Third Chinese-German Joint Symposium on Coastal and Ocean Engineering National Cheng Kung University, Tainan November 8-16,

2006

Performance and Interpretation of Geotechnical Field Tests in Coastal and Ocean Engineering
Werner Richwien
Institute of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering University Duisburg-Essen, Campus Essen werner.richwien@uni-due.de

Abstract
Load tests and experimental models are important tools of geotechnical design, namely when the prediction of bearing capacity of piles, settlements of soft soils due to land fills and deformation of structures under wave loads is concerned. Based on soil parameters and laboratory tests only many of the complex interactions between structure and soil can not be predicted with the necessary accurancy since the soil parameters scatter. This holds mainly when weak soils are loaded by landfill, since their bearing capacity, settlements and settlement duration can very often not predicted reliable. The reason is that sampling of weak soils often ends in an underestimation of the relevant parameters due to disturbances from sampling and laboratory test procedures. Besides of this interaction between structures and soil is always complex and thus difficult to evaluate. The paper presents three case studies to demonstrate the benefit of geotechnical field test.

1 Settlement Caused by a Landfill

For the new JadeWeserPort at Wilhelmshaven in Germany an area of approximately 1,5 x 1,8 km will be filled from about NN 7 to 10 m (sea ground) up to NN + 7,5 m, behind of a waterfront structure of 1,8 km total length. Since the harbour area needs to be ready for operation at the date fixed by the contracts, the accurate prediction of the progress of the settlements with respect to the overburden load is of outstanding importance. A more economical aspect is the question, how the sand fill has to be placed to avoid ground failure in the mostly weak soil at the sea ground.

1-1 Location of the Test Field and Soil Parameters

The soil in the harbour region had been investigated by a large number of field tests, namely test borings and Cone Penetration Tests (CPT) and soil mechanic laboratory tests. Fig. 2 shows a typical soil profile (WB 1). At the sea ground (NN 9,3 m) up to NN 14,8 m a soft marine sediment forms the upper layer. In

the total area the thickness of this layer was found in a range from a few centimetres up to 5,5 m. The sediment consists of fine to medium sand and up to 50 % fine grains (silt and clay) with only small organic components (< 3 %), it has been formed under saline conditions and is not consolidated. Beneath of the sediment in the whole area fine to medium sand was found up to the end of the exploration depth (NN 31 m), with layers of highly over-consolidated clay (Lauenburger Ton) in different depths (NN 22,8 min Fig 1). In its upper part the sand is holocene and typically very loose, the lower part is pleistocene or interglacial and thus dense to very dense. The Lauenburger Ton is interglacial too and has stiff consistency. The cone resistance in the soft sediments are so small that they are not recorded in the Cone Penetration Tests (< qc = 0,5 MN/m)
WB 1/02
mNN -9 -10 -11 -12 -13 -14 -15 -16 -17 -18 -19 -20 -21 -22 -23 -24 -25 -26 -27 -28 -29 -30 -31 -32 S onde rprobe B ohrkern
21.70 (-31.00) 35212 35214 12.20 (-21.50) 12.50 (-21.80) 13.10 (-22.40) 13.50 (-22.80) 13.90 (-23.20) 5.50 (-14.80) 6.50 (-15.80) 35204

CPT 54/02
-10,2 mNN
mNN -10
_ _ S, u, h ( Schlic k)
Sp itzendru ck [ MN/m] 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40

-9,3 mNN

m NN -10 -11 -12 -13 -14 -15 -16 -17 -18 -19 -20 -21 -22 -23 -24 -25 -26 -27 -28 -29 -30 -31 -32

R eib ungs verhltnis [%] 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

-11 -12 -13 -14

mS , fs fS , ms'

-15 -16 -17 -18 -19

8.50 (-17.80)

Le ge nde S pitzendruc k sehr locke r locker mitte ldicht dicht sehr dicht breiig weich ste if ste if - halbf est

mS , gs, fs'

-20 -21

fS , ms' mS , fs, gs' fS , u, m s', h' (Holzreste) T, fs' (Lauenburge r Ton)

-22 -23 -24 -25 -26

fS , ms' (wenig Holzkohle reste)

