DEFORMATION OF A 43.

0 M DIAMETER RAFT
FOUNDATION FOR AN ICONIC
TELECOMMUNICATION TOWER

Lecturer in Charge:

Dr. Nalin De Silva Name : Vimukthi H.P.J

Index No : 170653T

Module : CE 4482

Date of Sub : 04/ 03/ 2022

 Contents
1.0 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................................... 3
1.1 Background ........................................................................................................................................................ 3
1.2 Subsurface Characteristics ........................................................................................................................... 4
1.3 Loading on the Raft ......................................................................................................................................... 5
2.0 MAJOR GEOTECHNICAL CONCERNS OF THE RAFT CONSTRUCTION.............................................. 5
3.0 MODEL IDEALIZATION....................................................................................................................................... 6
4.0 FOLLOWED CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE ................................................................................................ 10
5.0 SETTLEMENT PROFILE OF THE RAFT ...................................................................................................... 10
6 .0 VERTICAL STRESS DISTRIBUTION UNDERNEATH THE RAFT ...................................................... 11
7.0 SHEAR STRESS ALONG THE ROCK CONCRETE INTERFACE ............................................................ 11
8.0 PROPOSED MONITORING PLAN .................................................................................................................. 12

List of Figures

Figure 1:Plan view of the locations of Bore Hole ............................................................................................. 3

Figure 2:Idealized worst case sub surface profile ........................................................................................... 4
Figure 3:FE Model of Raft Foundation ................................................................................................................. 9
Figure 4:Vertical Displacement beneath the raft .......................................................................................... 10
Figure 5:Vertical effective stress distribution beneath the raft .............................................................. 11
Figure 6: Shear stress distribution along rock concrete interface ......................................................... 11
1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

A 43 m diameter raft foundation has to be constructed for an iconic telecommunication

tower to distribute it’s massive loads to the subsurface without failing the structure. For
that a circular raft foundation was proposed and the plan view of proposed location and
the locations of bore holes for sub surface investigation are presented in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Plan view of the locations of Bore Hole

Under this study, it was proposed to carry out a finite element analysis to investigate the

behavior of the raft foundation and subsurface by using the PLAXIS Software.
1.2 Subsurface Characteristics

The raft is founded partly on rock, and since the bed rock is sloping, part of the raft will
be constructed on a concrete fill. The worst case subsurface profile observed through
section A – A are shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Idealized worst case sub surface profile

Based on the results of the Geotechnical Investigation, material properties of the
subsurface are estimated as follows.

Table 1.0: Material Properties

Note: Saturated density of Residual Soil was assumed as 19 kN/ m3

1.3 Loading on the Raft

The critical service loads that are applies on the raft are as follows,

- Vertical = (612,000 + 105,000 (Raft self-weight)) = 717,000 kN

- Horizontal = 20,000 kN
- Moment = 1,000,000 kNm

2.0 MAJOR GEOTECHNICAL CONCERNS OF THE RAFT CONSTRUCTION

Following geotechnical issues were identified during the initial investigation and

proposed mitigation measures are mentioned as follows.

1. Excavation have to be water tight due to the high ground water table, and
secant piles can be use to achieve this purpose.

2. Dewatering have to be done along with the excavation. But, seepage

underneath the secant piles won’t be a major issue. Because, secant piles have
to be embed to the bed rock
 3. Bedrock is found to be sloping, and the construction of raft foundation cannot
be done on the sloping bed rock. Hence, bed rock has to be excavated to a
levelled surface. Excavation of a rock upto a levelled surface is not easy task,
and special equipments have to be use for that.

3.0 MODEL IDEALIZATION

Since the soil profile is not symmetric about an axis, axisymmetric analysis cannot be
conducted. So, plain strain analysis was conducted.

Since we are using the Plain Strain model, we cannot feed the circular raft into the PLAXIS
software. So, circular footing was converted into an equivalent square footing as follows
and that square footing was feed into the PLAXIS software.

717,000 kN
717,000 kN

20,000 kN 20,000 kN
1,000,000 kNm
1,000,000 kNm

43 m
43 m
717,000 𝑘𝑁
- Vertical pressure applies on the footing = 𝜋𝑥432⁄
= 494𝑘𝑁/𝑚2
4
20,000 𝑘𝑁
- Horizontal pressure applies on the footing = 𝜋𝑥432 = 13.8 𝑘𝑁/𝑚2
⁄4

Application of Moment

- Moments can’t be directly apply on the foundation using PLAXIS software. But,
application of vertical load with an eccentricity can generate a moment which is
equal to 1,000,000 kNm. Therefore, the vertical load (717,000 kN) to be applied on
the raft is applied as follows to generate the required amount of moment.
 717,000 kN

717,000 kN


1,000,000 kNm

Stress Distribution below the raft will be as follows.

