International Society for Soil Mechanics

and Geotechnical Engineering

TC 302: Forensic Geotechnical Engineering

Fourth International Seminar on

FORENSIC GEOTECHNICAL
ENGINEERING
10-12 January, 2013 at Bengaluru, India

Organisers Patron

American Society of Civil Engineers

INDIA SECTION

Editors

Dr. G L Sivakumar Babu Dr. V V S Rao Dr. M R Madhav

Fourth International Seminar on Forensic Geotechnical Engineering

12
 Fourth International Seminar on
FORENSIC GEOTECHNICAL
ENGINEERING
10-12 January, 2013 at Bengaluru, India
 Fourth International Seminar on Forensic Geotechnical Engineering

Organisers Patron

INDIAN GEOTECHNICAL SOCIETY

The Indian National Society of Soil Mechanics and Foundation
Engineering was established in the year 1948, soon after the second
International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering
held at Rotterdam. The Society was affiliated to the International Society
in the same year and since then it has strived to fulfil and promote the
objectives of the International Society. In December 1970, the name, Indian
Geotechnical Society (IGS) was adopted. In January 1994, it hosted XIII
International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering.
Various Local Chapters of the IGS organise annual conferences of the
Society.
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS (ASCE) INDIA
SECTION (IS)
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has been a front runner
in the advancement of knowledge in the area of Civil Engineering globally
and made significant contributions. The India section of ASCE is an
initiative of International division of ASCE to spread its message and bring
together many members from India to actively participate in its programs.
The activities are spread across northern, eastern and southern regions of
India.
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE, BENGALURU
Established in 1909, Indian Institute of Science is widely recognized
to be the best scientific and engineering institute for advanced research in
India. Bengaluru is located on the Deccan Plateau in the south eastern part
of Karnataka and is India’s fifth most populous urban agglomeration. It is a
home to heavy industries, aerospace, techno communications and defence
organisations and is also known as Silicon Valley of India. There are a lot
of historical places in close proximity as well.


Fourth International Seminar on Forensic Geotechnical Engineering

COMPOSITION OF TC302

Chairman: Vice Chairman: Secretary:

Dr. V V S Rao Prof. M R Madhav Prof. G L Sivakumar Babu
(India) (India) (India)

Executives Members
Mr. P W Day (S.Afrika) Dr. Axel Ng (Hongkong)
Dr. R Hwang (Taiwan) Dr. Suraj de Silva (Hongkong)
Mr. D Hight (U.K) Mr. J Robert (France)
Prof. M Popescu (USA) Mr. Alain Pecker (France)
Dr. Yoshi Iwasaki (Japan) Mr. K Itoh (Japan)
Pro. J Mecsi (Hungary) Mr. T Barry (UK)
Prof. W F Lee (Taiwan) Mr. A V Filatov (Kazakhstan)
Prof. K K Phoon (Singapore) Mr. Dirk Lugar (Netherlands)
Mr. David Starr (Australia) Mr. W Cichy (Poland)
Prof. Luiz Guilherme de Mello (Brazil) Prof. Malek Bouazza (Australia)
Mr. D S Saxena (USA) Prof. Anand J Puppala (USA)
Mr. Rob Jessep (U.K) Dr. Jan Hellings (UK)
Mr. Enrico Conte (Italy)
Mr. Vincenzo Caputa (Italy)
Mr. G Murray (New Zealand)
Mr. Enrique Dapena (Spain)

ORGANISING COMMITTEE

Chairman: Vice Chairman: Organising Secretary:

Dr. V V S Rao Prof. M R Madhav Prof. G L Sivakumar Babu
Chair, TC302 Vice Chair, TC302 Secretary, TC302

Members:
Prof. M R Pranesh, Prof (Rtd.), IIT Madras, Bengaluru
Sri. M S Sudarshan, Vice Chairman, Civil-Aid Technoclinic (P) Ltd, Bengaluru
Dr. B Munwar Basha, IIT Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi
Prof. G Madhavi Latha, IISc., Bengaluru
Dr. G Tejas Murthy, IISc., Bengaluru


