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Mitigation of Risks Associated With Deep Excavations
Mitigation of Risks Associated With Deep Excavations
Mitigation of Risks Associated With Deep Excavations
sayed_mohamed@eng.asu.edu.eg
ayman_fayed@eng.asu.edu.eg
I. INTRODUCTION
There is an increasing National demand to utilize the
underground space in the developments of the urban congested
areas for different purposes such as transportation tunnels,
underground parking garages, basements and utilities. ElNahhas [1] highlighted many plans to utilize the underground
space in Egypt. One of the most ambitious plans that were
detailed by El-Nahhas [1] is the utilization of the underground
space is the construction of transportation tunnels and
underground garages under main Cairo streets such as Gamat
Aldoul Alarabia as demonstrated in Fig. 1.
Fig. 9. Modes of deformation of the wall (after Clough and ORourke [10])
Fig. 12. Concave settlement profile (after Hsieh & Ou [23])
Fig. 13. Effect of wall stiffness and soil stability number on the wall
deformations in clays (Goldberg et al. [9])
Fig. 10. Lateral and vertical displacement patterns: concave on left, spandrel
on right (after Boone [20]; Boone & Westland [21]).
Mana & Clough [24] utilized the finite element and the
field measurements to relate the maximum wall movements
with the factor of safety against basal heave in clays as shown
in Fig. 14. The quasi-constant non-dimensional movement at
high safety factor is an indication of an elastic response. The
rapid increase in movements at lower factor of safety is a
result of plastic soil deformations at low factors of safety.
Fig. 14. Effect of the basal heave stability on the wall deformations induced
by deep excavations in clays (after Mana & Clough [24])
k=
EI
4
w have
(1)
where:
k
= Dimensionless system stiffness
E
= Youngs modulus of wall system
I
= Moment of inertia of wall system
have = average vertical distance between tiebacks/struts
w = unit weight of water = 9.81 kN/m3
The results of their analyses are shown in Fig. 15.
Fig. 16. Plane strain ratio (PSR) as a function of the aspect ratio B/L and
distance from the corner d (Ou et al., 1996)
Finno & Roboski [26] and Roboski & Finno [27] studied
deep excavations in soft to medium clays based on the
settlements that were observed using optical survey around a
12.8 m deep excavation in Chicago. The excavation was
supported by a flexible sheet pile wall and three levels of regroutable anchors. They suggested a parallel distribution for
the deformation to account for the corner effect. They found
that the complementary error function (erfc) can be used to
define the three-dimensional settlement distributions of
ground movement around excavation of finite length.
(2)
Fig. 15. Effect of the basal heave stability and the system stiffness on the wall
deformations induced by deep excavations in clays
(after Clough & ORourke [10])
Fig. 19. Maximum building settlements due to slurry trench excavation for
diaphragm walls as a function of foundation depth in Hong Kongs
MTR (after Cowland & Thorley [31])
Fig. 22. Lateral deformation associated with trenching for secant piles
installed in Chicago Clay (after Finno et al. [33])
F. Time-Dependent Effects
For excavations in clay, longer durations before installing
the strut or constructing the floor slab may cause larger wall
deflection due to the occurrence of consolidation or creep of
clay. Studies that addressed that aspect by assessing the soil
consolidation, as one of the components of the wall and
ground deformations, were carried out based on finite element
analysis since it is not possible to separate the consolidation
deformation component out of the total deformations from the
field data.
Osaimi & Clough [37], Yong et al. [38], and Ou & Lai [39]
showed that significant consolidation can take place during the
construction of a deep excavation in clay and that the effects
of consolidation are significant. Consolidation and swelling
during excavation result in changes in the shear strength of
soils and time-dependent deformations. The negative water
pressure, generated by the excavation at the base, dissipates
with time causing loss of some passive resistance that
occurred immediate after excavation. This leads to timedependent deformations in the wall and the soil behind the
wall.
