Geotechnical Engineering

Geotechnical Engineering in COWI

COWI is an international market leader in
Bridges, Marine and Foundation Engineering,
not least because of successful interplay between the various disciplines. For a very wide
range of projects and structures the Geotechnical Group provides in-house support in all
phases of projects.
This ensures state-of-the-art foundation solutions and the capability to perform stand-alone
geotechnical services. COWI employ more
than 60 geotechnical engineers, ranging from
internationally recognised experts to young
professionals, in the COWI Group ofces in
Denmark and at the COWI subsidiaries worldwide.

COWI has a total of more than 3300 employees, the main part engineers. COWI operates
around the world, and has subsidiaries and
project ofces in several countries. The turnover amounted to 300 million EURO in 2005.

The Geotechnical Group

mainly provides services in
the following subjects
Geotechnical investigations
Site investigations

Quality

Laboratory investigations

Quality is a key issue in all our projects. We

operate a Quality Management System which
is certied within the requirements of ISO
9001. This assures our clients of professional
management on all our projects.

Material prospecting
Geological modelling
Geotechnical design
Underground Engineering
Earth retaining structures
Quality Management System
Certicate and Certication
Conditions.

Groundwater control
Shallow and deep foundation
Earth structure
Soil reinforcement
Soil structure interaction
Numerical modelling
Physical modelling
Preparation of tender documents
Rehabilitation/maintenance
Feasibility studies
Geotechnical supervision

Data Management

Data Managing

International Market

When working on jobs that involve geological,

geotechnical, geoenvironmental or monitoring
data, COWI has a range of tools that can be
used to manage, query and present such information. These tools are used routinely on all
jobs and are an integrated part of our service.

COWI has developed a high expertise for

handling large amounts of geotechnical, geoenvironmental and survey data that are to be
reviewed quickly to produce an interpretative
report with meaningful enclosures and drawings. Such data processing is possible using
tools like HoleBASE and KeyHOLE that are
based on the internationally recognised data
exchange format AGS.
COWI has developed expertise with other
geotechnical data management systems such
as gINT and GEODASY, in order to ensure
correct application of contractors data in AGS
format.
It is therefore a standard procedure that
qualied staff works closely together with the
contractor in the beginning of a project to
ensure the higest possible quality of data.

Domestic Market

To complement COWIs drilling rigs and our

general understanding of the regional geology,
a large database is maintained with geological,
geotechnical, geophysical, environmental and
hydrogeological data. The database is maintained using GeoGIS on all projects.
The data have been used to establish and
maintain a geological model for parts of
Zealand. The model and the database are then
used by HoleBASE and KeyHOLE to create
contour maps, sections, volume calculations
etc. HoleBASE and KeyHOLE are software
used extensively worldwide.

Site investigations
It is a well known fact that the client often
pays for the investigations not carried out.
The expenses just show up later in the building
process.
COWI strives to show due dilligence in
organising and conducting site investigations
of the quality and extent to minimise cost and
risk for the client.
COWI carry out site investigations with
our own drilling rigs. COWI operates 7 large
drilling rigs and 4 small rigs to perform geotechnical and environmental boreholes. The
eldwork is mainly carried out in Denmark.
Two of the large rigs are tted with CPT
equipment. Furthermore we have equipment at
our disposal to perform static plate load test,
Offshore investigation in Qatar.

Mudcrawler used in Kuwait.

Offshore investigation in Qatar.

light dynamic plate load test and compaction

test using Troxler (for example).
In connection with our many projects
abroad, our engineers have great experience in
planning geotechnical investigations for large
projects, preparation of tender documents,
negotiations with drilling contractors and subsequent supervision.
All investigations are presented in a geotechnical report. The reports are often divided into
a factual report and an interpretative report.
COWI has both Danish and British programs
to perform and present borehole logs. The
British program, HoleBASE, is used on all our
international projects.

Laboratory Testing
COWI carries out all types of laboratory testing using nominated or site specic laboratories. Classication tests may be carried out in
the three in-house laboratories in Denmark.
The tests are carried out according to the
standard required by the client.
COWIs geotechnical engineers have experience with a wide range of soil and rock types
and programme, supervise and evaluate the test
results according to the clients needs. COWI is
familiar with and has used a number of dedicated, advanced test facilities around the world
ensuring state-of-the-art testing if required for
the project.
Examples are: stress path triaxial testing on
very soft clay, centrifugal testing of dolphins
for ship protection, high pressure triaxial testing of limestone including temperature related
creep, triaxial testing of highly weathered
Granodiorite.

