Case Studies on

Ground Improvement &

Instrumentation
U.K.Guruvittal
Chief Scientist
CSIR - Central Road Research Institute
Mathura Road, New Delhi – 110 025
[email protected]
Road Construction on Soft / Weak Ground
Alternatives for road construction on soft ground
 Route relocation – Abandoning road alignment
through soft slushy soil
 Deep foundations – To carry loads down to
competent stratum
 Redesign the structure to survive ground
movements Guru Vittal

 Improving the properties of the soft ground

prior to construction – Ground Improvement
Ground Improvement Techniques
Densification – Compaction or Consolidation
Impact compaction/ Dynamic compaction
Deep vibratory compaction
Explosive compaction
Compaction grouting
Consolidation
 Applying surcharge without drains
 Surcharge + Drains (PVD, Sand Drains, Sand wicks)
 Lowering water table
 Vacuum preloading
Stiffening Columns – Composite soil structure
Vibro or Bored-rammed stone columns
Soil stabilised columns
Jet grouted columns Guru Vittal

Vibro concrete columns

Problematic Soils for Geotechnical Engineers
Black Cotton Soil Areas
Swelling and shrinkage characteristics
Chemical Stabilisation, CNS layer
Coastal and Delta Regions
Sinking due to soft soil conditions
Preloading, Densification, Vertical Drains, Stone
Columns
Hilly Terrain
Failures due to landslides
Protective structures (Passive and Active), Erosion
Control, Drainage
Ref: www.Keralasoils.gov.in
Marshy/ Soft Marine Clayey Soil Areas

Guru Vittal
Coastal / Delta Soil / Marine Clay
Marine clay – Very low shear strength, Shallow
water table, unable to support any load
Load Application increases pore pressure. As
water flows out, clay particles consolidate, gain
shear strength, but settlement occurs
Guru Vittal

Ground improvement measures are required

before undertaking embankment construction
Accelerating the compressibility of insitu soil
using vertical drains and preloading – Monitoring
settlement and sub-soil movement
Embankment Failure in Marine Clay Area
Embankment Failure in Marine Clay Area
Ground Improvement Using Vertical Drains
Quicken primary consolidation, Rapid dissipation
of excess pore pressure, Shorten drainage path,
Acelerate rate of settlement, Decreases waiting tıme
Clay permeability horizontally is higher than
vertical direction due to sand and silt lenses,
Distance between vertical drains determines
consolidation period
 Ground Improvement
Using Vertical Drains
Types of vertical drains Guru Vittal

Sand drains
Sand wicks
Band drains (Prefabricated Vertical Drain)
Sand drains – 15 to 50 cm diameter
bore holes made and backfilled with
coarse sand
Sand wicks – Smaller diameter sand
drains pre-packed in filter stocking
Prefabricated Vertical Drains / Band Drains
Plastic core of flexible polypropylene
extrusion formed to create channels,
surrounded by non woven (polypropylene or
polyester) geotextile filter jacket
Filter jacket allows water to enter drainage
channels, prevents clogging by soil particles
Width – 10 cm, thickness 3 to 9 mm, length in
rolls of 100 to 300 m Guru Vittal

No structural function, Accelerates

consolidation, decreases settlement time
Typical Core Shapes of PVDs

Guru Vittal
 Installation of PVD

Stitcher for
installing
Close up view of mandrel
PVD
for installing PVD Guru Vittal
 Disadvantages of Sand Drains
Sand is expensive, Not easily available
Depends on sand gradation
Slow installation, Larger smear effect
‘Necking’ (discontinuity) during consolidation due to
lateral displacement of sub-soil

Advantages of PVD over Sand Drains

Less smear, higher conductivity, economical
Installation upto 60 m depth at a rate of 1000 m/hr
Closer spacing, shortens travel length for pore water
Better quality control of product, Proven performance
 Stone Column Using Vibroflot
Vibroflot can be used for
 vibro compaction
 vibro replacement (Stone columns)
• Introducing coarse material in soft soils
• Columns of stones / gravel – Stone
Columns
• Load bearing element and vertical drain
• Improved ground (composite ground)
has lower compressibility, higher shear
strength
Vibroflot (vibrating unit) • Increase the rate of consolidation by
Length = 2 – 3 m removing entrapped water
Diameter = 0.3 – 0.5 m • Mitigates earthquake induced
Mass = 2 tonnes, 30 HP, about liquefaction
1800 RPM (lowered into the ground and vibrated)
 Manual Method of Stone Column
Installation Guru Vittal

