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Geological difficulties and countermeasures for socket diaphragm walls in

weathered granite in Shenzhen, China

Article in Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment · April 2015

DOI: 10.1007/s10064-015-0740-y

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Bull Eng Geol Environ
DOI 10.1007/s10064-015-0740-y
ORIGINAL PAPER
Geological difficulties and countermeasures for socket diaphragm
walls in weathered granite in Shenzhen, China
Qing-Long Cui1 • Huai-Na Wu1 • Shui-Long Shen1 • Ye-Shuang Xu1
Received: 27 November 2014 / Accepted: 20 March 2015
 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015
Abstract In Shenzhen, a complex series of folds and
fractures, and intensive metamorphism took place during
the pre-Caledonian, Caledonian, and Hercynian to In-
dosinian orogenies. Then, Yanshanian orogeny, with the
most tectonic movement, occurred. Strong invasive activity
of granitic magma, a massive blowout of acidic volcanic
rock, and magmatism-related mineralisation are the fea-
tures of Yanshanian orogeny. Moreover, deep faults were
also developed and wide folds were formed. A large
amount of granite rock was formed from the Yanshanian
orogeny in Shenzhen. The outcrop area of the granite in
Shenzhen reaches 760 km2, almost covers 50 % of Shen-
zhen land area. Granite is primarily susceptible to chemical
weathering. Though weathered, granite and solitary granite
boulders are of high uniaxial compressive strength (UCS).
The weathered granite may be covered by Quaternary soil
with low shear strength, such as backfill, sand, silty clay,
and clay. The thickness of the Quaternary soil ranges from
0 to 40 m. Socket diaphragm walls are usually adopted
during deep excavation construction in Shenzhen for their
safety and low impact on the surrounding environment.
When the excavation depth is increased, the socket
& Huai-Na Wu
wu-hn@sjtu.edu.cn
& Shui-Long Shen
slshen@sjtu.edu.cn
Qing-Long Cui
cql@sjtu.edu.cn
Ye-Shuang Xu
xuyeshuang@sjtu.edu.cn
1 Pearl River in Guangdong Province, adjacent to Hong
State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering, Department of
Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
Shanghai 200240, China
diaphragm walls are embedded in weathered granite to a
depth of between 3 and 10 m. However, the traditional
socket diaphragm wall construction is only viable in soft
ground, as it is not practical to penetrate hard weathered
granite. As a consequence, difficulties arise during con-
struction in the Shenzhen region, such as difficulty in
breaking down the rock, socket diaphragm wall collapse
and leakage. To solve these construction problems, coun-
termeasures, such as monitoring, heavy hammer dropping,
smooth blasting and a modified slurry, are proposed in this
study. It can be concluded that the heavy hammer dropping
method should be chosen to deal with weathered granite
with a UCS of less than 50 MPa and the smooth blasting
method should be adopted to deal with weathered granite
with a UCS of more than 50 MPa. A case study of a metro
station excavation using the smooth blasting method in
Shenzhen is also introduced. The successful construction of
the socket diaphragm walls demonstrates the applicability
of the smooth blasting method.
Keywords Socket diaphragm walls
Weathered granite

Blasting
Shenzhen
Introduction
With recent economic development and urbanisation, the
city of Shenzhen in China, which has a population of over
15 million, is developing its infrastructure, including the
metro system and other projects involving deep excava-
tions. Figure 1 shows a map of Shenzhen and its districts.
Shenzhen is located on the east bank of the estuary of the
Kong. The land area of Shenzhen is 1890 km2. The ge-
ology is complex and tectonic activity in the region is
123

