DOI 10.

1007/s11204-020-09635-6
Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Vol. 57, No. 1, March, 2020 (Russian Original No. 1, January-February, 2020)

GEOTECHNICAL MONITORING

GEOTECHNICAL SUPPORT OF DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

OF "ROSTOV-ARENA" FOOTBALL (SOCCER) STADIUM

UDC 624.131
F. F. Zekhniev,* D. A. Vnukov, D. E. Razvodovskii, and A. N. Nikolaev
Gersevanov Research Institute of Bases and Underground Structures (NIIOSP), JSC
Research Center "Stroitelstvo," Moscow, Russia,
*Corresponding author Email: lab2@bk.ru.

The paper discusses specifics of R&D support of designing and constructing the founda-
tions of the football (soccer) stadium in Rostov-on-the Don, as well as results of geotech-
nical monitoring during construction and operation.

Introduction
The stadium in Rostov-on-Don designed to hold 45,000 spectators relates to unique objects
based on the size of the roof cantilevers in excess of 20 m. Therefore, an increased technical authority
level was established during the design stage of the structure (Fig. 1).
As noted in Ref. [1], 80% of construction accidents occur as a result of errors made during
design, erection, and operation of buildings and structures. The social and economic significance of the
negative situations involving unique construction objects is so great that in order to mitigate the risks, it
is necessary to provide a scientific support of design and construction stages. It should be noted that the
Gersevanov Research Institute of Bases and Underground Structures (NIIOSP) has been providing sci-
entific support of construction for a long time [2, 3], which allowed reducing the risk of accidents dur-
ing construction of a number of unique objects.
From the geomorphological standpoint, the stadium construction site is located within the flood
plain terrace of the Don River featuring a relatively flat surface and absolute elevation of 0.1 to 0.9 m.
Prior to the beginning of the stadium design stage, a hydraulic sand-fill was performed resulting in the
absolute elevation of 5.5 to 6.5 m. The development and implementation of site preparation by utilizing
hydraulic fill was carried out without coordination with the technical solutions for the underground
phase of the stadium construction, and without a scientific support, which resulted in a reduced level of
requirements to the site preparation quality. During the surveying stage performed before the hydraulic
fill of the site, no characteristics were determined to enable prediction of consolidation of hydraulically
deposited and underlying weak soils. Additionally, when performing hydraulic fill, there was no control
of compaction of such soils over time, i.e., no geotechnical monitoring was conducted.
The lithological composition of the stadium site can be conditionally divided into the following
three zones (Fig. 2):
− upper zone containing hydraulically deposited soils and measuring 6 m in thickness, which
consists of fine- and medium-sized sands ranging from loose to dense, with medium to complete water
saturation level and layers of sandy loams and clay having a thickness of up to 20 cm with inclusions
of gravel and broken shells (deformation modulus for identified differentials is E = 11-33 MPa);

Translated from Osnovaniya, Fundamenty i Mekhanika Gruntov, No. 1, pp. 14-18, January-February, 2020.
©
0038-0741/20/5701-0043 2020 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 43
 Fig. 1. General view of "Rostov − Arena" football (soccer) stadium.

6m Sand fill
Water table
Weak clay soils 12 m

Sands (medium
density to dense)

Fig. 2. Typical geotechnical cross-section.