 Fourth International Seminar on Forensic Geotechnical Engineering

Sri. P Raghuveer Rao, IISc., Bengaluru

Sri. B S C Rao, President, ACCE, Bengaluru
Sri. K P Pradeep, Editor-in-Chief, The Masterbuilder, Chennai
Sri. Ajit Sabnis, Secretary General, ACCE, Bengaluru
Prof. H N Ramesh, Civil Engg. Dept., UVCE, Bengaluru
Sri. I V Anirudhen, IGS Chennai Center, Chennai
Dr. Sumanta Haldar, IIT Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar
Dr. Dasaka Satyanarayana Murthy, IIT Bombay
Prof. K Premalatha, Anna University, Chennai
Prof. K Rajagopal, IIT Madras, Chennai
Dr. K S Ramakrishna, L&T Ltd., Chennai
Prof. A Bhoominathan, Chairman, IGS Chennai Centre, Chennai
Dr. (Ms) M Muttaram, Secretary, IGS Chennai Centre, Chennai
Dr. V Balakumar, Simplex Concrete Piles Ltd., Chennai
Dr. S R Gandhi, IIT Madras, Chennai
Dr. K Ilamparuthi, Anna University, Chennai

ADVISORY COUNCIL

Convener: Secretary:
Dr. V V S Rao Prof. G L Sivakumar Babu

Members:
Prof. J L Briaud, President, ISSMGE, USA
Dr. Suzanne Lacasse, Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, Norway
Prof. Askar Zhussupbekov, Vice President Asia, ISSMGE, Kazakhstan
Dr. Sheriff Wissa, TOC-Member, Egypt
Prof. M D Bolton, University of Cambridge, UK
Dr. Luiz Guilherme de Mello, Vecttor Projects, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Sri. Amod Gupta, Jaypee Infra Ventures, New Delhi, India
Prof. K S Rao, President, IGS, Delhi
Prof. Chandan Ghosh, Secretary, IGS, Delhi
Prof. A Sridharan, INSA Hon. Scientist, Bengaluru
Prof. B R S Murthy, Retired Professor, IISc
Prof. T G Sitharam, Chairman, IGS Karnataka Chapter, Bengaluru
Prof. K S Subbarao, Retired Professor, IISc


Fourth International Seminar on Forensic Geotechnical Engineering

TECHNICAL COMMITTEE
Convener: Secretary:
Prof. M R Madhav Prof. G L Sivakumar Babu

Members:
Mr. P W Day, South Africa Mr. David Starr, Australia
Prof. J Mecsi, Hungary Prof. W F Lee, Taiwan
Prof. M Popescu, USA Prof. Yoshi Iwasaki, Japan
Mr. D S Saxena, USA Mr. Rob Jessep, UK
Dr. R Hwang, Taiwan Prof. S K Prasad, India
Dr. Jan Hellings, UK Prof. K K Phoon, Singapore

Convener: Members:
Sri. M S Sudarshan Prof. M R Pranesh, Sri. K P Pradeep

PUBLICITY
Convener:
Sri. K P Pradeep

REGISTRATION COMMITTEE
Convener: Member:
Prof. H N Ramesh Prof. M R Pranesh

HOSPITALITY
Convener:
Sri. Ajit Sabnis

WEBSITE COORDINATOR

Dr. B Munwar Basha


 Fourth International Seminar on Forensic Geotechnical Engineering

Contents
Keynote Papers
Forensic Geotechnical Engineering – Theory and Practice 13
Suzanne Lacasse-Høeg

Performance-Based Design in Geotechnical Engineering 37

Professor Malcolm Bolton, Cambridge University

Learning from the Past: The Ancient Egyptians and

Geotechnical Engineering 38
Sherif W. Agaiby, Moustafa K. El-Ghamrawy, Sayed M. Ahmed

Forensic Geotechnics – Some Case Studies from Singapore 70

C. F. Leung

Aspects Regarding Management of Soil Risk 83

Rolf Katzenbach, Steffen Leppla, Alexandra Weidle, Deepankar Choudhury

Caisson Failure Induced by Wave Action 95

E.E. Alonso, N.P. Pinyol and P. Fernández

Forensics of Pile Foundations Subjected to Earthquake Induced

Liquefaction and Lateral Spreading 148
Gopal SP Madabhushi

Stability of Landfill Capping Systems on Steep Slopes –

Lessons Learned from Practice 175
G. Heerten; K. Werth and C. Niehues

Attempts to Protect Personal Houses from Seismic

Liquefaction Problem 191
Ikuo Towhata and Rouzbeh Rasouli

Guidelines for Forensic Investigations of Geotechnical Cases 210

Dr.V.V.S. Rao


Fourth International Seminar on Forensic Geotechnical Engineering

Analysing Ground – Beyond a Mechanistic Approach 216

Madhav Madhira, Umashankar, B. and Sireesh, S.

