TYPICAL GEOTECHNICAL PROBLEMS IN MELBOURNE

1. General
As has been discussed previously, there is a significant quantity of information available about the
distribution and characteristics of the soils and rocks in Melbourne and its surrounding areas. It
follows that there has been considerable experienced gained with many different forms of
construction in these materials. This experience has led to a relatively detailed understanding of
what can be expected of particular materials, what can go wrong and, of course, what should be
done to avoid these problems.

This section will consider a selection of these different soil and rock types and discuss some of the
problems likely to be encountered along with some of the solutions which would normally be
expected. The soils to be discussed are the 6 soils listed in Table 1 of the notes on the Engineering
Geology of Melbourne. These topics are discussed in much more detail in the Blue Book
(Engineering Geology of Melbourne1 ).

2. Coode Island Silt

The Coode Island Silt extends over most of the area identified by the light green colour shown on
the 1:31,680 geological map, either at or relatively close to the surface. In actual fact, the Coode
Island Silt is rarely encountered at the surface because over the years, fill has been placed for a
number of reasons, usually related to access and trafficability. This material is a silty clay, generally
soft at the surface increasing in strength with depth. Where it extends to depths approaching 30m, it
is usually stiff because of the consolidating effect of the overlying materials. Close to the surface it
is generally very compressible giving rise to large settlements even with relatively modest applied
loads. In addition, the material exhibits considerable creep properties which mean that settlement
can continue for many years after primary consolidation has been completed. Figures 1 and 2 show
the Coode Island Silt as encountered during the construction of the casino on Southbank.

With respect to engineering foundations, it should be avoided as much as possible simply because of
its low bearing capacity and tendency to cause major ongoing settlements for anything other than the
lightest of loads. It can also pose significant difficulties when excavations are placed in it with
instability resulting because of its low strength even for modest excavations.

There are of course, occasions where some reasonable sized construction is required either on this
material or below its upper surface. An example of construction on the Coode Island Silt is the
ground supported approach ramps for the pile supported elevated section of the Westgate Freeway.
Had the several metres high approach ramps been placed just before the start of operation, they
would have settled away from the effectively rigid pile supported freeway structure leaving a
considerable gap where the two join. This would have been particularly noticeable with the average
3.5m of fill settling about 700mm in 3 years with a further 500mm occurring mainly as creep
settlement over longer periods. The importance of placing the fill for the ramps several years before
they were required was very important so that the differential settlements between the two types of
structure could occur before the roads were completed. It was also important that vertical sand
drains were installed in the Coode Island Silt below the ramps so that the rates of settlement could
be accelerated.

1
Engineering Geology of Melbourne, edited by W.A. Peck, J.L. Neilson, R.J Olds and K.D. Seddon. Published by A.A.
Balkema, Rotterdam, 1992

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Where excavations are required into the Coode Island Silt, as a result of the soil’s low strength and
high watertable, side stability can become a considerable issue with even modest sloping batters
becoming quite unstable (see Figure 3). For excavations of more than a metre or two, it is normally
necessary to provide a retaining wall of some form, which because of the soil and water
characteristics, may need to extend significant depths into the Coode Island Silt for only a modest
depth of excavation.

Figure 1 Coode Island Silt from a surface test pit (photo courtesy of Golder Associates)

Figure 2 An excavation in Coode Island Silt (photo courtesy of Golder Associates)

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 Figure 3 Instability on the Coode Island Silt

One of the other major problems with a material such as the Coode Island Silt is that should the
water table level be reduced for any reason, such as with the construction and operation of any
tunnel or any deep excavation, the increase in effective pressure can cause major settlements in
surrounding areas possibly resulting in major structural damage. This has been a major factor in
numerous projects including the construction of the Arts Centre and the interchange and tunnels of
CityLink.

Design and construction problems associated with the Coode Island Silt have probably been
responsible for more legal activities than any other material in Melbourne.

