PROCEEDINGS of the EIGHTH SOUTHEAST ASIAN GEOTECHNICAL CONFERENCE KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA. March 11~15,1985 VOLUME |PROCEEDINGS of the EIGHTH SOUTHEAST ASIAN GEOTECHNICAL CONFERENCE KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA. March 11-15, 1985 VOLUME | Organized by: THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS MALAYSIA & SOUTHEAST ASIAN GEOTECHNICAL SOCIETYTable of Contents SESSION 1 OFFSHORE FOUNDATIONS SUBSURFACE INVESTIGATION, RECLAMATION, ANALYSIS, DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION Consolidation of Marine Sediments : A Case Study by Sivajogi D. Koppula Geotechnical investigation Techniques Relevant to the Subsoils and Planned Structures Off the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia by Harjono Zainal Abidin, Edward Low, Melvyn Tan & Leong hai Sing Geotechnical Aspects of Hydraulic Fill Reclamation by Victor Choa Geotechnical Aspects of 3.5m Diameter Drilled Piles for the Saudi Arabia Bahrain Causeway by J.Y, Tonnisen & MJ.D. Dobie Clay Crusts of the Sunda Shelf ~ A Hazard to Jack-up Operations by J.P. Castleberry II & N, Prebaharan Mudmat Design Considerations of Offshore Jacket Structures on Soft Clay by PJ. Boon, C.G. Tan & C.K. Tan Foundation Design and Analysis Aspects of Piled Offshore Structures in Soft soils in Sarawak and Sabah Waters by R. Simunyi, A.W. Van Beek & P.B, Madden Design and Installation Procedures of Piled Foundations for Offshore Platforms by Long Foo Wei Soils Mechanics, Fluid Dynamics and Submarine Pipeline Trenching Methods by John G. Bomba Slope Stability of Overconsolidated Marine Deposits. by Hiroshi Mikami, Toshihiko Nagusa & Kazuya Yasuhara Evaluation of Seismic Factor of Safety of a submarine slope by limit analysis by CJ. Guang & W.F, Chen SESSION 2 FOUNDATIONS AND DEEP EXCAVATIONS IN SOFT SOILS, BORED PILES AND CAISSONS Geotechnical Aspects of a Recent Lagoonal Sabkha Deposit in Jeddah by S. Ali, A, Kazi & M.B. Alguhtani 1-22 1-40 1-85 1-93 104Embankment Settlement and Improvement at the North Luzon Expressway, Philippines ... bby Bjorn Finborud ‘Treatment of Soft Clay under Oil Tank Foundations by CE. Leung & G.P. Karunaratne Use of Vertical Drains for Soil Improvement at Bridge Approaches .. - by Siu-Mun Woo, Lung-Kuang Cheng, John D. Dawn & Chin-Der On ‘The Influence of Pile Driving Through a Surcharged Collar in Clay bby Gue See Sew ‘Time Dependent Nature of Negative Skin Friction on Pile Driven into Soft Clay by ¥, Tanaka, K. Tanimoto & M. Taniguchi Deep Caisson Foundations for OUB Centre Singapore by M. Kurzeme, M.C, Rush Load Tests on Instrumented Large Diameter Bored Piles in Weak Rock by R. Radhakrishnan, CP. Leung & RV. Subrahmanyam Ultimate Load Tests on Instrumented Bored Piles in Singapore Old Alluvium by Y.K. Chin, S.L. Tan, S.B. Tan Instrumentation for Deep Excavation of High-rise Buildings... by HM. Chen & S.T. Chung SESSION 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF, AND FOUNDATIONS I RESIDUAL AND OTHER SOILS Residual Granite Soil of Singapore by K.B. Poh, H. L. Chuah & S, B. Tan ‘Stress strain and Strength Characteristics of Compacted Granitic Soil by T. Ruenkerairergsa & K. Petchgate ‘The Characterisation of Residual Soils in Singapore by RN, Yong, C. K. Chen, Jeevan Sellappah & T. S, Chong Foundations under Inclined and Eccentric Loads. . by KZ, Andrawes, W.M. Kirkpatrick, M. Vafacian & B.A, Usuner Effect of Rotational Stiffness in Building Foundations by PJ. Moore, J. R. Styles & P. Clancy Behavior of Dry Sands in Stee! Pipe Piles by Hideaki Kishida, Morimichi Uesugi & Susumu Morita 2-9 2-23 231 2-43 2-50 3-27 3-35 3-41‘A-comparative Study on the Design Methods for Pile Foundations with Specific Reference. 3-48 to the Dry Docks of Cochin Shipyard by D. Rajan Babu & Babu T. Jose Predictions of Prestressed Concrete Pile Capacity in Bangkok Stiff Clay and Clayey Sand 3-88 by S. Sambhandharaksa & W. Pitupakorn Behaviour ofa Raft Foundation on Improved Soil and Rock. 3-64 by GT. Toh, T.A, Ooi & W. H. Ting Engineering Properties of Weathered Rook Profiles in Peninsular Malaysia See BBL by Ibrahim Komoo SESSION 4 SUBSURFACE INVESTIGATION, TOPOGRAPHY, ANALYSIS, DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF FOUNDATIONS IN LIMESTONE FORMATIONS Irregular Topography of the Subsurface Carbonate Bedrock in the Kuala Lumpur Area... 44 by Yeap Ee Beng Geophysical Exploration for Solution Cavities at Khao Laem Damsite, Western Thailand... .. 4-13 bby Rakesh Sarman Pile Foundations in Limestone Areas of Malaysia. 4-17 by S.F. Chan & LP, Hong Foundations for the Pan Pacific Hotel on Pinnacled and Cavernous Limestone 4-29 by J. M. Mitchell PPiled Foundation in Limestone Formation wet aetna AMS ‘by Omar bin Ibrahim & Hon Too Fang Analysis, Design and Construction of a Piled Raft Foundation for a High Rise Office Building 4-53 (on Pinnacled Limestone by Ng Tuan Hong Driving of H-Piles in Limestone Formation Using Diesel Hammers... a 4-61 by Knud G. Sehested & Wong Wai Wah Foundation for Srimara Complex, Kuala Lumpur 4-68 by Tan Ghee Yong, W.H. Ting & C.T. Toh Design of Bored Piles in Limestone in France ... 4-78 by Bustamante M., Gianeseli L., & Pilot G. ‘The Design of Piles in Weak Carbonate Rocks 4-82 by L. H. SwannSESSION 1 OFFSHORE FOUNDATIONS SUBSURFACE INVESTIGATION, RECLAMATION, ANALYSIS, DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTIONEighth Southeast Asian Geotechnical Conference /11—15 March 1985 /Kuala Lumpur CONSOLIDATION OF MARINE SEDIMENTS: A CASE STUDY SIVAJOGI D. KOPPULA University of Alberta, Edmonton, Ca ‘SYNOPSIS In this paper a fully comprehensive Finite strain, quiescent consolidation theory including the effect due to self-weight of a sediment is described. The theory is based on the nonlinear behavior of the soil whose properties are assumed to be functions of space and time. Because of the occurrence of Finite strains, compressibility and permeability" characteristics are laws to effective stress which is the principal factor that controls and describes fully the consolidation process. The equation thus obtained is higly nonlinear. Previously published mathemat icai expressions governing linear and nonlinear consolidation behavior may be related by’ power recovered from this general treatment with the substitution of relevant assumptions. Also presented is an. infinitesmal strain, selfweight consolidation theory for soft soils. This theory retains most of the characteristics of: the abovementioned rigorous theory except for small strains. The data from deltaic deposits of the Continental Shelf off the United States of America are studied in the light of this study. ‘SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS constant in e-a-’ relationship; current coeff of consolidation; initial coeff of consolidation: constant in e-o” relationship; current void ratio: initial void ratio; initial sediment thickness; current permeability coeff; initial permeability coeff; compressibility exponent; permeability exponent; time; dimensionless time facto time factor, (length) excess pore pressure; initial porewater pressure; dimensionless pore pressure; space coordinate; current effective stress; initial effective stress effective stress change; unit weight of deposit medium. INTRODUCTION Offshore deposits are often soft and underconsol idated leading to disastrous submarine slumping. The Tag between the accumulation of — sediment and the associated consolidation gives rise to excess pore pressures and hence underconsolidation. The abundance of fine particles in the sediment results in “high initial void ratios; consequently large volume changes occur during dissipation of excess pore pressures. The classical, infinitesmal strain, linear consolidation theory does not explain the large changes in void ratio and compressibility. The classical theory has had extensions (Schiffman and Gibson, 1964; Bavie and Raymond, 1968; Mikasa, 1968), all related to the examination of the Gbserved nent inear effective Strese-strain relationships and postulations thereof. A newer’ theory of Gne-dimersional," consolidation” of a Sedinenting sol that considers finite Strains. and self ‘weight, and is Unrestricted as to the Tinearity of the several effective stress-strain relationship hasbeen developed by the author (1970). This paper examines the implications of finite strain theory in predicting the degree of consolidation in a marine deposit that is already in place.THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS A comprehensive formulation for the estimation of excess pore pressures during consolidation of a sediment was Presented by Koppula and Morgenstern (1982). The development is based on the nonlinear behavior of the — sediment whose properties are made to vary with depth and time. By combining these with the vertical” equilibrium of the soil-water system including the self weight of the soil, a nonlinear equation (1) governing the process of a in a sedimenting soil was der ive BA oH} laeo Be sy [tae 78h ‘uceee]} co © in which pore pressure: pace coordinate; tetime; kecoefficient of permeability; 7 sunit weight of medium in which sedimentation takes place; e=void ratio; ag =time dependent sediment load increment; and he effective stress. As mentioned earlier, this study deals with the consolidation of ‘a marine deposit in-place; i.e., there is no change. in the superincumbent load with time Therefore &édayat=0, The governing equation then is lhe y Hh {he lB PL Ltwoa]}i-0 The classical consolidation equation can be recovered from eq (2). On the basis of infinitesmal strains Terzaghi made the rational assumption that kK, de/de’ and the quantity t/iitel. are constant during consolidation. &q (2) then reduces to ce Be, Bu Gee 2x” de ® in which Cy _scoefficient of consolidation. The term {1*e] appears because the z-coordinate refers to the volume of solids. Eq (3) terms of the variable y with reference to the soil mass as a whole will be 1 Which is the familiar Terzaghi equation for one-dimensional dissipation of excess pore pressures. To account for the nonlinear behavior of soil consolidation, Koppula (1970) introduced the following functional relationships 5° G8) (Gyr os AGE” in which the subscript 0 refers to an arbitrary reference state; p and q are constants. The values of — exponents (<0) and ql<0} are determined through least squares ression of laboratory/field consolidation data. When p=-1, a plot of e-logg’ yields a straight | line, -Dloge"”, which represents the behavior of a normally consolidated clay. nd for p20 de/de? is a constant that describes a linearly elastic material and it also approximates the behavior of an overconsolidated soil in a Vimited stress range. Similarly when g=0 in eq (4b) K/itte! will be a constant showing that the permeability is independent of the magnitude of the effective stress. For g=-1, k/(1rel varies inversely with the ‘effective stress g’. Thus p=-1=q describes the behavior ‘of a normally consolidated soil for which e-log k is linear It is instructive to find expressions for the “current permeability and compressibility of a soil undergoing self-weight consolidation with finite strains, From eq (46) ane gets ise 7 . a tea (He) &» winich gives the ratio of permeabilities at any given’ tine” and “aepth. trem eq (4a) the ratio of compressibilities is given by ae: ds (gh (e9 The coefficient of consolidation Cy is defined as Alive) Cup? Mts or * FGejao}) Y Cejaod, Therefore a ec ve Utes 2 Thus from eqs (5) the current magni tudes of permeability, compressibility, and the coefficient of consolidation may be calculated. As is evident all the ratios are proportional to the effective stress raised to an exponents). In the following section results will be presented highlight ingthe variations of these parameters uring Finite/small strain consolidation. Substituting A (4) in eq (2) yields (g IPs 24 1p Be jae Gai * are rp, Bl Suow Ey tet. {Gb reve} sn which! re, Alte og Year), Eq (6) may be cast in a form with the substitution of e Crt nondimens iona the following dimensionless quantities Lae (hte) pag Be {o'(BEY+ rte Ce-V2L} Gy in which Hg=thickness of solids at the same arbitrary reference state as in eqs (4) Eq (7) is the most. comprehensive formulation descr ibing the one-dimens iona} dissipation of excess Pore pressures in a consolidating soil Undergoing finite strains. And for small strains the term Je/2T=0; the following equation that governs’ small Sere oF oe SST SS sere inoa. L ae. Sy gy TBF By Fag HAG) nD & Me telerentiete (ime cies weeteed ae teset C2 or 88, «(OF gate SPeterece Brodaure” Ele! tags HET Sr Teer ag UR Sas, Bens astited Tas aonatetaneg? and stability of the numerical solution for any magnitude of time step DISCUSSION OF RESULTS At any given time the degree of consolidation of a nonsedimenting soil undergoing finite strains is a ‘unction of the initial void ratio, the depth, the initial excess pore presrure, and the two exponents p and 4. In this section the variation of the degree of consolidation. computed by integrating the pore pressures using _ Simpson's rule, will be examined as @ function of a given variable while holding the remaining variables invariant. Effect of Initial Void Ratio Figure 1 shows the degree of consolidation as a function of time factor for several values of eg. The magnitudes of — other —_ pertinent parameters are: p=-1.=q; uzet; Ce1.84 and 0=0.75. The figure indicates that the higher the Intial void ratio the greater is the dissipation of excess pore pressures. And for eg=1 and €9=2, both finite and small strains yield identical results. For eo =3. the dissipation of excess pore pressures is faster than for eg=1 or 2. However for e924 the dissipation is different for Finite and small strain theories with the soil undergoing finite strains consolidating faster than that with infinitesmal strains. Degree of Consolidation, % a ee 3. ey ei fs / ¢ B £ g & B 1: 8 i 3 & te HG. 1 — Influence of Initial Void pation anf degree! OF FeNset dat Son Effect of Initial Excess Pore Pressure Figures 2 to 4 show the degree of Cousot idation°ae a fonction of earious initial excess pore pressure ratios for soil medium with @» =2; C=2.25 and 30.75. Figure 2 depicts the variation in ‘degree of ‘consolidation as afunction of time factor for a soil with p=0.=q, j.e., the compressibility and permeability’ coefficients are held constants during consolidation. It has been found that the pore pressure ratio uc i,e., the ratio of final to initial effective stress has no effect on the consolidation process. This is expected from the classical linear theory. Degree of Consolidation, % e0 10 e 4 “oO "eo" 00 FIG. 2 Influence of Initial Excess Pore Pressure on Degree of Consolidation (p=0eq) Figures 3 and 4 illustrate the effect Of uj on the degree of consolidation, The ‘higher the value of uy the faster is the dissipation of éxcess pore pressures. In Figures 2 to 4 it may be seen that both finite and infinitesmal strain "theories yield identical results. Effect on Dissipation when From equation (Sc) it is apparent that if pis made equal to q then the current coefficient of consolidation will be directly proportional to the current void ratio. And for relatively small changes ine, Cy will be a constant. — However ‘the’ process (and hence the degree) of consolidation is affected by the magnitudes of p and q. Figure 5 shows that higher the value attached to the exponents p and q the slower is the dissipation. For example, when p=0.:q, i.e., the compressibility and permeability remain constant, the degree of consolidation is slower. On the other hand when p=-2.=q, j.e., the compressibility and decrease rather faster with the Progress of consolidation, the rate of dissipation is faster at initial times and slows down in the later stages. These plots thus demonstrate the interact ion between compressibility and permeability variations during the process of consolidation. Degree of Consolidation, % wo a permeability g b ° Es sen co eveeTeo Nee oo FIG. 3 Influence of Initial Excess Pore Pressure on Degree of Consolidation |p=-0.5=q) Degree of Consolidation, % iene) Ree “om eo 00" FIG. 4 Influence of Initial Excess Pore Pressure on Degree of Consolidation (p=-1.=qDegree of Consolidation, % ° v0 FIG. ra eanrea ened 5 Influence on Degree of Consolidation when p=q Effect of Exponent g It_ is instructive to influence of the decrease in permeability while holding other variables constants, viz., e9=2; ui=1i 622.25 and D=0,75. Figure 6 iflustrates the variation’ in degree of consolidation with time factor as a function of q with exponent p assigned different values. It is seen that for a lower value of q the initial dissipation is faster and as consolidation progresses the decrease in permeability takes hold retarding the consolidation process. Thus. for soils with similar compressibility characteristics but "_possessing dissimilar permeability values the Progress of consolidation will be different. These curves are good for both finite and infinitesmal strain theor jes. examine the Variation of @, kK, and Cy Table 1 gives the results for the changes in. void ratio, permeability, and coefficient of consolidation at the imervios bottom boundary of a consolidating, soi, with properties: 1 4; D=0.75 and uz =! From the table is seen” that the proportion for finite strains decreases with’ time to an ultimate value of 0.78 for ee =1 while the proportion e/eg reaches 0.94 for eg=4. it e/eo Thus the results suggest that higher the initial void ratio higher will be the final void ratio. Degree of Consol idet ion, 20 Time Factor the the (coniger oes eee coneres] Degree of Consolidation, % fealee Hern eee cojet 00) Time Factor 34 eee ce meaeric 20 Degree of Consolidation, 4 | 6 80 Time Factor 7 — aa aca FIG. 6 Influence of Changes (i.e., value of q Degree of (al b) (cl pe-0.55 & 100 Permeability on Consol idat ion. andPooling the data form Figure 1 and Table I it may be concluded” that | the degree of" consolidation is. not substantially different in finite and small’ strain theories. However the Final height (or depth) of the. soit sediment and” hence the settlement incurred will be significantly different for the two analyses. The ratio k/Ke decreases with time in both ‘small “and finite strains. The magnitude of 2 does not have any effect on Kika for soils with infinitesmal strains; while tn the case Spal Mice, etrBin, “consolidation “the her thee slightly) higher ts the final k/ke ratio. ony od Teble 1 further gives the variation of Cy [yp with time for different values Of ey” in both cases of finite. and smal¥ strain consolidation, The ratio Cy/Cye remains constant at 1.0 in. the case” of ‘small strains because pegs: 1 However the “ratio Cy /Cyp decreases with time "" for” Finite strain Gonsolidation. Here again. the higher the value assigned toe, the higher 1s the final Cy/Cyo ‘CASE STUDY A case history is described to demonstrate the applicability of the finite strain theory propounded in earlier sections. The background of geotechnical studies in the offshore sediments is invariably poorly documented and is wrought with generalities. For example, Bryant and Wallin (1968) reported" that the sediments off the Louisiana-Texas shelf were stable in their _ existing ‘environment. A more comprehensive study by Watkins and Kraft (1976) suggested that the sediments in that area are prone to instability because of underconso1idat ion. Such’ a contradiction implies, in the least, the conditions of local variability In some areas of the Mississippi delta, the rate of sediment accumulation is as jow as 0.2nm/1000 years (Griffin et al, 1968). These sediments thus may be considered to be undergoing self-weight consolidation. It has been demonstrated by Skempton (1970) that most deltaic sediments behave as_—_normally consolidated. Representative consolidation characteristics may be derived from data of Shephard et al (1978) as ensue! ha (os? ernssrstgg Ba (o5 A nominal height of 50 metres of sediment underlain by an impervious stratum is considered for the analysis which showed that the sediment” is underconsolidated and that considerable excess pore pressures still remain to be dissipated. The calculated variation of void ratio with depth (Figure 7) shows good agreement with observed data, which was derived from water content observations (i.e., void ratio = water contentsspecific’ gravity of solids/100). The discrepancy at shallow depths between calculated and observed data is due to the fact that fresh sediment with void ratios closer to e& is still accumulating, however slow, while the present analysis ignores sedimentation. TABLE 1 Variations of e, k, and Cy ~ C=1.84; D20.75) e/eo Time: e021 Factor sts ¥ 9.001 J 1. 