The Role of Uncertainty in Forensic Geotechnical Engineering 225

Robert Gilbert

Failure and Defence of Flood Protection Dykes 237

H. Brandl

Contributions from Task Force Leaders

Definition and Characterisation of Failure & Data Collection 259
Peter Day

Characterisation of Failure at a Large Landslide in SE Queensland

by Geological Mapping, Laboratory Testing, Instrumentation
and Monitoring 276
D.C.Starr , J. Woodsford and D.F. Marks

Special Material Properties and Circumstances on the Serious

Geotechnical Disasters 288
József Mecsi

Effects of Vibration by Demolition to Nearby Machine Shop

Floor - Wave Measurement for Dynamic Property of Ground 300
Y Iwasaki and K Nakagawa

Forensic Engineering, Legal Considerations, and Property Damage

Assessment from Construction Vibrations 311
Dhirendra S. Saxena (Sax), P.E., F NAFE; Prashanth Vaddu, P.E.; Anu Saxena, P.E.

Failure Analysis of A Highway Dip Slope Slide 325

Wei F. Lee, H. J. Liao, C. H. Wang

Technical Shortcomings Causing Geotechnical Failures:

Report of Task Force 10, TC 302 339
R. A. Jessep, L. G. de Mello & V. V. S. Rao


 Fourth International Seminar on Forensic Geotechnical Engineering

Reliability analysis in Forensic Geotechnical Engineering 376

G L Sivakumar Babu

Invited Papers
The Reasons of Extremely Unusual Occurrence of Full Destroying
of a House in the Residential District Besoba in Soil Ground
Conditions of Karaganda City 383
V. Popov and A. Zhussupbekov

Distress in Reinforced Soil Walls – An Appraisal 391

G. Venkatappa Rao

Contributed Papers
Analyses of Unexpected Settlements of Large Oil Tanks
in the Rotterdam Port 399
J.L. Bijnagte, H.J. Luger

Investigation of Soil Saturation and Compaction Homogeneity in the

Failed Soil Nailed Wall and Fill Using Ground Penetrating Radar 409
Anbazhagan P, Naresh Dixit P S, Deepu Chandran and Murali Krishna A

Forensic Geotechnical Investigations for Floor Failure of an

Industrial Building near Bhopal, India - A Case Study 427
S.B. Suri, Nakul Dev, Thomas Joseph & Jancy Mathew

Recent Approaches of Back Analysis for

Addressing Geotechnical Issues 438
Dauji Saha, Ranjan Kumar, Kapilesh Bhargava and Sekhar Basu

Post-liquefaction Data Collection and Analyses for

Earthquakes in New Zealand 450
Md. Mizanur Rahman, M. ASCE and T. G. Sitharam

Failure Analysis of Retaining Wall 463

G. L. Siva Kumar Babu, Raja J and Amit Srivastava

Penetration of Mudmats for Fixed Offshore

Platforms - Case Studies 478
Rupam Mahanta and R. K. Ghanekar


Fourth International Seminar on Forensic Geotechnical Engineering

Deep Excavations and Managing the Risk of Damages in the

Proximate Vicinity 490
R. Katzenbach, C. Bergmann, F. Clauss and M. Seip

Need for Forensic Engineering in Earthquake Geotechnics –

Case Studies from 2001 Gujarat Earthquake 505
Prasad, S. K., Towhata, I., Chandradhara, G. P., Vijayendra, K. V. and Honda, T.

Performance a Full Raft Foundation Constructed on Soft Clay 523

I.V. Anirudhan and S.V. Ramaswamy

Unusual Case of Intermediate Geomaterial – Foundations on Shale 538

Madhav Madhira and I.V.Anirudhan

Fall of the Top Slab of a Pile-Supported Bridge on Soil with a

Soft Top Layer 545
E. Dapena and A.Serrano

Design and Construction of Diaphragm Walls Embedded in

Rock for a Metro project 555
Dr. N. Kumar Pitchumani, Dr. Makarand G. Khare, Sridhanya, KV

Forensic Investigation and Analysis of Pre-Mature

Rutting Failure on an In-Service Highway Pavement 570
Girish Kumar, Anjaneyappa, Veeraragavan, A and Rajib B. Mallick

