Lecturer – Dr.

Derek Gay

809003758
Civil with Environmental
Engineering
THE UNIVERSITY OF THE
WEST INDIES, ST. AUGUSTINE
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction........................................................................................................................3

Identification of study area.................................................................................................4

Site reconnaisance report..................................................................................................7

Modification of roadway.....................................................................................................8

Preliminary design report.................................................................................................10

Geology....................................................................................................................10

Soils..........................................................................................................................11

Seismicity.................................................................................................................12

Climate......................................................................................................................14

Vegetation................................................................................................................15

Hydrogeology / Drainage..........................................................................................15

Site/ Slope Stability...................................................................................................16

Slope Analysis.................................................................................................................17

Method of Slices approach for Slope #1..................................................................17

Method 2 for Slope Stability.....................................................................................19

Bridge design...................................................................................................................21

Abutment Design......................................................................................................22

Conclusion.......................................................................................................................26

References.......................................................................................................................27

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INTRODUCTION

The second phase of the design project deals with the geotechnical aspect of the
route and surrounding areas chosen from part one. Geotechnical engineering in
general could be defined as the engineering behavior and manipulation of earth
materials such as soil and rock. This field encompasses knowledge from areas such as
soil mechanics, rock mechanics and hydrology in order to ascertain the condition of the
surface, subsurface and bedrock. This is done in order to gain a depth of
understanding with relation to its physical, chemical and mechanical co-relations to the
surrounding environment.

Geotechnical engineering is an important aspect of all engineering endeavours,

from foundations and settlement to drainage and runoff, cutting and filling to slope
stability, and from seismologic effects to piers and abutments. In general, no matter
what engineering work or process needs to be done, there must be some sort of
geotechnical investigation and or preparation.

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IDENTIFICATION OF STUDY AREA

FIGURE 1 SHOWING A GOOGLE MAP IMAGE OF THE STARTING POINT OF THE NEW ROUTE [FROM DECEMBER 2009]

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FIGURE 2 SHOWING THE END POINT OF DESIGNED ROUTE USING GOOGLE EARTH IMAGERY [FROM DECEMBER 2009]

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 SITE RECONNAISANCE REPORT

FIGURE 3 SHOWS A PANORAMIC PICTURE OF THE EXIT POINT FOR THE PROPOSED ROADWAY [WOO CHONG, 2011]. THE COORDINATES TAKEN WERE EASTINGS:
0667451 AND NORTHINGS: 1190163 AT AN ELEVATION OF 310 METERS ± 7.1 METERS. THE END POINT WAS A STEEP CLIFF FACE THAT WAS INACCESSIBLE TO

SURVEY. IT WAS POSSIBLE TO SEE THAT THE AREA WAS COVERED IN SHRUBBERY AND VEGETATION. THERE WERE NO LARGE TREES WHICH WOULD MEAN THAT
THE AREA WOULD BE EASY TO CLEAR AND PREPARE. THE AREA SURROUNDING THE POINT WAS A PAVED ROADWAY AND THERE WERE NO VISIBLE WATER

SOURCES SUCH AS SPRINGS IN THE IMMEDIATE OBSERVABLE ENVIRONMENT. THERE WERE ALSO NO INHABITANTS AT THE END AREA WHICH MEANS THAT NO

INDIVIDUALS WOULD BE DISPLACED AND RELOCATED AT THIS POINT. FROM A GEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE, THE MATERIAL OF THE CLIFF FACE WAS COTED IN A

LAYER OF ALLUVIAL MATERIAL.

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MODIFICATION OF ROADWAY

The new roadway is accessed from the Eastern Main Road in the San Juan area,
heading North. This then branches off East into a secondary road and North once
again onto a tertiary roadway. Whereas the new roadway begins at this end point, it
should be understood that this would contribute to a greater degree of traffic along all
points leading to the route as well a greater traffic output at the point which the road
merges with the North Coast Road. Consequentially, the existing roadway
infrastructure may be insufficient in dealing will this level of traffic and thus some
modifications or upgrading should be done.

The points of upgrade chosen would be (i) at the intersection of the Eastern Main
Road and the Northern arterial and (ii) the point at which the new road merges with the
North Coast Road. The choice of road modification chosen was a roundabout, and this
was designed to AASHTO standards as shown on the following page.

