ECV3304 – Foundation

SURFACE & SUBSURFACE INVESTIGATION Engineering

Table of Contents

1.0 Site Investigation for a Small Building to House Precision (Question 1) ................................................ 2

1.1 Surface Investigation......................................................................................................................... 2

1.2 Subsurface investigation ................................................................................................................... 2

2.0 A Site Consisting of Soft Clays Underline by Medium to Dense Sands & Gravels (Question 2) ............. 4

2.1 Lightly Loaded Surface Footings ........................................................................................................ 5

2.2 Piled Foundation for a Heavy Mill ..................................................................................................... 6

3.0 Determining the Magnitude of Undrained Cohesion in the Vertical and Horizontal Direction

(Question 3) ................................................................................................................................................ 8

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SURFACE & SUBSURFACE INVESTIGATION Engineering

1.0 Site Investigation for a Small Building to House Precision (Question 1)

As a geotechnical engineer, in order to carry out a site investigation for the foundation of a
small building to house precision, there are few steps that need to be considered before proposing
a suitable type of foundation for the building. The term site investigation in itself refers to two
interrelated activities that are usually carried one after the other, and they are surface
investigation and sub-surface investigation.

1.1 Surface Investigation

Firstly, a desk study of the proposed site must be carried out to get all the information or
history about the site. A desk study is considered to be a good practice since it is cheap and
valuable; also, it helps plan a proper subsurface investigation for the site area. All the
information required for a desk study can be obtained in many ways such as aerial photos,
geological maps, topographical maps, geomorphologic maps and others.

1.2 Subsurface investigation

Based on the desk study that has been carried out, a method of subsurface investigation is
chosen to identify the subsurface distribution of materials in each layers of the soil, and also to
determine depth of groundwater level; in addition to that, to determine the properties of soil
below the ground surface. Based on the information given, the site of proposed area is level and
is known to consists of considerable depth of glacial till consisting of clay with a large content of
gravel and boulders. Also, the settlement of the soil must be kept to a minimum.

Auger borings are suitable to carry out subsurface investigation for light structures such as a
small house; moreover, they are very simple, economic and they give representable disturbed
samples. However, in this case, where gravel and boulders exist below the ground in the site
area, auger borings will not be suitable as they cannot penetrate beyond large boulders of rock.

Since the area contains of large gravel and boulders, a geotechnical engineer will immediately
think of either percussion drilling or rotary drilling. In a scenario like this where the subsurface
investigation is carried out for a small building to house precision where the site area consist of
glacial till consisting of clay with large content of gravel and boulders a light cable percussion
drilling would be appropriate to carry out the subsurface investigation for the site area.

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Percussion drilling is a type of soil boring used in advancing a borehole in hard soil and
rocks. Its procedure is simple by which a heavy drilling bit is raised and lowered to chop the
large gravel and boulders underground, the chopped soil particles are brought up by means of
circulating fluid. However, the soil sample obtained from percussion drilling will be disturbed by
the impact of the falling bit.

Rotary drilling can also be applied to carry out the subsurface investigation; however, it might
become unsuitable for the case that gravel particles might rotate beneath the pit instead of
breaking up. Also, rotary drilling might be more expensive as compared to percussion drilling.
Moreover, wash borings are not advised for this case because of the slow progress of the boring
process when particles are larger than coarse gravel.

In addition to that, sampling techniques such as Standard Penetration Test will not be suitable
for this case because the site area consists of a large content of gravel and SPT is basically not
good for gravel. Also, Cone Penetration Test would not be advised in this case as the CPT truck
weighs 25 tonnes, which will cause considerable settlement to the ground, and it has been
specified that settlement must be kept to a minimum.

The samples obtained from the percussion drilling process will be highly disturbed, which
means that they can be used to determine general properties of the soil such as the grain size
distribution, liquid limit, plastic limit and shrinkage limit which is suitable for a small building.

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SURFACE & SUBSURFACE INVESTIGATION Engineering

2.0 A Site Consisting of Soft Clays Underline by Medium to Dense Sands &
Gravels (Question 2)
The site is expected to consist of soft clays underline at the depth of from 12m to 18m by
medium to dense sand and gravels. Thus, site investigation is carried out to ensure the actual
condition of this site.