Distress in Relation with Mode of Failures and

Cause for Deformation 604
Ketan Bajaj and B.V.H. Ramakanth

Performance Assessment of Geosynthetic-Encased Stone

Columns in Soft Clay – A Numerical Study 617
S. Rajesh and M. Koch

Analysis of Laterally Loaded Piles in Multi-Layered Cohesionless Soils 628

B. S. Chawhan, S. S. Quadri and G. R. Doddagoudar

Failure of Structure due to Slow Creep of Hill - A Case of

Forensic Geotechnical Approach 638
Vivek Pagey, Prof. V.K. Shrivastava

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 Fourth International Seminar on Forensic Geotechnical Engineering

Design and Construction of Diaphragm Walls

Embedded in Rock for a Metro project

Dr. N. Kumar Pitchumani1, Dr. Makarand G. Khare2 and Sridhanya3

1
Technical Director, AECOM India Pvt Ltd, Chennai, India, email: NKumar.
Pitchumani@aecom.com
2
Principal Engineer, AECOM India Pvt Ltd, Chennai, India, email: makarand.
khare@aecom.com
3
KV, Project Engineer, AECOM India Pvt Ltd, Chennai, India, email: Sridhanya.
KV@aecom.com

ABSTRACT
The construction of an underground metro station using cut-and-
cover method requires deep excavations inside congested cities. The metro
contractors in India prefer a multi-propped diaphragm wall as a temporary
support during excavation and permanent support during service life.
However, the presence of rock above or near the soffit of the base slab poses
a great difficulty in achieving the wall embedment as required by the design.
In such cases, an inadequate toe embedment below the soffit of the base slab
of a station box could lead to a risk of toe instability and hydraulic failure
during bulk excavation. Inadequate toe embedment could lead to a large
deflection of the diaphragm wall and associated settlements of the adjacent
buildings, especially heritage structures which can only tolerate a settlement
of about less than 1mm. Therefore, it is important that every diaphragm
wall panel is embedded in the design rock grade. However, the variation in
the rock head and the rock grade across the footprint of station box requires
frequent design changes in terms of diaphragm wall toe elevation and wall
reinforcement to satisfy the design embedment. These changes results in
a significant cost increase and delays the project completion. This paper
discusses the design and construction aspects of diaphragm walls embedded
in Charnockite rock wherein a robust design strategy was implemented to
address the above issues. A methodology using the boreholes at a closer
spacing in conjunction with a wide range of probable combinations of
rock grades and the corresponding toe embedment was implemented. This

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strategy allows a faster decision making at site level which results in better
quality of diaphragm wall, savings in construction time and cost and a safer
construction practice. The influence of drilling technique used for the soil
investigation and its impact on the assessment of rock grade and diaphragm
wall toe embedment is also discussed.
Key words: Diaphragm wall, Charnockite Rock, Termination Criteria,
Deep Excavation
INTRODUCTION
In the last decade India has embarked on many underground metro
projects. The metro contractors in India prefer diaphragm walls for the
construction of station box over the other earth retaining structures such
as secant piles, contiguous bored piles or sheet piles. A multi-propped
diaphragm wall is used as a temporary support during excavation and
permanent support during service life. Diaphragm wall offers water-
tightness, minimum noise and vibration disturbance during installation, and
is a proven construction method for earth support. Diaphragm wall also
helps in controlling the excavation induced ground and building settlements.
The diaphragm wall toe embedment is governed by the construction stage
analysis. The variation in the rock head and the rock grade may require
frequent design changes in terms of diaphragm wall toe elevation and wall
reinforcement to satisfy the design criteria for toe embedment. These
changes results in a significant cost increase and delays. The delays in
completion of diaphragm wall panels could lead to instability or collapse
of slurry trenches posing a risk to the nearby structures and human life.
This paper discusses the factors controlling the diaphragm wall toe depth in
design of two underground metro stations referred as Site 1 and Site 2. The
station boxes at Site 1 and at Site 2 are proposed to be constructed using a
bottom-up and top-down construction method respectively. The problems
faced in achieving the design diaphragm wall embedment in Charnockite
rock are discussed. The effect of borehole investigation technique on the
assessment of grade of rock and the termination depth of diaphragm wall
is brought out.
SITE GEOLOGY
The area is an easterly sloping coastal plain. The eastern and southern
parts of the area have shallow bedrocks, while the central and northern parts

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have zones of deep bed rock. The greater part of the district is covered by
Pleistocene to Holocene alluvium of rivers in the north and in the south.
The thickness of alluvium varies from a few meters in southern parts to
more than 50m in central and northern parts. The average depth to bedrock
in the district varies from 20m to 25m. The alluvium consists of silty sand,
sandy clay, silt and occasional gravels and is underlain by crystalline rocks
mostly of charnockite series. The ground water table is shallow and rises
near to ground level during rains. The geological profiles of rock at Site
Table 1 Engineering Properties of soils and rock – Site 1

