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Let us now compare water pressurewith earth pressure(active for us) in quantitative
terms.
At any depth h(Fig.44.4), water pressure pw = w xh, where w is the unit weight of
water. We can therefore state pw = 10 h. At the same depth h, (active) earth pressure, pa
= xh x Ka, where is the unit weight of soil, and Ka, the coefficient of active earth
pressure. The latter decreases with the increasing values of in a cohesionless soil.
Assuming typical values such as 15 kN/m3 for and 30 0 for (for which Ka = 1/3), we
can write, pa = 15 x h x 1/3 = 5 h (Fig.44.4).
This shows that water pressure is of the order of twice the active earth pressure, and
hence its great potential in stabilising the sides of bore holes and trenches, to the extent
we can assume that it is the active earth pressure which is not resisted in an unsupported
bore hole the sides of which therefore cave in.
If the hydrostatic pressure exerted by water is a potential stabilising agent in soil, the
immediate question that comes up is, why add clay to it and make it a thin slurry which
we call drillling mud. This is because if we simply pour water into a bore hole for the
purpose of stabilising the sides, water will continuously seep into the side soil, needing
continuous replenishment, which makes it an impractical task as a means of stabilisation,
on a practical scale.
There are two methods by which the cut soil particles are removed from the bore hole
through the medium of thedrilling mud, and the drilling mud recycled and sent back to the
hole. These are the direct mud circulation method and thereverse mud circulationmethod.
In the direct method, the slurry is pumped into tubes to which is attached the chiselshaped boring tool through which it discharges under pressure into the bottom of the bore
hole. As a result, the earth loosened due to the repeated lifting and dropping action of the
chisel, mixes with the slurry and flushes out from the top of the bore hole where it is
collected in the first compartment of the bentonite tank, where the bored earth is allowed
to settle and the betonite slurryallowed to flow out into the next compartment, from where
it is pumped back into the tubes carrying the chisel (Fig.44.6). In the reverse method, the
bentoniteslurry is poured directly into the bore hole and the same mixed with the bored
earth is sucked through the tubes using centrifugal pumps (Fig.44.7). One may note that
while the loosened earth settles in the tank, the bentonite in the slurry does not.
orplug over the fresh concrete below is removed when it reaches the surface after fully
displacing the drilling mud. The drilling mud which remains in contact with the surface of
the reinforcements is also displacedby this plug in the same manner as it rises in the hole
wiping the cage clean.
It is evident from the above that if the tip of the tremie pipe gets separated from the
fresh concrete below even occasionally, it spells doom for the work as it results in leaving
bad patches of concrete between fresh ones(Fig.44.9).
Conclusion
In matters such as the above, instead of entertaining doubts, the engineer must put in
an effort to learn the scientific principlesbehind the method, which by no means is difficult
to comprehend, and then observe the functioning of the technique, until he is fully satisfied
with it, particularly realising the fact that millions of cubic metres of reinforced concrete
have been constructed in this manner in subsurface works in practically every part of the
world.
The engineer, however, has the additional burden of convincing the client who will find
it hard, tinged with an element of suspicion, to accept the work being done in the presence
of mud. The latter might even think that there is an attempt to cheat him! (This author
recollects a similar instance of what he overheard at a bridge construction site where the
backfilling of the abutment was in progress using dry sand. One lay onlooker was
commenting to another that using such a loose material was a clear attempt to cheat (!)
when geotechnical engineers know for certain that it is the most suitable material for the
backfilling work (Sec.13.4).