Originally used for loose

cohesionless soils
Now common for clayey soils
Diameter – 50 cm to 70 cm
Spacing – 1.5 m to 3.5 m c/c
Gravel – 20 mm to 75 mm size
0.40 m to 0.80 m Height
layers
Length – 20 m
Blanket - 0.3 m thick
 Sand Drains for Consolidation – Eastern
Express Highway in Mumbai
Constructed in 1960s between Sion & Thane,
Height of embankment – 2.1 to 2.4 m
Depth of clay layer – 3.6 to 4.5 m, Undrained
strength – 15 kPa, Cc – 0.6, Initial void ratio – 2.6
25 cm diameter sand drains installed at a
spacing of 3 m c/c in a triangular pattern
Embankment construction using cinder
Good performance of road stretch subjected to
ground improvement Guru Vittal

Failure of stretch where ground improvement

was not done
Ack: Mr T K Natarajan et al
 Eastern Express Highway in Mumbai Contd

Pile Driver
for Sand
Drain
Installation

Subsidence of untreated section

Guru Vittal
Cross section of failure section
 Field Trials on Foundation Treatment for
Ore Handling Yard - Visakhapatnam
Taken up in 1970s to improve soft marine clay
sub-soil at iron ore stacking yard
Field trials to evaluate efficacy of sand drains
(Test area 1) and sand wicks (Test area 2) vis-à-
vis untreated section (Test area 3) Guru Vittal

Soft clay deposit thickness – 12 m

Sand drains of 0.36 m dia installed at 2.14 m c/c
in a triangular pattern, sand wicks of 6.35 cm dia
installed at 1.22 m c/c in a triangular pattern
Test embankment loaded to 9 m height using ore
Ack: Dr R K Bhandari, Mr T K Natarajan et al
 Foundation Treatment for
Ore Handling Yard - Visakhapatnam
Guru Vittal

Installation of sand drains Installation of sand wicks

 Foundation Treatment for
Ore Handling Yard - Visakhapatnam

The Three Test Areas

Guru Vittal

Loading of Test Areas in Progress

 Conclusions of Field Trials in
Ore Handling Yard – Visakhapatnam
Vertical sand drains provided greater degree of
consolidation than sand wicks
Sand drains in combination with preloading can be
used for ore stacking aiming at a factor of safety of
1.2 to 1.3 Guru Vittal

Open end mandrel method of installation was

recommended
Sand drain should penetrate fully through the depth
of soft and medium stiff clay layer (undrained
strength less than 50 kPa)
Okhla Flyover Approach Embankment
 First geogrid reinforced fly ash approach
embankment constructed in the country
 Length of embankment – 59 m, Height – 5.9 to 7.8 m
 Opened to traffic in 1996, Performance – Very good
 Bearing Pressure under the RE walls – 193 kN/m2
 Safe Bearing Capacity of sub-soil – 125 kN/m2
 Ground improvement using two layers of
bi-oriented geogrids at a depth of 0.45 m & 1.0 m
from bottom of RE wall carried out to increase
Safe Bearing Capacity of sub-soil Guru Vittal

Ack: Dr Bindumadhava et al
Okhla flyover approach embankment

Cross section of RE wall

showing basal
reinforcement

Guru Vittal

Details of basal
reinforcement
 Spreading of basal
reinforcement
Guru Vittal

Okhla flyover approach embankment

Compacted bottom
ash layer with basal
reinforcement
 Investigations & Improvement of Approach
Embankment to Surajbari Bridge, Bhuj,Gujarat

Typical cross-section of the embankment

Ack: Dr Kanwar Singh et al Guru Vittal
 Effect of Earthquake
on Embankment

Shallow cracks in road

pavement

Deep and wide cracks

in embankment

• Depth of crack upto 1m

• width of crack 10 cm- 80 cm
 Stability Analysis Guru Vittal

Emb. Factor of safety

height
(m) Without With
earthquake earthquake
forces forces
7.2 1.17 0.797

6.0 1.25 0.838

5.0 1.38 0.916

4.0 1.56 1.03

3.0 1.82 1.21

 Recommendations of the Study
(Surajbari Bridge Approach Investigation)