− medium zone measuring up to 12 m in thickness with interbedded alluvial clays and clay loams
ranging from low-plasticity to fluid consistency with different degree of peat formation and layers of fine
sands and sludge, inclusion of peat, shell fragments and gravel (for weak clay soils, E = 5-7 MPa); and
− lower zone containing water-saturated fine- and medium-sized sands, ranging from medium
density to dense, under the clay soils (E = 20-34 MPa).
The hydrogeological conditions of the construction site are characterized by the presence of one
free aquifer at a depth of 6.0 to 6.5 m from the surface of hydraulically deposited soil.
The design seismicity of the stadium construction site was assumed to be equal to 7 points based
on the results of seismic microzoning.
The design and engineering documents for the stadium construction were mainly developed by
the Central Research and Design Institute for Industrial Buildings (JSC "CNIIPZ") in cooperation with
JSC "Crocus" and Stalproekt, LLC [4, 5].
The stadium features a five-story rectangular building with the angular turning radii of about
67.5 m, which includes a football (soccer) field, three tiers of open stands with sub-stand rooms and a
communication area along its perimeter.
The structural scheme of the building includes a reinforced concrete beam frame with a variable col-
umn grid measuring from 7,275  7,650 to 7,650  9,600 mm. The building is divided into sections by 150
mm wide anti-seismic joints, which exceeds the total maximum mutual displacement of two adjacent blocks.
The main load-bearing structures supporting the weight of the metal constructions of the roof are the mono-
lithic reinforced concrete columns measuring 1.2 m in diameter and pylons measuring 1.8  1.2 m in cross-
section. The frame columns are designed to have a diameter of 0.6 m. The main load-bearing components of
the metal roof of the stadium include 46 anchored cantilevers. The cantilever overhang is 51.34 m.

44
Challenges and Analysis of the Solutions
The Gersevanov Research Institute of Bases and Underground Structures (NIIOSP) (JSC
Research Center "Stroitelstvo") took part in the R&D support of design and construction of bases and
foundations structures of the stadium. During the design documentation development stage, the follow-
ing range of work was performed:
− analyzing the results of geotechnical surveys including the assessment of the scope and quali-
ty of performed work, and making decisions about the need to conduct additional studies of foundation
soils required for performing calculations;
− participating in the development of requirements for designing bases, foundations, and under-
ground part of the structure;
− performing 3D calculations of the base;
− developing programs for conducting field testing of piles and geotechnical monitoring;
− geotechnical evaluation of the design solutions.
Based on the existing experience [6], the results of analyzing primary geotechnical surveys were
used to provide recommendations concerning additional studies, which would include drilling additional
wells, carrying out plate-load tests, etc. Considering high seismicity of the area, it was recommended to
combine static and dynamic probing and assess the possibility of vibro-liquefaction of the foundation
soils. In addition, to be able to predict the consolidation of weak clay soils, it was recommended to
determine the filtration and consolidation characteristics of soils.
The conducted studies of the foundation soils, including the additional surveys, generally met the
requirements of the existing regulatory documents, but lacked the results of determining water perme-
ability of selected soil differentials, while only providing the average value of the coefficient of filtra-
tion for the entire layered sand-clay strata (0.33 m/day), which is not quite accurate and differs signifi-
cantly from the values provided for such soils in the reference materials.
The NIIOSP recommended to use prefabricated precast concrete pile foundations measuring 35
35 cm in cross-section and 26-28 m in length. The piles cut through the hydraulically deposited sandy
and loose clay soils and rest on sands, while the penetration depth is at least 8 m. In this project, the
load-bearing capacity of the piles relative to soil was determined to be 1,098.7 kN, and the allowable
pile load was 784.8 kN. The calculated horizontal pile load was 34.3 kN. The piles are capped by mono-
lithic reinforced concrete rafts (including a monolithic reinforced concrete 250 mm thick slab) with a
height of 1,050 mm under the columns and walls, and 3,750 mm under the roof structures within the
column zone. The piles are rigidly embedded within the rafts.
Within the scope of the R&D support of the design stage, geotechnical calculations of the base
of the stadium under construction were performed, and the results of these calculations were used to
determine the stiffness characteristics of the base of the pile foundations using the Midas GTS NX soft-
ware package. 3D calculations were performed for characteristic fragments of the calculation area, suf-
ficient to account for all typical sizes of pile foundations and spatial performance of the object in gen-
eral. The calculated pile stiffness varied from 9,000 to 22,000 kN/m (average 15,000 kN/m; in pile
clusters of 16 or more, it was assumed to be 9,000 kN/m).
Based on the results of spatial calculations of the stadium structures performed by JSC "CNIIPZ"
using the piles stiffness coefficients in horizontal and vertical directions recommended by the NIIOSP, the
maximum settlements of the stadium foundations were supposed to be 5.1 to 5.5 cm, while the vertical
compressive forces in piles subjected to different combinations of loads were not supposed to exceed
784.8 kN. The maximum horizontal pile loads were 28.1 kN under a main load combination, and 42.9 kN
under special combinations.
The results of calculating deformations of the stadium base over time using the Plaxis software
package showed that after completing a hydraulic sand fill, the consolidation of clay soils (assuming
10 -5 m/day as a conservative value of the coefficient of filtration) will continue to occur for a long
time. Additional settlements of the base of the floor slabs of the stadium can be about 8 cm over a