-27 -28 -29 -30 -31 -32

Fig. 1 Soil profile of WB 1/02 and result of CPT 54/02 In the holocene sand directly beneath the soft sediments the cone resistance is only about 4 MN/m. With depth the cone resistance becomes larger (about 10 MN/m) but indicates still only medium density. From a depth of NN 19,5 m up to the end depth (NN 31 m) the pleistocene sand is indicated by high cone resistance up to peak values of nearly 40 MN/m, but also with zones in which the cone resistance is only 10 to 15 MN/m. The cone resistance in the Lauenburger Ton (highly over-consolidated clay) is about 2 MN/m which indicates a stiff consistency. It is clear that the dumping rate has to be restricted with respect to the shear strength of the soil at hand to prevent ground failure. Therefore the shear strength is an important design parameter. Additionally the magnitude of the settlement needs to be known since this measure has to be added to the dumping height. And finally the development of the settlements with time is important for the construction process. The controlling parameter for the dumping rate is the undrained shear strength cu,

which is typically small in soft soils. From carefully performed penetrometer tests directly during sampling the undrained shear strength of the sediments was found in a range of 7 to 35 kN/m. Thus the failure load can be assumed in range of approximately 35 to more than 150 kN/m, what is equivalent to allowable dumping height of sand ( = 11 kN/m) of about 3 m to more than 10 m. With respect to the non-homogeneity in the design draft the dumping rate was restricted to a load of less than 40 kN/m for the first dumping layer. The consolidation of soils is controlled by the compressibility modulus ES and the coefficient of consolidation cv. From laboratory tests the ES values of the sediment have been determined as ES = 0,5 to 0,8 MN/m for loads up to 50 kN/m, increasing with consolidation to ES = 4,4 to 10,4 MN/m when consolidated with 300 kN/m. The coefficient of consolidation was determined in a range of cv = (1 to 5) 10-7 m/s. Both the compressibility modulus ES and the coefficient of consolidation cv might however be affected by sample disturbances during sampling and handling in the laboratory. In that case the consolidation parameters would be underestimated and thus the magnitude of settlements and duration of the consolidation would be overestimated. This effect has to be expected generally, it might be neglected in case of stiff soils, in case of soft sediments the sample disturbances however can become dominant. This was the reason why a large scale field test was recommended and performed in order to improve the quality of the strength and settlement analysis in the design phase of the project.

1-2 Performance of the Loading Test

Based on the results of the soil investigations an area of about 60 x 50 m was chosen for the field test, in which the soil conditions are well known and more or less representative for the whole area. The boring WB 1/02 and the Penetration Test CPT 54/02 shown in Fig. 1 are located in the centre of the test field. For the dumping material concrete-aggregates (2 to 200 mm) have been chosen. The material was dumped in two charges. In advance the test area had been levelled and at the sea-bottom a hydraulic line-levelling system (Lhotzky) was installed, which allowed to indicate settlements with an accuracy of 1 mm (Fig.2). In a first dumping phase within 7

Fig. 2 Plan view of the test field with the location of the line-levelling system and dumping height of the concrete-aggregates

hours a mass of 1680 tons was dumped to a maximum dumping height of about 2,5 m, which is equivalent to a vertical stress of 28 kN/m (Fig. 3). Settlement was only a few centimetres. Then after a break of about 5 hours the second charge of the aggregates (2080 tons) was dumped to an maximum height of 4,6 m, corresponding to a load of about 55 kN/m. The geometry of the dumping area can be seen from Fig. 2. Immediately after dumping the settlement in the centre of the field increased to 0,2 m (Fig. 3). Ground failure did not occur.

60 50 z [kN/m 40 30 20 10 0 0
30.10. 7:45 29.10. 23:20 30.10. 11:30 31.10. 2:30 31.10. 17:00

10

20

30

40

50

Zeit t [h] 0 0 0,1 s [m] 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 10 20 30 40 50

1-3 Interpretation and Corrected Soil Parameters

Fig. 3 Time history of the increase of vertical load and settlement during dumping, centre of the loading field

