MACE30004T

Two hours

Graph paper is available in the Examination Room

UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER

GEOTECHNICS 3

26 January 2007
09.45 - 11.45

Answer THREE Questions

All questions carry equal marks

Data sheets are provided on pages 7-11.

Electronic calculators may be used provided that they cannot store text.

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Question 1 - Answer either Part A or Part B, but not both

EITHER:

Part A

A development of executive houses is proposed at a site in the River Mersey valley at

Didsbury, Manchester. The area is a level grassed field on the floodplain and planning
permission requires the ground to be raised 4.0m before development so as to avoid any
flood risk to the houses and gardens. Soil for the fill will be sourced locally from nearby old
clay workings for brick materials.

The sequence of deposits at the house construction site is expected to be:

1. Soft silty clays with thin inter-bedded layers of silt and fine sand, possibly up to 4.0m
thick (River Alluvium).
2. Medium dense sands and gravels, horizontal bedding layers, up to 2.0m thick (River
Gravels).
3. Medium dense to dense sands and gravels of variable thickness overlying stiff clays
with gravel inclusions. Thickness of deposit not known (Glacial Deposits).

(a) Outline possible foundation options for the design and construction of the
houses.
[8 marks]

(b) List geotechnical problems that may affect the design and construction of the
development. Discuss, for three of the problems identified, the potential
geotechnical hazard and risk associated with the problems.
[10 marks]

(c) Assign a geotechnical risk category for the geotechnical design procedures for
the site using the Geotechnical Categories in Eurocode 7 Geotechnical
Design.
[4 marks]

(d) Report an outline plan for the site investigation necessary for the
development. Outline each stage proposed for the investigation, the primary
purpose of the stage and how the site investigation addresses the three
geotechnical problems discussed in (b) above.
[12 marks]

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OR:

Part B

Eurocode 7, Geotechnical Design, mainly addresses design for geotechnical category 2

structures. Routine procedures for field and laboratory testing and for design and
execution may be used for geotechnical category 2 designs.

(a) Discuss why information such as site history, geology etc is an essential part of site
investigation. Report on the sources of information that can be consulted and
illustrate the answer with examples where possible.
[10 marks]

(b) Why is a knowledge and understanding of ground exploration methods, such as

drilling, sampling and in-situ testing, necessary for the management and
interpretation of ground information and data?
[14 marks]

(c) Outline how groundwater conditions below a site can be obtained. Identify any
difficulties there may be in determining the groundwater table below a site. Illustrate
the answer with diagrams.
[10 marks]

Exam paper continues on next page

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2. (a) Outline the method of installation, and indicate one advantage and one
disadvantage, for the piles below:

 Displacement piles:
- solid (eg pre-cast concrete)
- sectional (eg segmental piles)
- a driven cast-in-situ pile (eg pre-cast concrete hollow shells)

 Replacement piles:
- continuous flight auger (CFA)
- bored auger or cable percussion
[10 marks]

(b) Pile loads are carried by end bearing and shaft resistance. Discuss how the pile
construction method can influence the distribution of load carried by the pile.
Include in the answer examples of load distribution for a displacement pile
placed into granular ground conditions and for a replacement pile placed into
cohesive ground.
[8 marks]

(c) A design soil profile is:

1. 0 - 4m Firm Clay, cu = 60 kN/m2

2. 4 - 20m Stiff Clay, cu = 110 kN/m2

The unit weight of the clay is 20kN/m3

Adhesion factors are: Firm clay: α = 0.8 (displacement and replacement piles)
Stiff clay: α = 0.7 (displacement piles)
α = 0.5 (replacement piles)
Bearing capacity factor Nc = 9
Ground water table at 1.0m depth

Calculate the ultimate load capacity for a 750mm diameter concrete pile
(choose either a displacement or replacement pile type) placed to 14m depth
below ground level.
[10 marks]

(d) Outline two pile load test methods. Describe the differences between
preliminary pile tests and working load pile tests.
[6 marks]

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3. (a) Briefly describe and sketch the mechanism known as General Shear for the
ultimate failure of a shallow foundation of width B and founded at depth D
below original ground level. What types of soil are likely to fail in this manner
and what happens in other types of soil?
[6 marks]