𝜎 𝜎min
𝜎 𝜎max

- 𝜎max = 𝐹𝐴 (1 + 6 𝐵𝑒 ) =
717,000
1452.2
𝑥 (1 + 6
1.394
43
) = 589.8 𝑘𝑁/𝑚2

- 𝜎min = 𝐹𝐴 (1 − 6 𝐵𝑒 ) =
717,000
1452.2
𝑥 (1 − 6
1.394
43
) = 397.7 𝑘𝑁/𝑚2
However, during the modelling I didn’t model the excavation. So, the residual soil
column above the foundation kept as it is and the effective pressure applies on the raft
by soil column was reduced from the applied load on raft.

So, applied load on the raft for the PLAXIS Model will be,

- Total Vertical Load to be applied on the raft = 717,000 kN – Effective pressure of

Soil at raft formation level x Area
- Vertical Load = 717,000 kN – [(5x𝛾unsat))+(10x𝛾sat) – (10x𝛾water)
= 717,000 kN – [(5x17) + (10x19) – (10 x 9.8)] x 𝜋𝑥21.52 ]
= 459,960 kN

Stress distribution below the raft due to this new vertical load,

- 𝜎max = 𝐹𝐴 (1 + 6 𝐵𝑒 ) =
459960
1452.2
𝑥 (1 + 6
2.17
43
) = 412.6 𝑘𝑁/𝑚2

- 𝜎min = 𝐹𝐴 (1 − 6 𝐵𝑒 ) =
459960
1452.2
𝑥 (1 − 6
2.17
43
) = 220.8 𝑘𝑁/𝑚2

This stress distribution was applied to the Model as a trapezoidal stress distribution.

General Settings of the Model

- Model  Plain Strain

- Elements  15 Nodes

Geometry dimensions

- Left  -10 m
- Right  100 m
- Top  0 m
- Bottom  -93 m
Assumption used during the Modelling,

 Density of unsaturated residual soil is given as 17 kN/m3, and the density

of saturated soil was taken as 19 kN/ m3
 Permeability of residual soil was taken as 1 x 10-5 m/ sec [Both Kx and Ky]
 Permeability of all the rock layers were taken as 1 x 10-9 m/ sec
 Dilatancy angle of soil was taken as 0o.

Idealized PLAXIS Model is presented in Figure 3.1.

23 m

10 m

60 m

200 m
Figure 3: FE Model of Raft Foundation
4.0 FOLLOWED CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE

Rock layers and the concrete fill was modelled initially, and the excavation of top rock
layer and construction of concrete fill was not considered for the construction sequence.
Application of Raft foundation was considered as the first construction step. Then vertical
loads were applied on the raft foundation as a trapezoidally distributed load to account
the moment applied on the raft. Finally horizontal load was applied on the footing as a
uniformly distributed load in horizontal direction.

Summary of followed construction sequence,

- Application of raft foundation as a Plate element

- Application of vertical non – uniform load
- Application of horizontal uniform load.

5.0 SETTLEMENT PROFILE OF THE RAFT

Figure 4: Vertical Displacement beneath the raft

 Maximum displacement beneath the raft foundation = 9.31 mm

6 .0 VERTICAL STRESS DISTRIBUTION UNDERNEATH THE RAFT

Figure 5: Vertical effective stress distribution beneath the raft

 Maximum vertical eff. Stress beneath the raft = -722.24 kN/ m2

7.0 SHEAR STRESS ALONG THE ROCK CONCRETE INTERFACE

Figure 6: Shear stress distribution along rock concrete interface

 Maximum shear stress along the rock concrete interface = 318.21 kN/ m2
8.0 PROPOSED MONITORING PLAN

a. Monitoring the variation of Ground water table.

Eventhough the secant pile walls are water tight, there can be water leakages through
the retaining structure. Therefore, the water table level around the project site can be
reduced, and it may cause for the damages to the surrounding structures. Therefore,
the groundwater level at the outside of the retaining structure should carefully
monitor.

b. Monitoring the lateral movement of retaining structure

The stability of 15m excavation is completely rely on the secant pile retaining
structure. Therefore, it is very important to ensure the safety of retaining structure.
For that, the lateral movement of retaining structure should carefully monitored
through the period of construction.