Since ground failure did not occur during dumping, the assumed undrained shear strength was confirmed. From the dumping load of 55 kN/m the available shear strength is derived as minimum cu = 10 kN/m. The settlements too were found in the same order of magnitude as expected, thus the coefficient of compressibility could be confirmed in the predicted range of 0,5 < ES < 1,0 MN/m. The consolidation rate however was significant faster than predicted. An example of the development of the settlements with time is given in Fig. 4. The settlement profile corresponds with the load profile, within only 72 days maximum settlements of 0,5 m were achieved. An analysis of the time-settlement curves by the method of Sridharan et.al. (1981, 1987) thus resulted in corrected values of the coefficient of consolidation cv. The method of Shridharan is based on a rectangular hyperbolic graph of the time-settlement curve, the coefficient of consolidation then is defined as cv = 0,24 h m c

(1)

In equation 1 the parameters m and c are inclination (m) and interception(c) of the hyperbolic settlement graph, h is the consolidation height of the soil. The analyses of the settlements gave corrected values of the coefficient 10 times larger than the value derived from the laboratory tests. Based on the corrected soil parameters the consolidation process can be evaluated.

According to Fig. 5. after a consolidation time of only 20 days the degree of consolidation is already U > 0,5 even in the most unfavourable case of a thickness of the mud layer of 5.5 m and the smallest value of cv = 10-6 m/s. After 80 days the degree of consolidation for these parameters is already U > 0,95, what is practically consolidated. For layers thinner than 5,5 m and larger values of cv the consolidation rate is much more faster.

Sch tung 5 4
Schtungshe h [m]

3 2 1 0 -17,50 -12,50 -7,50 -2,50 2,50 7,50 12,50 17,50

MQ-PF1 Station -17,50 -12,50 -7,50 0,000 0,100 0,200 0,300 0,400 0,500 0,600 29.10.2005 15.11.2005 Setzung s [m] -2,50 2,50 7,50 12,50 17,50

Kreuzung MQ-PF1 / MQ-PF2

Kreuzung MQ-PF1 / MQ-PF2

01.11.2005 02.12.2005

03.11.2005 10.01.2006

07.11.2005

Fig. 4 Development of the settlements with time

1,00 0,80 U(t) [-] 0,60 0,40 0,20 0,00 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 Zeit [Tagen]

D = 5,5 m / cv = 5E-06 D = 3,5 m / cv = 5E-06

D = 5,5 m / cv =1E-06 D = 3,5 m / cv = 1E-06

Fig. 5 Degree of consolidation for sediment layer, thickness 3,5m and 5,5 m, coefficients of consolidation cv = 10-6 m/s and cv = 5 10-6 m/s

2 Pile Driving- and Loading Test

Piles and sheet pile walls are very often used structural members in coastal and harbour constructions. Pile driving is a widely used technique, the efficiency however is highly depending on the use of appropriate equipment. There are some techniques available for driving analyses, the identification of soil properties is however always unsafe, especially in case of over-consolidated soils. Therefore pile driving tests should be performed as early as possible in the design phase to optimise driving technique. Additionally driving tests open the opportunity to evaluate the bearing capacity and mainly the gain in bearing capacity with time . The following example is a driving and loading test which has been performed during design phase of the JadeWeserPort at Wilhelmshaven at the end of 2005.

2-1 Soil Properties and Test Pile Set Up

Subsoil in the construction site is the same as described above (see 1.1). To check the driving conditions and the potential bearing capacity 8 piles at two test sites have been driven and loaded by dynamic load tests. Fig. 6 gives the configuration of the piles at the southern test site, the same configuration was

driven in a northern test field.

Fig. 6 Set up of the test piles, test field south, JadeWeserPort, Wilhelmshaven The two profiles S 1 and S 3 are primary elements of a combined sheet pile wall, which are loaded axially. The question was, if they need welded-on steel vanes or/and intersections of the open cross section to provide the needed bearing capacity. A second question was, if it is possible to drive these profiles up to a depth of 5 m above of the final depth by a vibratory hammer and which hammer is needed to drive the profiles down to the final depth. The same questions had to be answered for the pile profile S 5, while S 7 is a profile which was intended as raking anchor pile (but here driven and loaded vertically).