3. Quaternary Sands
These sands are generally fine to medium grained with little if any fines content. The upper sands
tend to be relatively loose but generally become medium dense and dense with depth. While
foundations can generally be adequately founded on the denser sands, the main engineering
problems with these materials are:
• The sands will not stand unsupported for any length of time and therefore any major
excavations will either require side retention or, if there is adequate space, moderate slopes
down to excavation bases.
• The sands tend to be water bearing and, therefore, any excavations below the water table can
introduce significant drainage, dewatering and stability problems.

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4. Newer Volcanics
The Newer Volcanics are generally encountered as a few to several metres of weathered basaltic
clay overlying basalt of varying degrees of weathering. The transition from clay to relatively hard
rock can be quite rapid and it is not unusual to encounter “floaters” within the clay matrix. These
“floaters” can be a problem when piles are to be installed to basement rock and a “floater” is
encountered to restrict the progress of a pile but not add substantially to its capacity or performance.
They can also pose problems with excavations particularly with large “floaters”. Similar problems
can be encountered where the basalt rock body is relatively fresh and the individual blocks of basalt
are large. Figure 4 shows a mix of clay and boulders in the highly weathered Newer Volcanics
profile. Figure 5 shows the fresher basalt as exposed in the Old Burnley Quarry.

Figure 4 Mix of clay and boulders in the weathered Newer Volcanics profile (courtesy T Flintoff)

Figure 5 Basalt in Old Burnley Quarry

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While the residual clay (and clearly the fresher basalt) is a relatively good material for locating
foundations from a bearing capacity and settlement viewpoint, the clay is highly reactive. This
means that it can shrink and swell in accordance with how much water is available for absorption
within the clay. The residual basaltic clay contains significant quantities of the clay mineral
montmorillonite which can absorb large quantities of water to cause swelling. Similarly, when high
suction forces are present due to high ambient temperatures or vegetation, the same soil can shrink
significantly. This generally means that when water is plentiful (such as in wet springs or winters
where drainage is poor), the soils will swell but when water is in short supply (such as in summer
and/or in the presence of large trees), these soils will shrink. This leads to the problem, depending
on the water which is available, of the clays swelling significantly in the winter/spring period and
then shrinking in the summer/autumn period. This can cause large seasonal movements under
foundations which, in the case of lightly loaded foundations can cause major structural problems,
particularly when there are areas of large potential differences in water content. Such a difference
would occur between the underside of a large house ground slab where the slab on ground does not
allow water to evaporate from the soil and is relatively wet, and the edge of the slab which can wet
and dry according to the seasons and the availability of water. Typical differential movements
experienced by house foundations on basaltic soils can be as much as 70mm or more. Figure 6
shows shrinkage cracks in a basaltic clay. Figures 7, 8 and 9 show the sort of damage which can
occur as a result of differential movements on basaltic clays.

Figure 6 Cracking in basaltic clays (the instrument is the shaft of a golf driver)

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 Figure 7 Typical damage as a result of differential movement on basaltic clays in Burnley

Figure 8 Typical damage as a result of differential movement on basaltic clays in North Carlton

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Figure 9 Typical damage as a result of differential movement on basaltic clays in Richmond

Figure 10 Stiffened Raft Design for Differing Class Sites (from AS 2870 – 1996)

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The way to overcome these shrink/swell problems is generally a combination of placing foundations
deep enough to limit shrinkage and swelling due to climatic changes from the soils below the
foundations and linking the foundations in a relatively stiff manner so that differential movement is
spread more evenly by the stiffness of the foundation. It is also important to make sure there are no
major trees close to the foundations.

Figure 10 shows the recommendations contained in AS2870 – 1996 Residential slabs and footings
for stiffened raft foundations. Note the increase in the depth (D) of the beams as the soil becomes
more reactive. Class A is sand or rock which has virtually no ground movement, Classes S, M and
H are for slightly, moderately and highly reactive sites respectively. It should also be noted that the
more rigid the type of construction (and therefore greater likelihood of cracking), the deeper the
beams become to produce less movement as well as making the raft structure more rigid.