A roundabout was chosen so as to streamline the traffic as much as possible

without the installation of traffic lights and because it has a higher degree of safety than
a simple merging intersection. Since the issue of space was not a problem it was
chosen above the mini roundabout.

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PRELIMINARY DESIGN REPORT

Geology

FIGURE 4 ABOVE SHOW THE GEOLOGY TYPES SPECIFIC TO THE AREA IN QUESTION.

From the observation of the geological map above, the areas of interest
consisted mainly of limestone and quartzite. Quartzite is a hard mineral, scoring 6.5 to
7 on the Moh’s scale whereas limestone is a 3 to 4. These minerals are consistent with
the Northern Range area which generally consists of low grade metamorphic rocks.

Quartzite is very resistant to chemical weathering and often forms ridges

and resistant hilltops. The nearly pure silica content of the rock provides little to

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form soil from and therefore the quartzite ridges are often bare or covered only with a
very thin soil and little vegetation.

Soils

FIGURE 5 SHOWING THE SOIL TYPES PRESENT IN THE AREA

The map above shows that the majority of the site consists of high upland soils
with free internal drainage, specifically micacious phyllites. This has increased
susceptibility to weathering since the soil matrix is very brittle and prone to fissure.

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Seismicity

The Eastern Caribbean is a seismically active area with hundreds of earthquakes

occurring in and around the region each year. The above diagrams, (Figures 6 & 7)

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show the spectral acceleration over two different time periods and the intensity in
galileos across various regions of Trinidad.

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[insert isohyetal map, fig 8]

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Climate
The island is characterized by a tropical maritme climate due to its position in the tropics. As a result there are two
distinct seasons, the dry season which runs from January to June and the rainy season which runs from June to
December. During the rainy season, there is s higher level of precipitation. Throughout the year the humidity is
considerably high. The area of particular interest in the Northern Range usually receives the most rainfall since besides
the usual cyclonic and convectional type precipitation, the area is also privy to orographic or relief rainfall as a result of the
North- East trade winds and the proximity of the mountains to a large body of water, i.e. the Caribbean Sea. This is
supported by the isohyetal map shown. It should be noted that the map may be a little outdated, being from 1988. The
average annual rainfall was shown to be between 1800mm and 2000mm.

FIGURE 9 SHOWING THE AVERAGE PRECIPITATION FOR TRINIDAD, TAKEN FROM THE WEATHER AND CLIMATE INFORMATION AGENCY

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Vegetation
While it was not possible to observe the vegetation throughout the course of the
entire route, the general cover was noted at the starting point of the road as well as the
ending point.

The starting point had a lot of large trees such as chatagne, coconut and spiny
palm, as well as a wide range of shrubbery and smaller vegetation types. The end point
was less viewable, but it could have been said that smaller, sparse vegetation types
were present.

Hydrogeology / Drainage
Concrete drains were present at areas in close proximity to the end point as well
as circular concrete culverts, however it should be noted that these features had
accumulated a large amount of dry leaves and general debris. It should be noted that
the area is not one which has a flooding problem despite the high level of rainfall. This
may be due to the natural gradient of the land as well as the free drainage soils present.

While it was not possible to obtain any solid data on the hydrogeology of the
area, it was noted that there were many points close to the end point of the proposed
route that showed spring like properties. The nature of these springs were not
confirmed.

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Site/ Slope Stability

It was noted that the area due to the mountainous nature, degree of cutting and
filling, as well as the high level of rainfall would contribute to easier slope instability
leading to land slips as well as the slipping of the roadway. There were areas at which
gabion baskets were placed in order to help remediate the problem.