Reduced Soil Type Cu Eu c’ E’ v’

’
Level (MSL)
From To (kPa) (MPa) (kPa) (MPa) (MPa)
+3.7 -6.5 Silty Sand (SM) - - 0 27-43 3-150 0.3
+2.3 -2.45 Clay (CI/CL) 10-60 3-18 0.4-2.4 - 2.6-15 0.3
-5 -15 Silty Sand (SM) - - 0 28-40 7.5-150 0.3
-12 -25 Rock, Grae V(a)# - - 0 39 150 0.3
-12 -25 Rock, Grae V(b) #
- - 50 40 150 0.3
-17 -29 Rock, Grae IV# - - 800 36 1400 0.25
-17 -29 Rock, Grae III# - - 940 38.5 2500 0.20
-17 -29 Rock, Grae II# - - 1080 42 4500 0.15

Table 2 Engineering Properties of soils and rock – Site 2

Reduced Soil Type Cu Eu c’ E’ v’

’
Level (MSL)
From To (kPa) (MPa) (kPa) (MPa) (MPa)
+4.65 +1.65 Filled up soil - - 0 30 8.7 0.3
+1.65 -0.35 Clayey sand 15-60 4.5-18 0.6-2.4 30 3.9-15.6 0.3
-0.35 -2.35 Silty Sand - - 0 32-41 6-30 0.3
-2.35 -4.35 Clayey Sand 15-80 4.5-24 0.6-3.2 30 3.9-20.8 0.3
-4.35 -12.35 Silty Sand - - 0 29-41 7.5-33 0.3
Rock, Grae V(a)# - - 0 39 150 0.3
Rock, Grae V(b) #
- - 50 40 150 0.3
-12.35 -18.85 Rock, Grae IV# - - 800 36 1400 0.25
Rock, Grae III# - - 940 38.5 2500 0.20
Rock, Grae II #
- - 1080 42 4500 0.15
# Strength and stiffness parameters for rocks are based Hoek-Brown failure criteria, the grade of rock
is as per Table 3.

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Table 3 Grade of Rock and Ultimate Skin Friction

Grade of Description of rock Strength RQD CR Ultimate

Rock material and rock (%) (%) skin friction
mass (fs) (kPa)
Fresh (I) No visible sign of mate- Very High 90-100 95-100 1035
rial weathering.
Slightly weath- Discoloration indicates Very high to 75-90 90-95 865
ered (II) weathering of rock mate- 50-60% of fresh
rial and defect surface. rock strength
Moderately Less than 50 % material 30% of fresh 40-75 60-90 720
weathered (III) decomposed and disinte- rock strength
grated to intact soil.
Highly weath- More than 50 % material 15% of fresh 10-40 30-60 600
ered (IV) decomposed and disinte- rock strength
grated to intact soil.
Completely Intact friable soil which Extremely low <10 >10 400
weathered (Vb) may be weakly cohesive.
Completely Soil has fabric of parent <10 <10 200
weathered (Va) rock.

1 and Site 2 are shown in Figures 1 and 2. The engineering properties of

soils and rocks from Site 1 and Site 2 are described in Table 1 and Table
2 respectively. The grade of Charnockite rock is decided based on Core
Recovery (CR) and Rock Quality Designation (RQD) as given in Table 3.
A preliminary ground investigation for the station was carried out to
determine the soil profile and rock head. The investigation was done using
rotary drilling and double tube core barrel to recover the rock cores. The
rock head level was found to vary as indicated in Figures 1 and 2. Based
on the observation from preliminary investigation, diaphragm wall was
designed. The preliminary investigation indicated the presence Grade V (b)
and better rock at deeper level as indicated in the drawing and hence required
about 6m embedment into the Grade V (a) rock stratum. The construction
of initial diaphragm wall panels indicated that hard rock (Grade V-b or
better) was met at shallower depths than estimated earlier. Subsequently,
additional boreholes were carried out along the panel alignment at closer
spacing to check the presence of hard rock. Hydraulic rigs were used for
this investigation and rock cores were recovered using triple tube core
barrel. This investigation resulted in better quality of rock cores and rock
core information was available at a closer intervals. The comparison of rock
head depths based on preliminary and additional ground investigations are

