Subsurface Exploration and

Characterization

CE74 -LESSON 2
 Uncertainties
Our ability to perform analyses far exceeds our ability to

determine the appropriate soil properties to input into these

analyses. Therefore,

it is very important for the foundation engineer to be familiar

with the available techniques, know when to use them, and

Donald P. Coduto

understand the degree of precision (or lack of precision!)

Professor of Civil Engineering
 3 Categories
 Site investigation
 includes methods of defining the soil profile and other relevant data and
recovering soil samples.
 Laboratory testing
 includes testing the soil samples in order to determine relevant engineering
properties.

 In-situ testing
 includes methods of testing the soils in-place, thus avoiding the difficulties
associated with recovering samples.
 OBJECTIVES
 Determining the locations and thicknesses of
the soil strata.
 Determining the location of the groundwater
table as well as any other groundwater-related
characteristics.
 Recovering soil samples.
 Defining special problems and concerns .
Background Literature Search
Important information about the structure would
include:
 Its location and dimensions.
 The type of construction, column loads, column spacing, and allowable
settlements.
 Its intended use.
 The finish floor elevation.
 The number and depth of any basements.
 The depth and extent of any proposed grading.

Local building code requirements.
Eiffel Tower
 two legs of the tower closest to the Seine were
underlain by deeper and softer alluvium, and were
immediately adjacent to an old river channel that had
filled with soft silt.
 The foundation design had to accommodate these soil
conditions, or else the two legs on the softer soils
would settle more than the other two, causing the
tower to tilt toward the river.
 Fortunately, Eiffel carefully explored the soil
conditions, recognized this problem, and designed the
foundations to accommodate these soil conditions.
 His foresight and diligence resulted in a well-
designed foundation system that has not settled
excessively.
 The Emergence of Modern Foundation Engineering
 MODERN FOUNDATION ENGINEERING
 Instead of simply developing new  Today, our knowledge of foundation
empirical rules, design and construction is much
 they began to investigate the better than it was one hundred years
behavior of foundations and develop ago.
more rational methods of design.  It is now possible to build
 improved methods of  reliable,
 exploring ans testing soil and rock.
 cost-effective,
 high- capacity foundations for all types of
 New methods of foundation modern structures.
construction also have been
developed,
 making it possible to build
foundations at sites where
construction had previously been
 UNCERTAINTIES
“Structural engineering is the art and science of molding
materials we do not fully understand into shapes we
cannot precisely analyze to resist forces we cannot
accurately predict, all in such a way that the society at
large is given no reason to suspect the extent of our
ignorance. ”
 Result of our limited knowledge of the soil conditions.
 Limitations in our understanding of the interaction between a foundation and
the soil
 Difficult to predict the actual service loads that will act on a foundation
 WISE ENGINEER
Because of these and other uncertainties, the wise engineer does not
blindly follow the results of tests or analyses. These tests and
analyses must be tempered
This iswith
why it is essential to
 precedent,
understand the behavior of
 common sense,

foundations and
and engineering judgment.
the basis and
limitations of the analysis methods
Foundation engineering is still both an art and a science. It is
dangerous to view foundation engineering, or any other type of
engineering, as simply a collection of formulas and charts to be
followed using some “recipe” for design.
 BUILDING CODES
 Building codes represent minimum design requirements.
 Simply meeting code requirements does not necessarily produce a satisfactory
design, especially in foundation engineering.
 In addition, many important aspects of foundation engineering are not even
addressed in the codes.
 Therefore, think of codes as guides, not dictators, and certainly
not as a substitute for
 engineering knowledge,
 judgment,
 or common sense.
 CLASSIFICATION OF FOUNDATIONS
DEEP FOUNDATIONS
SHALLOW FOUNDATIONS
 Transmit the structural  Transmit some or all of
loads to the near-surface the loads to deeper soils.
soils.
All civil engineering
structures require
foundations.
BUILDINGS
BRIDGES
STORAGE TANKS
OFF-SHORE DRILLING PLATFORMS
 Foundation
Failures and their
consequences
Excessive differential settlement
BRIDGE SCOUR
LIQUEFACTION
STORAGE TANKS
 Design and
Construction
Methods
Drilling an exploratory boring
Golf course community in Palm Springs, California
Building a Drilled Shaft
Using vibrofloat to install stone columns
Earth Retaining
Structures
A Soldier Pile Wall And A Foundation System
Retaining Wall made of closely-spaced drilled shafts
A cellular cofferdam made of sheet piles
Gabion Wall
Seatwork 1
Explain the quote below. (20 pts)
“Structural engineering is the art and science of molding
materials we do not fully understand into shapes we cannot
precisely analyze to resist forces we cannot accurately
predict, all in such a way that the society at large is given no
reason to suspect the extent of our ignorance. ”
PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS
“If a builder builds a house for a man and does not make its
construction
firm, and the house which he has built collapses and causes
the death of
the owner of the house, that builder shall be put to death. ”