G. Workmanship
Workmanship can be considered as the human and/or
experience factor which plays an important role in the
success or failure of a certain project. It was initially
introduced by Peck [8] as one of the main controlling
factors of the ground and wall movements in deep
excavation projects. This factor has never been thoroughly
defined in the literature despite its impact is important and
well-acknowledged in the final outcomes of the
geotechnical projects. In fact, deep excavations are very
special projects as they need the Designer and the
Contractor to be well-acquainted with the technical and
constructional aspects of the site as well as the structural
nature of the adjacent buildings. Methods to enhance the
workmanship include documentation of the performance
and encountered problems in deep excavation projects and
transfer the gained knowledge to other contractors and other
personnel
5.
6.
7.
Fig. 27. Beam model (after Burland and Wroth [44] & [45])
Fig. 26. Damage criteria based on angular distortion (after Bjerrum [42])
Fig. 31. Tensile strain components due to horizontal strain, angular distortion
and tilting for wall with L/H=1 & E/G =2.6 (after Son & Cording [50])
Son [49] and Son & Cording [50] provided analysis for the
empirical criteria presented by Boscardin and Cordings [48]
by estimating the principle tensile strain due to angular
distortion and lateral strain as shown from Fig. 31.
Furthermore, they presented an envelope of constant critical
tensile strain (c). They also modified Boscardin &
Cordings [48] envelopes, as shown in Fig. 31, based on the
Primary assessment
In the primary assessment, the greenfield settlement trough
is evaluated. Buildings which are located within the zone with
1/500 & Smax 10mm are assumed to experience negligible
damages. The above values of maximum slope and settlement
may need to be reduced when assessing the risk for structures
of higher sensitivity (i.e., building with stone or glass claddings
and important aesthetical features that should be maintained);
however, for most structures the abovementioned damage
criterion can be utilized.
If the settlement and/or the slope for a building exceeded
the maximum slope and settlement stated above, a second stage
assessment has to be carried out.
Second stage assessment
In this stage of the risk assessment, the building is
represented as an elastic deep beam whose foundation is
assumed to follow the ground movement trough. The strain
within the beam is evaluated. Categories of damage, defined in
previous sections, can then be obtained from the magnitude of
strain.
Although this approach is more detailed than the
preliminary assessment it is still conservative as the building is
assumed to follow the greenfield settlement trough. The
category of damage obtained from this assessment shall only
be considered for aesthetical damage (i.e., a maximum
diagonal tensile strain of 0.15-0.167%).
Detailed assessment
In this stage, details of the building and of the deep
excavation should be taken into account using advanced
modeling such as:
Geotechnical conditions, sub-surface profile and
groundwater conditions.
The three-dimensional aspects of the deep excavation
construction.
The building stiffness and weight.
The building orientation with respect to the deep
excavation.
Building features such as the foundation type and
structural continuity as well as any previous
movement a building may have experienced in the
past.
Sensitivity of the building.
If the risk of damage remains high after the detailed
assessment, necessary protective measures are to be
considered in the form of risk mitigation plans.
VI. RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH GROUNDWATER
4.
Fig. 37. Collapse of City Archive Building in Cologne (Germany) due soil
piping induced by dewatering (after Rowson [53])
3.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Fig. 41. Failure of a diaphragm wall in The Infinity Tower in Dubai in 2007.
Chronological sequence of the failure is (a) to (d)
Fig. 44. Setting trigger levels for a building subject to settlement from a deep
excavation
3.
Excessive
lateral
plug
Insufficient
to
the
drawdown
water
below
excavation level
leaking locations
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to acknowledge the pioneering
work done by the Prof. Fathalla M. El-Nahhas (Ain Shams
University, Faculty of Engineering, Egypt) in the fields of
tunneling and deep excavations. Prof. El-Nahhas studies and
researches inspired and motivated us during the preparation of
this article. The authors would also like to express their truthful
gratefulness to Prof. Sherif W. Agaiby (Dar Al-Handasah
Consultants Shair & Partners), Prof. Ahmed Hosny AbdelRahman (The National Research Center, Egypt) and Prof. Ali
A. Abdelfattah (Ain Shams University, Faculty of Engineering,
Egypt) for their kind sharing of their engineering expertise with
the authors in deep excavations and in other areas of the
Geotechnical Engineering.
REFERENCES
[1] El-Nahhas, F.M., Tunnelling and Underground Structures in
Egypt: Past, Present and Future, Arabian Tunelling Conference
& Exhibition, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Dec 10 - 11, 2013.
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