The following test are

performed in-house
Soil and rock description
Moisture content
Bulk and dry density
Sieve analysis
Hydrometer test
Atterberg limits
Compaction test
Linear shrinkage
Free swell
Specic gravity
Sand equivalent
Capillarity
Organic matter
Calcium content
Sulphate content
Consolidation test
Unconned Compression
Strength
Brazil test
Point load test

Underground Engineering
COWI handles all aspects concerning underground engineering and has great experience in
the design of building pits.
Underground construction works for design
and build contracts present technical and logistical challenges. Due to the intrinsic uncertainties of soil and rock behaviour, it is important
to consider several alternative construction
systems and methods. COWI can provide a
exible design approach in which, by assessment of more alternatives, the optimal solution
is obtained. This involves cost, safety, reliability and environmental impact, and if possible
optimisation of the Contractors available
equipment.
For excavations and tunnelling in urban
areas, an essential requirement is to prevent
damage to adjacent structures and services.
Settlements associated with excavations are
generally determined by three factors:
excavation and support systems
method of construction
groundwater control

To nd the best design for underground

structures including temporary support etc.,
advanced modelling of soil-structure interaction must be performed.
COWI has extensive experience gained from
the use of modelling on several major infrastructure projects. Advanced FEM-programmes
such as PLAXIS, ABAQUS and FLAC are used
to provide safe and cost effective solutions.

These issues are invariably interlinked. For example, an earth retaining structure that secures
adjacent buildings from damage due to settlement can also be used to limit groundwater
drawdown - if necessary, in combination with
injection of grouts and groundwater recharge.

Construction pit in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Assessment of geotechnical soil properties

and re-use of excavated material are carried
out by COWIs geotechnical engineers. By
collaboration with our department for Soil
and Groundwater Contamination a professional handling of a potential contamination
is ensured.

Groundwater Control
The proper control of groundwater is an
important part of excavations, from both the
perspective of stability and external environmental effects. COWI has extensive in-house
expertise in all aspects of groundwater control,
especially in areas where authorities have strict
requirements for the protection of existing
buildings and water resources.
In COWI, groundwater control is integrated
in construction plans from the earliest stages of
a project in order to provide a sound basis for
designing cost-optimal solutions.
Monitoring and modelling are used for
planning and management of ground water
systems.
Based on our experience from large infrastructure projects, COWI offers expertise
within groundwater monitoring, development
and maintenance of databases, ow simulations as well as handling of interfaces between
the client, authorities and third parties.

Flintholm Station, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Construction pit for underground railway in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Numerical Modelling
Contour plots from PLAXIS

Contour plot of displacement eld for existing block

quay wall, as a result of dredging in front of the wall.

Contour plot of shear strain (J2 strain invariant) for

block quay wall, revealing potential rupture gure.

Numerical modelling is a concept for approximating real behaviour. It is a popular

means for solving civil engineering problems
when exact closed form solutions do not exist.
This is often the case in foundation engineering, when problem solving requires the use of
continuum mechanics and involves effects of
soil-structure interaction, 3-D, plasticity, hydraulic loads, seepage forces, etc. Examples are
shown in the following adjacent gures.
Foundation Engineering is generally concerned with predicting the behaviour of natural
or man-made structures on, or in, the ground.
The problem generally is to predict elds of
displacements, strains and stresses, both within
the ground and the founding structure.
Limit equilibrium Methods

Displaced mesh for ultimate horizontal loading

(ship impact) on piled bridge pier.

Contour plot of shear strain (J2 strain invariant)

for double sheet pile wall cofferdam.

For the purpose of solely investigating the

safety of any given structure against any
loading, limit equilibrium methods will often
sufce.
COWI uses several software packages for
limit equilibrium analyses, a.o.:
Programmes SPOOKS, Qwalls and ReWard,
for the design of sheet pile walls and their
anchorages
Programme Geo Studio 2004 for the stability
of soil and rock slopes, dams, breakwaters
etc., including possible seepage forces.

Soil Structure Interaction

COWIs geotechnical specialists have extensive

experience and knowledge in soil structure
interaction.
In projects like the Great Belt Link, the
resund Link and the Metro in Copenhagen
COWI made extensive use of advanced
computational methods in analysis of foundation bearing capacity and stability as well as
for prediction of movements related to deep
excavations and tunnelling.
All of the mentioned software packages and
more (not listed) are regularly used by the Geotechnical Group. The Group has considerable
expertise in assessing soil/rock properties from
eld investigations, lab. tests and monitoring
data for real structure behaviour, all of which
are essentials for setting up realistic input data
for the software packages.
For truly 3-D continuum problems and
complex material behaviour, the Geotechnical
Group also use sophisticated software packages such as the general purpose FE programme ABAQUS.