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Fourth International Seminar on Forensic Geotechnical Engineering

Figure 1.Geological profile of site 1 (based on preliminary and additional site investigation carried out by contractor)
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Fourth International Seminar on Forensic Geotechnical Engineering

Figure 2.Geological profile of site 2 (based on preliminary and additional site investigation carried out by contractor)
 Fourth International Seminar on Forensic Geotechnical Engineering

presented in the Figures 1 and 2. As better rock grades were observed at

shallower depths, the diaphragm wall embedment depth was reassessed
without compromising the design requirement which is discussed in the
next section.
DIAPHRAMGM WALL DESIGN FOR UNDERGROUND
STATIONS
The stations, crossovers and auxiliary accesses are constructed by
cut-and-cover method with bottom-up or top-down construction sequence.
The propping system supporting the diaphragm wall during excavation
comprises temporary steel struts and/or permanent floor slabs. Design
of excavation works are carried out by adopting the philosophy of limit
state design which are classified into the Ultimate Limit State (ULS) and
Serviceability Limit State (SLS). Equilibrium calculations and structural
design calculations are performed to evaluate the interaction between
the ground and the structure. The diaphragm wall embedment depth and
propping system are initially determined by ULS analysis and then checked
for SLS. The embedment depth of diaphragm wall is determined through
checking for the following modes of instability:
i) Hydraulic cut off;
ii) Basal heave at excavation base;
iii) Flotation of the overall structure;
iv) Lateral stability.
Hydraulic cut off
Diaphragm wall embedment depth is checked for sufficient penetration
to prevent instability due to either piping or heaving. The seepage pressure
or the exit gradient near the toe of embedded wall is controlled to achieve a
factor safety (Fhy) of 1.5 for the temporary condition. The factor of safety
against piping/hydraulic failure in sand can be determined in accordance
with NAVFAC (1982). In the case of diaphragm wall penetrating into
bedrock (moderately weathered rock or better) strata, it is assumed that
adequate groundwater cutoff will be achieved and piping/hydraulic failure
is not likely to occur.
Basal Heave Failure
The basal heave type of failure is analogous to those of bearing

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capacity in foundation stability where weight and/or stress reduction

within the excavation side potentially result in soil bearing failure. The
basal instability can be overcome by penetrating the diaphragm wall to a
sufficient depth into the competent ground. In Site 1 and Site 2, the basal
heave failure is unlikely to occur considering the presence of very dense
sand (or completely weathered rock) near the soffit of base slab (as shown
in Figures 1 and 2).
Floatation Failure
The geological profile shows the presence of natural groundwater
table near to the existing ground level. The underground structure will
be submerged and subjected to the buoyancy force. The underground
structures are designed such that the ‘net downward load’ (defined as
the factored downwards loads and factored restraining forces minus the
buoyancy force) is always positive. A minimum factor of safety against
flotation should be 1.1.
Lateral Stability
The adequacy of diaphragm wall embedment depth below final
excavation level is checked by considering the equilibrium of the free-
ended span below the lowest strut, assuming a plastic hinge at the level of,
and rotation about the lowest strut. The active and passive earth pressures
required for equilibrium calculation are based on the mobilised soil strength
parameters as recommended in BS8002 and CIRIA report C580. The
factor of safety against toe instability is determined in accordance with the
equation below and shall not be less than 1.0.

Where,
Pp = total force on the passive side,
Pa1 = total active force below the lowest strut at the active side,
l1 and l2 = lever arms for the total active force and passive force,
Ms = moment capacity of wall at the lowest strutted level.
SOIL-STRUCTURE INTERACTION ANALYSIS
The soil-structure interaction analysis is carried out to evaluate the