Fig. 1 Map showing the district
boundaries around Shenzhen
The People's Republic of China
Shenzhen
Yangtai Mountains
intense. Two large faults, the North East Fault and the
North West Fault, have developed, and these govern the
geological conditions in Shenzhen (SG 2009). The geolo-
gical formations principally include backfill, sand, silty
clay, clay, granite rock, and mudstone rock. The granite in
low lying areas covers almost 50 % of the Shenzhen area
with an outcrop area of 760 km2. Solitary granite boulders
are also widely distributed in Shenzhen.
In the last 30 years, construction of deep excavations in
Shenzhen has gone through the following five stages: ac-
cumulation of experience, rapid development of various
technologies, a period of soil-nailing, technology applica-
tion and deformation control (Fu and Yang 2010; Yang
et al. 2012). However, even simply constructed deep ex-
cavations can cause geohazards (Shen et al. 2003, 2006,
2008, 2009, 2010; Xu et al. 2012a, b). Socket diaphragm
walls used in deformation control have been widely used as
an excavation engineering technique in recent years in
Shenzhen because of their safety, high quality, good water
excluding capability and low impact on the environment.
The process of socket diaphragm wall installation is as
follows: First, one set of guide walls is constructed on the
perimeter of the selected ground surface area. Then a
special clamshell-shaped digger is used to dig and create
space for each trench section according to the guide walls.
The trench is then filled with slurry. The digger is then
lifted up and moved along the guide walls to continue the
trench. Once a trench section is excavated completely, a
reinforcing cage is lowered down into the slurry-filled
trench which is then filled with concrete from the bottom
up. This process is repeated until the full length of the
socket diaphragm wall is completed.
The granite rock in Shenzhen is of high uniaxial com-
pressive strength (UCS) and is difficult to break. Since the
surface of the granite is found at shallow depths, as the
excavation depth increases, the hard granite will appear
during the construction of the socket diaphragm wall.
However, when socket diaphragm walls are necessary for
the construction of reinforced concrete walls in sandy and
clayey soil, the special clamshell-shaped digger which is
123
Q.-L. Cui et al.
N
0 5 10 km
Duanguan
Huizhou
Shenzhen
Pearl River
Hong Kong
Haian Mountains Pearl Dongjiang Haiwan
adopted to dig the soft soil cannot grab the hard granite.
Therefore, the difficulty arises of how to break the rock in
order to create the trench (Wong 1984; Song and Kong
1996; Tsai 1997; Tsai et al. 1998; Fang and Diao 2002;
Wang and Zhou 2006; Mi et al. 2008; Li 2010; Xu et al.
2011; Marschalko et al. 2012a, b).
The objectives of this study are: (1) to investigate the
distribution and properties of geological formations in
Shenzhen; (2) to discuss difficulties and potential hazards
during underground construction of socket diaphragm
walls in granite; and (3) to present technical methods for
the construction of socket diaphragm walls in Shenzhen.
Geology in Shenzhen
Geology in Shenzhen
The Shenzhen stratigraphic sub-region is part of the South
China stratigraphic region. Figure 2 depicts the geology in
Shenzhen. As shown in Fig. 2a, the exposed soil strata is
divided into 11 systems, such as the Quaternary, Jurassic
and Cretaceous (SG 2009). The middle Proterozoic era is
featured with a high grade metamorphic sequence, while
the new Proterozoic era is made up of quasi-flysch clastic
rock located in the shallow sea region, and stretches along
the structural belt from the west of Shenzhen. The lower
Paleozoic sub-era is almost absent. The upper Paleozoic is
distributed in the east of the upper and middle Devonian,