1.00 1. 1.00 1 0.005 f 1. 1:00 1. 1.00 1 0.010 f 1. 1:00) 1. 1.00 ie 0.050 } 1. 0.99 1. 1.00 1 0.100 | 1. 0.98 1. 0:98 0 0.200 | 1. 0.95 1. 0198 0 0.300 | 1. 0.92 1. 0.96 0 0.400 | 1. 0.89 1. 0.98 | 0: 0 0.500 | 1. 0.87 1. 0:95 | 0. ° 0.700 | 1. 0.84 1: 0:95 | 0 0. 1000 J 4! 081 1. orga | o 0. 12500 J 1. 0:79 1. orga | 0 0. 2.000 | 1. 0.78 1: 0.94 | 0 0. 21500 | 1. 0.78 1. 0.94 | 0 0. 31000 | 1. 0:78 1. 0.94 10 0. s=small_ strainDepth, metres 2 § 19 15 20 25 90 95 40 4s 50 2 N, 3 } § o $10 is 2 as so as co as so FIG. 7 Comparison between Predicted and Observed Void Ratios with Depth CONCLUDING REMARKS A generalized, one-dimensional, finite strain consolidation theory is presented in a form that is suitable for assessing the progress of consolidation in a sediment already in place. Also developed = is an infinitesmal strain, —_self-weight consolidation theory for soft soils. The relatively large variations in void ratio, permeability, and compressibility characteristics with depth and time were studied. ‘The deltaic sediments off the southern coast of the United States of America were examined in the Tight of the theories described herein. The results are in good agreement with observations and are sufficiently accurate for most practical off-shore engineering applications REFERENCES BRYANT, W.R. and WALLIN, S$. Stability and Geotechnical Characteristics of Marine Sediments, Gulf of Mexico. Trans Gulf Coast Assoc Geol Society, XVIII, 1968, pp. 334-356. DAVIS, E.H. and RAYMOND, G.P. A Nonlinear “Theory of _ Consolidation. Yor 15, 1965, pp. Geotechnique, wei GRIFFIN, J.J., WINDOM, H. and GOLDBERG, E.E. The Distribution’ of Clay Minerals in the World oceans. Deep-Sea Research, Vol 15, 1968, pp. 433-459- Korputh, $:0. the aie of Soil in Two’ Dimensions and wi joving laries. Thesis (Ph.D.], University of Alberta, Edmonton, Aiberta, Canada, 1970, p 361 KOPPULA, $.D. and MORGENSTERN, N.R. On the Congolidation of Sediment ing Clays. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Vol 19, 7982, pp. MIKASA, M, The Consolidation of Soft Clay Yapanese Society of Civil Engineers, 1968, pp. 21-26. SHEPHARD,” LE.” BRYANT, W.R., and DUNLAP, 'W.A.” Geotechnical Properties and ‘their’ Relation to Geologic Report 79-5-T, 1979, p 40 SCHIFFWAN, RIL. and GIBSON, Gonsolidation” of _Nonhomogeneous ayers. ASCE Journal of Sof) Mech fap” Engineering.” Vol 88, 1864, SKEMPTON, A.W. The Consolidation. of Clays by | Gravitational’ Compact fon. Quarterly Journal of Geological’ Societs Fags BC EAS WATKINS, 6.u. and KRAFT, LM. Stability of Continental Shelf ‘and ‘Slope off Louisiana and Texas: Geotechnical Aspects. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists “Marine Geology Committee Publication, Vol 2, 1976, pp. 81-533,Eighth Southeast Asian Geotechnical Conterence/11—15 March 1985/Kuale Lumpur GEOTECHNICAL INVESTIGATION TECHNIQUES RELEVANT TO THE SUBSOILS AND PLANNED STRUCTURES OFF THE EAST COAST OF PENINSULAR MALAYSIA HARJONO ZAINAL ABIDIN Petronas Car EDWARD LOW Petronas Carga MELVYN TAN LEONG CHAI SING SYNOPSIS ‘The soils off the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, in areas investigated so far for energy related projects are predominantly cohesive in character. In general, the top layers are very soft, the underlying soils vary considerably in strength especially up to approximately 20 m below seabed. ‘The referred inhomogeneity requires detailed and high quality soil investigations to be done to collect and provide geotechnical data for the design of the platforms and Pipelines, as well as the planning of jack up rig operations. Sampled borings and cone penetration testing using a piezocone, have formed the basis of the foundation designs for the offshore oil and gas fields for years now. INTRODUCTION Petronas Carigali's exploration/development area off the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia lies on the south east portion of the Malay Basin. In general, the soil condition in the area is characterised by layers of recent cohesive deposits overlying a series of incised valleys creating an apparent relatively flat seabed. The thickness of this superficial deposit ranges from a few metres to as mich as 20 metres. ‘The inhomogeneous character of the subsoil in the area requires a sufficiently comprehensive geophysical and geotechnical investigation in order to aia the engineer in the design of offshore structures. Of particular importance is the assessment of safety or risk involved in the design process (i.e. question of acceptable factor of Safety) with respect to geotechnical i Sdn, Bhd, Kusla Lumpur, Maleysia dn. Bhd, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Fugro (M) Sdn. Bhd, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Fugro (M) Sdn, Bhd, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, interpretation of the collected data. Sophisticated computer programs are available, including analyses by means of finite element methods to solve complex soil structure interaction problens. Therefore, the demand to obtain high quality soil data to match the very powerful analytical tool is ever increasing. ‘This paper proceeds to sunmarise the general requirements for geotechnical investigations, with respect to offshore structures. The example of sampled borings and cone penetration testing using a piezocone for the proper collection of data is highlighted, GENERAL GEOLOGY OF AREA ‘The Malay Basin is characterised by its northwest to southeast orientation. Initial basin formation is estimated to have taken place in the early Tertiary with a period of basement~induced block faulting. Sediment accumulation is believed to have taken place between the late Oligocene and the Pliocene. Massive regional uplift combined with worldwide sea level lowering have produced a rather heterogeneous Sub-seabed soil condition. After glaciation, recent marine Sediments have béen deposited with about 5 m of sediment on "plateaus" and about 20 m in "valleys". The recent sediments are normally consolidated and tend to form a flat Seabed with litte reflection of the underlying topography. Geotechnical and geophysics data from various locations tend to confirm this geological scenario, see ref. In addition to above infilled valleys of buried channels, other potentialhazards include slope instability, gasified sediments, pocknarks and rapid unpredictable changes in soil properties. SELECTION OF OFFSHORE STRUCTURE TYPES During the feasibility study stage, i.e. after the decision to exploit, ‘ah Offshore concession has been ‘taken, the following problems would generally have to be addressed to determine the most suitable types of offshore structures to be adopted: - preferred structural configuration/locations - range of the foundation loads = potential hazards like seafloor instability, gasified sediments and pockmarks - installation methods. ‘The foundation of offshore related structures such as steel jackets platforms, concrete gravity Structures, oi1 and gas pipelines, anchored floating structures and mobile jack up rigs transfer all/partial loads to the seafloor. ‘These loads include the dead and live loads on the structures and environmental forces arising from wind, wave and current actions. Therefore, the foundation can have a significant impact on the overall structural design. The type of structures and required analyses to be performed are briefly discussed hereinunder. Jackets Offshore piled structures and steel Jackets, as employed in this region, typically comprise three to eight tubular legs framed together into Warren truss structural configurations by a larger number of smaller diameter tubular members known as braces. Piles are driven through these hollow tubular legs which are battered for better resistance to overturning by lateral environtental forces. These piles are usually installed by driving. However, when soil conditions make driving’ impossible, alternative techniques such as drilling have to be considered. Pile design generally has to consider following: - Design leg loads both lateral and axial to be provided by the soil with adequate factor of safety. - toad/deformation behaviour of pile under transient/hazard loading condition. - Installation procedure with available piling equipment. Conerete Gravity structures ‘Typical analyses for the design of concrete gravity structure include an assessment of following : - initial penetration of skirts = overall vertical and horizontal displacements = elastic vertical and horizontal displacements - long term consolidation settlement = effects of cyclic loading on the soil - stability of the structure against sliding and overturning. Conerete gravity structures rest directly on the seabed by virtue of their dead weight. The advantage of this type of structure is that it can be constructed onshore, towed to offshore location and installed in a relatively short time compared to say a piled foundation. Floating Structures Designs of foundations for floating structures involve the evaluation of the stability of conventional marine anchors, chain piles, rigid piles, pile groups and/or gravity blocks as anchorages: Pipelines ‘Typical studies for pipelines include the assessment of the following: - stability of trenches = soil resistance and pipeline penetration during installation - immediate and long term deflection of the pipeline. Mobile Jack Up Rigs Jack up rigs can basically be divided into two categories depending on the foundation. = mat. supportea = individual footings (spud cans). Rigs supported on individual spud can are more widely employed in this region. Problems to be considered include: - magnitude of leg penetration = punch-through failure = Scour of the seabed = hazard during leg extraction = stability of spud can during preload and during operation. OFFSHORE SOIL INVESTIGATION ‘The main aim of a soil investigationprogramme is to determine the nature Of the soil stratigraphy and to get reliable information pertaining to ‘the strength and deformation properties of the different soil layers so as to enable optimization of foundation design. ‘The preceding sections dealt briefly with the type of offshore structures in used and their associated geotechnical design considerations. Tt should be noted that in this region, piled jacket foundations are mostly used for the exploitation of subsea resources in conjunction with mobile jack up rigs. ‘Therefore, to date, the main objective of most Of the offshore investigations is to provide geotechnical information for the design of piled foundation as well as to assist in the safe operation of mobile jack up rigs. ‘The investigation is typically performed from geotechnical orientated vessel with motion compensated facilities so that high quality soil samples can be obtained for laboratory testing. A soil investigation may consist of one or a combination of the following: = deep boring and sampling = in situ testing = seismic surveying = shallow soil sampling. In order to expedite the processing of soil data and assist in further Planning of the works, a comprehensive set of offshore laboratory equipment is provided onboard the vessel. Cone Penetration Testing To compliment the information obtained from tests on soil samples, specialised in situ testing equipment to perform cone penetration tests has been adopted. Besides the quantitative interpretation to assess actual soil parameter, the cone penetration test is of great value in a qualitative sense as it provides an accurate continuous profile of the soil conditions. Continuous profiling of subsoil proves very useful and indeed is a great asset when evaluating potential Punch-through hazard of mobile jack up rigs. Conmon features of the electric friction cone are follows: = 60 apex conical tip 1-10 - friction sleeve of same diameter as base of conical tip - soil seals and water seals = strain gauge load measurement system. Piezocone Test The standard Fugro electric friction cone forms the basis of the design of the piezocone penetrometer (Fig. 1). Piezocone data yield useful stratigraphic information, which is particularly helpful as an aid to soil classification. Measured pore Pressure during cone penetration testing provides continuous records as compared to data obtained at selected intervals by means of other in situ tests or from conventional sampled borings (Figs. 2 and 3). ‘The excess pore pressure generated during penetration of the electric cone, gives detailed insight of the stratification. The resolution is higher then that of the conventional friction ratio. Moreover, dissipation test (Fig. 4) can be perforned easily at any depth. In these tests, the rate of dissipation of excess pore pressure to a certain percentage of equilibrium or hydrostatic pressure is measured. Dissipation tests provide useful information on the rate of reconsolidation of soils, example after installation works. for J—— Manele t—~ Cone loascell Pressure transducer FilterJacking System - Seacalf The rig used to advance the penetrometer consists basically of a hydraulic jacking systen. Modification of the techniques used on land has resulted in special equipment which can be divided into two categories. = seabed supported units = downhole units. permeation sou, Mamt> PROFILE wnomun MEAN aTHEMeTH ay taremt) He The seabed supported rig used in the Petronas Carigali concession is Fugro's Seacalf (Fig. 5). The seacalf is a renote controlled underwater rig. Pairs of hydraulic jacks in these rigs advance the cone rods in a repeating cycle : downward thrust, clamping, jack retraction, clamp telease. The jacking system is mounted on a ballasted frame which can provide up to a maximum reaction force of 200 kN. Fig. 2 Typical borehole dataFig. 3. Typical results obtained from piezocone Down Hole Cone Penetrometer ~ Wison ‘The Wison (Fig. 6) is a penetrometer to perform electric cone penetrometer tests from the bottom of the borehole. The system is normally used in combination with straight flush rotary drilling with an open wing bit. Basically the Wison is, lowered down the string on its umbilical and then seats and latches into the drill collar. aim test is then carried out starting at bit level. The reaction is obtained fron the weight of the string and a seabed clamping system, the seaclam, that fixes the string during testing. Whereas penetration of Seacalf tests is limited by the reaction force of the seabed unit, the Wison can in principle be done as long as drilling Proceeds. DATA PROCESSING AND DATA PRESENTATION An important consideration is to make data available on the spot so that they can be checked immediately and also to provide initial geotechnical input for preliminary engineering 2 ] | a wp : MEASu » PORE WATER PRESSURE U \iegt/em?) ° 0 © © © Im 10 mo TIME (mins) Location Dolang WP-8 CPT No. 7 Depth below seabed 20.49 Mater depth 80.08 Fig. 4 Pore pressure dissipation test curve studies onboard the vessel. Experience has shown that this aspect of instant information has helped to expedite planning of offshore site investigation work as quick decision can then be made by the Client's representative onboard the vessel after discussion with the geotechnical consultant. However, it is equally important that data be stored for further analysis onshore. Computerised systems greatly enchance the speed and accuracy with which friction and pore Pressure ratio for example can be Sone. FIELD PERFORMANCE OF TECHNIQUES EMPLOYED ‘The techniques omployed in the investigated areas have provided valuable information. ‘Typically 6 to 8 continuous Seacalf tests each to depth of 30m below seabed could be carried out per 24 hours working day. Therefore, the cost of gathering high quality data could be kept low.Fig. 6 Fugro's Seacalf operated fron geotechnical oriented vessel. Schematic layout of Wison test. 1-13 Quality wise, the data is superior and very useful for jack up rig evaluation and pipeline study. Indeed, the potential punch-through stratum could be clearly defined. Sampled borings were performed to correlate both in situ and laboratory data also for future reference. As mentioned earlier, part of this exercise aimed at collecting adequate data for deep foundation study. Wison testing was not done during this investigation because platform foundation design was not part of the scope of work. In future, this type of testing will definitely be considered however. ‘CONCLUSION Cone penetration data together with piezonetric values have provided the designer/client with an economic and reliable method for determining stratification and variability of soils in addition to yielding other valuable engineering information as well. Data collected has been instrumental in design of deep piled jacket foundations, pipeline studies and to a great extent control mobile jack up rig operations, especially during the preloading stage ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ‘The authors wish to thank the management of Petronas Carigali for their permission to present the information given. Moreover, the authors are indebted to Encik Rosli Hussin, Manager of Development Engineering Department of Petronas Carigali and Mr Roy van Hooydonk, Managing Director of Fugro (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd for their valuable comment in the preparation of this paper. REFERENCES 1, Asean Council on Petroleum (ASCOPE), Tertiary sedimentary basins of the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea: Stratigraphy, structure and hydrocarbon occurrences, May 1981. 