COWI uses a suite of software

packages for displacement type
analyses
Program PLAXIS is a user friendly and
dedicated geotechnical FE program,
handling soil, water, structures, soilstructure interaction, material elasticity
and plasticity, construction stages, etc.
PLAXIS is a popular tool for continuum
analysis and prediction of the behaviour
of any given structure on, or in, any given
soil or rock prole
COWI has developed an advanced FE
programme to handle pile groups. The
programme is a module to our well
known IBDAS (Integrated Bridge Design
Analysis System). It can handle all types
of piles, including large diameter drilled
shafts. The programme can handle both
axial and lateral inuence
Program SAP2000, a structural nite
element program, particularly suited
to dynamic analyses, e.g. considering
earthquake loads, push-over analyses etc.
Program LPILE for the analysis and
prediction of the behaviour of a single
laterally loaded pile
Program GROUP for the analysis of the
behaviour of axialy and lateraly loaded
pile groups
Programme SHAFT for the study of
drilled shafts under axial loads
Program MPILE for the analysis and
prediction of the behaviour of generally
loaded pile groups, with several more or
less sophisticated options for considering
pile-soil-pile interaction (group effects)
Program PIGLET for the analysis and
prediction of the behaviour of generally
loaded pile groups, considering linear
elasticity only and group effects

10

Shallow and deep foundations

In competent soils shallow foundations are
often the most economical foundation solution.
With proper soil characterisation and derivation of soil design parameters COWI applies
state-of-the-art design methods combined with
numerical and physical modelling to provide
cost effective and safe solutions.
Often the project area is not blessed with
competent soil condition for shallow foundations, then deep foundations are the solution.
COWIs very experienced staff have been
involved in all types of deep foundation from
traditional driven or bored piles to very innovative foundation solutions for large bridge
projects.
Many of the challenges met are from a
combination of excessive amounts of very soft
deposits, extreme water depths, strong current
and excessive environmental loading, notably
earthquake and ship collision forces.
Permanent Ground Anchors for Uplift

Construction of deep basements below the

ground water level often cause the requirements for permanent ground anchors. COWI
has great experience in the design and supervision of ground anchors.
In Copenhagen the ground anchors are most
often xed into the Copenhagen Limestone.
Elsewhere in Denmark anchors are mainly
xed in glacial sand or clay.

Flintholm Station, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Earth Structures

11

During the construction of the Danish

METRO in Copenhagen, grouting was extensively used as a ground water control measure
in order to reduce the permeability of Copenhagen limestone.
Additional improvement of subgrade and
pavement materials projects has been carried
out using lime or cement stabilisation.

Dredging and Reclamation

COWI has been involved in several large

dredging and reclamation projects notably in
the Middle East.
Our geotechnical specialist has been in
charge of planning and supervision of the site
investigations. Furthermore, we are involved in
the design and preparation of technical specications for all the dredging and reclamation
aspects including edge treatment (costal protection structures). In these projects we are in
close cooperation with the large international
dredging companies.

Dams, dikes and slope stability

COWI has assisted clients in locating feasible

dam sites, performing feasibility studies to
determine the most feasible dam heights, performing soil investigations to locate materials
and geotechnical and hydro-geological investigations at dam sites.
The stability of existing slopes is analysed,
when the stability seems insufcient or new
loads are added at the top of the slope.

Soil improvement / reinforcement

For a number of very different types of structures COWI has designed soil improvement or
reinforcement schemes to reduce settlements,
increase strength and to provide robustness for
environmental loadings, such as earth quakes.

Pearl of the Gulf Marina, Qatar.

+10

Bunds

Quarry Run

Sand fill

- 10

Stone columns
- 20

- 30
m

Kuwait group sand

Plastic
drains

12

Bridge Projects
COWI is an international market leader in
bridge engineering. COWI is recognised worldwide for our state-of-the-art knowledge.
In Denmark and around the world COWI
has been in charge of the design and supervision of the worlds largest cable stayed and
suspension bridges.
These projects include all the geotechnical
aspects, from preliminary evaluation of the soil
condition to site investigations, handling of
data, design and supervision.
Furthermore we have carried out site investigations and design for a large number of
highway bridges in Denmark and abroad.

Sutong Bridge, China.

Model of Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmed

Al Sabah Causeway, Kuwait.

Load test of 800 mm drilled shaft.