and mainly consists of clastic rock of continental-neritic
facies. The lower Carboniferous is generally distributed in
the East while the upper Carboniferous is only observed in
the North-East. The lower and medium Triassic series in
the Mesozoic are absent, and the upper Triassic series are
only distributed in the North-West of Shenzhen. The
Jurassic is relatively developed in the district and is dis-
tributed in the North-West, the East and most of the Central
area. The Cretaceous is primarily distributed in the urban
east, and scattered along the West coast. The Quaternary
soils mainly include clay, silt and sand. It is widely
Geological difficulties and countermeasures for …
(a)
(b)
Fig. 2 Geology of Shenzhen (created from SG 2009)
distributed in the western area and sporadically distributed
in other areas, at a thickness of 0–40 m. The older strata
from the Ordovician to Tertiary consists of different kinds
of rocks, such as sandstone, granite, mudstone, shale,
limestone and marble. In the western area, adjacent to the
Quaternary strata, the Cretaceous strata is widely dis-
tributed. Figure 2b gives a sectional view along A-B (re-
ferred to Fig. 2a). As can be seen, the rock is exposed on
the ground surface. For foundation engineering, bedrock
serves well; however, for underground structures, such as
foundation pits, construction in bedrock presents great
difficulties.
The Haian Mountains and the Yangtai Mountains form
two watersheds among three river systems serving the
following rivers: the Dongjiang, the Haiwan and the Pearl.
These three river systems include 10 large rivers and 126
small rivers which flow into the sea. The groundwater
system in Shenzhen consists of phreatic pore water in loose
rock mass, bedrock fissure water and karst water in car-
bonate fractures. The groundwater level fluctuates between
2 and 3 m below the ground surface.
Formation
The geology in Shenzhen formed as a result of internal
factors, such as geotectonic processes, and tectonic faults,
and external factors such as climate. To summarise, in
Shenzhen, complex activities of folds and fractures and
intensive metamorphism took place in the pre-Caledonian,
Caledonian, and Hercynian to Indosinian orogenies. The
increase in fracture and magmatism activity and the related
mineralisation resulting in metal deposits was a feature of
the Yanshanian period. Finally, the geologic and geomor-
phology profile we see today were formed in the Hi-
malayan orogeny.
Figure 3 shows the basic structural layers map of
Shenzhen. Shenzhen has three basic geotectonic units: a
geosyncline region (Caledonian period), a platform region
(Luliang period) and a low lying region (Cathaysian peri-
od). The geosyncline region is strongly active while the
platform region is relatively stable. The low lying region is
a recently active area formed based on the geosyncline or
platform. Violent tectonic movement of the low lying re-
gion has arisen due to the Yanshan movement during the
Mesozoic era. Due to significant magmatic activity, granite
and igneous rock formed during the Yanshanian period
form the main rock. The Yanshanian orogeny in which the
granite was formed involved tectonic movement that
mainly included block orogeny, during which deep faults
were developed and wide folds were formed, along with
strong invasive activity of granitic magma, a massive
blowout of acidic volcanic rock, and magmatism-related
mineralisation.
Engineering geology
Granite in Shenzhen
As can be seen from Fig. 3, the granite in the low lying
region covers almost 50 % of Shenzhen with an outcrop
area of 760 km2. In southeast China, there are four generic
types of granite, the remelting type, the syntectic type, the
differentiation type and the metamorphic-metasomatic
type. Most of the granites in Shenzhen are of the syntectic
123