(b) The maximum stress that can be carried by a foundation failing in General
Shear, with soil of effective unit weight γ1 above foundation level and γ2 below
foundation level, is given by the following equation:

q f  cS c N c   1 DS q N q   2 BS  N 

Briefly explain the contribution of each of the three components of the equation
and of the shape factors Sc, Sq, Sγ and the bearing capacity factors Nc, Nq, Nγ.
[6 marks]

(c) A square pad foundation (1m by 1m) supports a column load of 100kN. The
pad is founded at original ground level over a clay layer with the following
properties:

0 - 4m Medium Clay, cu = 55 kN/m2, Cc = 0.6, e0 = 1.1

4 - 14m Firm Clay, cu = 75 kN/m2, Cc = 0.04, e0 = 0.94

The unit weight of both clays is 19.5kN/m 3 and the ground water table is at the
original ground level.

Estimate the total consolidation settlement of the foundation stating clearly any
assumptions that you make. Is this likely to be acceptable?

 H  '
Compressive Settlement, Sc  Cc   log10
 1  e0  0'
[8 marks]

(d) Estimate the immediate Factor of Safety against failure of the foundation
stating clearly any assumptions that you make. Is this likely to be acceptable?

Ultimate Bearing Capacity for a Square Footing, qult:

qult  1.2cN c   1 D f N q  0.4 2 BN 
[5 marks]

(e) Once constructed the foundation is observed to have been built with the column
centre-line offset from the pad centre-line in one direction by 50mm. Discuss
but do not calculate what impact this will have on the performance of the
foundation for both serviceability and ultimate conditions.
[4 marks]

(f) Discuss what could be done to improve the clay layer, the design of the
foundation and the construction arrangements.
[5 marks]

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4. (a) Briefly describe the types of failure that may occur and at least one approach to
the analysis of each of the three types of slope:

A thick layer of clay overlying a rock bed - both layers are at a steady
inclination.

A vertical cut being made in a deep clay layer.

A natural slope of alternating layers of sand and clay.

[9 marks]

(b) In each case the original ground water table was parallel to the original ground
surface. Suggest, with sketches, an appropriate method to manage the
groundwater in each case if the slope is to be actively managed over time.
[6 marks]

(c) A road is to be built in a cutting in a silty clay material with the ground water
table at original ground level. The vertical height of the finished cut is 7m and
the proposed angle of the sloping face is 50º to the horizontal. The silty clay
has an undrained shear strength of 55kN/m 2 and drained shear parameters of
c  20kN / m2 and  '  10 and a unit weight of 19kN/m . Estimate the factors of
3

safety of the cutting in both the short and long term using Taylor’s Stability
Charts. State clearly any assumptions. Are the Factors of Safety you have
calculated acceptable?
[12 marks]

(d) What other analysis methods might be appropriate if more time and resources
were available to study this problem?
[3 marks]

(e) For the slope in section (c) discuss what measures could be taken to increase
the slope stability in both the short and long term.
[4 marks]

END OF EXAMINATION PAPER

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Influence Factor (IR) for vertical stress under one corner of a uniformly loaded rectangular
area, Fadum's Chart

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Relationship between Bearing Capacity

Factors and φ
φ° Nc Nq Nγ
0 5.14 1.00 0.00
2 5.63 1.20 0.01
4 6.19 1.43 0.04
6 6.81 .1.72 0.11
8 7.53 2.06 0.21
10 8.34 2.47 0.37
12 9.28 2.97 0.60
14 10.37 3.59 0.92
16 11.63 4.34 1.37
18 13.10 5.26 2.00
20 14.83 6.40 2.87
22 16.88 7.82 4.07
24 19.32 9.60 5.72
26 22.25 11.85 8.00
28 25.80 14.72 11.19
30 30.14 18.40 15.67
32 35.49 23 18 22.02
34 42.16 29.44 31.15
36 50.59 37.75 44.43
38 61.3? 48.93 64.08
40 75.32 64.20 93.69
42 93.71 85.38 139.32
44 118.37 115.31 211.41
46 152.10 158.51 329.74
48 199.27 222.31 526.47
50 266.89 319.07 873.89

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Taylor's Stability Number, Ns Chart for  u =0

nd = overall depth to rock layer / slope height (H)

c = required cohesion (kN/m2),  = saturated unit weight (kN/m3)

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Taylor's Stability Number, Ns Chart for c’, ’

c’ = required cohesion (kN/m2),

’ = required angle of friction

 = saturated unit weight (kN/m3)

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