 Field and laboratory tests indicated that the

embankment was on verge of instability under
normal load conditions
 Long term stability would have increased due
to consolidation of the sub-soil, which takes
several years
 Under disturbances caused by earthquake,
embankment failed due to low undrained shear
strength
 Recommendations – Reconstruction by
adopting stone column technique to accelerate
consolidation of subsoil Guru Vittal
High Embankment Using Fly ash on Soft Ground
for Kalindi Bypass Project

Length of embankment – 4.5 km in Yamuna river bed

Height varies from 5 m to 9 m Guru Vittal

Soft slush of thickness 0.5 to 3 m exist in sub-soil

Ground improvement (stone columns) which was
otherwise required was avoided due to usage of fly ash –
Light weight fill material Ack: Mr Sudhir Mathur et al
Stone Columns for Stabilisng Metro Tunnel Backfill
Underground metro tunnel, over which road was built
Tunnel constructed using cut and fill method
Settlement of backfill soil resulting in failure of road
Field investigations revealed backfilling (more than
10.5 m depth) done without proper compaction
Percentage compaction of backfill 73 to 89% (largely
below 80%) Guru Vittal

Affected stretch about 100 m length, 9.5 m wide

Seepage water accentuated the problem
Solution – Rammed stone columns (0.6 dia, triangular
spacing at 2 m), Biaxial geogrid (200 kN/m)
Ack: Dr P Subramanya Prasad, et al
Stone Column Installation
Guru Vittal

Figure5. Suggested remedial measures at Site

Construction of Embankment in Rann of Kutch
 Length of the embankment = 24 km
 Height of the embankment = 3 m
 Salt content in the soil = 3 – 11%
 Ingress by sea water during high tides
 Height of sea water varies from 0.5 – 1 m Site condition

Properties of soil
Liquid Limit (%) 35
PI 13
MDD (kN/m3) 17.5
OMC (%) 17.50
C (kPa) 18
φ 80

Ack: Dr P Subramanya Prasad, et al

Geogrid with soling During construction Finished Embankment

 Ground Improvement of
Soft Organic Soil at NIT Manipur
Road alignment at NIT, Imphal campus has very soft
organic sub-soil for 13m depth, shallow water table
Property Value
Specific Gravity 2.2
Organic Content 24%
Free swell Index 25%
Liquid Limit 67%
Plasticity Index 23
Permeability 3.2x10-7
Coefficient of 0.51
Compression
Shear strength 2 kPa – 6.6kPa
SPT “N” 0 to 5
Ack: Smt Parvathy G S, et al
Classification OH
 Ground Improvement of
Soft Organic Soil at NIT Manipur
Road embankment without ground improvement fails in
bearing capacity and stability, Settlement about 2.9 m
 Ground Improvement of
Soft Organic Soil at NIT Manipur
Composite Ground Treatment - PVDs to be first
installed for required depth, then large dia granular
columns to be installed dynamically
Densification & bearing capacity improvement of soft
sub-soil by granular columns, consolidation of deeper
soft soils by PVDs
 Ground Improvement of
Soft Organic Soil at NIT Manipur
After ground improvement, bearing capacity factor of
safety will be 2.2, Settlement of 2.62m to occur within
5 months loading period
Factor of safety - 1.98 (static) and 1.05 (seismic)
 Ground Improvement of
Container Terminal, Paradip, Odisha
Low lying area near sea, water table at ground level
About 2.5 m filling required
Highly compressible clay for 3 m depth, medium
compressible between 3 to 7.5 m depth Ack: Smt Parvathy G S, et al
SPT and Sub-Soil at Container Terminal
Fill Materials for Container Terminal
Property Dredged Sand Moorum Phosphogypsum
Specific Gravity 2.7 2.7 2.6
Grain Size Gravel 0 32 0
Sand (%) 100 67 36
Silt (%) 0 1 25
Clay (%) 0 0 39
Liquid Limit (%) - 22 42
Plastic Limit (%) NP NP NP
MDD kN/m3 15.3 and 14.6 21.1 12.9
OMC (%) (Relative Density) 10.1 37.0
Soaked CBR (%) 20 17 >100
Easy availability of dredged sand, good drainage, but high chloride
content, not recommended for subgrade, can be for filling only
Chemical tests on Phosphogypsum for use in subgrade
Moorum for both filling and subgrade depending on availability
 Settlement & Stability Analysis
Estimated total settlement – 0.833 m
Factor of safety determined for different fill materials at
various construction stages. Improved shear strength of
clayey strata after ground improvement calculated using
SHANSEP method
 Ground Improvement Solution
Stone  Diameter 0.6 m  No waiting  Costlier compared to
Column  Square grid period PVD
pattern 1.4 m x  Improvement of  Need of good quality
1.4 m bearing capacity stones
 Depth up to 9 m  Settlement
reduction