Fig. 3 Basic structural layers
map and main fault zone of
Shenzhen (created from SG
2009)
Table 1 Physical and mechanical properties of granite in Shenzhen (SG 2009)
Relative density Density (g/cm3) Porosity (%)
2.5–3.2 2.3–3 0.04–2.8
Cohesion Tensile strength Static elastic modulus
(kPa) (MPa) (9104 MPa)
280–680 2.1–5.7 1.4–6.9
type, and the rest are the remelting type. Syntectic granite
is formed by the syntectic effect of intrusive rock and
continental crust material and is distributed adjacent to the
fault zone. The distribution of the fault zone in Shenzhen is
shown Fig. 3. The lithology mainly includes adamellite,
granodiorite and biotite granite, and the occurrence is stock
or dike.
The granite was generally formed in the Cretaceous
and Jurassic periods. The granite in Shenzhen is flesh-
pink, grey-white or grey coloured and is medium- to
coarse-grained. Its tectonic is granular, porphyritic or
porphyroid and it exists in massive structures. The granite
mainly includes minerals such as silica, alkali feldspar,
plagioclase and biotite. It has mainly been weathered by
chemical weathering, which changes the minerals and
chemicals present. During the process of weathering, the
plagioclase decomposes first, and then the orthoclase and
the biotite. The main products of weathering are clay
minerals and silica, which have large pores that keep the
granite residual soil within the structure of the parent
rock. The weathering classification system is divided into
five grades: fresh, slightly weathered, moderately weath-
ered, highly weathered and completely weathered (SG
2009). The structure of completely weathered granite is
like hard soil, which collapses easily when pressed
manually or washed with water. Highly weathered granite
123
Q.-L. Cui et al.
Water absorption (%) Saturation Friction
coefficient coefficient
0.1–0.7 0.55 1.1–1.46
Dynamic elastic modulus Poisson Softening
(9104 MPa) ratio coefficient
5–9.4 0.1–0.36 0.72–0.97
is like broken pieces of granite in soil or soil sand. It
collapses easily when soaked in water. Moderately
weathered granite, which is block-shaped with fragment-
sized to massive coarse grains and has abundant weath-
ered fractures. Slightly weathered granite has few
weathered fractures and has high strength, with a high
UCS of more than 100 MPa.
Weathered granite, which is block-shaped and has a
coarse grain, includes quartz, feldspar and mica. Table 1
lists the physical and mechanical properties of the granite
in Shenzhen. The friction coefficient is within 1.1–1.46.
The UCS value of the weathered granite is shown in Fig. 4.
The x-axis denotes the five grades of weathered granite. In
this study, moderately and highly weathered granite are
classified as belonging to the same category with a UCS of
less than 50 MPa. Slightly weathered, moderately weath-
ered, and solitary granite boulders, and even fresh granite,
are also classified as belonging to the same category with a
UCS of more than 50 MPa.
Solitary granite boulders are also widely distributed in
Shenzhen. Cao et al. (2013) adapted the current basic
theoretical research on the distribution of solitary stones
and established a statistical procedure. More than 60 % of
the solitary granite boulders are located in the highly
weathered granite layer. The upper level of solitary stones
is concentrated within the depth range of 40–70 m.
Geological difficulties and countermeasures for …