Tunnel Projects

13

COWI has been involved in tunnel projects all

over the world. Our experience covers all types
of tunnels, including bored tunnels, immersed
tunnels, cut&cover tunnels, rock and NATM
tunnels.
The success of tunnel projects relies heavily
on the understanding and handling of complex
soil-structure interaction problems.
The in-house cooperation between geotechnical engineers and tunnel specialists ensures that
COWI can provide state-of-the-art consultancy
in all phases of tunnel projects worldwide.
Tunnel projects include many different geotechnical issues. The geological model must be
well established for all types of tunnels. Focus
on settlements, properties of rock/limestone
and design of backll/locking ll around an
immersed tunnel is required.
Recently COWI has been responsible for the
design of the worlds deepest immersed tunnel in South Korea, constructed almost 50 m
below sea level on soft (reinforced) clay and an
up to 20 m high sub sea embankment.
In such projects we benet from our nite
element programmes to evaluate the soil-structure interaction.
Model of Busan-Geoje Fixed Link, South Korea.
Geoje

Jeo

Gaduk

Jungjuk

120m
80m
40m
0m
-40m

Cross Section of Busan-Geoje Fixed Link, South Korea.

Daejuk

Metro and Station Projects

Photo: Aerodan

14

Flintholm Station, Denmark.

Copenhagen Metro, Denmark

As part of the multidisciplinary services in

large infrastructure projects COWI plans,
designs and supervises all aspects of metro and
station projects.
Metro and station projects involve all kinds
of geotechnical issues depending on the project
layout. Deep excavated stations often comprise geotechnical challenges similar to tunnel
projects. Other projects comprise sheet pile
walls, piles, ground anchors, shallow foundation etc.
Furthermore, groundwater lowering is often
needed during the construction phase.

Flintholm Station, Denmark

Detailed design and supervision
of the third largest railway station
in Denmark, constructed in
connection with the new Metro.
Included detailed design, a large
quantity of sheet pile walls, large
plate load tests and supervision.

Photo: Adam Mrk

15

Building Projects

Photomontage: Lundgaard & Trandberg Arkitekter

16

Model of New Playhouse in Copenhagen harbour.

COWI also has a large building construction

department. In close cooperation between
the construction engineers and geotechnical
engineers, COWI ensures the best foundation
solutions for smaller and larger buildings. In
Denmark, shallow foundations on late glacial
or glacial deposits or foundations on driven
piles are most common.

In addition temporary sheet pile walls or other

types of supporting systems are required when
building deep basements in urban districts.
Again in these projects, we often perform
the geotechnical investigations and establish
the geotechnical data for the design and are involved in the supervision and the design phase.

Harbour and Marine Projects

17

COWI is an international market leader in

marine and coastal engineering and offers a
comprehensive range of consulting sevices for
all aspects of projects related to ports, harbours, coastal and marine structures. When
developing integrated design solutions to marine projects, COWI draws upon our in-house
expertise in e.g. geotechnical engineering.
COWIs marine and geotechnical engineers are
integrated in the same department to obtain
the best solutions and to have a common understanding for the nal design.

Rehabilitation of Tuborg Harbour,

Copenhagen, Denmark.
Detailed design and supervision of a
new exclusive harbour in Copenhagen.
The project included new sheet pile
walls, a bridge, canals, breakwaters,
dredging etc.

Idku LNG Terminal, Egypt.

Elsinore Harbour,
Denmark.

18

Road and Airport Projects

The Geotechnical Engineering Group are often
involved in road and airport projects.
Our services range from the site investigation, soils and materials investigations, design
and supervision. We are involved in all geotechnical aspects for the pavement, earth work,
crossing bridges, tunnels, slopes etc.

Road project in Ethiopia.

Extension of motorway M3 in Denmark.

Soa Airport in Bulgaria.

Extension of motorway passing a soft spot.

Geotechnical Supervision

19

Harbour in Durres, Albania.

Among our many geotechnical engineers, we

have at our disposal several engineers with
comprehensive experience in geotechnical
supervision. Our staff have supervised the
construction of large scale foundation, briges,
roads, railways, harbours and dams including
off- and onshore geotechnical investigations.
The supervision is undertaken both in Denmark and overseas. Several of our staff in the
geotechnical group have long-term overseas
supervision experience, always supported by
our senior geotechnical engineers providing
home ofce support. Furthermore all our staff
are regularly involved in supervision on danish
projects ranging from small buildings to major
bridges performing the geotechnical control
of the excavations or approval of pile driving
records.
Road projects in Tanzania.

COWI Group
Main Ofce

COWI ofces.

www.cowi.com

COWI A/S
Parallelvej 2
DK-2800 Kongens Lyngby
Denmark
Tel.:
+45 45 97 22 11
Fax:
+45 45 97 22 12
E-mail:
cowi@cowi.com
Internet: www.cowi.com
Contact
Michael Bindseil
Head of Department,
Marine & Foundation
Engineering
mhb@cowi.com

Geotechnical Engineering - more than just a hole in the ground.

021-1700-015e-06a

Torben Bang
Section Manager
Geotechnical Engineering
tba@cowi.dk

Printed in Denmark by Kailow

Jrgen S. Steenfelt, Prof.

Head of Development,
Marine & Foundation
Engineering
jos@cowi.com