GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING Explanation:

MIDTERMS Any cation can replace the ion to its right.

CHAPTER XI FLOCCULATION-AGGLOMERATION produces

changes in the texture of clay in the soil. The clay particles
11.1 Introduction
tend to clump together to form larger particles, thereby:
Ground Improvement a) Decreasing the liquid limit
 it is also called soil stabilization by geotech eng. b) Increasing the plastic limit
 the process of altering the engineering properties c) Decreasing the plasticity index
of IN SITU or borrowed soil at low cost and with d) Increasing the shrinkage limit
better quality control e) Increasing the workability
f) Improving the strength and deformation
TWO MAJOR CATERGORIES properties of a soil
1. Chemical Stabilization
2. Mechanical Stabilization The addition of 5% LIME has made these clays non-
plastic
1. CHEMICAL STABILIZATION
 involves application of chemical admixture to Pozzalanic reaction between soil and lime involves a
improve the behavior of the soil reaction between:
 it is used to improve soil workability – making SILICA and ALUMINA OF THE SOIL
material easier to use as a construction material
 also used to REDUCE PLASTICITY and Ca(OH)2 + SiO2 ---- CSH
SHRINK-WELL POTENTIAL
The first 2 to 3% lime (on the dry weight basis)
If the clays are dispersive, it is used as flocculate substantially influences the workability and the property
their particle, When the clay are difficult to compact (such as plasticity) of the soil.
chemical can be added: The addition of lime to clayey soil also affects
their COMPACTION CHARACTERISTIC
CHEMICAL STABILIZATION BY THE USE OFl
A. Lime
B. Cement PROPERTIES OF CURED LIME-STABILIZATION
C. Fly Ash
 The unconfined compression strength – qu – on
2. MECHANICAL STABILIZATION OMC is 170KPA – 2100KPA depending on the
 Compaction nature of soil
 Vibroflotation  With about 3 to 5% addition of lime, CURING
 Dynamic Compaction PERIOD OF 28 DAYS --- unconfined
 Blasting compression may increase by 700KN/m2
 Preloading
 Sand drains Tensile strength also increases with lime stabilization

TULLOCK – relationship of qt and qu

THOMPOSON – relationship with regards to the
CHEMICAL STABILIZATION modulus of elasticity
11.2 Lime Stabilization
Admixtures are occasionally used to stabilize soil
Poisson’s ration of cured stabilized soil with
in the field.
about: 5% lime varies between 0.08 to 0.12 (average
0.11) at stress level of 25% or less of the ultimate
MAIN PURPOSE OF STABILIZATION.
compressive strength
1. Modify the soil
2. Expedite construction
It increases to about 0.27 to 0.37 (ave 0.31) at
3. Improve the strength and durability of the soil
stress level greater than 50% to 75% of the UCS.
MOST COMMON TYPE OF LIME
 Hydrated high-calcium lime
 Calcitic quicklime LIME STABILIZATION IN THE FIELD
 Monohydrated dolomitic lime There are three ways on stabilizing the field:
 Dolomitic lime 1. The in situ material or the borrowed material can be
mixed with the proper amount of lime at the site and
The quantity of lime used to stabilize most soils
then compacted after the addition of moisture
RANGES FROM 5% - 10%
2. The soil can be mixed with the proper amount of lime
When lime is added to the clayey soils, TWO and the water at a plant and the hauled back to the
POZZOLANIC CHEMICAL can occur: site for compaction
3. Lime slurry can be pressure injected into the soil to a
1. Cation Exchange depth of 4 to 5 m. The slurry injection mechanical unit
2. Flocculation-Agglomeration is mounted to the injection vehicles.