45
 Fig. 3. Demonstration of pile "undersinking" effect during massive installation of piles.

period from 10 to 12 years. A development of irregular settlements is also possible due to inhomo-
geneity of the geological structure of the construction site. Based on the obtained calculation results, it
was recommended to adopt a version of technical solutions providing for integration of the stadium
floor slab and pile rafts. Moreover, the thickness and reinforcement of the floor slab should be consid-
ered sufficient for accommodating internal forces from the payload without accounting for the behav-
ior of foundation soils.
In the process of foundation design, a pilot installation of piles was performed at the construc-
tion site (eight clusters, each containing five piles) to perform static testing. During first installations, an
undersinking of piles by 5 to 10 m from the design depths was observed due to insufficient strength of
the pile shafts to accommodate the impact from the process equipment, such as hydraulic hammer and
vibrating pile driver. The NIIOSP recommended to use piles made of at least grade B35 crushed stone
concrete with enhanced reinforcement. In this case, to reduce the number of impacts on the piles, it was
recommended to sink them into 12 to 13 m deep pilot holes down to the top of the water-saturated sand
layer using a heavier hydraulic hammer. After replacing the upper sections of the design piles with rein-
forced ones, the piles were driven down to the design depth. Based on the results of testing eight piles
under a static pushing load (specified maximum load was 1200 kN), the settlements constituted 3 to 5
mm, which confirmed the load-bearing capacity of the piles, adopted in the design, and allowable design
load relative to soil considering the development of negative friction forces from the compaction of
hydraulically filled and organo-mineral soils.
During the arrangement of the pile field, a massive undersinking of piles relative to the design
depths was noted (Fig. 3). The main reason for this was the compaction of sands during large-scale
sinking of piles, as well as the absence of pilot-hole drilling and the use of equipment with insufficient
capacity of the pile-driving engines. The average pile penetration into soil from the design elevation of
the bottom of the raft varied from 12.0 to 17.0 m for different sectors and averaged at 14.4 m across the
stadium. The difference in pile penetration depth between different sectors is associated with variable
elevations of the top of alluvial sand deposits serving as a bearing layer.
Due to a massive undersinking of piles, the general contractor of the construction project
decided to engage the NIIOSP to perform an R&D support of not only the design stage, but also the
construction stage of the object. Within the scope of the latter, the following activities were per-
formed:
− analyzing the post-completion documentation regarding sinking of piles with assessment of the
sinking depth and defining the scope of soil tests with piles to assess their bearing capacity;
− determining the deformation characteristics of the pile foundation of the stadium considering
the actual pile penetration depths and the results of their static testing;

46
 TABLE 1
Sector Maximum settlements, cm Measured settlement as a percent-
No. measured calculated age of the calculated value, %
1 4.2 4.8 88
2 3.9 4.4 89
3 3.8 4.4 87
4 4.4 5.5 80
5 5.8 6.2 94
6 5.0 5.6 89
7 3.9 4.4 89
8 4.3 5.0 86
9 3.7 4.4 84
10 3.8 6.2 61
11 4.6 5.2 89
12 4.9 5.5 89
13 4.5 4.8 94
14 4.4 4.7 94

− geotechnical examination of the construction documentation;