2. Fugro internal reportsEighth Southeast Asian Geotechnical Conforence/11—15 March 1985/Kuala Lumpur GEOTECHNICAL ASPECTS OF HYDRAULIC FILL RECLAMATION VICTOR CHOA Nanyang Technological Institute, Singapore syworsts The geotechnical aspects of hydraulic £111 reclamation are discussed in this Paper using the reclamation at Pulau Tekong Besar and the further reclama- tion at Changi as examples. Pre- reclamation works and the reclamation Procedure are described. A comprehen sive instrumentation and soil testing scheme was implemented and the results Were used to check the stability and Predict settlement of the reclamation and coastal protection works. Quality control of the reclamation material, the results from the instrumentation and the use of the BAT pore pressure Sounding device are also included in this paper. INTRODUCTION In the early 1970's, accelerated industrial and commercial expansion created the need for more land in the 617 sq km Republic of Singapore. Large scale multi-million dollar dredging Projects were embarked on in the mid- 1978's. Hill cut material and dredged hydraulic £111 obtained locally were utilised for these projects. As local resources are limited more emphasis is being placed on subsequent projects to obtain offshore sources of £111 material (Bawajee and Mok, 1983). Two such hydraulic fill reclamation projects shall be described in this paper. One at Pulau Tekong Besar, an island off the main land of Singapore, and the other on the mainland to the north and south of Changi Airport (See Fig. 1). Land reclamation works at Pulau Tekong Besar was commenced in May 1981 at a cost of S$256 million to augment the Republic's land bank by an additional 510 hectares. About 28 million cubic metres of hydraulic fill obtained from 1-14 both local and offshore sources is being used for the reclamation work. The project is scheduled for completion in early 1985. Six cutter suction dredgers, each with a capacity of 4,008 HP to 5,009 HP, pump the sand £111 from stockpile areas via 714 mm diameter Pipelines to the reclamation site. The Sand fill at the stock pile areas, which are located about a kilometre from the reclamation boundary, are constantly replenished with offshore £111 brought by a 13,000 HP trailer suction hopper dredger. Material dredger locally with another cutter suction dredge is also transported to the stockpile areas using four hopper barges, each with 2,000 cu m capacity. The average daily production rate is in the region of 38,000 cu m. In the later 1978's a reclamation of 700 hectares of land for the new Changi Alrport was completed (Choa, 1980). By The early 1980's it was realised that expansion of infra-structural facili- ties of the airport will necessitate further reclamation at Changi, About, 66 hectares to the north and 120 hectares to the south respectively of the former reclamation site is being reclaimed using 12 million cubic metres of offshore hydraulic fill at a cost of 88118 million. Work commenced in mid- 1982 and is scheduled for completion in late 1985, PRE-RECLAMATION WORK Land surveys at the pre-reclamation stage involved the setting up of base— lines, control stations, benchmarks and establishing a grid system covering the whole reclamation site. Hydrographic Surveys using echo-sounder and electronic position fixing system were employed for the determination of levels of those areas of the reclana~ tion below the drying contour. Magneticsurveys of the borrow areas were conducted prior to reclamation to ensure the safety of the work force and dredging equipment. All sunken wrecks and disused bombs were removed before reclamation thereby ainimising mishaps and delays to the project. Geophysical Survey of the entire site was conducted for the preparation of isopachs of the soft material underlying tne seabed. Confirmatory boreholes were sunk to verify the surveyed data. Soil inves- tigation using both land and jack-up rigs were conducted in advance of the filling operations and samples were extracted for laboratory testing. With the results from the laboratory and in- situ soil tests slope stability analyses of the reclamation were made and the magnitude and rate of settle- ment of the reclamation were estimated. Some essential soll instruments such a piezometers, settlements measurement devices and’ inclinometers were also installed prior to the reclamation. The stability and settlement analyses together with the instrumentation are described in greater detail in sub- Sequent sections. RECLAMATION PROCEDURE ‘The first stage of reclamation consis- ted of forming containment dykes of hydraulic fill sand to enclose the various designated zones of reclamation RA to RA14 (see Fig. 1). The enclosed area within each zone was then re- Claimed. The containment dykes reduced the loss of fine material from the reclamation and at the same time reduced pollution. ‘These dykes enabled the water level within the enclosed area to be kept high and the variation of water level due to tidal fluctuation was considerably reduced. The danger of instability due to rapid drawdown was therefore reduced. The dykes how- ever increased the occurrance of mud- waves due to the accumulation of en trapped silts and clays at the toe of the reclamation slopes. In order to prevent the occurrance of mudwaves the hydraulic filling were designed to form gentle reclamation slopes of about 1 in 30. The silt accumulations were also reduced by pumping water only through the pipelines and flushing the accumu- lations. The specification required the contractor to remove all trapped mudwave material to a designated dumping area. Pusu uBN Sa oe Fig. 1 Site Plan 1-15vi Pessina Pig. 2 Grading Envelope of Sand Fill and Mudwave SOIL PROPERTIES Sieve analyses on samples taken from the borrow area as well as from the reclamation site showed that the £111 consisted mainly of a medium to coarse sand with some fine gravel. The silt content was generally small, ranging from 8 to 58 (see Fig. 2). There was Little difference in the grading curves for the material in the borrow area and those in the reclaimed site. Geophysical survey and boreholes indicated that the site was underlain by a thin layer of sand and gravel followed by a stiff to hard clayey silt and cemented sand. Numerous valleys resulting from erosion of this hard clayey silt and sand have been subsequently Infilled by soft marine clay. The marine clay varies in thickness from 2m to 25 m below the seabed. The deeper deposits of marine clay appear to be of two different ages separated by a firm to stife silty clay stratum or a sandy peaty clay stratum. It is believed that this transition zone of stiff clay was the result of a fall in the sea level sometine in the geological past exposing the older marine clay to the atmosphere forming a desiccated crust which was then submerged again with the subsequent rise in sea level and further deposits of younger marine clay on top of this stiff clay stratum, Figure 3 shows a typical soil profile of @ borehole from Pulau Tekong Besar. 1-16 The marine clay had a plastic limit of around 408, liquid limit between 96 to loos and 4 natural moisture content between 88 to 100%. The undrained shear strength of the marine clay increased from around 5 kPa at the Seabed to 20 kPa at a depth of 8m below seabed. The compression index C was about 1.0, The marine clay showed a slight over-consolidated with an over-consolidation ratio p/p of about 1.2. “the coetéicient of congolidation with flow in the vectieay djrection cy Was about 1 to 2x 19"? n2/sec from laboratory oedometer tests. The goettictene of ‘consolidation with flow ‘nthe horizpntal direction ¢, was about 4 x1d-? né/aee from sissifation tests carried out using a BAT pore pressure Sounding device. INSTRUMENTATION The soll instruments were installed in clusters consisting of a settlement plate on the seabed, deep settlement gauges at various depths below the Seabed and a deep reference point en- bedded in the hard stratum to act asa datum. At the same location SINCO Pneumatic plezometers were installed at varlous depths in the marine clay to Measure pore pressures. In some loca- tions where lateral movement was anti- cipated SINCO inclinometers were also Installed. Borros settlement devices were Installed in several locations where the marine clay thicknessSOL PROFLE | farrensers JUNORANED (esa fconrent wi | |ieel cen hy ee oes a a a: ocr aoe ein Pe je q Be tasers] | ——| |e | : Bsorsencs || 2] |: = 2-660} | ne D . Mutti-cotur. mecum shit to. ~ Stes — : fs (rikeh, medium 6h. a \ | coy SF jae 4 ft e ERS ccientrenet-gey ot cit - - diam SRST See | | MH si i rao hearted tes We, =Notural woter content Ge sCompression index ee tie Ta Tit cn se ls 1 RISER [ite itt te YP SSann a seme SS PER Geet, | (Recreate Leena conan eases sel tnt oir Sat Fig. 3 exceeded @ m in order to measure the relative settlements of the clay at various depths. The reclamation at Pulau Tekong was divided into areas RAL to RAl4 (see Fig. 1). At least one cluster of equipment were installed in each area prior to commencement of the reclamation. After the first lift of the reclamation when the ground level had reached + 3.49 m C.D. additional settlement plates were installed at the seabed in a 300 m x 300 m grid to Contour the settlement due to the reclamation fill. The settlement plates installed prior to the reclamation consisted of 25 am diameter steel pipes welded and braced to 600 mmx 600 mm steel plates. These plates were lowered directly on to the Seabed. The settlement plates installed after the first lift of reclamation consisted of 25 mm diameter steel pipes welded to a 150 mm diameter base plate. These settlement plates were installed in 208 mm diameter boreholes advanced to the original Seabed level through the reclaimed fill. The deep settlement gauges consisted of helical augers welded to a Steel pipe. These were installed in boreholes and screwed into the soil to the desired depths. ‘The deep reference points consisted of 1-7 Soil Profile and Properties steel rods with pointed ends which were driven into the groun at the bottom of the boreholes advanced at least 1.5 m into very hard stratum. this last 1.5 m were then subsequently grouted. All three settlement devices were encassed in PVC pipe outer coverings to eliminate Eriction on the central steel pipe due to the settling soil around the instrument. Some special precautions and procedures employed in the installation of the piezometers were: (2) calibration of each piezometer prior to installation; (2) sealing the read-out values after each reading to ensure that no dirt or water enters the plezo— meter leads; (3) @ bentonite which was suitable for salt water condition was well compacted using a punner to form a seal of at least 1,0 m thick above each piezometer; (4) only one plezometer leads was installed in each borehole; (5) the piezometer leads were carefully strapped to steel scaf- folding to prevent damage from the high discharge intensities during hydraulic filling; and(6) an inert gas was used to measure the pore pressures thus avoiding malfunctioning caused by circula- ting humid air through the sensi- tive valves in the piezometer tips. ‘The intensity of the discharge velocity of the hydraulic fill from cutter Suction dredges was very great. The instruments installed during reclama- tion had therefore to be adequately protected. One fairly successful means was to form a sand mound around the instruments and to brace the instru- ments to steel scaffolding. The scaffolding also served as a platform from which the instruments could be monitored. Even after the first lift of reclamation sand mounds had to be constructed around the instruments to protect them against the second lift of hydraulic fill. These mounds also Serve as a protection against damage from earth moving equipment such as dozers and bucket loaders which are often employed to lay pipeline and regrade the Slopes on the reclamation site. IN-SITU TESTING In-situ vane shear tests and thin wall piston sampling were carried out in boreholes advanced by percussion dril- Ting rigs either mounted on specially designed drilling platforms or on jack~ up barges. Drilling platforms or Jack- Up barges are essential to ensure minimum disturbance during the testing and sampling. Drilling rigs mouated on floating pontoons should not be used because the disturbance from wave action makes it almost impossible to carry out undisturbed vane shear test ‘and to obtain undisturbed samples. Often the employment of such rigs leads to very misleading soll test results, Dutch cone tests were also carried out to determine the quality of the reclaimed fill and the thickness of the underlying marine clay. The occurence of sand lenses and silt partings in the marine clay was determined by examining continuous soil samples from boreholes and substantiated by employing the BAT type peizo-cone. A typical result from the BAT pore pressure sounding device is shown in Pig. 4. The pore pressure results clearly shows the occurcance of the sand lenses and silt partings. The BAT pore-pressure sounding device was also used to carry out dissipation test to determine the coefficient of conso- lidation with flow in the horizontal direction cy. The results of a typical pore pressure dissipation test is shown in Pig. 5. 1-18 BAT Pore Pressure Sounding Fig. 4 Results I aa a al LW... Fig. $ BAT Pore Pressure Dissipation Test STABILITY OF THE RECLAMATION AND HEADLANDS The slope stability of the reclamation was checked by the computer programSTABL developed by R.A, Siegel of Purdue University. The programme was written In Fortran IV source language for the general solution of slope stability problems by a two dimensional limiting equilibrium method. The calculation of the factor of safety against instability of a slope was performed by a method of slices. The particular method employed in this version of STABL was and adaption of the Modified Bishop method. The adaptation of this method allowed the analysis of trial failure surface other than those of circular shape. The soll Properties used in the analyses were those determined by in-situ vane shear test and laboratory test on thin walled piston samples. The stability analyses indicated a minimum factor of safety of 1.1 for a sliding block failure mechanism and 1.4 for a circular failure mechanism in the cage of reclamation to an elevation of + 3.4 9 C.D. with a reclamation slope of i in 38 ‘and a surcharge in the form of uniformly distributed load of 10 kPa intensity acting on the horizontal surface of the reclamation. As a result of the analyses it was decided to carry out the reclamation in two lifts. ‘The first left of reclamation was to + 3.48 m C.D, and when the marine clay had gained sufficient strength this was followed by a second Lift to bring the reclamation to its final elevation of + 4,8 m C.D. A similar analyses was carried out to check the stability of the headlands. The plan and cross-section of a typical headland is shown in Fig. 6 and the locations of the headlands are shown in Pig. 1. The headlands were constructed in three stages. First the sand base to + 1.00 mC.D. followed by the filter cloth and the rockbund to + 2.80 m C.D. The construction was then suspended for at least six months to allow the soft clay below to consolidate and improve in Strength before proceeding with the completion of the rockbund to the specified final elevation of + 3.80 m C.D. The length of the toe of the rockbund varied between 15 m to 20 m depending on the undrained shear Strength determined by in-situ vane shear test carried out prior to the rockbund construction. In order to allow for future settlement the final elevation of the crest of the rockbund was increased by 8.3 m to 8.7 m depen- ding on the thickness of the underlying marine clay. TYPICAL DETAIL OF HEADLAND Fig. 6 Plan and Section of a typical HeadlandQUALITY CONTROL OF RECLAMATION MATERIAL A sand with not less than 15% fines passing the No. 209 sieve and a dry density of not less than 90% of the maximum dry density determined by the modified AASHO procedure (similar to BS 1377:1975, Test 13) was specified. The quality ‘control of the reclaimed material was by sieve size analyses of samples taken daily at the discharge points on the reclamation site. When the reclamation reached the specified elevation dutch cone penetration tests, in-situ density tests, standard penet- ration tests and continuous sampling in boreholes were employed to check that the material met the specifications. Areas, where silt and mudwaves were observed during the reclamation, were more thoroughly investigated by a close grid of dutch cone tests and borehole Sampling. All mudwaves and silt trapped in the sand fill were removed by back hole excavations. The grading envelope for the mudwave material is given on Fig. 2. SETTLEMENT AND PORE PRESSURE OBSERVATIONS. A typical set of settlement and pore Pressure observations are shown in Fi 5. As expected the pore pressures built up with each lift of reclamation and very little dissipation had taken place. The excess pore pressure in the four Piezometers were observed to be in the range of 45 kPa to 55 kPa in August 1984 about one r after the reclamation had reached the specified final elevation of + 4,8 m CD. The settlements of the surface plate and deep settlement device were observed to be 0.53 m and 8.19 m respectively in August 1984. A numerical method of analysis using finite difference was used to predict the magnitude and rate of settlement. The analytical results agreed well with the observed settle- ments. bat |) Sas oa : sano repens. foe fo ron SRG ary shee Regrets Grey very sot Marine CLAY, Pye ser came shel irogments od ne ogane agents | 2 ‘381 1968 WASTORL FMD DPS oNop FMA MDDsoNb] 8 «| 4 Groudie Emcton € Far Bevateon tm AC8) Mateo, mam tit to sti Chey “SILT atch, median aT Cayey St : SY cepsh trownisn-arey ot about Sorel. ee fo ery dense Cloyey Sty" SAND. wth some «AREY grove ft cout = i) Settement (ml s B fej] Ua eran. very dense, I grey ity SAND taetey 2) wecberes. dre BO oF BOREHOLE AT 240m] al fsa. Ser SETTLEMENT PLATE loco: OeEP SETTLEMENT OEVCE lipP: PELMATC PEZOMETER Fig. 7 Settlement and Pore Pressure Observations‘The settlement was expected to continue for many years after the reclamation and allowance for the fall in the ground elevation had been nade. Additional sand had been stock piled to top up the ground level of the areas overlying thick deposits of marine clay. As the reclaimed areas would not be put to immediate use, soil improvement works were not implemented. However, surcharging of some areas, overlying thick deposits of marine clay had been carried to provide some measure of ground improvenent. CONCLUSION Pre-reclamation work such as geophysical survey and magnetic survey was found to be essential for the planning of the reclamation work. In situ vane shear tests and thin-wall piston sampling were carried out from boring rigs mounted on drilling platforms or jack-up barges to ensure minimum disturbance to the soil being tested. The settlement and slope stability calculations using soll parameters determined in this manner Proved to be satisfactory for the reclamation work as well as for the construction of the headland rockbunds. The method of reclamation using containment dykes reduced the danger of slope stability due to rapid draw down. It also reduced the loss of fine material from the reclamation and pollution of adjacent areas. A carefully planned and implenented soil instrumentation and testing schene contributed to the success of the re- clamation works with no serious stabi- lity problems and enabled settlements to be anticipated satisfactorily. Quality control of the reclaimed material was achieved by testing samples at discharge points, in-situ density tests, dutch cone penetration tests, standard penetration tests and continuous sampling in boreholes. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author wishes to thank Mr R Bawajee, Manager (Engineering) of Singapore Engineering and Consultancy Services Pte Ltd for his assistance and kind permission to publish the data contained in this paper. He also wishes to thank Mr YN Tan also from SPECS who was responsible for the soll instrumentation and the preparation of the figures. REFERENCES BAWAJEE, R. and MOK, C. K. Management of Major Reclamation Works and Maintenance Dredging In Singapore Port Waters. Proceedings BSCAP Seminar on Managenenit of Dredging InQuSeEys Shanghat, 183, CHOA, V. Geotechnical Aspects of a Hydraulic Fill Reclamation Project. Proceedings 6th Southeast Asian Conf. ‘on Soll Engineering, Talpels 1500.Eighth Southeast Asian Geotechnical Conference/11~15 Merch 1985/Kuala Lumpur GEOTECHNICAL ASPECTS OF 3.5m DIAMETER DRILLED PILES FOR THE SAUDI ARABIA-BAHRAIN CAUSEWAY LY, TONNISEN MJ.D. DOBIE sYNopsts ‘The Saudi Arabia - Bahrain Causeway incorporates 5 bridges with a combined total length of 12.5 km. The pier shafts and their foundations, for most of the bridge supports, consist of single precast concrete cylinders with a 3.5 m outside diameter. A compre- hensive site investigation was carried out and produced a large amount of data, both on the superficial Quater- nary layers and the underlying Tertiary bedrock. Pile deflection models were developed using linear springs, and comparisons of deformations prediction- ed from the site investigation results with values measured in pile loading tests were very good. A successful installation method was developed for the piles using specially designed equipment and techniques. NOTATION, designates claystone layer strength 1-22 allast Nedam Group NV, Amstelvwen, Netherlands, Deift oil Mechanics Laboratory, Delft, Netherlands. Oo ae rcestceec eee] int (ereaeee Sy cee Bem o eeceiennjaestssceae etc wrelee x = Geclgnstes sttestone layer FT deeegectstaasnes See eisensistet suaaeiy acces ftverer forpesen dresses 1.0 remeopoctron ‘The Saudi Arabia - Bahrain Causeway is 25 km long road connection presently being built through the sea between the island of Bahrain and the mainland of Saudi arabia. This four lane motor road connection is composed of 12.5 km on embankments in shallow waters and 12.5 kn on 5 bridges with lengths varying between 934 m and 5194 m in waters with depths from 5 m to 12m. The ground conditions consist of a superficial Quaternary layer of variable thickness overlying Tertiary carbonate bedrock. A bridge design with 50 m spans based on the use of large prefabricated con- crete elenents was found to be an eco- nomical solution. It was therefore a logical choice to base the design for the foundations of the bridges on large prefabricated elements also. ‘The bridges are mostly roadway level of 7.5 m above sea level. Consequently the piers are quite short and it was found possible to support each of the two bridge girders in the low level sections of the bridges in- dependently on only one foundation element. This element is a 3.5m dia~ meter prefabricated, circular caisson or pile which constitutes the founda- tion as well as the pier shaft. designed with aGULF OF BAHRAIN bridge section test pile location vertical test + @em Figure 1 Higher roadway levels are required in four locations to allow for navigation. Here foundations are built up by coupl~ ing two or four of the piles to create foundations for the piers which support the two bridge girders. The circular hollow piles with a wall thickness of 0.35 m are prefabricated from a variety of short standard sect- ions on a tenporary site near the lo- cation of the Causeway. The sections are stressed together to form the pile by means of prestressing tendons with a total force per pile varying between 10.5 MN and 21.0 MN. ‘The length of the piles varies between 16 m for the shortest piles in a 4-pile foundation to 40 m for the longest piles. The weight of the heaviest pile is approximately 3500 KN. The founda- tion level varies with a maximum depth of 30m below sea level. ‘This paper presents some of the major geotechnical aspects of the Causeway project, related to the piles. The main topics ar: - site investigation programme = geology and ground conditions analysis of displacements and bearing capacity of piles - installation technique = pile tests and results N embankment section ARABIAN GULE BAHRAIN UMM. NASAN| General layout of Causeway 2.0. SITE INVESTIGATION PROGRAMME 2.1 Approach to the investigation ‘The principal aim of the site investi- gation was to establish a representa- tive profile of deformation modulus and shear strength for every pier. There- fore a borehole was constructed at every pier location. A profile of pressuremeter tests was carried out at about 25% of the piers, and additional boreholes and pressuremeter tests were made at test pile locations. Thus there were three main categories of test data: boreholes, boreholes’ adjacent to pressure~ meter tests, boreholes and pressuremeter tests adjacent to test piles. Regular strength "index" tests were carried out in all boreholes. Where comparison was possible with the re~ sults of adjacent pressureneter tests, correlations have been established be- tween the pressuremeter results and the index test values. These correlations are one of the main subjects of section 3.0, and have provided a basis for using the index tests from all bore— holes to establish the required strength and modulus profiles. ‘These profiles have been further re~ fined by using the results of the piletests to establish the relationship between the measured parameters and the real soil or rock behaviour. This as~ pect of the investigation is described in section 4.0. on pt Figure 2. Typical pier type 2.2 Outline of the investigation ‘The detailed site investigation for the bridges was carried out between May 1982 and May 1983 by a joint venture of Haitjena B.V. and Intersite B.V. of the Netherlands. Two self elevating platforms were Used equipped with Wirth universal drilling rigs. The exploratory holes were divided into ‘two categories: - boreholes = pressureneter holes ‘The boreholes were advanced by Light cable percussion methods in the super~ ficial layers and wireline rotary core drilling in the bedrock. Triple tube core barrels were used for most of the work, with the third innermost tube being split longitudinally. This made core handling mich easier and resulted in less disturbance during core ex- traction, particularly of the more friable or fractured bedrock layers. Core diameter was nominally 79 mm, although in some places #03 equipment was used resulting in 61 mm core. The boreholes provided samples and cores for laboratory testing, and were used for insitu tests, principally the SPT and occasionally the vane test. The pressuremeter holes were drilled by destructive methods with a nominal diameter of 62 mm to accomodate a Menard GA pressureneter. These holes were constructed solely for pressure- meter testing and no samples were re- covered. In the superficial layers the driil hole was advanced test by test. Initially for the bedrock a Grill hole was constructed to the greatest test depth and all tests carried out retrogressively, starting at the bottom. This procedure was found to be unsatisfactory in the weak and often friable rocks present for ‘two main reasons: = the drilling rods scraped the upper parts of the hole causing an enlargement of the diameter, - a blow out of the probe would cause scouring higher up the borehole, and consequent extrac- tion and’reinsertion would cause further scraping of material from the borehole walls. Both of these effects resulted in an oversized hole and poorly calibrated subsequent tests. From this exporien- ce it was found more satisfactory to advance the drill hole in stages, carrying out 2 or 3 tests each time. During the investigation a total of 280 boreholes and 77 pressuremeter holes were made for the bridge sites. 810 pressureneter tests were carried out, mostly in the bedrock. 2.3 Strength index testing of bedrock One of the early requirements of the investigation was that a strength index test be established that could be used at frequent intervals in the bedrock. Tt was also required that the test should be either insitu or carried out on the drilling platform. rnitially two tests were proposed: = standard penetration test (SPT) point load test ‘The SPT had been used in preliminary investigations for the project. Al- though the test is at the limit of its applicability in the stronger rocks encountered on the site, it has some advantages. Firstly thére is consider able worldwide experience of its use and application, Secondly, the test can be specified at predetermined in - tervals, whereas any test on borehole core can only be carried out on pieces of core of adequate quality. The SPT was carried out at regular intervals in all boreholes, both in the super- ficial layers and the bedrock. ‘The point load test was attempted on core fron early boreholes, using a test machine set up on the drillingplatform. However, the rocks encoun- tered were found to be too soft to ob- tain good results, with considerable penetration of thé conical platens into the test specimen before fracture. AS an alternative, the point load testing ‘apparatus was equipped with flat cir- cular platens mounted on spherical seats to be used as a simple unaxial compression testing machine. The Grilling platforms were equipped with cutting and grinding tools to prepare the ends of the test specimens. This test was referred to as the field UCS (unconfined compressive strength) test, and was used at regular intervals in the bedrock. ‘The compression machine allowed a maximun failure stress of about 6 MN/m? to be measured on a core of 80 mm diameter. The strength of the bedrock encountered on the site is generally in the range very stiff clay to weak rock, falling in a zone between true soils and rocks. This range of strength is compared be- low to the reasonable working stress ranges of the various tests described above. 2.4 Laboratory testing In addition to the insitu tests and the field Ucs, laboratory tests were carried out both on intact pieces of borehole core and on samples taken with thin walled Shelby tubes, as follows: water content Liguia and plastic limits = particle size distribution specific gravity = carbonate content = consolidation tests = unconfined compression tests = undrained triaxial tests = consolidated undrained triaxial tests. 2.5 Typical borehole profile ‘The profile of test results from bore- hole Br1-B19-1/1A is shown below in- cluding the pressuremeter modulus values from the adjacent pressureneter hole. The intensity of test results is fair- ly typical of most boreholes, as in- deed is the variability. It is worth mentioning that prelimi- nary investigations of the site, with boreholes at a greater spacing, ‘had concluded that no lateral correlation could be found between adjacent bore- holes. During this detailed site investigation every effort was made to achieve the highest possible quality of logging, including full time supervision and logging by geo~ logists on the platforms. This was followed up by refinement based on laboratory tests to draw up the final log. “The resulting descriptions could be Correlated very well from borehole to borehole, and were used to make a detailed geological profile. SPT tult penetration a | Lf + +4 Figure 3. Application of field test methods compared to bedrock strength 3.0 GEOLOGY AND GROUND CONDITIONS 3.1 Geology A simplified geological column for the horizons encountered in the Causeway boreholes is given below, based on the work of Kassler (1973). (QUATERNARY Holocene Sea level similar to present from 6000 yBP. Deposition of shell sands with localised submarine cementation. Pleistocene (1) 10000 to 120000 yal period of emergence during glaciations. Deposition of dune sands and wadi depo sits. Leaching and dolonitisation of ex- posed carbonate rocks. Pleistocene (2) 120000 to 2.5 m yBP: Submergence, generally to greater depths than present.summary of ground Pier 19g go acy@ —_‘lacation: Bet-B19-114 conditions c “ sea bed (mCD): - cron bed ImC0): -392 WPL ut 0 1 2 3 ae acy yy m $Ra0| CRP 020 40 080100 wo 40d 20030 EY te Stwll O50 100 "It 2 2H 4 of : oH ae 0 0 2 2 a “ i 6 ,3000 | : 18 8 = oe a rT ee E {22 82 ea 23 ue 26 26 im ’ strength coring week ees & weak profile plasticity diagram rock Ge. 20y. Ep in MN/m2 Figure 4 Sunmary of results from borehole Br1-B19-1/1A (in strength profile solid lines refer to field logging and broken lines to final logs) ‘TERTIARY Pliocene (2.5 m to 7 m yBP) Miocene (7 m yBP and older) Deposition in a gene- rally low energy en- vironment resulting in fine grain sediments in the upper part of the bedrock. Oligocene Absent in site area Eocene Deposition of Danman Formation, including Limestone’ aquifers en- countered at bridge 5. A part of the geological profile a rived from the boreholes described in section 2.0 is shown below. The section is for the whole of bridge 1 and is about 1 km long. Tt includes almost all the horizons described above. Geologically, the soils and rocks en- countered on'the site can be divided into two principal layers: = bedrock, consisting of late ‘Tertiary carbonate rocks, - superficial deposits of Quater- nary age. The Tertiary bedrock consists almost entirely of Miocene and Pliocene car bonate rocks, although a limestone aquifer at the top of the Eocene was just encountered at bridge 5. The late Tertiary carbonate rocks consist of interbedded claystones, siltstones and sandstones, with frequent brecciat- ed contact zones. The depositional history of these rocks appears to be cyclothemic, with repeated cycles of doposition characterised by layers of varying clay particle content. The principal carbonate mineral present is dolomite, probably formed by secondary processes during the late Pleistocene. Tectonic activity during the Pliocene and early Pleistocene - the Zagros, Orogeny ~ has resulted in slight fold- ing of the Tortiary bedrock with maxi- mum dips of about 3°. salt dome for- mation at this period, principally beneath Bahrain and the Saudi Arabian mainland, has resulted in the oldest rocks subcropping at the east and west ends of the Causeway site, with the youngest near the centre.’ The present Gay upper surface of the bedrock is between § and 20 m below sea level, and20 -QUARTERNARY. TERTIARY 04 = quarts send © = claystone Oy = silt X «siltstone , = carbonate sand S = sandstone O, = caprock 0, = limestone Figure 5 cuts across the bedding. Weathering of the bedrock is associated with the Present day upper surface, and has re~ sulted principally in colour changes, as well as deterioration of engineering properties in the upper few metres. The Quaternary layers form a veneer of superficial deposits, from 0 to 12m thick on top of the bedrock. The late Pleistocene deposits are mainly quartz sand, and are overlain by younger Holo- cene’ carbonate sand. ‘The upper quartz sands on figure 5 are probably asso- ciated with present day dune movement on the mainland. Cementing of these layers is very variable, and in some places competent limestones have been formed. A layer of caprock is present on the seabed at most locations. 3.2 Superficial layers - engineering properties Apart from particle size distribution, the principal tests carried out in the superficial layers were the SPT and the pressuremeter test. The N values from the SP? were very variable, and frequently higher than Geological profile along bridge 1 would be expected from uncemented sands at shallow depths, even with a very high relative density. this variability alnost certainly reflected the variable degree of cementation of the sands observed during the investi- gation. ‘The pressureneter results were also variable, and no satisfactory corre- lations between &,, the pressureneter modulus, and N cold be established. However’a generalised profile of E, xesults, which is shown below, ind?ca~ ted that a conservative lower bound to E, could be taken as: Bez eo P where B, denotes pressuremeter modulus in MN/m?, z denotes depth below seabed in m. seq) In some places the comented Quaterna~ ty layers wore found to be sufficient- ly competent and consistent to provide @ reliable foundation stratum with much higher characteristic values than those given by equation (1). An exam= ple is the Q) layer at the base of the Quaternary dnown on figure 5.Ep (Mim?) om 2 wm wo ow or depth (mt se ett Pte al t ral \ \ oL Lt + wrcemented or wey coneted ® 812 8F2 foneualy tow rests) ‘4 strongly cemented Figure 6 General distribution of £, in superficial layers symbols 4 P10 to8 FPL: 10 1024 PL 25 ond greater, rumera ot symbol indeatee % grovel te Figure 7 Particle size distribution for bedrock 3.3 Bedrock - clas: The Tertiary bedrock consists of clay- stones, siltstones and sandstones. It shouldbe noted that this nomenclature is based on predominant particle size rather than mineral type. Some of the particle size distribution results from the bedrock are sumnaris~ ed in a ternary diagram on figure 7. ‘This indicates that silt sizes pre- dominate, with a maximum clay content of 508 for the most highly plastic samples. The relationship of plasti- city to mineral content is examined further on figure 8 which combines the relationship between carbonate content and plasticity index (PI) with an activity diagram (% clay versus PI). clay content (%) 4 ow 100) plasticity Index 20] | 49} [CARBONATE al 0 2 © 6 w 0 ‘carbonate content 6)» Figure 8 Clay and carbonate content of bedrock The result is a simple phase diagram, which, for a certain value of PI, gives’ the relative quantities of car- bonate mineral and clay sized parti- cle present in the specimen, The dominant carbonate mineral present is dolomite. Although this was not es- tablished by direct analysis, it could be concluded fron the results of specific gravity tests, which tended towards values in excess of 2.8 for low PI (G = 2.85 for dolomite, c = +72 for calcite). the clay mineral is probably a smectite, such as mont- morillonite, which canbe inferred from the high activity values on figure 8. Some of the many liquid and plastic limit results are summarised below on a plasticity chart. The results are close to or just below the A-line, reflecting the high silt content of the samples.Figure ¥ casagrande chart for bedrock Based on the classification testing, the bedrock nomenclature can be de- fined with slightly more precision as follows: [sanstove [srursrone —_ [cLAYSTONE: Pr non Pras plastic |med: cos | >908 75 to 90% <758 clay| < se 5 to 208 >208 Table 1 Classification of bedrock Although these divisions cannot be strictly adhered to in all cases, they form the basis for defining bedrock nomenclature. It should be noted that the bedrocks could equally well be re- ferred to as argillaceous dolomitic limestone or calcisiltite. However the chosen names reflect much better the strength range of rocks encounter- ed. In addition, in the more weather- ed zones where strength has decreased sufficiently, nomenclature can be changed simply to the soil derivatives: sand, silt and clay. 3.4 Bedrock-engineering properties ‘The engineering properties of the bed- rock have principally been measured using the following tests: > ser = pressureneter unconfined compression (field and laboratory) undrained triaxial compression consolidation tests Consolidated undrained triaxial tests were also carried out, but the results are not discussed in this paper. ‘The procedure for the SPT varies slightly from code to code, especially for the case In this case of incomplete penetration the British and American codes differ slightly and the proce- dure adopted for this investigation follows the guidelines given by the Graft European code (Nixon, 1982): = trip hammer and solid 60° cone were used, seating drive: first 150 mm or 50 blows (whichever came first), test drive: 300 mm penetration or 50 blows (whichever came first), N= blows for last 300 mm, or a pro rata value for the case of incomplete penetration. ‘This procedure differs slightly from the draft European Code which recom- mends a maximum test drive of 100 blows for a solid cone. The maximun value of 50 blows was adopted for two practi cal reasons. Firstly, frequent tests of 150 blows on competent rocks cause excessive deterioration of the eguip- ment. Secondly, if an almost complete penetration of 450 mmis achieved with a total of 150 blows, very high forces can be required to extract the SPT penetrometer. ‘The required parameters of modulus and strength were measured directly in various tests as follows: Modulus - by the pressureneter: Ey, in compression tests: Ep in consolidation tests:E', Strength - derived from the pressure- meter limit pressure, from the UCS Tests: Qc, from the triaxial tests: Cy For any particular borehole, the dis- tribution of these parameters was ex- tremely variable as shown on figure 4. This result is not surprising when account is taken of the relatively thin bedding with variation in material types and fabric, combined with varia~ ble degrees of weathering. Ranges of result for the more numerous tests described above are given below. MAJORITY PARAMETER RANGE oF RESULTS N 30-1000 | 80-400 E (ua/m2) 20-1000 | 60-400 2,+2¢, (KW/m2) | 200-8000 | 500-4000 Table 2 Ranges of test resultsResults from undrained triaxial tests are expressed as the deviator stress at failure (2Cy assuming ¢, = 0) to make ‘them comparable with the unconfined compressive strength. Due to the ra~ pidly fluctuating material types and Properties, it was relatively rare to find two or three consecutive samples of sufficiently close basic properties (water content, density, LL and PL) to enable the satisfactory’ determination of fy. However, based on the cases where two or three results could be compared, the Following general state- ment could be made: = claystones: ty = 0 2 SENSESREE AR angstoness4,0 “consolidation tests"were carried out to a maximum stress of 6400 kN/m?, with an unload - reload cycle starting’ at 1600 kN/m?. For the purposes of this paper, the results are expressed as the drain ed modulus, E', based on the reload 3.5. Bedrock correlations of engineering properties As stated in section 2.0, one of the main aims of this investigation was to establish correlations between the re- gular strength index tests and other Properties. A number of these corre- lations are presented in this section. Correlation between borehole tests and adjacent pressuremeter tests was based principally on similarity of depth be- low datum. In situations where test pairs fell close to a layer boundary, they would be rejected unless proper~ ties did not change significantly across the boundary. However some pairs were selected from slightly dif- ferent levels where the borehole des- cription showed that they came from the sane consistent layer. 