 In the exchange of both processes, the

MONOVALENT cation, generally associated
with clays are replaced by the DIVALENT
calcium ions.
Al 3+ > Ca 2+ > Mg 2+ > NH 4+ > K+ Na + Li +
 The addition of hydrated lime soft clayey soil
immediately increases the plastic limit, thus changing the
soil from plastic to solid and making it appears to “dry up”
limited amount of the lime can be thrown on muddy and
troublesome construction site.
This action improves trafficability and may save
money and time.
Quicklimes have also been successfully used in drills
holes having diameter of 100 to 150 mm for stabilization
of subgrades and slope.
11.3 Cement Stabilization
Cement
 increasingly used as a stabilization
material for soil, particularly in the construction of highway
and earth dams.
 JOHNSOVILLE – first controlled soil-
cement construction in US
 Stabilizes sandy and clayey soil
 As in case of lime – CEMENT helps
DECREASE THE LIQUID LIMIT and INCREASES THE
PLASTIC INDEX and WORKABILITY OF CLAYEY SOIL
Cement stabilization is effective in:
1. Liquid Limit is less than 45 – 50
2. Plasticity Index is less than 25
Granular soils and clayey soil with low plasticity
obviously are most suitable for cement stabilization.
Calcium clays are more easily stabilized by the
addition of cement, whereas sodium and hydrogen clays,
which are expansive in nature, respond better in lime
stabilization.
For field compaction: -- the proper amount of cement
can be mixed with soil either at the site or at mixing plant.
If latter is adopted, the mixture can be carried to the
site – the required unit weight with a predetermined
amount of water
Cement slurry made of portland cement and water
(In water-cement ration of 0.5:5) can be used for
pressure grouting of poor soils under foundations of
building and other structures.
Grouting decreases the hydraulic conductivity of
the soil and increases their strength and load-bearing
capacity.
For the design of low-frequency machine
foundation subjected to vibrating forces, stiffening the
foundation soil by grouting and thereby increasing the
resonant frequency is sometimes necessary.
11.4 Fly Ash Stabilization
Fly Ash
 By product of pulverized coal combustion
process usually associated with electric power plant
 It is fined grained dust and is composed
primarily of silica, alumina and various oxides and alkalies
 Is pozzolanic in nature, and can react
with hydrated lime to produce cementitious product
Lime-Fly-Ash mixture can be used to stabilize
highway bases and subbase.
Effective Mixes can be prepared with 10 to 35% fly ash
and 2 to 10% lime. It is compacted under controlled
conditions.
Type C Fly Ash
 is obtained from burning of coal primarily from
the western US
 contains a fairly large proportion (up to 25%)
of free lime, with the addition of water.
 It will react with other fly-ash compound to
form cementitious products. – it is used to
eliminate the need to add manufactured lime
Granular soil with small dosage of cement are
commonly used for a road-work.
Cement products involves a very large energy
requirement and a massive carbon footprint.
SUPPLEMENTARY CEMENTITIOUS MATERIALS
 Fly ash, slag, silica fumes
 Pozzolanic
Pozzolanic Materials
 can react chemically in the presence of water,
forming compounds with cementitious
properties
SMC can be used as partial replacement of ordinary
portland cement.
Fly ash - is a form of dust collected from the precipitators
in coal burning power stations
Slag – waste product in blast furnances used for smelting
iron ore
Silica Fumes – is a by-product of silica melting
MECHANINCAL STABILIZATION
11.5 Vibroflotation
Vibroflotation
 is a technique for in situ densification of
thick layer of loose granular soil deposits
 it was developed in Germany in 1930s
 first virboflotation was used in US about
10 years later
 it involves using VIBROFLOT (also
called VIBRATING UNIT) – which is 2.1m long
This vibrating unit has an eccentric weight inside it
and it can develop a centrifugal force, which enables unit
to vibrate HORIZONTALLY
There are openings at the bottom of the vibrating unit
for water jets.
The entire vibroflotation process in the field can
be divided into four stages:
STEP 1: The jet at the bottom of the vibroflot is
turned on and lowered into the ground
STEP 2: The water jet creates a quick condition in
the soil and it allows the vibrating unit to sink into the
ground
STEP 3: Granular material is poured form the top of
the hole. The water from the lower jet is transferred to the
jet at the top of the vibrating unit. This water carries the
granular material down the hole
STEP 4: The vibrating unit is gradually raised in
about 0.3m lifts and held vibrating for about 30 seconds
at each lift. This process compacts the soil to the desired
unit weight
 23 kw electric unit – US – 1940s – 2m radius
75kw electric unit – early 1970 – 3m radius
Compaction by vibroflotation is done in various probe
spacing, depending on the zone of compaction
Grain size distribution
 Factor affecting the capacity for successful
densification
Soil that contains excessive fine sand and silt-size particle
are difficult to compact, and considerable effort is needed
to reach the proper relative density of compaction
BROWN (1997) – has defined a quantity called the
suitability number for backfilling
 Proposed the backfilling rating system
11.6 Dynamic Compaction
Dynamic Compaction
 Is a technique that has gained popularity
in the US for densification of granular soil deposits
 Consist of dropping a heavy weight
repeatedly on the ground at rectangular interval
WEIGHT OF HAMMER
 80 TO 360 KN
HEIGHT OF HAMMER DROP
 7.5 TO 3.5 m
The degree of compaction achieved at a given site
depends on the following three factors:
1. Weight of the hammer
2. Height of the hammer drop
3. Spacing location at which the hammer is dropped
LEONARDS – suggest the significant depth influence for
compaction
Dynamic compaction is an effective method for
landfills and karst terrains.
The lifting and dropping of the weight are carried
out in grid pattern, and the craters created during the
impact are backfilled.
11.7 Blasting
Blasting
 Is a technique that has been used
successfully in many projects (Mitchell 1970)
for densification of granular soil
The general soil grain sizes suitable for compaction
by blasting are the same as those compactions by
virbofloation
 it involves the detonation of explosive
charges such as 60% dynamite at a certain
depth below the ground surface in saturated
soil
 the lateral spacing of the charges varies
about 3 to 10 m
 FIVE successful detonation are usually
necessary to achieve the desired compaction
 Compaction up to a relative density of about
80% and up to a depth of about 20 m over a
large area can be easily achieved by using
this process
 Usually, the explosive charges are placed at
a depth of about two-third of the thickness of