From The Code of Hammurabi, Babylon, circa 2000 b.c.

 common misconception:
 foundations are either perfectly rigid and unyielding, or they are completely
incapable of supporting the necessary loads and fail catastrophically.
 it’s either black or white perspective
 easy to comprehend, but it is not correct.
 All engineering products, including foundations,
 have varying degrees of performance that we might think of as various shades of
gray.
 The engineer must determine which shades are acceptable and which are
not.
 • Strength requirements

 • Serviceability requirements

 • Constructibility requirements

 • Economic requirements
 DESIGN LOADS
 There are four different types of design loads:

 • Normal loads , designated by the variable P

 • Shear loads, designated by the variable V

 • Moment loads , designated by the variable Af

 • Torsion loads, designated by the variable T

 DESIGN LOADS
 Normal loads
 are those that act parallel to the foundation axis. Usually this axis is vertical, so the
normal load becomes the vertical component of the applied load.
 act either downward (compression) or upward (tension).
 Shear loads
 act perpendicular to the foundation axis. They may be expressed as two perpendicular
components, V x and V r
Moment loads
perpendicular components, M x and M y .
Torsion loads, T, also are important,
 such as with cantilever highway signs. However, in most designs the torsion
loads are small and may be ignored.
 DESIGN LOADS
Most foundations, especially those that support buildings or bridges, are designed
primarily to support downward normal loads, so this type of loading receives the
most attention.
However, other types of loads also can be important, and in some cases can
control the design.
For example, the design of foundations for electrical transmission towers is often
controlled by upward normal loads induced by overturning moments on the
tower.
 DESIGN LOADS
 Dead loads (D)
 caused by the weight of the structure, including permanently installed equipment.
 Live loads (L)
 caused by the intended use and occupancy. These include loads from people, furniture,
inventory, maintenance activities, moveable partitions, moveable equipment, vehicles,
and other similar sources.
 Earth pressure loads (H)
 caused by the weight and lateral pressures from soil or rock, such as those acting on a
retaining wall.
 Fluid loads (F)
 caused by fluids with well-defined pressures and maximum heights, such as water in a
storage tank.
 DESIGN LOADS
 Earthquake loads (E)
 result of accelerations from earthquakes.
 Wind loads ( W)
 imparted by wind onto the structure.
 •Impact loads (7)
 result of vibratory, dynamic, and impact effects. Impact loads from vessels are especially
important in some bridge and port facilities.
 Most of these code-based design loads are conservative, which is appropriate.
 This means the real service loads acting on a foundation are probably less than
the design loads.
 DESIGN LOADS
ASD LRFD
 Working Stress Design  Ultimate Strength Design
 the design loads reflect  It applies load factors, g , to the
conservative estimates of nominal loads to obtain the
factored load, U.
the actual service loads
 resistance factor, ø(strength
reduction factor ) to the
ultimate capacity
 DESIGN LOADS
ASD LRFD
 DESIGN LOADS
 A column carries the following vertical compressive loads: P D =
2100 kN downward, PL = 1400 kN downward, and Pw = 600 kN
upward. Which will be supported by a group of four steel H-pile
foundations. These H-piles are similar to wide flange beams, and
are driven vertically into the ground. The piles will be made of A36
steel (Fv = 248 MPa) and the allowable compressive stress, F a , is
0.50 Fy .
 Compute the design normal load for use in foundation design.
 Considering only the stresses in the steel, determine the required
cross-sectional area of each pile.
 DESIGN LOADS
ASD LRFD
 P = PD = 2100 kN
 P = P D + P L + Pp+ PH + Pt + (PLrorP R )  Pu = 1.2(D + F + T) + 1.6 (L + H)
 = 2100 kN + 1400 kN + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0.5(L r orSorR)