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overall stability of the lateral support system and to derive the member
forces during various stages of construction. The soil-structure interaction
is modelled using PLAXIS 2D (2010), a two dimensional finite element
program. The program allows a simulation of the excavation process by
defining construction stages in the calculation module.
The assumptions made in the soil-structure interaction analyses are
listed below:
a) The diaphragm wall is assumed to be “wished in place” and sequential
excavation were simulated by removing the soil clusters from the front
of the wall and activating the strut and/or slab elements
b) Soils, rock are modelled using Mohr-Coulomb model. Quadratic
6-noded triangular elements are adopted to model the stresses and
deformations in soil/rock. In-situ soil condition is simulated by Ko
procedure.
c) The bending elements (such as diaphragm wall, slabs) are modelled
using ‘Plate Element’ with axial (EA) stiffness and flexural stiffness
(EI). 70% full flexural stiffness (EI) of the diaphragm walls is
assumed.
d) Struts are modelled as node-to-node anchors with elastic behaviour.
e) The groundwater table at retained soil side is assumed approximately
at the ground level, the groundwater level within the excavation is
re-defined to about 1m below the formation level to model the
dewatering within excavated area. The pore pressure distributions
in earth materials are generated on the basis of specified phreatic levels
and steady-state groundwater flow analysis.
f) Traffic surcharge of 20 kPa is applied behind the retaining wall.
g) The sandy soils (including SM, SP, GM, and GP) and rocks (of all
weathering grades) are considered to have drained behaviour during
construction.
h) The clayey soils (including CH, CI, CL, MH, MI, ML, and SC) are
considered to have undrained behaviour during construction.

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ANALYSIS RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

A reassessment of the embedment depth was felt necessary since better
rock grades were observed at shallower depths. Accordingly, the three cases
were identified for the analysis as shown in Table 4.
Table 4: Cases for soil-structure interaction analysis
Cases Description
Case 1 6 m embedment in Grade V (a) rock which is the base case
Case 2 3 m embedment in Grade V (b) rock
Case 3 2 m embedment in Grade IV rock

The analyses were carried out for lower embedment of diaphragm

wall toe levels in better rock grades using PLAXIS 2D software. The
strength and stiffness parameters shown in Table 1 and Table 2 were used
to model the soil-structure interaction in PLAXIS 2D. The base case design
of diaphragm wall was based on the entire embedment of 6m in Grade
V (a) rock as revealed in preliminary ground investigation. The base case
design was then checked for sensitivity, wherein the diaphragm wall was
embedded in a progressively stronger rock occurring at a higher elevation
than that observed in the preliminary ground investigation.
The results of the analysis are discussed below. The diaphragm wall
deflections for various cases analysed for Site 1 and Site 2 are shown
in Figures 3, and 4 respectively. The diaphragm wall bending moment
envelopes for various cases analysed for Site 1 and Site 2 are shown in
Figures 5, and 6 respectively. Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6 shows that the diaphragm
wall embedded in stronger rock and terminated at a higher elevations
experiences lower deflections and bending moments. The bending moment
envelopes shrunk above formation level with embedment in better rock thus
requiring no additional reinforcement. Even where the moments exceeded
(on the retained side compared to) the base case scenario, the bending
moments were within the design moments limits. The Figures 3 and 4 shows
that the diaphragm wall deflections reduces significantly when diaphragm
wall is embedded in a better quality of rock occurring at a shallower depth.
Therefore the ground settlements on account of diaphragm wall deflection
would be reduced with reduction in diaphragm wall toe embedment. The
reduction in ground settlements behind the diaphragm wall reduces the
potential of damage to the adjacent buildings, especially heritage structures
that can tolerate only very small settlements.

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Figure 3: Deflection comparison for Site 1 Figure 4: Deflection comparison for Site 2

Figure 5: Comparison of Figure 6: Comparison of

Bending moments for Site 1 Bending moments for Site 2

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The bottom-up (proposed in site 1) and top-down (proposed in site

2) methodologies indicated identical trends for deflections and bending
moments of case 1, 2 and 3. The diaphragm wall toe termination criterion
which can be readily used in the site is developed based on the soil-structure
interaction analysis and factor of safety assessed for various modes of
instability. The criterion is developed based on equivalent embedment
depth required in various rock grades of specific unit friction values. The
equivalent embedment depths required is discussed below.
The diaphragm wall toe penetration on site is determined based on the
concept of equivalent skin friction. The diaphragm wall toe penetration of
6m into Grade V(a) is set as the base case for this derivation. The diaphragm
wall toe penetration is reduced as per predefined criterion when a better
rock material is encountered. This means that 1m penetration of Grade V(b)
(with fs = 400 kPa) is equivalent to 2m penetration of Grade V(a) (with fs
= 200 kPa) . With this relationship, based on the ratio between the ultimate
frictional resistances (between rock and diaphragm wall) the penetration
length indicated in Table 5 is derived. Similarly, the penetration depth in
rock Grade IV (with fs = 600 kPa) is determined so that the equivalent
toe length below the formation level and the performance of excavation
support system is nearly equal to the original design.
To summarize 6m in Grade V (a) rock is equivalent to 3 in Grade V(b)
rock and 2 m in Grade IV rock as the ratio of skin friction for these rock
grades are in the ratio of 1:2:3 from Table 3.
Table 5: Toe termination criteria
Combination 1 Combination 2
D-wall pen- D-wall pen- Total D-wall pen- D-wall Total
etration in etration in Penetration etration in penetration Penetration
Grade V(a) Grade V(b) below soffit Grade V(a) in Grade IV below soffit
in m in m of base slab in m in m of base slab
6 0 6 6 0 6
4.5 0.75 5.25 4.5 0.5 5
4 1 5 4 0.67 4.67
3 1.5 4.5 3 1 4
2 2 5 2 1.3 3.3
1 2.5 3.5 1 1.67 2.67
- - - - 2 2