For this project, there are 3 basic stages to be carried out;

1. Desk study
2. Survey
3. Subsurface Investigation
1. Desk study

• It is the first stage in this site investigation. At this stage, all the information of the site
that is already available has to be studied and analyzed.
• Large scale maps of the proposed site need to be produced at the beginning of this stage.
Also, from the maps, it is important to check all the existing structures around the site
area and to determine whether they are man-made or natural, or anything that may affect
the future building.
• Besides, geological maps, other written records, and local knowledge of the site area can
be used, which will help identify the likely nature of the subsoil and determine the extent
of difficult ground conditions.
2. Site Survey

• The second step for this site investigation is surveying. Usually, the surveying is
conducted by walk-over. From this step, we can get more information such determining
the weather conditions at the area, potential hazard that may occur there, and obtain more
records on photographs about the area.
• Thus, from all the above, a detailed drawings of all the items can be produced which
includes items such as trees, existing buildings, etc. and these may give us some changes
on our designed building.

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3. Subsurface Investigation

For this project, there are 2 cases that we have to handle, which are;

a) Lightly loaded surface footings

b) Piled foundations for a heavy mill

2.1 Lightly Loaded Surface Footings

The third stage in the site investigation is a subsurface investigation. For case (a), the
foundation must be located properly so as not to be adversely affected by outside influence
(adjacent structures, water, frost action, significant soil volume change, underground defects).
Thus detailed information is needed before it is set up such as:

 Depth of the bearing stratum.

 Frost action.
 Ground water location.
 Existence of soil which exhibit volume change.
 Adjacent structures.
 Underground defects (caves, utility pipes).

Mackintosh Probe Test is suggested to be used to carry out subsurface investigation. The
main purpose of the test is to provide an indication of the relative density of granular deposit. The
test is suggested mainly because of its widespread use; also, it is simple and inexpensive. The
soil strength parameters which can be inferred are approximate, but may give a useful guide in
ground conditions where it may not be possible to obtain borehole samples of adequate quality like gravels,
sands, silts, clay containing sand or gravel and weak rock. Since the data collected is for a lightly
loaded surface footing, the complex test for subsurface investigation such as drilling and boring
is not necessary.
Another alternative approach to carry out the subsurface investigation would be a vane shear
test; the vane shear test is usually used to determine the undrained shear strength parameters of
soft clays. The advantages of this test is that it is very suitable for soft clays as soft clays can be
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greatly disturbed if they were tested using any other method. The vane shear test can be carried
at the bottom of a borehole and the test may be repeated at 0.5 m intervals. Boring can be done
using a helical or a post-hole auger.

2.2 Piled Foundation for a Heavy Mill

For case (b), where it involves heavy mill construction, it is important to determine all
characteristics of the soil below it, since it will be catastrophic if there is a soil failure beneath it.
The suggested method for soil sampling is by using the boring method. As boring can be divided
into many types, it is suggested to use wash boring method. Wash boring is the most common
method for advancing a boring because the technique is applicable to any soil, the depth is
limited only by the equipment employed, samples can be taken with a variety of tools, and in situ
tests can be performed as the borehole is advanced.
For the soil strata that contain soft clays, an undisturbed sample is more preferred due to a
better cohesiveness of the soil. Undisturbed sample is one where the condition of the soil in the
sample is close enough to the conditions of the soil in-situ to allow tests of structural properties
of the soil to be used to approximate the properties of the soil in-situ. Samples of soils for
undisturbed soil can be obtained through ‘Thin wall tube’ method.
For the soil strata which contains medium to dense sands and gravels, it is preferred to obtain
disturbed samples. A disturbed sample is the one in which the structure of the soil has been
changed sufficiently that tests of structural properties of the soil will not be representative of in-
situ conditions. The properties of the soil grains (e.g., grain size distribution, atterberg limits, and
possibly the water content) can be accurately determined. The sample of soils can be obtained by
using ‘Split spoon sampling’ method in SPT.
The samples obtained from the site are later sent to the laboratory to be further tested. The
tests suggested for the soil sample are:
 Classification tests
 Chemical Tests
 Compaction Tests
 Shear strength and triaxial tests
 Consolidation Tests

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 Permeability Tests
As an alternative approach to boring a good and effective method would also be Cone
Penetration Test (CPT), the CPT measures the side friction and resistance to penetration at all
times, which can be used later to determine the properties of the soil. The CPT has an advantage
such that no boring, or cutting of the soil is required. However, the only downside to the CPT
would be the fact that no sampling is involved and side friction and penetration resistance are
measured instantaneously, which means no sampling is retrieved to the laboratory for further
checking of soil properties; in addition to that, the CPT maybe considered quite costly.