2p and N The results of correlations between Bp and N are shown on figure 10. Re~ sults are differentiated between bridges 3 (part), 4 and 5. Further insight into the effect of material type on this correlation is given on figure 11, which presents the results from three different layer: ©20. ¥17 and Xi9p (a sandstone). These results are from bridges i, 2 and 3. Average values of the ratio E/N are given below for the above casbs, plus Some additional results. ‘These averages smug) are based on the logarithm of Ep/N. 5, is in MN/m?, and the number of Fesult® used to calculate the average, n, is given: Fic [case 1 [AVERAGE E/6 2o JatzPx so] 0.87 to jpr=0-9 38] 0.94 to |pr > 10 2a] 0.78 21 [egg(ctaystone) [iol 1.03 11 |xy7(siltstone) |24) 1.09 11 Jxzo,(sandstone)} 35} 1.52 Table 3 for bedrock E,/N for be As can be seen, the ratio E,/N tends to be higher for the non plaBtic and low plasticity materials. The results from figure 10 are almost entirely from claystones and siltstones. and Q, correlation between Ep and Qo (or occasionally 2Cy) is Shown on figure 12 for bridges 3 (part), 4 and 5. Re~ sults are distinguished for different ranges of PI. f T com eh ee pee yO tO 800 Kbridge 5 Figure 10 Relationship of E, to for bedrock On figures 13, 14 and 15 the same re- lationship is’ shown for layers C29, X17Figure 15 Relationship of modulus to Q, for layer X95 Average values for the ratio Bp/Q, are summarised below following similar principles to the Ep/N results: Frc |case nm |AV BL/Q a2 fain Pr 92 | 109 2 o-9 zo] ous 12 fpr = 10 - 24 1s} 106 a2 |pr > 25 2a] 107 13 |cg9(claystone) 9] ia 14 |X), (siltstone) aa} us 15 |X, 9, (sandstone) | 16 | 193 Table 4 Ep/Q, for bedrock For comparison with E measured in la~ horatory tests, values of E/Q¢ (or B/2C,,) are as follows: PIG|CASE 1n [av 8/0, 13 |e, (claystone) 2a] 133 14 |x, (siltstone) rs) 143. 15 |%j9,(sandstone) | 30 352 Table 5 £/Q, for bedrock These results show similar trends to the Bp/N values, namely that E,/Q¢ generally increases with decreSsing Plasticity. The results also give interesting comparisons between modu- lus measured in laboratory compression tests and the pressuremeter modulus. Taking strength as a unifying parane- ter, it can be seen that & and Ep are similar for the more plastic materials. However as PI decreases, E becomes significantly greater than Ep. Q¢ and N Direct comparisons of Q, and N are not presented in this paper: However some work done on this correlation indicates that Q¢/N is between 8 and 10 on aver- age (Q- in kN/m?), although the scatter of resilts is very great. This result is substantiated by combining the values of Bp/N and E,/Q, given above, and also agkees well’with published relationships, for example that of Stroud (1974). Ep and Py With the GA pressuremeter probe it is only possible to measure Py in the weaker materials. The relationship be- tween Zp and P, is shown on figure 16 for all’tests #ith a clearly defined P) value. ‘van Cr a a eo ) nm sity etoystenes ot hgh pastcty X sughty clayey sitstenes of Low pasticty 1 nenspastic sity sandstones and sandy siltstones Figure 16 Relationship of E, to P, for bedrockAs can be seen, the value of E,/P, is very consistent, increasing frbm 5 in firm clays to 20 in weak rocks. In addition it is independent of plasti city. BY and Q¢ Values of E' from consolidation tests are compared with Qo from adjacent compression tests on figures 13 and 15. Data pairs have only been selected in cases where index properties, such as water content and plasticity, are similar. statistical data for these correlations is summarised below: FIG|CASE 1 [AV Bt/Q¢ 13 }e29 and Cyg az] 60 15 |X 9p a] a9 Table 6 BY/Q, for bedrock Although there are relatively few data pairs, the results are consistent and indicate that E' is significantly smaller than the undrained moduli, 4.0. ANALYSIS OF DISPLACEMENTS AND BEARING CAPACITY OF PILES 4.1 Horizontal displacements ‘The majority of the Causeway structure consists of two independent girders, each supported on an independent. found- ation. In order to make realistic pre- dictions of the deflection of the structure, it is necessary to establish accurately the deformation behaviour of the surrounding soil and rock layers. Eccentric traffic and earthquake load- ing cause larger overturning moments and horizontal loads than for more common foundation types. ‘The analysis of soil displacements under horizontal loading was based on Menard's theory for horizontally loaded piles, as presented by Baguelin et al (1978). For these calculations the directly measured pressurencter nodulus was used, or moduli derived from the corre- lations given in section 3.0. For pre- liminary calculations, the method des- cribed by Sellmeijer (1978) was applied to a 3.5m wide by 2.75 m "long" pile. For final calculations a model was used very similar to that presented by Vallabhan and Alikhaniou (1982). Figure 17 Spring model for calculating deformations In their procedure, the horizontal deformation behaviour of the soil is based on p-y curves. However for the Causeway piles the Menard formula was used to define a modulus of horizontal subgrade reaction, ky? 3B in yn, 2912) 0.4(4.4170)"+ 0.5aD where Bp denotes pressureneter modulus P > in NN/n2, denotes pile diameter in m, is a rheological constant. In addition, as the model was only in- tended to predict service state de- formations, no yield behaviour of the soil was introduced. ‘The springs acting on the pile base were determined using elastic solutions (Poulos and Davis, 1974). ‘The vertical wall friction springs were based on a shear modulus value determined from the vertical load tests as described in section 5.0, This modulus was found to vary between 50 and 100 MN/m? in the weak bedrock layers. The model was found to give very good agreement with the displacements mea~ sured in the pile loading tests des- cribed in section 5.0. The most re- presentative value of a (essentially the ratio between Ep and the real Young's modulus of Phe soil, Ey) was found to be 0.5 which is very similar to existing published values. In the superficial sand layers it was found that good agreement could be obtained by an Ep profile increasing from 7.0 mN/m? a¥ seabed level to 14.0 MN/m? at the critical depth (given by Menard as 3.5 times the pile diameter). The pressureneter tests had indicated some what lower values, as given by equation (2) and figure 6. To illustrate the relative importanceof the various springs, the following table gives the deformation at the top of the pile when one spring is not used, as a percentage of the deforma- tion’ calculated using all springs. sult. The following table shows some of the calculated and measured vertical displacements, together with tho dis- tribution of load between base and shaft. SPRING GIVEN DEFORMATION ZERO VALUE a) none 100 bottom vertical 200 Botton frictional) 104 bottom moment lu side friction 124 lateral, 230 Table 7 Relative importance of springs ‘The bottom springs are seen to be of minor importance, whereas the side friction springs and especially the lateral springs carry the majority of ‘the load. 4.2 Vertical displacements To predict the settlements due to pure- ly vertical loading, initially the elastic solution method indicated by Donald et al (1980) was used. Later, based on the results from the first vertical loading test, a load transfer method was developed. yo | I Yun nod Y EA celts LU Ks Ky fol a b Figure 18 Models for calculating vertical displacements, a) elastic solution ») load transfer method ‘The base spring and side spring values were assessed from the pile test re- PIER NO ls-108[3-135 |s-96-3 = |measurea a2] aa] ae Z elastic solu E |tion 7.5 | 8.0 | 7.5 & |load transfer * | 3:6 | 4:6 B | load transfer Op=0 sa] 43 | 5.8 @ | measurea 4oe | 208 | see elastic solu- “| tion 34a | 308 | 328 @ | load transter| * | 238 | aie * the load transfer method was used to back analyse this test to establish the spring constants for the other predictions. Table 8 Measured and predicted vertical displacements It should be noted that embedment in the weak rock was larger than normal for pier 3-138 (3D). However for the additional test pile 3-96-3, the em- bedment was only 1.4D. ‘The results in table 8 show that the load transfer method appears to give the better prediction of the proportion of load transferred to the base. 4.3. Bearing capacity To analyse the bearing capacity of the piles it was not possible to use es- tablished solutions for eccentric in- clined loads, for example that of Brinch Hansen (1970). ‘This is due to the relatively large embedded length of the pile (L/D=2) and the location of the rotation point above the bearing surface. In the absence of any known analysis methods in terms of effective stress for this situation, it was decided to calculate bearing Capacity based on an undrained shear strength of 400 kN/m?. This value represented the lower end of the main range of results from uncon~ fined and undrained triaxial compres— sion tests. The assumption of #, = 0 for calculating bearing capacity'is probably very conservative for this Situation due to the nature of the bed- rock material, which generally exhibits ty?0, unless highly plastic, as well as rapid rates of drainage. Based on a computer program availableat the Delft Soil Mechanics Laboratory which calculates rupture figures According to Kotters equations, a stress field model was determined forthe pile, The rough shape of the field was deter- mined by assuming that the rotation centre at yield would be close to that determined by elastic analysis of the service condition. For a certain com bination of applied loads, an optimi. sation procedure was used to determine if a stress field could be found to support these loads. The degrees of freedom used for the optimisation were: - principal stress direction in areas 3, 5 and 8 - the lengths CDE, EF and HI where areas 3, § and 8 are in contact with the pile. Further it was assumed that adhesion could not exceed 0.4C, and would only be taken into account “where the pile moved towards the soil, The solution is a lower bound, so that the actual rupture load would always be greater than that calculated from a certain stress field. Confirmation of this approach could not be obtained because the maximum possible test loads were far smaller than the capacity of the piles. ‘superticial layer bedrock a: 3 275 (93) L 50) Figure 19 Stress field for pile loaded by axial force, horizontal force and overturning moment 5.0 INSTALLATION AND TESTING OF PILES 5.1 Installation method The piles were installed by two self elevating platforms with dimensions 40x35 x 4.2 m. Bach platform was equipped with two Wirth power swivel type drilling ma~ chines with a maximum turning moment of 250 km and a maximum pull down force on the bit surface of 1450 kN. Due to the many types of soil which had to be drilled, the bit body was equipped with roller bits, which were expected to re~ sult in a reasonable rate of progress in sandy as well as clayey soils. ‘The drill hole was stabilised in the superficial layers by the use of 3.8 m diameter temporary casing with a 40 mm wall thickness. This casing was taken down to the top of the weathered Ter- tiary bedrock. After completion of drilling the bit was removed followed by a careful inspection and clean up of the drill hole by diver. Thorough cleaning was necessary to ensure a good base contact and avoid possible brittle behaviour which could arise if most of the pile load was carried by the shaft. The results of the pile tests confirmed that large proportions of load were carried by the pile base. Following the cleaning operation a 10000 KN capacity shear leg lowered the prefabricated pile into the drill hole. 3m concrete plug was cast in the base of the pile and the annular space between the pile and drill hole walls was grouted with a sand-cement- bentonite mixture, As the grout rose through the superficial layers, the casing was extracted simultaneously. ‘This process proved somewhat difficalt to control in practice, and some col- lapses of the superficial layers were recorded. Where any doubt arose con- cerning the fixation of the pile in the soil, a 500 KN horizontal load test was Carried out It was found possible to instal piles with an average deviation of 50 mm from the planned location and a maximum de~ viation of 100 mm. Bach platform in- stalled one pair of piles simultaneous- ly before moving to the next location. This complete cycle had a duration of 60 to 72 hours. 5.2 Pile tests Foundations of this size are not com- monly checked for bearing capacity by means of full scale loading tests. The magnitude of the loads and consequently the costs are prohibitive. However the specification required that lateral de~ flection at the top of the freestanding 1-36Figure 20 Self elevating platform with drilling equipment piles under service loads (traffic, wind and current) be limited to 40’mn. Therefore it was decided to carry out horizontal pile tests with a load of 1000 KN applied at the top of the pile. This load created an overturning moment approximately equal to the service condition. It was also decided to investigate ver- tical behaviour with a test load of 20 MN, being equal to 1.1 times the dead weight plus 2 times the live load from traffic. The maximum vertical service load was 16 MN, and the vertical rup- ture load was éxpected to be in excess of 40 MN. Im total 3 vertical and @ horizontal loading tests wore planned for working piles. At a selected location 50 m from the bridge axis, two test piles were installed for an extended pro- gramme of testing including a 2000 kN horizontal test and investigation of group effects. In addition to these, @ number of 500 KN horizontal tests were carried out at an early stage to check the design assumptions. This type of test was simple to carry out and was also used to check any doubt in pile fixation as mentioned in section 5.1. Horizontal teste For these tests a pair of working piles were pushed apart with a maximum load of 1000 kN. A steel frame was placed against one pile, with a hydraulic jack and electric load cell installed between the frame and the other pile. ‘The horizontal displacement of the piles was measured by a theodolite set up on a fixed survey platform at a distance of 20m. The deformation along the pile axis was measured using an optical in-clinometer system. For this a square steel duct of 80 x 80 mm was cast into the pile after fabrication. A hole had already been formed in the indivi- dual pile segments by the inclusion of 2143 mm diameter steel pipe. During test loading a light source was passed down the duct. At various depths the vertical angle to the light source was measured by theodolite, thereby giving the horizontal location compared to the top. The accuracy of this system was 21 mm for a 20 m distance between theo- dolite and light source. Figure 21 shows the test loading pro- gramme for pile 3-108 while the defor- mations are shown on figure 22. On figure 22 the deformations have been corrected to give zero displacement at a chosen level in the soil. This cor- rection was necessary because the re- sults obtained directly fron the Measurements gave an illogical pattern of deformation for the embedded part of the pile. This was probably caused by very smail movements of the survey plat- form. With reference to section 4.0 it can be stated that predictions of the horizon- tal deformation may be given with an accuracy of 20% using the developed calculation method based on pressure- meter modulus. No measurable group effect was detected for two piles being loaded in the same direction, despite the relatively small distance between the piles. = two steel pontoons (3.3 MN) = water in the pontoons (9.9 MN) The force was measured by transducers, and deflections were monitored by an N3 levelling instrument fixed on a survey platform at a distance of 20m, The load in the concrete section of the pile was measured at three levels by Means of cast-in vibrating wire strain gauges. 65492401234 567 som RBK Bae ‘ ‘ i 2 as 00 105" 205° nos ‘80 ‘aplocement a5} @ 2105" we Ly a0 wo nos f pile base Tia 2505" Figure 22 Horizontal load test = deformations 24 668 10 12 1% 16 18 20 Figure 21 Loading scheme for horizontal pile test Vertical tests Vertical load was applied to the piles byt ~ the bridge girder (6.8 MN) load in' MN + settlement in mm — leading or reloading --— unloading Figure 23 Vertical load test - settlement of top of pileFigure 23 shows the load-displacement diagram for pier 4-108. The distribu- tion of load down the pile shaft is shown on figure 24. oxiole force in MN 29788 135 Tol ie to o | es z| fs |e] 3 Sar} zoo searotton | souges & a h 1 3a lof. i | 3e gals ! meant e ee I 1 8 no] J gouges 8 [tle gouges ¢ ig 2 sy) ile g iJ _ 38 sass] fff 4 B| cx strainmeosurement ~-- extrapolation forceinprefab orca forse total Figure 24 Vertical load test - load ‘transfer Figure 25 shows the relationship be- tween load transferred to the bedrock by the pile shaft and the relative dis- placement of that section of pile for pier 4-108. The shaft friction in the Quaternary sand layers was calculated as a maximum of 17.5 kN/m? for a dis- placement of approximately 2 mm. In the Tertiary bedrock the relation ship is remarkably linear with a maxi- mum average mobilised shear stress of 110 KN/m?, The derived shear modulus from figure 25 is 66 MN/m?, Long term monitoring of the piles has shown that vertical displacements after approximately 6 months are as high as 20'mm (for 10 MN), compared to 5 mm (for 20 MN) during the short duration pile tests. This ratio of long term to short term settlement is quite large compared to that normally expected for stiff clays and weak rocks. However compari- son of drained and undrained modulus in section 3.0 tends to confirm this. The ratio E'/Q¢ was 60 to 89 depending on plasticity. Howover B,/Q, (Ez is the Freal” undrained soil Rodilus} could be taken as 200 to 400 based on Ep corre- lations and including « = 0.5." Because the 5’ values are calculated from the reload curves from the consolidation tests, it is considered that an a type of correction is not necessary. Relationship between displacement of pile and. transferred load Figure 25 Photo 1 Installation of 3.5 m diameter prefabricated pile.Photo 2 Vertical load test set-up showing pontoons on bridge girder 6.0 CONCLUSTONS (2) The SPT and a simple field uncon- a a aw ©) fined compression test (carried out by using an adapted point load testing machine) provided useful strength index tests for the weak Tertiary rocks encountered along the Causeway. The SPT alone was used in the Quaternary layers, In the superficial Quaternary 1a~ yers correlations between N values Pressuremeter modulus and compari- son with the deformation modulus back analysed from pile tests was not successful. It is considered that this was due to inhomogeneity caused by very variable degrees of coment ing. For the Tertiary bedrock, a simple system of nomenclature was deve- loped based on plasticity. A nunber of correlations were esta~ blished between modulus and the strength index tests. These cor- relations are consistent and re- late quite well to bedrock type E measured in laboratory compres~ sion tests was found to be very similar to Ep from pressureneter tests in medfum and high plasticity materials. For non plastic sand- stones and siltstones, © was generally higher than’ Ep. Pile deformation models based on linear soil behaviour were found to be suitable for the types of bedrock present. This was confirm ed by the behaviour observed in pile tests. Calculation methods were developed based on spring models, and computed deflections agreed well with the results of pile