5. Brighton Group
The Brighton Group of materials covers extensive parts of the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne.
The upper parts of the Brighton Group are commonly referred to as the Red Bluff sands and
comprise clayey and silty sands with varying layers of sandy clays (see Figure 11). While there have
been several reported cases of foundation movements because of the often moderately reactive
nature of these clays, because of their generally high strength and low compressibility, they are
generally very good foundation soils for a wide range of small to moderately large developments. It
is very common to see multistorey developments in the Brighton group with 1 or 2 basements.
Where basements are used, it is important to assess the presence of water in the more permeable
sand layers which can cause significant drainage problems on excavation.

Figure 11 Excavation in the Brighton Group

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The lower parts of the Brighton group comprise the Black Rock Sandstone which while termed a
sandstone is more a clayey and silty sand not unlike the upper Red Bluff sands, with some gravel
layers and calcareous sands or weak limestone.

Where the Brighton group is encountered further south in the Mornington Peninsula, it is generally
referred to as the Baxter Sandstone, not too dissimilar to the Black Rock Sandstone. The Baxter
Sandstone is often associated with cliff instability in many of the relatively steep bay-side slopes
encountered from Frankston through to Portsea. This instability is caused mainly by strength loss
through weathering although it can be associated with erosion of underlying reactive clays such as
the Balcombe Clay. Figure 12 shows a slope failure in Davey’s Bay, Mt Eliza, caused by major
erosion of the Balcombe Clay and the overlying Baxter Formation.

Figure 12 Instability in the Baxter Sandstone at Davey’s Bay, Mt Eliza.

6. Older Volcanics
Apart from their greater age and considerably reduced surface exposure, from an engineering point
of view, the Older Volcanics have characteristics very similar to the Newer Volcanics.

7. Melbourne Mudstone
The Melbourne mudstone is the common name given to the sequence of sedimentary marine silty
and sandy rocks of the Silurian and Lower Devonian periods which make up the bedrock of the
whole Melbourne region. The mudstone comprises interbedded claystones, siltstones and sandstones
in which the siltstones predominate. These rocks can be found in a wide range of different
weathered states from the residual soil which is a yellow/brown silty or sandy clay of a generally
stiff or better consistency. The mudstone then progresses through the yellow/red/brown/grey/pink
extremely weathered and highly weathered conditions where the rock is generally soft (in rock terms
which is similar in strength to blackboard chalk), through moderately weathered to the dark
grey/dark blue slightly weathered and fresh conditions. The fresh rock has a strength which would

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be similar to concrete. The lighter coloured, extremely and highly weathered mudstone is frequently
encountered in the CBD and eastern suburbs but the darker coloured, stronger mudstone is usually
only encountered at depth, usually with deep foundations below shallower formations to the west of
the CBD and beyond.

Although there are areas where significant folding and faulting have taken place to produce a highly
fractured mudstone mass with rough, irregular, and often clay filled joints, the majority of the
mudstone is quite massive with defect spacings of the order of metres with clean, tight and planar
joints. Figures 13 to 16 show the mudstone at various locations.

Figure 13 Highly weathered mudstone cuts on the Eastern Freeway near Kew

Figure 14 Highly weathered mudstone in a cut on EastLink near Mitcham

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 Figure 15 Highly weathered mudstone in a cut on EastLink also near Mitcham

Figure 16 Highly to moderately weathered mudstone at the base of the Queen Vic Building

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 Figure 17 Slightly weathered mudstone in a pile socket from 50m depth near Spencer Street

The Melbourne mudstone generally provides an excellent material for structural foundations with
high strength and low compressibility. Where the mudstone is encountered close to the ground
surface, it is usual to use shallow foundations, strip and pads for the lighter buildings with rafts used
for multi-storey construction. To the west of the CBD and further south and west, the mudstone
encountered at increasing depth usually provides the founding stratum of most major buildings,
although the Moray Street Gravels and occasionally the Newer and Older Volcanics where they are
thick enough, are sometimes used. Where it is the mudstone and because of the depths involved,
foundations usually take the form of large diameter, bored, rock socketed piles drilled several
metres into the mudstone. Figures 18 shows two such piles although these were formed close to the
ground surface to examine the effects of a number of construction practices on integrity.

Figure 18 Near-surface excavated, rock socketed piles

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