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SURFACE & SUBSURFACE INVESTIGATION Engineering

3.0 Determining the Magnitude of Undrained Cohesion in the Vertical

and Horizontal Direction (Question 3)

Vane shear tests have been carried out in a saturated clay deposit in order to measure the
undrained cohesion. The vane used was 100 mm long and 50 mm diameter. At a particular
location the undrained cohesion was measured at 50kPa, the calculation being based on the
assumption that the strength was equal in all directions. Other test information, however, showed
that the clay deposit was anisotropic with respect to strength, the undrained cohesion in the
vertical direction being four times the undrained cohesion in the horizontal direction. For the test
location mentioned above determine the magnitudes of the undrained cohesion in the vertical and
horizontal directions.

Solution:
The general expression used to give the relationship between the Torque and undrained cohesion
can be given as follows:

𝒅𝒅𝟐𝟐𝒉𝒉 𝒅𝒅𝟑𝟑
𝑻𝑻 = 𝝅𝝅𝑪𝑪𝒖𝒖 ( + 𝜷𝜷 )
𝟐𝟐 𝟒𝟒
Where,

Cu = undrained shear strength of soil

𝛽𝛽 = 2/3 for uniform distribution of shear at the edges (fully mobilized strength)
= 1/2 for triangular distribution of shear at the edges
= 3/5 for parabolic distribution of shear at the edges

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In this case,
Cv

Ch

Given that:
i. d=50mm = 0.05 m
ii. h=100mm = 0.1 m
iii. C u =50kPa
iv. 𝛽𝛽 = 2/3
The calculation can be carried out as follows:
𝒅𝒅𝟐𝟐𝒉𝒉 𝒅𝒅𝟑𝟑
𝑻𝑻 = 𝝅𝝅𝑪𝑪𝒖𝒖 ( + 𝜷𝜷 )
𝟐𝟐 𝟒𝟒
𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟐𝟐 × 𝟎𝟎. 𝟏𝟏 𝟐𝟐 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟑𝟑
𝑻𝑻 = 𝝅𝝅 𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓( + × )
𝟐𝟐 𝟑𝟑 𝟒𝟒
𝑻𝑻 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌/𝒎𝒎𝟐𝟐

However, the clay deposit was anisotropic and the undrained cohesion in the vertical direction
being four times the undrained cohesion in the horizontal direction (C v = 4C h ).

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𝒅𝒅𝟐𝟐 𝒉𝒉 𝒅𝒅𝟑𝟑
𝑻𝑻 = 𝝅𝝅𝑪𝑪𝒗𝒗 � � + 𝝅𝝅𝑪𝑪𝒉𝒉 �𝜷𝜷 �
𝟐𝟐 𝟒𝟒
Substitute Cv = 4C h
𝒅𝒅𝟐𝟐 𝒉𝒉 𝒅𝒅𝟑𝟑
𝑻𝑻 = 𝝅𝝅𝝅𝝅𝑪𝑪𝒉𝒉 � � + 𝝅𝝅𝑪𝑪𝒉𝒉 �𝜷𝜷 �
𝟐𝟐 𝟒𝟒
𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟐𝟐 × 𝟎𝟎. 𝟏𝟏 𝟐𝟐 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟑𝟑
𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 = 𝝅𝝅𝝅𝝅𝑪𝑪𝒉𝒉 � � + 𝝅𝝅𝑪𝑪𝒉𝒉 � × �
𝟐𝟐 𝟑𝟑 𝟒𝟒
𝐶𝐶ℎ = 14 𝐾𝐾𝐾𝐾/𝑚𝑚2
𝐶𝐶𝑣𝑣 = 4𝐶𝐶ℎ = 4 × 14 = 56 𝐾𝐾𝐾𝐾/𝑚𝑚2

Hence, the magnitude of the undrained cohesion in vertical direction, C v is 56kPa and the
magnitude of undrained cohesion in horizontal direction, C h is 14kPa.

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