Quaternary deposit

Figure 5 illustrates a sectional image of the soil profile to a

depth of 40 m in the granite area of Shenzhen. The weathered
granite may be covered by backfill or Quaternary sedimentary
soil. The geological formations principally include backfill,
sand, silty clay, clay, granite rock, and mudstone rock. Fig-
ure 6 shows the typical physical and mechanical properties of
Quaternary soil. The natural water content of these soils ran-
ges from 16 to 40 %. The top layer is backfill with a thickness
of 2.2–4.2 m. Below that is a saturated sand layer which
contains 15 % clay. The next layer is silty clay containing
sandy silt, quartzose gravel sand and organic material. This
layer is characterised by high water content, high compress-
ibility, low permeability and low shear strength. Below this is
a clay layer that contains 20 % quartz. The granite rock and
Fig. 4 UCS values of weathered granite and the technical methods
for excavating trenches mudstone rock are below the soft soil layers.

Groundwater table Difficulties during underground construction

0
Fill in weathered granite
5 Fine sand
Silty clay Residual soil
As weathered granite covers almost half of Shenzhen and is
10
Fine sand difficult to break up, the following potential difficulties may
15 be encountered during underground construction: (1) rock
Elevation (m)

Clay
Completely weathered breaking, (2) socket diaphragm wall collapse, (3) leakage.
20 Highly weathered
Moderately weathered Rock breaking
25 Gr
an
ite Slightly weathered
30
In Shenzhen, as the rock is shallow and as the depth of
Fresh
35 excavations increases, socket diaphragm walls are gener-
ally embedded into the hard granite. As the traditional
40
clamshell-shaped digger is used in soft ground and cannot
Fig. 5 Sectional image of thesoil profile in Shenzhen (concept from break rock, excavation is problematic and rock breaking
SG 2009) problems arise (Fang and Diao 2002; Wang and Zhou

Fig. 6 Typical physical and w/wp/wl (%) e

3
(kN/m ) c (kPa) (°) (1/MPa) Es (MPa) kv (cm/s)
w 1-2
mechanical properties of
Soil layer 20 40 60 0.6 0.8 1.0 17 18 20 22 24 0 10 20 30 0.2 0.4 0.63 4 5 6 71E-8 1E-6 1E-4
Quaternary soil
0

Backfill w
5 wl
wp
Depth (m)

10 Fine
sand
Silty clay
15 Fine
sand
Clay
20
Note: w=natural water content; wp=plastic limit; wl=liquid limit; e=void ratio; =unit weight; c=cohesion; =interal frictional angle;
w

a1-2=compression coefficient; Es=compression modulus; kv=vertical hydraulic conductivity