− conducting geotechnical monitoring (ongoing).
It was determined that the majority of piles (82% of the total quantity) were sunk into the bear-
ing sand layer by an average depth of 1.9 m. The foot of the undersunk piles was located mainly in the
transition zone between clay and sandy soils represented by the interlayered medium density fine sand
and sandy loam of fluid-plastic consistency.
Based on the results of applying a static pushing load to test 55 piles having the minimum pen-
etration depths and located in the most loaded as well as peripheral clusters, the pile settlement values
constituted 4.5 to 10.8 mm upon reaching the maximum specified load of 150 to 160 t. Based on the
results of testing 15 piles using a static pulling load, the bearing capacity relative to the side surface
was 40 t. Based on the results of testing 17 piles subjected to a horizontal load, the corresponding dis-
placements were 2.8 to 13.3 mm when applying a maximum load of 4.9-10 t, and 0.6-5.5 mm at a
design load of 4 tons. The bearing capacity of the piles considering seismic impact constituted 104 to
117 t based on the results of calculations performed by the NIIOSP.
Thus, the allowable vertical load applied to the actual installed piles generally across the stadi-
um considering the effect of the negative friction forces or seismic impact was at least 80 t relative to
soil, which ensures the accommodation of loads anticipated by the project.
Considering the fact that during the design stage of the stadium, the length of the piles adopted
as pile foundations was 25 to 28 m, while the actual installed piles were shorter and had different pen-
etration depths, the NIIOSP has recalculated the yielding of the base of pile foundations based on the
actual length of piles and their static load test results.
The pile stiffness obtained as a result of recalculations ranges from 5,900 to 24,000 kN/m. The
average stiffness is 12,000 kN/m. The maximum calculated settlement of the pile foundations for the
areas containing undersunk piles reaches 8 cm. According to the results of numerical modeling, when
performing spatial calculations, it is recommended to use the stiffness value in the horizontal direction
equal to 0.091 of the pile stiffness in the vertical direction.
In the spatial static calculations of the stadium structures, JSC "CNIIPZ" used the pile stiffness
factors in the horizontal and vertical directions that were recommended by the NIIOSP. Based on the
results of spatial calculations, the maximum vertical load in the design was assumed to be equal to
784.8 kN, and horizontal load − 35.3 kN. The maximum design settlement of the rafts was 6.5 cm.
Based on the results of geotechnical monitoring using 197 geodetic marks as of April 2019, the
maximum measured deformations were as follows: settlement 5.8 cm and relative differential settlement
0.001, which do not exceed the maximum standard values regulated by SP 22.13330.2011 (maximum
settlement − 15 cm and relative differential settlement − 0.003), as well as design values (Table 1).

47
 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
0
−10

Settlement, mm
−20
−30
−40

25.05.2017

28.04.2018

07.12.2018
15.12.2017

27.07.2018
13.10.2016
1.08.2015
−50
−60

Fig. 4. Load settlement chart of the pile foundations of the stadium over time: 1 - erection
of load-bearing structures; 2 - installation of roof structures and prefabricated components
of stadium stand floors; 3 - transfer of roof load from temporary supports to load-
bearing columns; 4 - internal finishing works and facade assembly; 5 - commissioning
of the stadium; 6 - conducting test games; 7 - holding the soccer World Cup.

As can be seen from the plot depicting development of the pile foundation settlement (Fig. 4), the
main development (up to 40 mm) occurred during the period from August 2015 to March 2016, i.e., dur-
ing the erection of the load-bearing structures made of monolithic reinforced concrete. Going forward, an
additional settlement increase of 15 mm occurred during operations associated with the installation of
roof structures, arranging internal partitions, assembling prefabricated reinforced concrete components of
the stand flooring and facade structures, and finishing works. Currently, no significant settlement devel-
opment is observed. The average settlement rate as of April 2019 varied between 0.1 and 0.3 mm/month.
The data generated by monitoring the stadium foundation settlement showed good convergence with the
calculation results.

Conclusions
At the present time, R&D support becomes a necessary measure to ensure compliance with
mechanical safety requirements when designing and constructing unique objects. However, it is advis-
able to start such R&D support from the very early stages of the construction project.
The experience of constructing the stadium in Rostov-on-Don demonstrates that site preparation
by utilizing hydraulic fill and underground phase of the construction on man-made ground were con-
ducted without coordination with the general concept of construction and without scientific support dur-
ing site preparation stage. The site preparation quality of the considered object and aggressive design
and construction schedule necessitated an arrangement of the pile foundations involving integration of
the stadium floor slab and pile rafts as the most reliable, although more expensive technical solution.

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