tests. ‘The factor a relating Measured pressureneter modulus to real soil modulus was found to be approximately 0.5 both for vertical and horizontal behaviour. (6) tong term settlenentswere measured up to 8 times the values observed in short term pile tests. This result was not expected, but is substantiated by comparison of drained and undrained moduli. (7) An installation method for these large piles was developed using specially designed equipment and techniques. ‘The concept of com- bining pier shaft and foundation as a single element was therefore proved to be both economic and successful. REFERENCES BAQUELIN, F, JEZEQUEL, J. F. AND SHIELDS D.H. The pressureneter and foundation engineering. ‘Trans Tech Publications, Germany, 1978. BRINCH HANSEN, J. A revised and ex- tended formula for bearing capacity, Danish Geotechnical Institute Bulletin 3a, Copenhagen, 1370 DONALD, I.B, CHIU, H.K.AND SLOAN, S.W. Theoretical’ analyses of rock socketed piles. Proceedings International Conference on Structural Foundations ‘on Rock, sydney, Australia, May 1980. KASSLER. P. The structural and geo- morphic evolution of the Persian Gulf. ‘The Persian Gulf. Springer ~ Verlag, pp II-32, NIXON, I.K. Standard penetration test, state-of-the-art report. Proceedings. Second European Conference on Pene= ‘ration Testing, ansterdar, the Netherlands, 1982, pp 3-24 POULOS, H.G.AND DAVIES, E,H. Elastic solutions for soil and’ rock mechanics. Series in Soil Engineering, Wiley, New York, 1974, SELLMEIJER, J.B, Simple numerical methods to’determine displacements and stability of piers (spring con- stant and Brinch Hansen). Proceedings of Symposium on Foundation Aspects of Goustal-seructures, Delft, The Netherlands, 1978. "Volume 1. STROUD, M.A. The standard venetration test in insensitive clays and soft rocks Proceedings First European Conference on Penetration Testing, ‘Stockholm, Sweden, vol 2-2. pp 3672375. VALLABHAN, C.V.G.AND ALIKHANLOU, F. Short rigid piers in clays. Journal of the Geotechnical Engineering Division, ASCE, vol 108, no GTio, October 1982, pp 1255-1272.Eighth Southeast Asian Geotechnical Conterence/11—15 March 1985/Kuale Lumpur CLAY CRUSTS OF THE SUNDA SHELF — A HAZARD TO JACK-UP OPERATIONS LP. CASTLEBERRY I IN. PREBAHARAN ‘Synopsis A study of data obtained from over 452 marine soil borings has shown that crustal zones often occur within clays of the Southeast Asian Sunda Shelf. These crustal zones were produced by weathering during the worldwide lowering of sea level related to Pleistocene glaciation. The crusts often occur at. penetrations less than 20 ft below the present seafloor. They are characterized by oxidation related features and high shear strengths. Their occurrence poses a threat to jack-up rigs that rely on individual footings for support. The clay crusts may support the footing under Lightship load and yet fail under full preload, resulting in a rapid punch-through type failure. This paper _examines__ the distribution, occurrence and physical properties of the clay crusts. Methods of avoiding the risk of Punch-through failures and current Procedures for predicting footing performance are discussed. Notation A Projected footing Area B Footing width D Footing depth H Height of footing above the underlying clay Qy Footing load so Undrained shear strength averaged over a depth equal to one-half of the width of footing below the widest cross section of footing Undrained shear strength of soft clay substratum Undrained shear strength of Strong clay top stratum V embedded volune of footing or ‘spud can ub Sue McClelland International Ltd, Singapore. McClelland International Ltd, Singapore. y' Effective unit weight of soil displaced by foot ing. Introduction Worldwide lowering of the sea level during the last major glacial episode exposed a large landmass in Southeast Asia. This landmass, known as the Sunda Shelf, was approximately 3 million ka? in area, Fig. 1. During the general rise in seaievel over the past 20,000 years, marine clays have been deposited over much of the Shelf. During the depositional history of these clays, brief periods of exposure produced thin “crusts". These crusts are usually found at penetrations less than 20 ft below the present seafloor, well within the range of penetrations encountered by self-elevating drilling rigs rely upon independent spud=can footings for support. In penetrating these crustal layers, footings may have adequate support ‘to elevate the hull of the rig - yet under full preload pressures the footing load may exceed the bearing capacity provided by the crust, resulting in a Plunging or punch-through failure of the leg. Because rig jacking mechanisms cannot compensate for rapid leg movements, punch-through failures may result in severe Structural damage or loss of the rig. The first half of this paper considers the distribution, evolution and properties of clay crusts which occur over the Sunda Shelf. — The second half of the paper considers Jack up rig operations on the Shelf and recommendations for minimizing the hazards associated with the crusts.Bathymetric Level ft ara-Number of borings drills sme sett Fig. 2 Crusts of the Sunda shelf General shelf Soil Conditions This discussion of soil conditions is generally limited to the upper 500 ft of sediments, and to areas of the shelf where oil bearing formations are encountered at depth. qt ‘excludes areas where pre-Pleistocene sediments outcrop at the seafloor, such as portions of the Shelf offshore of Brunei and Sabah. Soil conditions within the areas studied can generally be described by one soil model. This model, as shown in Fig. 2, Consists of ‘an upper Member A and lower Member B. Member A consists of a variable thickness of marine clays, of late Pleistocene to Holocene age, which were deposited during the last’ marine incursion. With “respect to Present overburden, the clays are normally consolidated to underconsolidated, depending on the overall member ' thickness (i.e., thicker members tend to have a lower degree of consolidation). The 1-41 Sunda Shelf and Boring Locations ‘et Fig. 2 ‘Soil Model for the Holocene and Pleistocene Deposits of the Sunda Shelf thickness of this member to be a function of @ sediment source; (2) water depth? and, (3) seafloor gradient. The relationship between member thickness and a sediment source, such asa river delta, is clear. ‘with respect to water depth, deep water areas have is thought (Q) proximity toexperienced longer periods of marine clay deposition, whereas shallow water areas were exposed (and possibly eroded) during much of the samo period. The relation to seafloor gradient is less clear, although mass movement, slope. stability, or submarine erosion in and around drowned river valleys may offer a partial explanation. The crustal layers, as defined earlier, are restricted in occurrence to Member A. An erosional __ unconformity generally separates Member A and B} granular strata are often associated with this break. shallow geophysical data acquired over the Shelf often shows the unconformity as an irregular surface, suggestive of a hilly terrain, with valleys and depressions infilled with sand or Member A clays. The soils of Member B are predominantly clays of alluvial or marine origin. Nannofossil analyses are generally indicative of a Pleistocene age. The break between these and the overlying Member A soils is usually evidenced by an abrupt increase’ in clay shear strength, with | vglues generally exceeding 145 kN/m? (3 ksf). The clays are overconsolidated” with respect. to present overburden, although deeper clays may approach normally consolidated states The Relation of Crust Development to Changes in Sea Level During the past 20,000 years, the sea level has risen approximately 400 ft as a result of the melting of glaciers (Kenny, 1964). The curve developed by Kenny, Fig. 3, shows that two major regressions dccurred during this period. In the authors’ opinion the development of the crusts may be related to these regressions (and/or regressions of a. smaller magnitude). Assuming that Member A clays are wholly of marine origin, and that the crusts are a product of exposure and dessication, then a transgressive - regressive — transgressive sequence would be required to explain the presence of the crust. Tt can be further speculated that the rates of sea level change must have been dramatically higher than normal in order to produce a relatively clean contact with little evidence of sediment reworking (coarser grain size, shell hash, etc.) between the crustal layer and the enveloping marine clay. A proposed model for the evolution of the crusts is illustrated in Fig. 5 é 1-42 290 ssco 0 10 V9 eo H_89_smn_2090 vo is 3 Fig- 3 Sea Level Movement Curve Distribution and General Properti of the Crust The distribution of borings used for this study is shown on Fig. 1. Of 452 borings, 69 were found to contain crusts. | The crusts usually occur 20 ft or less below seafloor elevation, and have an average thickness ‘of 10 ft. The distribution of crusts with respect to sea level and seafloor elevations is illustrated in Fig. 5. The histogram given in Pig. 6 illustrates the relation between water depth and borings (with and without crusts) considered in this study. It is interesting to note that the maximum frequency of crustal occurrence is within the 200 to 250 ft water depth range. Multiple crusts, with large vertical separations often occur in areas where the overall thickness of Member A is significant. The downward transition into a crust is recognized by abrupt changes in color, shear strength, density and variety of inclusions. Colors include light gray, yellow, red and blue, reflecting" high ‘oxidation states; encapsulating clays are generally darker, indicating lower oxidation levels. Dessication features such as slickensides, iron oxide inclusions and fissures are The lower boundary of the crust is less distinct with a more gradual transition, i.e. colors darken, strengths and density decrease, and dessication features diminish: In this study, the lower boundary of the crust was arbitrarily assigned as the point at which the undrained shear strength approached the overall strength trend of underlying clays. Geotechnical Properti The average and range of geotechnical properties for the crusts evaluated in this study are summarized in Table 1 Forcomparison, the properties of the triaxial compression tests. soils immediately above and below the Sensitivities are based on the ratio crust are also summarized. The of undisturbed to remolded shear undrained shear strengths were strength, as determined using the determined primarily from miniature same test procedure. vane and " unconsolidated-undrained Fig. 5 Distribution of Crusts with Respect to Sea Level and Seafloor Elevations4 Soil Borings z Total number of soil borings = 452. The shaded area indicates the number of soil borings in which a clay crust is encountered Total number of soit borings with clay crust = 63. Water Depth Fig. 6 Respect to Water Depth Histogram Showing Distribution of Borings and Crust with The Atterberg limits and Jack-up footing bearing capacity sensitivity showed little variation evaluation. between the 3 layers. The trends of Atterberg limit data, as plotted on Additional tests, _ including the plasticity charts’ on Pig. 7, also one-dimensional consolidation and show little variation, ' thus indicating @ common source and composition. As expected, the shear strength, “liquidity index, and density differ markedly in response to changes in water content. The contrast in shear strength should be noted as this is the single-most important parameter with respect to gradation, were performed on samples from three borings. The results of the consolidation tests were used to compute the overconsolidation ratio (Ock) for clays within the crust and imnediately below the crust. These values, given in Table 1, show a higher ‘level of precompression within the crust than below, thus indicatingthat dessication, not overburden, was responsible for crustal formation. The results of gradation tests are summarized as grain size curves in Pig. 8. The similarity of curves for each’ of the layers further indicates that all three were originally deposited as one unit. Jack-Up Rig Operatio: Mobile jack-up rigs are commonly used over the Sunda Shelf in water depths of up to 215 ft. As of October, 1984, approximately 17 rigs were active in the area. Foundation preloading has been widely used asa method of proof testing for various types of foundations and has been adopted as standard operating procedure for most footing type jack-up units. The purpose of preloading a jack-up foundation is to force additional penetration of the footing to a level where the total bearing capacity exceeds, by an acceptable margin of safety, the _ highest anticipated load associated with a selected design storm condition. i Pig. 7 ‘A mobile jack-up rig faces a much greater accident exposure than most engineering structures. About one-third of mobile rig accidents are caused by foundation problems. The accident records show that more than one percent of the total rig fleet annually experiences a leg accident (McClelland et al, 1982). Six of the most common types of foundation malfunctions are associated with some inadequacy in soil foundation interaction. Those are: (1) inadequate leg length, (2) punch-through during preloading, (3) excessive storm loading, | (4) foundation instability resulting from seafloor scouring around the footing, (5) seafloor instability, and (6) inability to extract legs. Some of these are more serious than others from the standpoint of personnel safety and serious property loss. Other than hazards associated with drilling, operators are generally most concerned with footing Punch-through failure. There are a variety of geologic conditions that can produce Punch-through failures. Some of, these are: (1) dessicated clay crust Plasticity Chartoverlying a weaker clay, (2) clay layer overconsolidated by ice loading underlain by weaker clays, (3) cemented carbonated layers overlying weak calcareous silt, and (4) thin beach or strand plain sands overlying weak clays. Of these, dessicated clay crusts are the ‘most common hazard on the Sunda shelf. Jack-Up Footing Penetration Analyses The objective of jack-up rig footing analyses is to develop a curve of footing penetration versus footing load as shown in Fig. 9. This curve is used to predict the Fig. 8 ‘ecru footing penetration and to evaluate the existence of a potential punch-through problem in the foundation soil. The accuracy of predicting footing penetrations depends upon how well the bearing capacity equations and assumptions model the actual _ conditions. McClelland et al (1982) described in detail jack-up rig operations and the analytical procedures used. to evaluate footing penetration under a variety of soil conditions. The following discussion will be limited to footing penetration in clay and layered clay profiles. gersegse 3tf Grain-Size Curves , is eg ae : l, . : = NES 3 ; + > ah coma I i Le ; Fr ‘$ ‘oncom Re ee of 2 oF ne e+ : 7 i ., Fig. 9 Jack-Up Rig Footing 1-46 Influence of Clay Crust on Bearing Capacity for aFootings Supported Uniform Clays. Several procedures are available for computing the bearing capacity of a foundation in cohesive soils, provided the shear strengths are fairly constant. The equation proposed by Skempton (1951) is frequently used. The equation for a circular footing is: oy 6s, 1 + 0.2 D/A + yV Footings Supported Layered Clays. A. nunber ‘analytics Procedures are available to compute the bearing capacity of a footing resting on layered clays. One simplified procedure involves the conventional projected area method. In this method an equivalent footing, with effective dimensions that are increased at a rate of 3-vertical to A-horizontal (3 on 1) through the Strong layer, is placed at the top of the weaker ‘layer and the bearing capacity is computed for the equivalent footing. Another procedure for computing the bearing capacity for a footing resting on a strong clay overlying a weak clay has been outlined by Brown and Meyerhof (1969). Their equation for circular footings is: a = AB Sy He ey) EY In practice, the bearing capacity in layered soils is computed using the projected area method and the Brown and Meyerhof method. The lower value of bearing capacity computed fron the above methods is used when determining punch-through potential. A typical punch-through problem associated with a clay crust overlying a firm clay is shown in Fig. 9. The curve was computed using Skempton's equation in the clays ‘above and below the crusty and using Brown and Meyerhof’s equation and the projected area method. within the crust. Avoiding Punch-Through Hazards Conducting an independent site soil survey in advance of the rig move is the most effective means of preventing jack-up ‘foundation failures. A preliminary soil survey provides the operator with footing penetration estimates and Bunch-through evaluations in advance of the rig move. With this Information the operator can insure that the rig has adequate leg length for the location and take appropriate 1-47 precautions for any hazards which may exist. Currently there are _ several levels of thinking regarding the need for preliminary surveys. Many operators are self insured and do not require rig site surveys until a problem occurs. Others will conduct a survey in advance of the rig move if the area is undeveloped or existing information indicates a hazard exists. A limited number of operators and. companies require rig site evaluations in advance of all rig moves, largely to satisfy insurance underwriter requirements. There survey: are 3 basic types of 1) Geophysical surveys - shallow seismic data is used to provide direct evidence of subsurface conditions, shallow gas, etc. over the proposed rig site. | These are usually conducted in advance of the rig move. This information cannot be used to predict footing penetration or punch-through- 2) Geotechnical Surveys ~ Soil boring data is used to obtain the engineering properties of the soil. This data provides footing bearing capacity information and Punch-through potential at _each boring location. These surveys can be performed in advance of the rig move or from the rig prior to preloading. 