the soil layered desired to be compacted
11.8 Precompression
- When highly compressible, normally consilated
clayey soil layers lie at a limited depth and large
consolidation settlement are expected as a result of
construction of large buildings, highway embankment of
earthdams, it may be used to minimize post construction
settlements
11.9 Sand Drains
Sand Drains
- is another way to accelerate the
consolidation settlement of soft, normally
consolidation clay layers and achieve
precompression before the foundation constructiom
- it is done by DRILLING HOLES through
clay layer in the filed at regular interval
- The holes are backfilled with highly
permeable sand and then a surcharge is applied at
the ground surface
- This surcharges will increase the pore
water pressure in the clay. The excess pore water
pressure in the clay will dissipated by drainage -
-- both vertically and radially to the sand drains –
which accelerates settlement of the clay layer
To determine the surcharges that need to be
applied at the ground surface, and the length of
time – it has to be maintained.
AVERAGE DEGREE OF CONSOLIDATION
DUE TO RADIAL DRAINAGE ONLY
- The theory for equal-strain consolidation due
to radial drainage only (with no smear) was
developed BARRON
- The theory is based on the assumption
that there is NO DRAINAGE IN VERTICAL
DIRECTION
SUMMARY
1. Chemical stabilization is the application of
chemical admixtures such as lime, cement, fly
ash to clayey soil to reduce its plasticity, shrink
and well potential and make it more workable in
the field
2. When lime is added to clayey soil, two pozzolanic
chemical reaction take place. They are cation
and flocculation-agglomeration
3. Cement stabilization is effective in clayey soil with
liquid limit less than 50 and plasticity index less
than about 25
4. Vibrolotation is a technique to densify thick layer
of loose granular soil deposits by means of
vibrating unit. The suitability number Sn of the
backfill material is a function of the grain size. The
lower the value of Sn, the better the backfilling
rating
5. Densification of granular deposits can also be
made by dynamic compaction and blasting
6. Precompression is a technique by which large
consolidation settlement of clay layer is
eliminated in preloading
7. Sand drains can be used in addition to
precompression to accelerate consolidation
settlement of soft clay layers.
 CHAPTER XII
SUBSURFACE EXPLORATION
12. 1 Introduction
Subsurface Exploration
- Process of identifying the layers of deposits
that underlie a proposed structure and their
physical characteristic
PURPOSE: obtain information that will aid the
geotechnical engineering in the task:
1. Selecting the type and depth of foundation
suitable for a given structure
2. Evaluating the load bearing capacity of the
foundation
3. Estimating the probable settlement of a structure
4. Determining the potential foundation problems
(expansive soil, collapsible soil, sanitary land fill)
5. Determining the location of the water table
6. Predicting lateral earth pressure for structures
such as retaining wall sheet pile bulkheads, and
braced cuts
7. Establishing construction methods for changing
sub soil condition
Subsurface Exploration
- Also necessary for underground
construction and excavation.
12.2 Subsurface Exploration Program
Subsurface exploration comprises several steos,
including collection of preliminary information,
reconnaissance and site investigation.
 Collection of Preliminary Information
- Information must be obtained regarding the
type of structure to be built and its general
use.
For construction of building the approximate
column load and their spacing and the local building-
code and basement requirement should be known.
The construction of bridges requires determining
span length and the loading on piers and abutment.
General Idea of Topography and type of Soil
resources:
1. Internet
2. U.S. Geological Survey Map
3. State Government Geological Survey Maps
4. U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Soil Conservation
Service country soil reports
5. Agronomy maps published by the agriculture
department of various states
6. Hydrological information published by the US Corps
of Engineers including the record of stream flow,
high flood level, and tidal records
7. Highway department soil manuals published by
several states
The information collected from these sources
can be extremely helpful to those planning site
investigation.
In some cases, substantial saving are realized
by anticipating problems that may be encountered later
in the exploration programs
Reconnaissance
The engineer should always make a visual
inspection of the site with a camera to obtain information
about these features:
1. The general topography of the site and the
possible existence of drainage ditches,
abandoned dumps of debris, or other material.
Also, evidence of creep of slopes and deep,
wide shrinkage cracks at regularly spaced
interval may be indicative of expensive soils.\
2. Soil stratification from deep cuts, such as those
made from the construction of nearby highway
and railroads.
3. Type of vegetation at the site, which may
indicate the nature of the soil. Ex PAGE 338
4. High-water marks on nearby building and bridge
abutments.
5. Groundwater levels, which can be determined by
checking nearby wells
6. Types of construction nearby and existence of
any cracks in wall of other problems
The nature of stratification and physical properties of
the soil nearby can be obtained from any available
soil-exploration reports for nearby existing structure.
Site Investigation
- Consist of planning, making test boreholes,
and collecting soil sample and desired
intervals for subsequent observation and
laboratory test.
---
To determine the approximate minimum depth pf
boring for foundation, may use the rules
established by American Society of Civil
Engineers (1972)
1. Determine the net increase of stress,
delta sigma, under foundation with depth
given\
2. Estimate the variation of the vertical
effective stress, sigma prime with depth
3. Determine the depth D=D1, at which the
stress increase delta sigma is equal to
1/10 q (q=estimated net stress on the
foundation)
4. Determine the depth, D=D2, at which
delta sigma/sigma prime = 0.5
5. Unless bedrock is encountered, the
smaller of the two depth of boring is
required.
The engineers should also take into account
the ultimate cost of the structure when making
decisions regarding the extent of field
exploration. The exploration cost generally
should be 0.1% to 0.5% of the cost of structure.
12.3 Exploratory Boring in the Field
Field Exploration consist:
 Trial Pits
 Boreholes
Auger boring – simplest method of making exploratory
boreholes
Types of Auger Boring:
a. Post Hole Auger
b. Helical Auger
 Hand Augers cannot be used for advancing
holes to depth exceeding 3-5m depth