 = 3500 kN
= 1.2(2100) + 1.6(1400) +0 + 0
 P = 0.75 [P D + P t + (P„orP s oiP e ) + (Pw
or P £ )]
 = 4760 kN
 = 0.75[2100 kN + 1400 kN + 0 - 600 kN]
 = 2175 kN
 P = 0.75[P„ + (P w or P £ )]
 = 0.75[2100kN - 600 kN]
 = 1125 kN
 DESIGN LOADS
ASD LRFD
 P/pile = 3500/4
 = 875 kN
 Pu/pile = 4760/4
 = 1190 kN
 Fa = 0.50 F y
 = (0.50) (248 MPa)
 Pn= Fa(A)
 = 124 MPa = 124,000 kPa
 =(248.000 kPa) A
 A = P/Fa
 Pu= øPn
 875 kN? /124000 kPa
 1190= (0.70) (248000) A
 = 7056 mm2  A = 6855 mm2
 STRENGHT REQUIREMENTS
GEOTECHNICAL STRUCTURAL
 ability of the soil or rock to accept the  Foundation’s structural integrity and
loads imparted by the foundation its ability to safely carry the applied
without failing. loads.
 The strength of soil is  loaded beyond their structural
 capacity to sustain shear stresses
capacity will, in principle, fail
 comparing shear stresses with shear
catastrophically.
strengths and designing accordingly.
 Spread footing foundations,
 Structural strength analyses are
 bearing capacity of the soil.
conducted using either ASD or LRFD
 If the load-bearing capacity of the soil is
methods, depending on the type of
exceeded, the resulting shear failure is foundation, the structural materials,
called a BEARING CAPACITY FAILURE and the governing code.
 STRENGHT REQUIREMENTS
 A certain foundation will experience a
bearing capacity failure when it is
subjected to a downward load of 2200 kN.
Using ASD with a factor of safety of 3,
determine the maximum allowable load
that will satisfy geotechnical strength
requirements.
 SERVICEABILITY REQUIREMENTS
These are intended to produce
foundations that perform well
when subjected to the service
loads.
 SERVICEABILITY REQUIREMENTS
 Settlement  downward movement as a result
of the applied loads.
Heave Keeping settlements within tolerable limits
is usually the most important foundation
Tilt serviceability requirement.
Result of other causes unrelated to the
Lateral movement presence of the foundation, such as
consolidation due to the placement of a fill.
Vibration Stress and strain always go together, so the
imposition of loads from the foundation
Durability always cause some settlement in the
underlying soils.
 SERVICEABILITY REQUIREMENTS
 Settlement Defining the amount of settlement that would
be tolerable and designing the foundation to
Heave accommodate this
requirement.
Tilt Structural Response to Settlement

Lateral movement
Vibration
Durability
 SERVICEABILITY REQUIREMENTS
Settlement  Sometimes foundations move upward
instead of downward. It may be due to
applied upward loads, but more often
 Heave it is the result of ex- ternal forces,
especially those from expansive soils.
Tilt  The design criteria for heave are the
same as those for settlement.
Lateral movement However, if some foundations are
heaving while others are settling, then
the differential is the sum of the two.
Vibration
Durability
 SERVICEABILITY REQUIREMENTS
Settlement Settlement
Heave
 Tilt

Lateral movement
Vibration
Durability
 SERVICEABILITY REQUIREMENTS
Settlement  Excessive tilt is often a concern in tall, rigid
structures, such as chimneys, silos, and water
towers.
Heave  To preserve aesthetics, the tilt, <», from the
vertical should be no more than 1/500 (7 min of
 Tilt arc). Greater tilts would be noticeable,
especially in taller structures and those that are
Lateral movement near other structures. In some cases, stricter
limits on tilt are appropriate, especially for
exceptionally tall structures.
Vibration  For comparison, the Leaning Tower of Pisa has
a tilt of about 1/10.
Durability
 SERVICEABILITY REQUIREMENTS
Settlement  Foundations subjected to lateral
loads have corresponding lateral
Heave movements. These movement also
have tolerable limits. For bridge
foundations, Bozozuk (1978)
Tilt recommended maximum lateral
movements of 25 mm (1 in).
 Lateral movement

Vibration
Durability
 SERVICEABILITY REQUIREMENTS
Settlement  Foundations that support large
machinery are sometimes
Heave subjected to substantial vibratory
loads.