123

2006; Mi et al. 2008; Li 2010; Yilmaz and Marschalko
2012; Marschalko et al. 2012c). The compressive strengths
for highly, moderately and slightly weathered granite are
26.5–34.2, 56.3–76.8 and 58.7–90.8 MPa, respectively,
and such strengths caused great difficulty in the construc-
tion of Tianbei station on the Shenzhen Metro Line 3 (Li
2010). The fact that the diaphragm wall sockets are em-
bedded 12 m into the rock also hindered the construction of
Gongyuanqian station on the Guangzhou Metro Line 1
(Fang and Diao 2002).
Socket diaphragm wall collapse
In the construction of the socket diaphragm walls, a groove
of specified size needs to be constructed to create space for
the reinforcing cage. It is straightforward to construct the
trench when in soft ground while the trench is filled with
slurry. However, if the bottom of the socket diaphragm
wall needs to be embedded several metres into weathered
granite, and the rock breaking process (described below)
causes a great impact on the surrounding soil, it is difficult
to maintain the groove quality, and this can lead to collapse
of the groove wall, especially at the boundary of the rock
and the soft soil. Studies on the stability of diaphragm
walls during construction have been reported (Wong 1984;
Tsai 1997; Tsai et al. 1998; Xu et al. 2011). The rates of
trench construction, and the quality and the slurry height
exert an impact on the stability of the trench sides (Xu et al.
2011). Other factors, such as the time taken to clear up the
detrital rocks and confined groundwater flow in the trench,
can also cause the groove to collapse.
Leakage
The groundwater level generally fluctuates between 2 and
3 m below the ground surface in Shenzhen. The hydrostatic
pressure surrounding the excavation increases with an in-
creasing depth below groundwater (Daw and Scott 1983; Lee
et al. 2007; Wang et al. 2012). The influence of the depth
below groundwater level on water inflow rates is significant.
During construction of socket diaphragm walls, it is essential
to prevent boundary leakage at the interface between the rock
and the soft soil, and joint leakage in a two trench section.
Technical measures for socket diaphragm wall
construction
Monitoring
Due to the complexity of deep excavations, it is vital to
conduct instrumented field monitoring to guarantee project
safety during socket diaphragm wall construction. The
123
Q.-L. Cui et al.
monitored parameters should include ground settlements
and lateral displacement of the surrounding soil, pore-water
pressure generated, earth pressure, water table and settle-
ments of surrounding buildings and utilities. The collected
data should be fed back immediately so that corresponding
countermeasures can be adopted by the engineers. To date,
many case histories have been reported in the literature of
field instrumentation programs during deep excavations
(Ou et al. 1998; Liu et al. 2011; Tan and Wei 2012; Tan
and Wang 2013a, b). Xu et al. (2013) proposed a method of
longitudinal translation to analyse and evaluate the rela-
tionship between the leakage point location and the size of
socket diaphragm walls in deep foundation pits.
Heavy hammer dropping
Traditionally, a special clamshell-shaped digger is used to
excavate the trench. However, this machine can only dig
soft soils and cannot excavate the hard rock. Hence, a
special heavy hammer is used to break the rock into small
pieces. A construction scheme using grab bucket equip-
ment combined with the special clamshell-shaped digger
should be adopted in the construction of socket diaphragm
walls since it takes a long time when only the heavy
hammer dashing is used (Li 2010).
Figure 7 shows a schematic diagram of a heavy hammer
dropping onto weathered granite. After addition of the
guide walls, the traditional special clamshell-shaped digger
is used to excavate the upper soft soil of the trench which
has been kept filled with slurry. When digging the granite,
a cable winch with a heavy hammer suspended from it is
used and driven to the trench. The heavy hammer is then
lifted up to a height of 3–4 m above the rock-face before it
is dropped slowly onto the rock to avoid it damaging the
surrounding rock. A guide stick is normally used to control
the hammer’s perpendicularity, and the hammer should be
raised and dropped slowly. After a couple hours of hammer
dropping, the rock is broken into detrital rocks, and the
special clamshell-shaped digger is used again to grab these.
Figure 8 shows a photo of a heavy hammer made of silicon
steel alloy and weighing 3 tonnes. A 1.2-m diameter heavy
hammer was adopted to reduce large deformation of a di-
aphragm wall with an inclined rock surface in Shenzhen
Metro Line 3 (Li 2010).
Through a number of case studies in Shenzhen, it has
been found that heavy hammer dropping can break mod-
erately and highly weathered granite which has a UCS of
less than 50 MPa, as shown in Fig. 6.
Smooth blasting
With an increasing excavation depth and an increase in the
rock UCS (over 50 MPa), even the heavy hammer dashing
Geological difficulties and countermeasures for …
Fig. 7 Schematic diagram of heavy hammer dashing weathered
granite
Fig. 8 Heavy hammer used to break granite rock
method cannot break the rock in which the walls are em-
bedded, which could be slightly weathered or moderately
weathered granite. In engineering practice, the heavy
hammer cannot break solitary granite boulders either.
Fig. 9 Plan view of Chaguang
Station on Line 7 in Shenzhen
Based on the reasons above, rock blasting is used to break
the rock at the bottom of socket diaphragm walls, as shown
in Fig. 6. In case of the collapse of the groove wall, smooth
blasting is adopted to break the granite in the construction
of socket diaphragm walls. Smooth blasting is widely used
in tunnel construction (Hinzen 1998; Yamamoto et al.
1999; Mandal et al. 2008). This method can create a
specific opening contour and reduce cracking in the re-
maining material as much as possible (Hinzen 1998). The
aim of smooth blasting is to break a rock mass into small
pieces that the traditional clamshell-shaped digger can
grab. As different blasting parameters can be adopted to
break different kinds of rock, tests should be conducted
before construction to make sure the blasting effect can be
safely predicted in engineering practice.
Modified slurry
As the groundwater table of Shenzhen is between 2 and
3 m below the ground surface, and detrital rocks sink fast
after the rock breaking process, more barite powder and
CMC (carboxymethyl-cellulose) should be put into the
slurry to increase its specific gravity and viscosity, pre-
venting socket diaphragm wall collapse. The aim is to in-
crease the slurry pressure and make it easier to a form mud
film. Generally, a specific gravity of 1.1 and a viscosity of
35–44 Pa s are adopted. A mud purifier and a submersible
pump are used in conjunction to treat the slurry and filter
out the detrital rocks (Li 2010). The specific gravity and the
viscosity of the slurry should be tested and adjusted ac-
cording to field practice.
Socket diaphragm wall construction in weathered
granite: a case history
Figure 9 shows a plan view of Chaguang Station on Metro
Line 7 in Shenzhen, where construction began in July
2013. The dimensions of the pit were 236.6 m 9 19.5 m 9
17 m. The depth of the socket diaphragm walls was 18 m,
with a thickness of 800 mm, and these were used to support
the pit. As shown in Fig. 9, the socket diaphragm walls
123
 Q.-L. Cui et al.

