THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

M.SC.(ENG.) EXAMINATION

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

FOUNDATION ENGINEERING CIVL 6027

May 10, 2023 TIME: 6:30 PM — 8:30 PM (2 hours)

Answer ALL questions in both Sections.

Use a separate answer book for each section.

Assumptions in your answers should be stated clearly on your answer books.

Use of Electronic Calculators:

Only approved calculators as announced by the Examinations Secretary can be used in this
examination. It is candidates’ responsibility to ensue that their calculator operates
satisfactorily, and candidates must record the name and type of the calculator used on the front
page of the examination script.

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SECTION A (Total 50 marks)

Question 1 (30 marks)

Answer the following questions.

(a) Comment on the major sources of uncertainties in foundation design and the ways to
account for these uncertainties. (5 marks)

(b) Discuss the set-up and relaxation effects associated with pile driving and comment on
the importance of consideration of these effects in pile load testing. (6 marks)

(c) Discuss the mobilization characteristics of shaft resistance, base resistance and
accordingly overall resistance of end-bearing piles and comment on the importance of
consideration of the load-settlement characteristics in design. Idealized load-settlement
curves should be given. (6 marks)

(d) | Examine the sketch in the figure below and identify whether the use of pile foundation
is appropriate or not. State your reasons and design considerations. (5 marks)

Soft clay

(e) Write short notes on common pile types in Hong Kong including their applicability,
advantages and disadvantages. | (8 marks)

Question 2 (20 marks)

A bridge pier is to be supported on a shallow foundation (2.5 m x 25 m) resting at 2 m below

the surface of a medium loose to dense sand deposit of considerable depth. The mean particle
size of the sand is around 0.2 mm. The CPT profile of the deposit is shown in the figure
below. The applied load on the foundation is 12 MN. Estimate the settlement of the pier 10
years after construction.

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 7 7X
y =15 kN/m? Average cone resistance, q, (MPa)
0 5 10 15 20
yr 0 py一 一

Depth below foundation (m)

ON
10 F

12

SECTION B (Total 50 marks)

Question 3 (25 marks)

Below shows an excavation support system. The wall is water-tight and the ground comprises
granular soils. Please tell 5 possible failure modes. 3 of which involve geotechnical failures
in general, 1 involves failure of wall on the downslope side and 1 involve geotechnical failure
of the ground on the downslope side. For each possible failure mode, pleases (a) give the
name of the failure mode, (b) elaborate the engineering principle involved, (c) illustrate with a
sketch, and (d) describe a potential mitigation measure and explain why the measure can help.

NSA AAR?

Notes:
a) Blue lines denote the groundwater level.
b) The ground comprises granular soils.

Page 3 of 5
Question 4 (5 marks)

The box below gives the excavation and lateral support stiffness proposed by Clough et al
(1989).

System stiffness p, = El/(y,,h*) after Clough ef al (1989)

where ET is the Young’s modulus multiplied by the second moment of area of the
wall section, y,, is the bulk unit weight of water and h is the average vertical prop
spacing of a multi-propped support system.

(a) Please elaborate your understanding of this system stiffness. | (3 marks)

(b) Please tell two limitations of using ps to characterise the overall stiffness in the
respect of horizontal wall movement. (2 marks)

Question 5 (20 marks)

Analyse the following single level propped embedded retaining wall.

Wall: retaining height = 10 m; embedded length = 15 m

Soil parameters: Ka =0.3; Kp = 3; unit weight = 20 kN/m?
Groundwater:
On the retained side, the groundwater table is on the ground level
Within the excavation, the groundwater table is on the excavation level
Seepage is assumed

Page 4 of 5
(a) Produce sketches to illustrate profiles of the following lateral pressures acting on the
wall. The profiles should be annotated with dimensions including height, and the
minimum and the maximum values of the lateral pressure.
(i) The net water pressure. (3 marks)

(ii) The active lateral earth pressure. (3 marks)

(iii) The passive lateral earth pressure. (3 marks)

(b) Calculate the global factor of safety against overturning (9 marks)

(c) Any changes in the calculated Factor of Safety if seepage is not considered? Increase
or decrease? Please explain. (2 marks)

- END OF PAPER -

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