PVD  PVD 10 cm width  Economical  Waiting period (2

 Depth of  Easy to install months) required
installation 15 m  Monitoring of
 Square grid settlement and pore
pattern 1.3 m x pressure
1.3 m  Total settlement not
reduced, but
accelerated
Ack: Smt Parvathy G S , et al
 About the Project
Monorail operates between Wadala & Chembur
Opened to public in Feb 2014
Stretch near Anik-Wadala road passes adjacent
to sea creek
Cement concrete pavement has been provided in
the road stretch, Monorail pillars are in median
Distress in cement concrete slabs near the
monorail pillar in Anik-Wadala Road and Sion-
Koliwada road
Ack: Dr P Subramanya Prasad, et al
Upheaval of PQC Slabs Adjacent to Monorail Pillars
Surrounding Conditions
Ground Improvement Measures Implemented

Sub-soil comprises of marine clay

Stone columns (0.9 m dia, 2.5 m c/c triangular
spacing) installed in Anik-Wadala Road
Sion-Koliwada road being an old one, CC
pavement was already in place
Ground improvement measures might have been
carried out before constructing road pavement
Five boreholes made in the median portion of both
roads for verifying sub-soil data
 Geotechnical Properties of
Clayey Sub-Soil

Geotechnical Property Sample 1 Sample 2

In-situ Moisture content (%) 73 50
Liquid limit (%) 120 110
Plasticity Index 79 69
Initial void ratio (e0) 1.973 1.438
Compression index (Cc) 0.59 0.38
Bulk Density (kN/m3) 15.6 16.6
 Reasons and Remedial Measures
Monorail pillars are in tact, operational, Hence no
settlement of monorail pillars
Stone columns help to reduce settlement, but can not
eliminate consolidation settlements
Consolidation of marine clay resulted in settlement
Slabs resting on pier caps suffered no settlement,
which appears as upheaval of those PQC slabs
About 85% consolidation has taken place, hence no
further major settlement expected
Suggested - Removing damaged slabs, Providing black
top pavement to match the level of adjoining PQC slabs
Repairing Distressed RE Wall
Bulging and outward movement of panels
Differential settlement of approach slab
Constructed 7 years back, Metro pillar work nearby
Ack: Smt Parvathy G S, et al
Repairing Distressed RE Wall
Causes of Failure – Settlement of sub-soil, bearing
failure, insufficient quality control during
construction
Re-levelling of approach slab
Mud Jacking Technique
Urethane Injection technique
Soil Nailing for side walls and closing walls
3 layers of soil nail (vertically) each at the centre of
panel
 Geotechnical Instrumentation
Geotechnical instruments – vital role in
monitoring stability of embankments on
soft grounds and gathering factual
Guru Vittal
information
Soil deposits exhibit large variations in
properties – tests conducted on isolated
samples may predict behaviour which may
be different from field performance
Field of application – embankments,
landslides, retaining walls, tailing ponds,
earth fill dams, dewatering projects, etc
Instrumentation and Monitoring of Band Drain Work at
Visakhapatnam Port Connectivity Road
Project – Visakhapatnam Port Connectivity Road
Length – 12 km
Cost – Rs.94 Crores
Distinguishing feature – Ground improvement
using PVD for a length of 4 km
Guru Vittal
 Clay layer at project site

A view of excavated Different soil layers as

clay layer revealed through
excavation
 Magnetic
Settlement Chainage Typical
Gauge 3 + 650 Instrument
(MS 1)
Piezometer Installation
(PM 1)
Plan
Centre line
Toe of the embankment
Magnetic
Settlement
Gauge Reference Piezometer
(MS 2) out side embankment
Piezometer Guru Vittal
(PM 2)
Surface Inclinometer
Settlement Chainage 3 + 700
Marker
 Piezometer
Instrument for monitoring of pore pressure
Types of piezometers
Casagrande open stand pipe piezometer
Pneumatic piezometer
Vibrating wire piezometer
Parts of Casagrande piezometer
Guru Vittal
Ceramic inlet tip (Filter tip)
PVC stand pipe
Bentonite seal
Water level indicating device
Casagrande Open Stand Pipe Piezometer