3) Integrated Studies - Combined geophysical/geoechnical studies Provide the same information as 1) and 2), with the additional capability of projecting soil information gained from a single boring over a larger area. Conclusions Major fluctuations in sea level have resulted in the formation of clay crusts in shallow marine soils of the Sunda Shelf. The crusts commonly occur within the range of penetrations encountered by jack up footings and have the ‘highest frequency of occurrence in water depths ranging from 200 to 250 ft. The crusts represent a significant hazard to independent footing jack-up rigs in the form of punch-through foundation failures. | The hazards related to the crusts can be avoided, or planned for, through preliminary site surveys involving acquisition of soils data,REFERENCES: Periodical: Brown, J.D. and Meyerhof, G.G., Experimental Study’ of Bearing Capacity in Layered Clays, 7th Tt. Conf. on Soil Mech. and Found. Eng., Mexico City, 2:, 1969, pp. 45-51. Kenny, T.C. Sea Level Movements _and_the Geological Histories of thé Post-Claclal Marine Soils at Boston, Nicolet, Ottawa and Oslo- Geotechnique, 14:3, 1964, pp. 203-230. McClelland, B., Young, A.G., and Remmes, B.D. “avoiding ‘Jack-Up_Rig Foundation Failures,’ “Yournal of Southeast AeTan— Geoeochnical Society, Vol. 13, No. 2, December 1982, pp» 1si-iss, Skempton, A.W. Bearing Capacity of Clays, Building Research Congress; Londons Dive Ty 1951, pp- 180-189,Eighth Southeast Asian Geotechnical Conference/11—15 March 1986/Kuale Lumpur MUDMAT DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS OF OFFSHORE JACKET STRUCTURES ON SOFT CLAY PJ. BOON Brown & Root Far East Engineer Pe, Ltd, Singapore, CG. TAN Brown & Root Far East Engineors Pe, Ltd, Singopore C.K. TAN td, Singapore. SYNOPSIS B= Width of mucnat This paper describes the design considerations for the design of mudaat on soft clay comonly Bouyancy of the jacket with legs flooded encountered in the South East Asian waters. be = Base inclination factor After Jacket upending and flooding of the C= Undrained shear strength of soft clay Jacket legs and before the conmencenent of the pile driving, the Jacket structure will = Footing depth factor Fequire sone form of support for it to sit on the seafloor temporarily. Such supports are provided by the presence of mudnats Tocated at the bottow bracing level of the jacket. Factor of Safety Ground surface inclination factor Mudnats and their associated support bracings H = The projection of the load resultant on are to be designed to support the total net ‘the plan of the mudaat weight of the jacket plus any pre-installed items and also the weights of any piles which ic = Load inclination factor of micmat. ‘are hung off the jacket legs. The mudnat, design shall also take into consideration the Ke = Correction factor which accounts for on-botton stability of the jacket against factors related to. load inclination, overturning and sliding due to environmental foundation shape, enbedment depth, base Toads. inclination and ground surface inclination A worked example of a typical mudmat design of 24 pile jacket is provided in the appendix of L_ = Length of mudmat. this paper. m =A dimensionless function of B/L and & In this worked example, the required sizes of the mudnats are first’ determined for static condition by providing a factor of safety of 2.0 against bearing failure. The next. step in Dimensfonless constants the approach is to determine the design wave n= Number of mudnats height which will give a factor of safety of 1.5" against bearing failure for the mudnat Nc =A dimensionless constant, 5.14 for § = provided. The final check is performed on. the 0 on-botton stability of the mudnat agzinst overturning and sliding due to environmental Bearing capacity factor Toads. Overturning Moment about the centroid Of the Jacket Base NOTATIONS: P = Total net weight of pile section(s) Aeft = Effective area of mudnat prior to hung off the jacket Teg ‘tipping qu = Ultimate soi? bearing pressure Anat © Minimum area of each mudmat required, . assuming a1] mudnats are equal in size S = Section Modulus of mudrat configuration Aproy = Total area of mudnat provided Sc = Shape factor of mudnat 1-49v e inclination angle (radians) y= Mefght of Jacket in air P= Ground inclination angle (radians) © = Angle between the long axis of the footing and H 8 = Undrained frictional angle of soft clay TNTRODUCTION Offshore jacket structures are permanently secured onto the seabed by tubular steel piles inserted through the Jacket legs. During the installation stage, ° the jacket must be supported by the seabed sofls for a short period of time between the setting of the Jacket in position and the driving of piles into the seabed, Such temporary support is provided by the presence of mudnats. The udnats which are located at the bottom bracing Tevel of the jacket and shall be designed to support not only the net weight of the Jacket and piles but also loads inposed by environmental conditions. This paper describes the three conditions namely static Toads, static plus environmental loads and on-botton stability which should be considered for a jacket mudnat design. Inadequate on-botton stability design consideration for ‘the midnat design may cause the jacket to sink unevenly into the seabed and cause damage to the Jacket, This might incur high repair costs and result fn a delay in project completion schedule, GEOTECHNICAL INFORMATION The sof? data necessary for the design of rudeats is furnished by the Geotechnical Consultant contracted. by” the O11 Production Company. DESTON FoRMLAE Gu = Cx Ne x Ke neglecting everbiraen Em 1) where Ke + teSerdesbeede Eqn (2) Inclination Factor fig = 1 a Eqn (3) : ea mate ne) = N,Cos?e + Hysin Eqn (4) where a+k ~ End my Eqn (5) reg Shape Factor S. = 1+ (B)eq8) (Rectangular) Eqn (6) 5 5 (circular) Eqn (7) Ng = 1.0 for p= 0 Depth Factor 4° ing)? 2 4, = 1 + 2tand(1 - sind)? For B= 0, dq = 1, hence de = 1 Base _Inclination Factor av Mi 5 forg=0 For v= 0, be = 7 Ground Surface Inclination Factor 2p MoH For B= 0, a =1 % * Eqn (2) now reduces to Ke * i¢.Se ASSUMPTIONS In this paper, supports provided by the leg extensions penetrating into the seabed are neglected. It has further been assumed that the jacket sits ona flat seabed. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS Condition 1 = Static Loads ‘The mudnat and their associated supports shall be able to support the following combined oadings: Net jacket weight in water after jacket Uupending and flooding of jacket legs. This includes any appurtenances and pre-installed ftens such as curved conductors. Net weight of piles. This includes initial and appropriate add-ons. The number of piles to be considered’ depend fon the type of jacket: Tripod Jacket ~ recomended 3 Hos (one at each Te = recomended 2 Nos (at GiagonaTly opposite Tegs) = reconmended 4 Nos (at ‘corner 1698) = recommended 4 Nos (at intertor Tegs) 4-Leg Jacket 6-1eg Jacket B-leg Jacket With the above vertical Toadings, the sof? bearing pressure exerted by the mudnat shall have a minimun factor of safety of 2.0 to the ultimate bearing capacity of soft clay.Mudnat Sizing And Geonetry The required area of mudnat is given by: Wj_- Bj) + P Eqn (8) quits Ultimate bearing capacity of soft clay is determined using Eqn (1), Qu = 0X Ne x Ke neglecting overburden An initial value of gy obtained by using the shape factor of a circular footing is used to estimate the required area of mudnat. Upon finalising the shape of the footing the correct value of qy can be recomputed. Mudnats are commonly square, rectangular or triangular in shape. The basic consideration in deciding the shape and location of the mudnat is to efficiently utilise the braces at mudline to carry the vertical weight onto the mudnat, This can be achieved by keeping the mudnat as close as possible to the jacket legs hence reducing the bending of the braces to a ‘wininum, For — on-botton stability consideration, the mudnat should be located along the perineter of the base of the jacket to prevent tipping or toppling by wave forces. Condition 2 - Static plus Environmental Loads This condition takes into consideration the environmental loads imposed on the jacket in addition to the static loads during the installation before the jacket is secured onto the sea-bed, The soil bearing pressure exerted by the conbined loads shall have a minimum factor of safety of 1.5 against soil bearing failure, The soil bearing pressure is given by:- " +P + OM Em (9) Sap © Bro 5 The design wave height for a particular size of mudnat is one which causes the resultant eccentricity of the effective mudnat area, Inclination factor ic is considered to include the effect of shear force on the mudnat, An initial value of inclination factor ic has to be assumed in order to calculate Gu and is corresponding restoring moment and shear force. By substituting the shear force into Eqn (3) an updated value of ig can be computed and then compared with the initial value assumed, The iterative process is repeated until convergence is obtained, The installation wave height of the jacket for on-bottom stability is the maximum wave height, ax. in combination with the operational current which results in a mudline overturning moment and shear of 67 percent (equivalent. to a factor of safety of 1.5) of the restoring moment and shear. This wave height can then be converted into the on-botton stability sea-state by assuming that the maximum wave height, Hygx, is 1.8 times the significant wave height, Hsig. Various wave attack angles with varying wave heights shall be analysed andthe corresponding installation sea-state determined for each angle of attack. The smallest of these sea-states is the allowable installation wave height of the jacket for on-botton stability. This is called the on-bottom stability sea-state, The procedure for determining the on-bottom stability wave height is illustrated in the worked exanple given in the appendix. STRUCTURAL DESIGN OF MUDMAT AND SUPPORT BRACES ‘Mudsat and support braces need to be designed against ultinate soil bearing pressure (qy) acting on the mudnat, so that theoretically the soil should fail first. Knee braces are often provided to reduce the bending stresses of the bottom bracings supporting the tudnats. Simple hand analysis on the stressesextend the mudnat outside the perineter of the Jacket base to increase the stability of the Jacket. The extensions should be sized such that it will not pose any problems during the fabrication and load-out stages. The next alternative is to impose restrictions on the under of piles allowed to be hung off the Jacket. The On-Bottom Stability Kave height is only a measure of the jacket's stability during this phase of installation and should not be interpreted as the safe wave height for the Jacket installation. In cases where the imaxinum design wave height is stil] too small to be feasible for installation, the On-8otton Stability Wave hef ght can be used as a measure Of confidence for the jacket installation. A hhosts of other precautionary measures such as barge positioning, jacket tie backs etc. shall be adopted if the installation of the jacket is governed by the On-Bottom Stability height. REFERENCES AMERICAN PETROLEUM INSTITUTE. Recommended Practice for Planning, Designing, and Constructing Fined —UrFshore- Matfores API-RP-24, ThiFteen Edition, STOCKARD LM, Structural Design Considerations for temporary seafloor support of Jacket structures Offshore Technological Conference, May 1981 (Paper No. 3972). HELERISCH S.C, YOUNG A.G, EHLERS C.J. Temporary Seafloor Support of Jacket Structure Offshore Technological Conference. May 1980 (Paper No. 3750). APPENDIX Example of a Mudmat Design for a 4-Pile Jacket eTiO Teer oP water OTS Ee Sache Data Jacket Weight (in afr) 800 K Buoyancy of Jacket with all Legs Flooded 4j = 1100 K Total Kei ght of 2 diagonal piles with 2 add-ons each P= 652K Undrained Shear Strength of soft clay (Data provided by Geotechnical Consultant) C= 0.100 KSF Cateulation Condition 1 ~ Static Loads au = eke where Ke * fee Se ic = 1.0 (without shear Toad) 4 See 1+ Eh plrectanqutar smucnat) 4 Se = 1+ p= (square mana) E 1 zat (for B= 0, a Na = 5.14) Therefore = 1.1946 Qu = 0.10 x 5.14 x 1.1946 KSF = 0.614 KSF Using a safety factor, fs = 2 Area of each muamat. required (4 os. total eens a heap ee at “h wt fe 1, (1800 - 1100) + 652 Te Nol sq. FT. For each mudnat, provide square mudnat of dimensions 34 Ft x 34 FT. Area of each mudnat provided = 34 x 34 SQ. FT. Total Area of mudnat provided, 4x34x34 SQ. FT. Aprov = Condition 2 - Static plus Environmental Loads Wave attack at 90° Section Vodulus of Mudnat 3 6 ARICA a sues a. chy005 Ss = 160292 FT? Fron an (9) and using a safety factor of 1.5, ty equating ST pressure Ong * he x ay ay | My 8) +P) om Sapp = 75 * ws For q, use initial (Without shear Load) 0.614 = (1800 = 1100) + 652 + om insite atx pee value of 0.614 KSF 0.409 = 0.2923 + OTH yous OM = 19706.0 K-FT 1-82Table 1 - ave OTM, Shear Versus Kave Hefght Wave overturning Mave Ht Period Moment at Shear at (Ft) _{Sec) Mudline (K-ft) Mudline (Kk) 6 12500 0 a 20000, 0 10 25000, 108 12 29500, 137 4 34080 161 16 38090 186 8 43790, 213 20 50080, 27 FROM FIG 1, OTM OF 18706.0 K-FT AND 95 K WAVE SHEAR is CAUSED BY 8,2 FT WAVE. Shear Force acting on mudnat with size 3A ftx 34 TE -% k= & = 23.75% Calculate inclination factor ic with Hs 23.75 K ig t latte eo u tte 8) pee eee 4 15 vee Vet % 2+hw 241 Lh 5 vel Vet 8 = 9 W =H Cos 0+, Sino 21S tg 2 = gph = 0,94 k= 0.98% (+L) 5.14 = Lee Revised Qu = Ol x 5.14 x 1.122 0.576 KSF Using Eqn (9) 0.576 om “PE = 0.2923 + ye025e OM = 14698 K-FT Fron Fig (2), OTM OF 14698 K-FT AND 75 K SHEAR 1S CAUSED BY '6.2 FT WAVE. Recheck i for 75 K Shear B. a = Bs ie.75 5 1,5 x 18.75 io lee = 0.95 close to initial value of 0.98 Design Wave height for 4 nos. of 34° x 34" nudnat for this jacket for 90° wave attack is 6.2 FT, Condition 3 - On-botton StabiTity Wave attack at 90° The inclination factor, ic, has to be estimated at this stage and verified later. For this example, the Authors have assumed a 20% reduction in ic due to the presence of ‘the horizontal wave shear force. Therefore Qu = 9,100 55.14 0.8 5 1.1986 KS 2 OU hee pete = (1800 = 100) + 682 o7ey so er (shaded area) @— F.2- BASE OF _sacker Dh 2x Wx WEEK KD > = MBs eset Eccentricity 279h xe + 2x3bx34x45.5 ~ 3416.5481.75= 38179, e = SB = 35.6 FT. Restoring Moment Mr = Net Jacket Weight plus Piles x € = 1352 x 35.6 = 48131 K-FT Mave loads on jacket from computer analysis 1s tabulated in Table 1. Fig. 1 shows graphs of wave overturning moment versus wave height and wave shear versus wave height. From Fig 1, a wave height of approximately 19 ft will produce an OTM of 48131 K-Ft (Mr) and an associated shear of 220 Kips. ‘Shear Force acting on nudmat with size 34 ft x 36 ft approximted as = ceo x BE = 92.3 K Calculate inclination factor 4, with H = 92.3 K From Eqn (3) Yn 8x 92.3 XB KOTO x 0.77 close to initial value of 0.8 assuned. (Otherwise, use new value of ic to recompute Qu» Aeff, © and Mr until “a reasonable Convergence between final and initial valves of ic is obtained) On-bottom Stability. 0.67 Mr = 32248 K-Ft Ultimate Shear capacity of Mudmat = C._Aeff = 0.100 x 2754 = 275.4 K 0.67 x Uitimate Shear Capacity 0.67 x 275.4 = 185 K From Fig. 1 Wave hetght corresponding to OTH 32248 KFT 1s 13.2 ft Wave height corresponding to Shear = 185 K is 16 ft Therefore On-botton Stability Mave Height (90° attack) is 13.2 ft On-bottom Stability Seastate (Hsig) = 13.2 = 7.3 ft 1G, 3 STATIC EQUILIBRIUM OF JACKET JUST BEFORE TIPPINGEighth Southeast Asian Geotechnical Conference/11—15 March 1985/Kuala Lumpur FOUNDATION DESIGN AND ANALYSIS ASPECTS OF PILED OFFSHORE STRUCTURES IN SOFT SOILS IN SARAWAK AND SABAH WATERS |, Mir, Malays PB. MADDEN ss¥nopsts Reanalysis of existing structures designed to different criteria some 10 to 15 years ago can identify shortfalls in design capacity of their foundations which cannot easily be upgraded. In order co have confidence in the validity of the structural results, the analysis method ané the mathematical odel of the foundation mist be accurate and. without unnecessary conservatisn. Axial and lateral response of _ piled foundacfons have been analysed for 34 platfores differing in terms of platform usage and topside loads = water depth = environmental loads = platform geometry and pile batter = grouted/non-grovted piles pile diameter and wall thickness pry data from different borings. In all cases the soil-structure interaction was accurately modelled by taking into Recount the coupling of the non-linear Solution of the pile head response with the Linear elastic solution of the structure by an iterative procedure. The solution for the pile head’ response itself requires an iterative search of the pile deflected shape with depth co arrive at a non Linear solution. ‘The paper discusses the difficulties vith convergence of such iterative solutions for the typical range of parameters listed above as relevant to Sabah and Sarevak waters. The mechanisas of the pile head behaviour are reviewed with consideration of the lateral stiffness as being the principle dictator of convergence. Various influences fon lateral stiffness are discussed as being primary or secondary. The nonent response of the pile is revieved. Alternative methods to improve or enforce Sarawak Shell Berhad, Mii, Malaysia, 55 ‘the convergence to a solution of the pile foundation/structure analysis are also commented on. Finally the Amportance of accurate pry data for the overall loading capacity of the structure i¢ discussed. NOTATION Load Case References Topside Loads. Environnental Base Shear. Vertical reaction. Pile axial load at pile head. Pile shear force normal to pile at pile head, R ~ Regultant force vector. o = Angle to Resultant, a = Pile deflection normal to pile at pile head. py = Lateral load - deflection characteristics of pile/soil. D = Depth from pile head to maximm ronent below sudline. M = Bending Moment. Mp = Pile moment at plan brace level nearest audLine. Na = Maxis pile moment below sudline. « = Batter angle of pile. @ = Pile head rotation. uywyw > Pile deflections e Youngs modulus for steel. 1 = Second moment of area of pile, L = Distance between support points. 5 = Seour depth. ¥ ‘A funetson. k Stiffness Matrix. L = Load Matrix. Unite = The unite used throughout this paper are those commonly in use in offshore design practice f.e. Kips (1000 1b = force), feet and inches. INTRODUCTION Saravak Shell Berhad (S8B) and Sabeh ShellPetroleum Company (SSPC), as independent contractors to the Malaysian National O11 Company Petrolia Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) develop and operate ofl and gas producing Facilities off the coast of Sarawak and Sebah in the South China Sea. A typical ofl field development for SSB/SSPC consists of a four, six or eight-pile drilling platform which is bridge-connected to four-pile production station vhich is in turn connected toa remote three-pile vent platform by submarine ventlines. More than 100 platforms have been installed in water depths ranging up to 300 feet. As part of SSB/SSPC's engineering and tuaintenance policy, 34 structures dated pre 1976 (oldest 1966) vere subjected to a full structural and foundation reanalysis to identity their existing capacity and Limiting environsental conditions. A parallel activity took place to determine by a hindcast study, the extreme 100 year storm eavironaental conditions. The platform reanalysis criteria were selected fo bracket this event. for future interpolation, 1,0. BASIS OF ANALYSIS 11 Platform Range ‘The 34 platforas Listed in Table 1 exbrace 4 different types of structural frame (number of legs), 5 different topside functions with 7 different typical topside loads. Water depth ranged from 34 ft to 255 fe and covered 9 fields. The platfora piles vere typically battered, ungrouted and driven through the lege with welded shim connections at the top of the jacket. One platform uellised grouted skirt piles and all Drilling and Wellhead platforns had conductors. Pile tubulars ranged from 24" 0.D. x 0.5" wall thickness up to 42" 0.D. x 1.5" wall thickness. 1.2 Foundation Properties The 11 boreholes from which p-y data were derived were prepared by to different Consultants. The distance to shoreline varied from 4.8 miles to 20.5 niles, A typical description of properties in the top 40 ft, of oil is presented in Fig. 1. The low values of undrsined shear strength in the top 40 ft of soft clay (typically less than 1.2 kips/ft? or 0.06 N/m?) are paranount in dictating the pile. lateral. response. Only one boring (SHDP-B) had material 13 2.0 2a which shoved markedly stiffer lateral response and this vas due to the presence of sand layers. The p-y data used in the analysis was updated by the Consultants in accordance” vith the latest’ APT recomendations (ref. 1) to recognise the deterioration of lateral bearing capacity for eyclic loads versus static leads. (Ref. Fig. 3) Where there vas a difficulty in correlating soil properties at a platform to that "of the nearest borehole, a shallow seiemic survey was performed to interpret the top strata Variation between platform and borehole, Load Conditions Each structure and foundation vs analysed for three stora wave heights With colinear current from each” of three directions i.e 9 conditions per platform. Figure 2 presente examples of the environmental criteria applied to three structures from different f1elds. ‘The range of environmental loads Ay B and C were selected to provide a basis for future interpolation of a limiting Joad case for the structure and/or Foundation. Topside loads were calculated for the actual deck and equipment configuration with appropriate wind speeds. METHOD OF ANALYSIS Somputer Model A full 3 dimensional computer model was prepared by Consultants for each of the 34 platforms. All nenber stiffness properties ‘vere included with appropriate inforsetion for wave and deadload generation. A computer model simulation is sho in. Fig. 4. Vogrouted piles were modelled with a full moment connection at the top of the jacket leg. Belov this level to tudline the jacket legs and piles were connected by stub mesbers at each plan brace level. Rotational releases were uused to prevent woment transfer. Conductors were similarly "propped" back at the Jacket plan brace levels Below sudline, p-y curves were inp along with the pile stiffne properties, plus a factored value of ultimate ‘skin friction for use in axial load transfer from pile to sot,‘TABLE 1 a Ta ie te | ae “mnerion ver | whe wasn [une [eemeno | omape | mane | MUS | cMmxanes | vores wane om |» [= | = | m | w | 1 | wm lonave|a ve wore | ist wer . una | ou ams a3 ann | or wis aro [> os azm | imo wn asom |= 23 }a Jame |oma | ave aso |= 93 fame | wo ure peta faa nro | wt | ms arom |= 33 re | at ane pris faa mar] 193! a aetar | 33 wwe] ins! ” maior |= 33 seer] ima | ame weur | 233 ewer | une = peur] = 33 om ws anor |= 3s ]o sere | uns | were meiar |= 33 seve | mms | ws meiar 333 nna | 203 ne wevar [oss enue son wera writs o 3 wees | mow | mea asus]. 