2-2 Test Results, Bearing Capacity

A first result of the driving test was, that all profiles could be brought down to about NN 19 m with vibrator and then by driving with a heavy hammer (IHC S 500). Thus it was shown that in the subsoil at hand driving of the tested profiles is possible with suitable equipment. This is an important information for the contractors when calculating their offers and prevents difficulties due to underestimated driving effort. As mentioned the bearing capacity of the profiles was determined by dynamic loading tests (Fig. 7). The analyse was performed by the CAPWAP-method. The result is given as total bearing capacity and load transfer over the pile length. The loading tests have been repeated after 14 and 110 days of rest in order to get the increase in bearing capacity over time, which is a result of pore pressure dissipation in the first phase and stress redistribution in the soil surrounding the pile in the later phase.

Fig. 7 Example of a dynamic loading test by the CAPWAP-method

pile number S1 time after driving EoD 14 days 110 days S3 EoD 14 days 110 days S5 EoD 14 days 110 days S7 EoD 14 days bearing capacity [kN] 11.017 14.508 15.443 10.313 14.068 16.049 7.392 10.130 11.921 2.841 4.082

Table 1 gives the determined bearing capacities at end of driving (EoD), after 14 days and after 110 days at rest. In all cases the bearing capacity increased significant after end of driving (EoD). This can also be seen from Fig. 8, where the results are given for the primary piles at the two sites.

Fig. 8 Increase of bearing capacity Q of the primary piles S 1, S 3, N 1 and N 3.

3 Instrumentation of an Offshore-structure
The last example is the instrumentation of an offshore structure (Fig. 9).This monopile is the foundation of a lattice tower which was erected to measure wind in an offshore windpark site (Borkum Riffgrund, German Bight). Foundation design of such monopiles was matter of research at our Institute during the last years, and thus the opportunity was given to perform measurements at this prototype structure in order to evaluate our analytical and numerical models. Fig. 9 shows the structure and its instrumentation. The water depth is 22 m, the shaft of the monopile has been driven up to SKN 45 m, that is 23 m into the sandy subsoil. The shaft diameter is 3,5 m, the diameter goes down to 2,8 m at level +1,0 m. Accelerometers are installed at levels + 21 m, +12 m, +1 m, -9 m and 21 m. Strain gauges are installed at +11 m, 4 m, -20 m, and 26,5 m, -31 m and 35 m in the embedding length. The purpose of both the accelerometers and the strain gauges was to identify the deformations and the stresses of the structure due to wave- and wind load. Fig. 10 gives a typical example of structure acceleration under wave load. The measured values of acceleration are very small in a range of less than 0,002 m/s, since the structure has been designed for the 50 year wave(which is about 20 m), but up to now waves have not been higher than 3 to 5 m. Nevertheless these measurements could be used for an evaluation of our design models.

Fig. 9 Monopile structure Borkum Riffgrund, Instrumentation

Fig. 10 Typical example of structure acceleration under wave load

The vibrating velocity v and the amplitudes of structure deformations s can be derived as per Fig. 12. According to the small values of acceleration both the vibration velocity and the amplitudes of deflection are small too.

4 Conclusions
The paper demonstrates in three examples how field test can be performed to give additional input for design for harbour and coastal structures or for validation of design approaches. Carefully planned and performed the benefit from field tests results in more save design and optimisation of investigations. By the field settlement test the predicted values of soil stiffness and bearing capacity could be confirmed, but a 10 times higher value of the degree of consolidation compared to the predicted value was found. Thus the design and concept of landfill could be verified and the prediction of settlement duration could be improved. The benefit of the pile tests is that contractors get informations on the needed driving equipment and thus an underestimation of the driving time is prevented. A second effect is, that the well known practical experience, that the bearing capacity of piles increases with time is quatified. Thus this effect can be used in the design. In the last example of the monopile the purpose of the instrumentation is the verification of a design approach. This example however demonstrates the general problem of instrumentation of prototype structures. Since they are designed for stability the relevant design loads are exeptional high, and thus structure deformations under operation loads are small and to not cover the prediction range of the design models. Nevertheless the instrumentation of prototypes is indispensible for the evaluation of analytical and numerical models.

In all cases the benefit of the field tests is much more than the costs.

5 References
Sridharan, A. and A. Sreepada Rao. Rectangular Hyperbola Fitting Method for One Dimensional Consolidation, Geotechnical Testing Journal 4, pp. 161-168, Philadelphia, 1981. Sridharan, A., N.S. Murthy and K. Praksad. Rectangular Hyperbola Method of Consolidation Analysis, Geotechnique 37, pp. 355-368, London, 1987.