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The hydraulic, floatation and lateral stability factors for the three cases
are listed in the Table 6. The results indicate that diaphragm wall embedded
in stronger rock and terminated at a higher elevations does satisfy all the
stability checks and hence are equally stable as compared to the base Case
1 scenario. Hence, there is no potential threat to the adjacent buildings due
to reduced embedment of diaphragm wall toe even in the case of heritage
structures which can tolerate only very small settlements.
Table 6: Stability checks
Site 1 Site 2
Stability condition Case 1 Case 2 Case 3 Case 1 Case 2 Case 3
Hydraulic cut off (piping) >1.5 >1.5 - 2.27 2.09 -
Basal heave at soffit of base slab Unlikely to occur due to presence of weathered rock
Floatation of overall structure - - - - - -
Lateral Stability/Toe Stability 2.7 3.9 >5 1.3 2.5 >5

Thus, the diaphragm walls terminated using the toe termination criteria
are safe against the various modes of instability. Based on the new criteria,
the diaphragm wall toe levels at site were revised for subsequent panels to
be constructed. With the revised toe levels it was observed that there was a
considerable reduction in the quantities as indicated in the Table 7.
Table 7: Comparison in quantity saving
Site 1 Site 1
Reduction in D wall toe embedment quantities based 11.2% 19.6%
on revised toe levels

Due to reduction in the toe levels, it is observed that the time required
to complete the panels was reduced considerably. Initially, six meter
embedment in rock required a considerable amount of time for each panel to be
completed. With reduced embedment panels were completed faster. Thus,
the diaphragm wall trench was not kept open for a longer time. This reduced
the risk of trench instability and potential ground settlement near to the
panel, which could have posed danger to the adjacent buildings, especially
heritage structures which are sensitive to very small ground settlement.
INFLUENCE OF SOIL INVESTIGATION METHODS AND
FREQUENCY
Based on the above case study it is felt that, the method of investigation

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and frequency of investigation has significant impact on the project cost,

time and effort and safety to adjacent structures. For large scale projects
like metro projects, the use of better soil investigating methods should
be promoted. This would reduce the cost, time and effort to complete the
project. Also, in cases where rock is encountered and the number of panels
to be casted is considerably high, the frequency of soil investigation should
be increased to gain a considerable saving in project. In such cases, even if
the borehole frequency is kept at say one borehole per panel, it would result
in huge saving in terms of diaphragm wall quantities as discussed above.
CONCLUSIONS
Better investigation techniques and higher frequency of ground
investigation results in saving of cost, time and effort, especially in the
case of big projects which use diaphragm wall shoring system for deep
excavations. The ground investigation frequency should be ideally kept
at one bore hole for every panel where the panel toe depth is governed
by the rock grade and elevation. Better investigation techniques should be
promoted to obtain quality samples, better knowledge of the sub surface
profile before starting the construction.
If better grade of rock occurs at shallow depths, diaphragm wall can
be terminated at shallow depths without compromising on the stability and
quantity of reinforcement. This should be promoted in projects to save time,
money and effort.
Wherever combination of rock grades occur at the embedment depth, a
toe termination criterion should be developed. The toe embedment required
in each grade of rock should be derived so that the equivalent toe length
below the formation level is nearly equal to the original design length.
Due to reduction in the toe levels, it is observed that the time required
to complete the panels is reduced considerably, thus reducing the potential
of trench instability and damage to existing adjacent structures.
Acknowledgement
The authors are grateful to Sravan and Zubair for preparing the
illustrations used in this paper.

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REFERENCES
BS (8002) Code of Practice for Earth Retaining Structures
CIRIA 580 Embedded retaining Walls – Guidance for Economic Design
NAVFAC (1982) Foundations and Earth Structures

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