2o wees | me | mee srur]aaa; | sees | ar mu meus | 33 1 a a sat on wm fare | aoa] o 1 Wen (0) SRA ton lin hh 5 lt ln St 2a len (een 3 BY Ja a eg) ei main (0 sean ra ire 6 dtr te og te (6 morse eli ih Sat fig ers ee = 6.ZL CAEL tlle To BEDP-A LOG OF BORING AND TesT RESULTS 40-FT PENETRATION ULL lle z L0G OF BORING AND TEST RESULTS BNDP-B To 40-FT PENETRATION FIG.1 EXAMPLES OF TYPICAL SOIL PROPERTIES FROM MUDLII INE TO-40 FT.PLATFORM LOAD CONDITION A B c SMR-A Wave Height x Period | 32.8 x 12.25 | 29.6" x 10.88 | 14.1"x 7.5s W.D 37.7 ft | Surface Current 1,58 knots 1.17 knots 0.79 knots Wind Speed 82 mph 70 mph 50.1 mph Base Shear 509 kips 410 Kips 112 Kips. TKIT-C Wave Height x Period | 45.5' x 12,26 | 36.4" x 10.88 | 19.0" x 8.98 W.D 162.1 fe] Surface Current 3.5 knots 2.7 knots 2.0 knots Wind Speed 82 mph 70 mph 42.2 mph Base Shear 1142 kips 675 kips 232 kips BxP-B Wave Height x Period | 47.5' x 12.28 | 38.0" x 10.88 | 19,0" x 9.95 W.D 250.3 ft| Surface Current 4.2 knots 3.3 knots. 2.8 knots Wind Speed 82 mph 70 mph 42.2 mph Base Shear 1226 kips 756 kips 296 kips FiG.2 EXAMPLES OF ENVIRONMENTAL CRITERIA AND BASE SHEAR. ULTIMATE pu cycLic PEAK P 7 wooire curve FOR CONVERGENCE p RESIDUAL P (SOIL RESISTANCE PER UNIT LENGTH OF PILE) DEFLECTION OF \ LIMITING y FOR PEAK y INCREASES eee come WITH PILE DIAMETER FIG.3 SCHEMATIC p-y CURVEPILE/Les Sie wt he FIXED CONNECTION Pie tues. RISER MENBER | (WaVELOAD ONLYT hi amor fo PILE: i sons 2 Ad 4 ‘CONDUCTORS THREE WAVE DIRECTIONS: FIG.4 FBJT-B (Water Depth 206 ft.) COMPUTER MODEL LINEAR ELASTIC SOLUTION OF STRUCTURE, ‘BOUNDARY NONLINEAR SOLUTION OF PILE AND SOIL,2.2 Computer software The first estimate of the foundation stiffness Kp ts made using reactions The MARCS system of structural software developed b} stirt springs supporting a3 written by Synercom Technology Inc. the superstructure and displacements vas used throughout the analysis, generated by these reactions in the non Linear PILEAN solution. A pre-processor, SEALOAD, was used to automatically” generate structure By solution of the new total stiffness deadloads and wave + current Loading at matrix Ky new displacements and the wave crest position of maxiaum reactions ' are established at the platform base shear or overturning interface for comparison with the osent. PILEAN displacements for the new reactions. Fig. 5 outlines the coupled ‘The Structural Analyeie progranme STRAN Interaction Method. (ef. 2) was used for the Linear elastic solution above midline and the If the comparison is outeide acceptable boundary condition reactions were then Limits then K, ie refined and a new solved for the nonlinear soil/pile stiffness ndtrix K formed and behaviour below eudline using PILEAN as subsequently solved and displacements @ subroutine automatically coupled in established. Iteration through this the solution. cycle is repeated automatically until convergence of digplacements is This "Coupled Interaction (ref. 3) achieved or a cet number of cycles have process relies on establishing a been performed. reduced total stiffness matrix K of the ‘superstructure and foundation which ‘The PILEAN solution of the pile itself, produces consistent displacenents for supported laterally by nonlinear p-y the elastic solution and the non Linear data, is achieved by a finite elenent foundation solution at. the approach. pile/structure interface joints. REDUCED STRUCTURE STIFFNESS + [Kg] FOUNDATION STIFFNESS + Uke) STRUCTURE SOLUTION eY STRAIN TOTAL STIFFNESS + (1 # (kg)4 (Ke) a Lot SOLVE + (KI[A] = [L] FOR @s,45,P,0,M INTERFACE 1 1 1 ET eee 0. 0 MEA Fon as: BF So1ve FOR Gr, By AND COMPARE TO 05,05 at, 232 caLcULATE: Kel Pry ATA FIG.5 COUPLED INTERACTION METHOD 1-61The P.A effect of pile axtel load Exemination of these graphs shows eccentricity is included with due certain foundations to be stiffer than Eecognition of the axial load reduction others by factors of 5 or more for the due to akin friction. sane pile shear force, diameter and Topside load configuration. The PILEAN procedure for solving the non-linear problem involves a sequence of Linearized solutions using Mnearized tangential stiffness constants for the actual non-linear supports. The nev displacenents are then used to derive new linearized tangential stiffness constants from the actual non-linear support curves. The calculation of the pile response is repeated until the displacements agree within a specified tolerance to the corresponding Values from the preceding iteration. 3.0. SUMMARY OF RESULTS ue wD entero (we IGG LATERAL STIFFNESS AT PILE HEAD (TKJT-C) 3-1 Convergence Of the 306 load combinations analysed (9 each for 34 platforns), 82 fatled to produce @ solution as shovn in Table 1. The "Convergence" columns in Table 1 quote the number of successful load Solutions per environmental case Ay B or C. Of these 62 failures, 61 were under environmental loads A and 20 ‘under environmental loads B. Only one solution failed to converge under environmental loads C. This clearly indicates a dependence of convergence on magnitude of environmental loads. Failure to converge vas typically due to the coupling iterations between one Linear and non Linear solutions, ree San FIG. 24" COMPRESSION PLES 3 LEG VENT PLATFORMS. However a number of piles for varfous structures were reported as failing co converge within their ow non-linear Solutions. This was always associated with non-convergence of the coupled interaction routine. ile 3.2 Foundation Lateral stiffness Ep . Values of lateral stiffness at the pile i head” are seen tobe. the principle 3° indicator of whether convergence will be successful. Fig. 6 shows that the pile head deflection increases non linearly with pile shear force Q. However, the stiffness quoted in this paper is always the Linear slope 4Q/4a. between tuo analyeie cases, and this is alvays an overestinate of the actual tangential stiftness at the pile head for the particular load case. 30" COMPRESSION PILES 4 LED PRODUCTION. PLATFORMS The lovest pile head stiffness which 4.0 PRIMARY FACTORS IN DETERMINING achieved 2 true solution was 4,02 FOUNDATION LATERAL STIFFNESS kaps/inch for platform BK~3. 4.1 prey Data ‘The varsation of lateral stiffness for two categories of platform and pile In Figs. 7 and 8 the principle size are given in’ Pigs. 7 ang” 8. variation between pletforas and their 1-62lateral stiffness 12 the p-y data, and the importance of confidence in this data is therefore casential. The selection of appropriate theory for the pry curve calculation, plus correct testing of "undisturbed" ‘soil samples are vital in providing accurate p-y Pile shear Force In Fig. 6 we sce that as pile shear force increases, the elope of the curve eQ/4a decreases, This statenent of lateral stifene reduction with increased pile shear force 1s clearly apparent in Figs. 7 and 8. In general one can see that by doubling the pile shear force on compression piles, the lateral stiffness is halved. There is less of a deterioration in stiffness for tension piles, The reason for thie deterioration is the shape of the p-y curves in the upper region of the pile (Ref. Fig. 3). As p increases the pile deflection Ancreases non linearly. In the top layers there is also a limiting deflection after which the peak p value Mill drop to a residual valve thereby “unzipping” the pile through the soil. Pile Head Rotational Fixity For both grouted and ungrouted piles, the rotational fixity at the pile head is dictated by the pile stiffness above the foundation, within the structure, Fig. 9 outlines the aechanics of the pile restraint as the jacket deflects If the jacket shifted without restraining the pile at the Upper Plan level (i.e, the next plan above the mudline bracing) a deflection would occur and the pile bending moment at midline would be zero (Fig. 9 (2))» 2 ma 00 2» woes sovaton ecco FIGS FLUENCE OF JACKET ON PRLE HEAD FLXTY By restraining the pile at the upper plan brace level, a moment is induced qt fi 44 ‘at mudline due to the enforced rotation 0.” However, the effect of jacket rotation and’ deflection 1s to reduce the restraint on the pile (Fig. 9 (3)) Which changes the value of @ at mudline and reduces the moment. Generally then: w ay [4:9 ] +(e ‘The monent generated at mudline by this head fixity changes the pile deflected shape within the soll causing a change in pile shear force for a given head deflection. Fig. 10 plote pile shear force values for a free and a constant pile head rotation. Where : Ay GJ INFLUENCE OF PILE HEAD ROTATION On FOUNDATION STIFFNESS It 4s apparent then, chat a restrained pile head narkedly increases the shear capacity of a pile, and the stiffness aida. Platform Geometry and Pile Size The degree of restraint offered to the pile head ts dependent on the jacket stiffness and pile axial head stiffness which dictate (v - vw), and the pile Dending stiffaess EI/L. In Fig. 11 we see the comparison of lateral stiffness for 3 leg x 24" piles and 4 1eg x 30" piles for the eame soil properties and water depth. The 4 leg x 30" structure te at least 2.5 tines stiffer. The 30" pile second moment of area 1¢ 1,8 times that of the 24" pile and its pry data 1,25 tines stiffer. In addition p peaks at a greater y for 30” piles than for 24" piles. Further evidence of pile size change and number of piles is evident in Fig. 12 for the Betty Field.5.0 Sal Grouted vs. Ungrouted Piles Jacket BEDP-A has @ foundation ‘comprising 8 no. 42" x 1.0" ungrouted eg piles and 4 no, 42" x 1.25" grouted skirt piles between botton and upper plan brace levels. The bottom plan bracing menbers ensure that the deflection behaviour of all the pile heads is consistent, Itkewise with the upper plan bracing level. The deflection tera (v - v) is therefore similar for all piles. However, the pile second soment of area I, for a conposite section of grouted sleeve and pile {e modelled as 2,2 tines chat for the ungrouted leg pile, The pile nonents Mp developed at the bottom plan bracing reflect’ this factor very closely. ‘The effect of the higher moment on increased pile lateral stiffness ie clearly seen in Fig. 12 where the grouted piles are typically 50% stiffer than their ungrouted partners. SECONDARY FACTORS TN DETERMINING FOUNDATION LATERAL STIFFNESS Pile Batter ond Shear Force Reduction In Fig. 13 ve see a typical example of 1-64 the reactions developed by the piles to the structure. By considering the force vectors only as they translate through «x from the global axis components H and V to the pile local couponents P and Q we cen see a reduction in the shear component Q versus the global shear H. It can be that shown that : Q_ stale t sin (voTe we> [REACTIONS TO STRUCTURE BECOME ACTIONS ‘ON PILES (MOMENT IGNORED) ‘TENSION PLE COMPRESSION PILE (GENERALLY Wen sin Qe Rs (ww) EIG.IS PILE BATTER AND SHEAR REDUCTION tor compression pies VY tends to be much greater then #, giving 2 small Teite eMeadtag ates. che pile eee Pe ee A pe For tension piles tends co be the ratio ¥,/ moll giving a large wild Sta) Sypteay ach edcerfhan the batter Vangie &e Gilil, doesnot therefore reduce se ouch thr # tension pile se” coupered: to ite compression As noted in 4.2, a lower pile shear5.2 force gives greater foundation lateral stiffness and this can be achieved by increasing the pile batter & . This principle of shear force reduction is additionally important in limiting the bending sonent generated in compression piles which already have a high axial stress. Axial Load The axial load in the pile is caused by two effects # reaction to vertical topside loads and structure dead weight. reaction to overturning moment from environmental loads and topside load eccentricity. As noted in 5.1, a compression pile with a high ratio of V/H will see a lover pile shear force Q compared to its tension partner in the sane Load case. However, 4 will be eimilar for all ‘piles due to the plan bracing rigidity. Hence dQ/da is alvays lover for a compression pile subject to high axial loads. This can be seen in Fig. 12 and again in Fig. 14 vbere a fantly of pile stiffness reeulte are plotted with their axial Loads. GM VARUTON OF LATERAL STIFFNESS FOR OFFERENT AXIAL LOADS. ‘An alternative presentation is given in Fig. 15 which indicates how the ratio of pile axial load to shear force (P/Q) influences the lateral stiffness. The most rapid fall-off in stiffness always oceurs im the highest load case A where the axial load value ie at its greatest. ‘an explanation of the above is that piles subject to high compressive loads and large deflections are strongly influenced by P.A effects. The relatively large’ bending nosents produced by this eccentric loading are Hod significant in developing the deflected shape of the pile. A similar deflected shape can therefore be established by either a large P.A osent and small shear force Q (For compressive piles) or a reduced P.A moment and larger shear force Q (for tension piles). Hence, for a particular deflection, Piles subject to compressive loads tend to attract less shear than piles subject to tension loads. RES ‘COMPARISON OF LATERAL STIFFNESS WiTH LAO EASE AHO ARIAL/ SHEAR RATIO. 5.3, Scour The effect of scour between jacket bottom plan bracing and midline, is to cancel sone of the soil resistance due to the pile lateral deflection. For the structures in Table 1 the measured scour 's' ranged from zero to 4 ft. Novever, it is probable that for some of these structures the installation was performed to leave a “preset” By reference to Fig. 16 (2) we eee that the pile head moment 'h' at mdline is reducea by the scour effect thus M= Me - xs) 1-656.0 6-1 As discussed in Section 4.3, a lover value of pile head moment corresponds toa lover lateral stiffness. fn additional effect of scour is to Increase the distance from mudline plan bracing to the point of shear reversal (Dts), thereby tending to increase the value of maxinua soment below audline. PILE MOMENT VARIATION Bottom Plan Pile Moment ¥p. As discussed in Section 4.3 and presented in Figs, 9 and 10, the value Of moment Mp developed at ‘the botton plan bracing is dictated by the pile rotation and the pile stiffness within the Jacket. Hovever the pile slope projecting dom from the botton plan level into the foundation, is dictated by the pile rotation. This slope canbe approximated toa /D since the pile deflection at depth D is negligible. By plotting Mp against A/D (Fig. 18) for each load case and pile ve see an excellent Linear relationehip confirming up =k 2 This relationship 4s important in understanding the relative growth rates of Mp and Ma with increasing shear. A grove non linearly as observed in Fig. 6 and 4/4, can be as high as lois, ate However the ratio D,/Dp never exceeds 1.6 and D typically anges, from 20 fe. to 28 ft. (Ref. Figs 16 (3))+ Hence Mp vill tend to grow non linearly as the pile shear force and A increase fas shown in Fig. 19. Maximus Pile Moment Below Mudline Ma In Fig. 16 (1) we see a typical load diagram for a pile, whose conbined effect is to produce the Bending Moment @tagran Fig. 16 (2). Bach of the acting losds can be considered independently in its contribution to the saxinun soment Ma as per Pig. 17. The effect of Mp and P.A are less significant in soft soils where the mouent generated by the shear Loa = QAO + 8), PD rapidly values of large overtake Mp and P.A for (es). MO vill therefore be the main dictator of Ma. We have already noted that D increases only gradually with increase in shear unlike Mp. Therefore the ratio tm/Mp will be seen to reduce as shear increases (see Fig. 19), This trend is less apparent in compression piles where Mm continues to receive a non Linear addition from the P.a effect. ‘The typical value of Ma/Mp determined inthe analysis ranged from 0.7 to 10.0. The trend of Mm/Mp alvays decreased with increase in shear force except for piles in SMDP-B soils. At this location of st{if material, the midline deflection and rotation’ were small and Mp did not follow the Linear relationship with 4 /D. os aly ; ry A 4 SE | poy Lt be CL Mem voworr BE Ltn A/D mesiny FIG.I8 LINEAR RELATIONSHIP OF Mp vs A/D (BAP-B)te ond tn (pin) 7.0 "0 te FIG.19 RELATIVE GROWTH OF ‘Mp ond Mm (BEV-A) ENFORCING CONVERGENCE Design of New Structures A preliminary pile analysis for a new structure of | the expected jacket reactions on the pile head will quickly and cheaply indicate the lateral stiffness offered by the foundation, If the stiffness is particularly low and/or if the non-linear solution fails to converge, then this is indicative of an underdesigned foundation at risk of large displacenente and high stress levels. The designer has a nunber of options he must consider to improve the pile response ¢ @ e of pile wall thickness. roo) eof pile dianeter and associated I." This will aleo stiffen the p-y data but increase wave loads. (©) increase of batter angle. (@ reduction of bottom bay hesghe between plan brace Levels. (e) increase no. of piles addition of skire piles). (eee 12 (£) grouting of jacket/pile annulus. All of these options have sn impact on the ‘cost of the structure, and the designer vould be well advised to ensure maxisun confidence in the p-y data he ds using. A revised set of p-y data is very cheap, a revision to a structure de not. Analysis of Existing Structures The reanalysis work presented in this paper vas required to produce an upper bound or “worst case" for later interpolation of stress levele under actual loads. Modification of the model as per 7.1 vas not therefore applicable. Wowever, to have subsequently meaningful interpolations, true solutions of load cases ~ however low in stiffness ~ were sought. The following features were therefore utilised to aid covergence. (a) Only one member connected the non-linear pile head joint to the superstructure i.e. pile joint connectivity vas restricted to one other joint. (®) The number of non linear Joints on wellhead and drilling platforms was inimised by doubling up, or trebling up the load attraction, stiffness and p-y data of selected conductors into” single meubers. This then required careful nodelling of conductor braces to ensure true dissesination of loads within the structure. (e) Convergence tolerances for displacenent and rotation vere inereased to 8 versus an achievable 2% in stiff sofls. (@ The pile pry data vere exanined to find their Limiting deflection for convergence of the non Linear pile solution. The p-y curve was then modified euch that resistance p increases beyond this deflection. (Ref. Fig. 3). The Coupled Interaction method could then calculate K, matrices that had a sensible vdiue. if the eneuing Coupled Interaction converged with 4 pile deflected shape resting on the false part of the curve then these pile results were known to be unreal. However, the remainder of the results for’ che rest of the structure are substantially correct, and therefore of use for later interpolation. Note that the Convergence columme in Table reported these cases as, unsuccessful. cost implications of deciding that existing platfora is overstressed 53