

• Damaged by lateral loading on piles from

the approach embankment
• Differential settlement also
¾Loads on abutment piled foundations
¾Interaction effects on adjacent structures
¾Functionality of drainage structures
¾Problems at relieving slab and pavement
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 Ipswich Motorway - Bridge BR340, Stability

• Number of Spans = 3
• Span Length = 13m, 18m & 13m
• Bridge Spillthrough Embankment
9m high with batter Slopes
1(H):1(V)
• Number of Piles at Abutments = 3
Spaced at 6.5m c/c
• Number of Piles at Piers = 5
Spaced at 3.3m c/c

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Ipswich Motorway - 2009

Approach embankment failed.

Cracks in embankment
plus Pier piles displaced.

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 Risks Associated with Soft Clays – Managing
Stability and Settlement

• How can we manage stability and

settlement

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 Overview of Management Strategies

Light-weight Fill Stone Columns Embankment Vacuum Preload

on Piles

Stage Construction Partial Replacement

Reinforced
Embankment
Total Replacement

Temporary
Surcharge 89
Counter Berms Height reduction. Vertical Drains
 SELECTION OF DESIGN PARAMETERS

• SOILS
• ROCKS

90
 Soils

SAND CLAY

Stiff Soft

CPT SPT UU CPT CPTu UU VS

SPT: Standard Penetrometer Oedometer

CPT: Cone Penetrometer Consolidation
CPTu: Piezocone
UU: Triaxial 91

VS: Vane Shear Test

Selection of Design Parameters : CPT

CPT

Sands / Stiff Clays

fs qc

Shaft End bearing

resistance resistance 92
 Selection of Design Parameters : CPTu

CPTu

Soft Clays

qc u Fs/qc/u

Su (Undrained Cv (Rate of Drainage

Strength for stability) settlement) lenses 93
Selection of Design Parameters : Su

Undrained
Strength

Stiff
Soft clay Clay

Shaft Resistance
Stability
End Bearing

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 Selection of Design Parameters: Rock

XW/HW MW/SW

Point Point Pressure

Visual SPT Visual USC
Load Load -meter

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 Selection of Design Parameters:
Rock Tests
Point Load CNS
UCS Pressuremeter
(Is)50

HW/MW/
MW/SW/Fr
SW/Fr

Shaft Resistance
Settlement of Shaft Resistance
End Bearing Sockets 96
 Design Charts (after Poulos)

• Design charts for the estimation of shaft

resistance and settlement of piles
¾Driven Piles
¾Bored Piles

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Shaft Resistance

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Settlement (Poulos 1989)
Settlement (Poulos 1989)