Table 2 Depth of socket diaphragm wall embedded into the granite

Trench Moderately Slightly Total
number weathered (m) weathered (m) depth (m)

T1 0.83 6.64 7.47

T2 1.17 6.12 7.29
T3 1.65 5.37 7.02
T4 2.11 4.67 6.78
T5 2.5 4.03 6.53
T6 1.82 4.14 5.96
T7 1 4.27 5.27
T8 0.33 4.38 4.71
T9 – 9.176 9.176
T43 3.31 1.11 4.42
T45 1.76 1.71 3.47
T46 1.76 3.5 5.26
T47 2.76 5.49 8.25
T48 3.75 3.65 7.4 Fig. 10 A piece of granite rock obtained at Chaguang Station on Line
T49 4.33 2.92 7.25 7 in Shenzhen
T50 4.3 2.7 7
T51 4.16 2.52 6.68
T53 4.07 2.32 6.39 broken using the heavy hammer technique. Smooth blast-
T54 3.69 1.34 5.03 ing was adopted to break up the granite. Figure 11a shows
T67 1.31 3.17 4.48 a plan view of the explosives hole and the empty hole in
T68 1.95 2.16 4.11 one section of the socket diaphragm walls. The horizontal
T69 2.71 2.55 5.26 spacing was 650 mm and the vertical spacing was 400 mm.
T70 3.43 2.9 6.33
A schematic diagram of the arrangement of explosives in a
T71 4.63 3.28 7.91
hole is shown in Fig. 11b. Figure 12 shows a schematic
T83 4.55 3.25 7.8
diagram of the smooth blasting process at Chaguang Sta-
tion. After construction of the guide walls, holes with a
T84 2.54 4.74 7.28
diameter of 150 mm are drilled to the design depth
T85 3.61 4.2 7.81
(Fig. 12a), and then the emulsion explosive is put into the
T86 4.68 3.69 8.37
hole using a long bamboo rod (Fig. 12b). The weight of
T87 5.71 3.16 8.87
explosive per side-hole and centre-hole is 4 kg. A total of
T88 5.55 2.61 8.16
56 kg of explosive was needed for one trench section (6-m
T89 5.22 2 7.22
length of socket diaphragm walls). In the case of drill and
T90 4.9 2.85 7.75
blast excavation, the choice of blasting parameters has a
T91 4.17 2.31 6.48
strong effect on the extent and strength of the damage zone
T92 3.2 3.52 6.72
(Hinzen 1998). After preparation, blasting is conducted
T93 2.3 5.24 7.54
(Fig. 12c). The time taken to complete one trench section
T94 1.3 7 8.3
of a socket diaphragm wall was three days. In the end, the
socket diaphragm walls were successfully constructed us-
were divided into 95 trench units 6 m in length. Two sets ing the smooth blasting method.
of reinforced concrete struts and one set of steel struts were
used to support the socket diaphragm walls. Table 2 lists
the depths of the socket diaphragm walls embedded into Conclusions
the granite. The embedded socket depth ranged from 5 to
9 m. 1. Weathered granite is widely distributed and covers
Figure 10 shows a granite rock obtained from the almost half of Shenzhen. In some locations, weathered
geotechnical borehole investigation during the construction granite may be covered by Quaternary sedimentary
of Chaguang Station. The UCS of this rock was 128 MPa, soil, which principally includes backfill, sand, silty
and that of the granite in the construction area of Chaguang clay, and clay with low shear strength at a thickness of
Station ranged between 100 and 180 MPa, which cannot be 0–40 m. Various degrees of weathered granite have

123
Geological difficulties and countermeasures for …

Fig. 11 Layout of explosives 6000

hole and hollow hole in one (a)
section of socket diaphragm 400 650 650 650 650 650 650 650 650 400
wall: a plan view; b schematic

400 400
diagram of explosive

800
arrangement in a hole

Explosive Hole Hollow Hole unit: mm

(b) Stemming
Emulsion explosive Detonator Stemming
Fuse
60 mm
1m 0.6 m 0.4 m 0.6 m 0.4 m 0.6 m 0.4 m

19.1 m

Fig. 12 Schematic diagram of smooth blasting construction at Chaguang station

high UCS. More than 60 % of the solitary granite 2. As the rock is shallowly buried and the depth of deep
boulders are located in a highly weathered granite excavations increases in Shenzhen, socket diaphragm
layer. walls are generally embedded into the hard granite. As

123

the traditional clamshell-shaped digger cannot break
the hard granite, problems occur during the construc-
tion of socket diaphragm walls, such as rock breaking,
leakage and socket diaphragm wall collapse.
3. Field monitoring can be effectively used to guarantee
project safety during the construction of socket
diaphragm walls. For moderately and highly weathered
granite with a UCS of less than 50 MPa, the heavy
hammer dropping method is chosen, while for slightly
weathered or moderately weathered granite, solitary
granite boulders and even fresh granite with a UCS of
more than 50 MPa, the smooth blasting method is
adopted instead. A modified slurry can be used to
prevent socket diaphragm wall collapse by increasing
its specific gravity and viscosity.
4. Based on the case study, it can be concluded that the
smooth blasting method can satisfy the engineering
requirements when constructing socket diaphragm
walls in granite with a UCS of over 100 MPa.
Acknowledgments The research work described herein was funded
by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Grant
No. 41372283) and the National Basic Research Program of China
(973 Program: 2015CB057806). These financial supports are grate-
fully acknowledged.
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