Tilt  Such foundations must be

designed to accommodate these
vibratory loads without
Lateral movement introducing problems, such as
resonance.
 Vibration

Durability
SEATWORK 2
 The owner of a 100-story building purchased a plumb
bob with a very long string. He selected a day with no
wind, and then gently lowered the plumb bob from his
penthouse office window. When it reached the sidewalk, it
was 1 .0 m from the side of the building. Is this building
tilting excessively? Explain.
 CONSTRUCTIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
 A foundation must be designed such that a
contractor can build it without having to use
extraordinary methods or equipment.
 There are many potential designs that might
be quite satisfactory from a design
perspective, but difficult or impossible to
build.
CONSTRUCTIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
 The pile is lifted into the
vertical section, which is
called the leads, then driven
into the ground with the pile
hammer.
 Thus, the pile driver must be
slightly taller than the pile to
be installed.
CONSTRUCTIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
 As part of a seismic retrofit
project, a design engineer has
called for installing 450-mm
diameter. 9-m long pre-stressed
concrete pile foundations to be
installed beneath the basement of
an existing building.
 This pile foundation design is
unbuildable because the required
pile-driving equipment would not
fit in the basement, and because
there is not enough room to set the
pile upright.
 CONSTRUCTIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
This is why it is important for
design engineers to have at
least a rudimentary
understanding of construction.
 ECONOMIC REQUIREMENTS
 An overly conservative design can be very
expensive to build, especially with large
structures where the foundation is a greater
portion of the total project cost.
 This also is a type of “failure”: the failure to
produce an economical design.
 ECONOMIC REQUIREMENTS
We must strive to produce designs
that are both safe and cost-effective.
Achieving the optimum balance
between reliability (safety) and cost is
part of good engineering.
 Review on Soil Mechanics

1. The foundation engineer must

determine the necessary
performance requirements before
designing a foundation.
 Review on Soil Mechanics
2. Foundations must support various
types of structural loads. These can
include normal, shear, moment,
and/or torsion loads. The
magnitude and direction of these
loads may vary during the life of
Review on Soil Mechanics
3. Loads also are classified
according to their source. These
include dead loads, live loads,
wind loads, earthquake loads,
and several others.
Review on Soil Mechanics
4. Design loads may be expressed using either
the allowable stress design (ASD) or the
load and resistance factor design (LRFD)
method. It is important to know which
method is being used, because the design
computations must be performed
accordingly.
Review on Soil Mechanics
5. Strength requirements are those that
are intended to avoid catastrophic
failure.
There are two kinds: geotechnical
strength requirements and structural
strength requirements.
Review on Soil Mechanics
6. Serviceability requirements are those
intended to produce foundations that
perform well when subjected to the service
loads.
These requirements include settlement, heave,
tile, lateral movement, vibration, and durability.
Review on Soil Mechanics
7. Settlement is often the most important serviceability
requirement. The response of structures to
settlements is complex, so we simplify the problem
by considering two types of settlement: total
settlement and differential settlement.
We assign maximum allowable values for each, then
design the foundations to satisfy these requirements.
Review on Soil Mechanics
8. Durability is another important
serviceability requirement.
Foundations must be able to resist
the various corrosive and
deteriorating agents in soil and
water.
Review on Soil Mechanics
9. Foundations must be buildable,
so design engineers need to
have at least a rudimentary
understanding of construction
methods and equipment.
Review on Soil Mechanics
10. Foundation designs must be
economical. Although conservatism
is appropriate, ex- cessively
conservative designs can be too
needlessly expensive to build.
End of Lesson
One.