Portable power-driven helical auger

- (30 to 75mm diameter)
- Are available for making deeper boreholes

The soil sample obtained from such borings are

highly disturbed.

In some non-cohesive soil that have low cohesion, the

walls of the boreholes will not stand unsupported – a
metal pipe is used as a casing to prevent the soil from
caving in.

When POWER IS AVAILABLE, Continous-

Flight Auger – most common used for advancing a
borehole. The power is from truck or tractor mounted
drilling rigs.

Boreholes up to 60 m – 70 m can be made

easily by this metod.

Some of commonly used solid stem auger have

outside diamer of 67, 83, 102, 114mm.

Hollow stem auger commercially have 64 mm

inside, 158mm outside diameter. 70 mm ID – 178 mm
OD, 76mm ID – 203mm OD AND 83mm ID – 229mm
OD

The hollow stem auger system includes the following:

1. Outer component – (a) hollow auger section, (b)
hollow auger cap (c) drive cap

2. Inner component – (a) pilot assembly, (b) center rod

column (c) rod-to-cap adapter

The auger head contains replaceable carbide

teeth. During drilling, if soil sample are to be
collected at a certain depth, the pilot assembly
and the center are removed.

Wash Boring – another method of advancing boreholes.

In this method, a casing about 2+- m long is driven
in the ground.