FIGURE 10 SHOWING THE GABION BASKETS BEING USED AS A PROTECTIVE MEASURE FOR THE LAND SLIPPAGE

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SLOPE ANALYSIS

(Refer to Diagram on following page)

Method of Slices approach for Slope #1

SLICE b h1 h2 W1 W2 WT α Wcosα Wsinα

43.6186
1 1.2 4.2 0 105.84 0 105.84 9 -96.434 2
96.5118
2 1.2 5.8 0 146.16 0 146.16 18 9 -109.764
83.1420 98.0040
3 1.2 3.1 2.1 78.12 50.4 128.52 26 7 1
4 1.2 0.3 4 7.56 96 103.56 36 -13.2519 -102.709
5 1.2 0 3.4 0 81.6 81.6 48 -52.2358 -62.6896
6 1.2 0 1.7 0 40.8 40.8 61 -10.5305 -39.4176
Σ 14.2016 156.957
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γ1 = 21 kN/m3
γ2 = 20 kN/m3
φ = 37°

Factor of Safety = Wcosα (tanφ) = 14.20169 x 0.75355 = 10.702 = 0.07

Wsinα 156.957 156.957

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[INSERT METHOD OF SLICES]

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Method 2 for Slope Stability

(Refer to following page for diagram)

1.52
x 4.83 = 3.4
2.16

Area = 0.5 (4.83 x 3.4 ) = 8.21 m2

W = γA = 21 x 8.21 = 172.41 kN

θ = tan-1 (4.83/ 3.4) = 54.86°

Factor of Safety = Restoring Forces / Activating Forces

= τ / Wsinθ

=(Wcosθ) tanφ / Wsinθ

=(172.41 x cos54.86 x tan 37) / (172.41 sin 54.86)

=0.53

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[insert second slope method]

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BRIDGE DESIGN

The type of bridge structure being designed for the largest fill section is a simply
supported beam bridge. This was chosen because of the simplicity compared to other
types of bridge structures and also because it was the most economically feasible to
construct.

FIGURE 13 SHOWING A SIMPLY SUPPORTED BEAM BRIDGE DESIGN

The quantitative part of the design consisted of the construction of the abutment
structures at either end. The other components such as the piers and decking are
purely qualitative.

The abutment design itself would be geometrically simplified so as to get the

basic dimensions needed. The height of the abutment could not have exceeded 15m,
the thickness of the abutment could not have exceeded 2.5m and it was assumed that
the thickness of the abutment was the same throughout as well as the active pressure
against it was uniformly triangular.

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Abutment Design

Height, h = 13.5 m
Thickness, t = 1.2 m
γs = 21 kN/m3
φ = 37°
γc = 24 kN/m3

Active Rankine Pressure, ka = (1 – sinφ) / (1 + sinφ)

= (1 – sin37) / (1 + sin37) = 0.25

Pa = ka x γ x A = ka x γ x (h2 / 2) = 0.25 x 21 x (13.52 / 2) = 478.4 Pa

Overturning Moment = Pa x ((h/3) + t) = 478.4 x ((13.5/3) + 1.2) = 2726.88 kNm

Restoring Moment = γsAs + γcAc

=[ γs x h x (2a-t)] + [γc x h x t] + [γc x 2a x t] =
=[21 x 13.5 x (2a – 1.2)] + [24 x 13.5 x 1.2] + [21 x 2a x 1.2] = 624.6a + 48.6

Factor of Safety = (Restoring moment / Overturning moment)

= (624.6a + 48.6) / 2726.88
At this point, assume a desired factor of safety. In this case, 1.5 was chosen.

Therefore, a = 6.47m, hence b = 2a = 12.94m

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[insert drawing of abutment]

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[insert drawing of bridge] view 1

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inset drawing of bridge view 2

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CONCLUSION

A geotechnical report was conducted on the site of the proposed roadway and
consisted of a reconnaissance survey and a preliminary design report which inspected
the many contributing geotechnical factors such as drainage, soil type and geology
type.
Slope analyses were carried out for the two largest slopes, and the basic design
of a bridge was used to replace the area of greatest fill.

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REFERENCES

 Craig, R. F. (2004). Soil Mechanics (7th edition). Taylor and Francis, April 2004.

 Lambe, William T. Soil Testing for Engineers. John Wiley and Sons Inc, 1967.

 Mitchell, James K.. (1993). Fundamentals of Soil Behavior. Second edition. John
Wiley and Sons, New York.

 Bowles, Joseph E. Engineering Properties of Soils. 4th. Boston: Irwin McGraw–

Hill, 1992.

 Budhu, Muni. Soil Mechanics and Foundations. John Wiley and Sons Inc, 2000.

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