Guru Vittal
Casagrande Open Stand Pipe Piezometer
Installation Procedure – PVC access pipes fitted to
ceramic tip and lowered into the bore hole, bottom
1 m of bore hole filled with washed coarse sand

Piezometer Being Coarse Sand Filling at the

Lowered into Borehole Bottom of Borehole
Casagrande Open Stand Pipe Piezometer
Installation Procedure – Bentonite seal is applied
above sand in the bore hole to isolate pore
pressure at tip and borehole is backfilled after
removing the casing

Removal of Casing Bentonite Pellets for

Sealing Borehole
Casagrande open stand pipe piezometer
Installation Procedure – Determining RL
of tip of access tube and taking readings

Levelling for determining

RL of access pipe tip
Taking readings using
water sensing device
 Magnetic Settlement Gauge
Instrument for monitoring of
vertical settlement/heave of
subsoil and ground surface
Parts of magnetic settlement
gauge
Ring magnet with
spikes (Spider) Guru Vittal

PVC pipe
Ring magnet embedded
plate
Magnet detecting device
 Magnetic settlement gauge

Raising of the bore hole casing for specified height

 Magnetic settlement gauge

Lowering of spiders to specified depth using depth gauge

 Inclinometer
Instrument for monitoring subsoil movements
Parts of inclinometer
Permanently installed
guide casing having
tracking grooves
Portable probe
with gravity sensing
servo accelerometer
Readout unit with power
supply for indication of
probe inclination
Graduated cable linking probe
to the readout unit Guru Vittal
Inclinometer
Guru Vittal
Inclinometer Results

Typical
graph of
subsoil
movement

Guru Vittal
 Predicting the final settlement
Asaoka Method
100
Final Settlement = 93 cm correspondind to particular load

75

50
St

Section 4 MS1

25

Guru Vittal

0
0 25 50 75 100

St-1
 Percentage consolidation of subsoil
Section Final Total observed Percentage
settlement settlement as consolidation
estimated from on date achieved
Asaoka Method
Section 2
123 cm 91.4 cm 74
(Ch. 3+695)

Section 4
118 cm 82.6 cm 80
(Ch. 4+062)
Guru Vittal
 Controlling Embankment Stability
 When soft soil is loaded, consolidation as well
Guru Vittal

as plastic flow of sub-soil occur

 Settlement gauge for monitoring settlement (d),
inclinometer for plastic flow () monitoring
 Progress of plastic flow in relation to
settlement can be used as indicator of
embankment stability and impending failure
 Predicting failure of embankment

 - Lateral Minoru Matsuo

displacement Method
of subsoil

d - Settlement
Instrumentation for Landslide Monitoring
Instruments provide time dependent quantitative
deformation data of unstable slopes
Data shows actual deformation pattern with time,
can be used for planning stability measures
Monitoring surface / sub-surface movements and
pore water pressure are critical
Data can be used for prediction in a given area
Instrumentation can evaluate corrective measures
Some instruments can serve as fore warning
devices and also as legal evidence
 Monitoring Hill Slopes -
Parameters for Observation
Magnitude, rate and distribution of surface and sub-
surface displacements
Variation in piezometric pressures particularly
around sliding boundary
Vertical movements (settlements / Uplift)
Tilting of sliding masses
Change of loads due to earth pressure or support
systems
Layout of Instruments for
Landslide Monitoring
Monitoring Surface Movement
Primarily involves distance measurements –
Horizontal and vertical
Carried out by precision surveying of pegs / surface
markers / survey pillars fixed at predetermined
locations in the landslide area
Marker movement monitored with reference to
permanent bench mark outside the landslide area
Survey instruments – Total station, DGPS
Photogrammetry techniques and satellite imagery
can also be used
 Monitoring Surface Movement

Patalganga Landslide –
Oct 2002
Patalganga Landslide –
Oct 2008
 Monitoring Surface Movement

Patalganga Landslide –
Oct 2002
Patalganga Landslide –
Oct 2008
 Monitoring Surface Movement

Location of Survey Pillars for Surficial Monitoring

Surveying Surface Markers Using DGPS

Ack: Dr Kishor Kumar et al

Monitoring Sub-Surface Movement
Locating the sliding surface helps in back
calculation of factor of safety and design of
remedial measures
Advance warning can be obtained from such
measurements
Instruments for sub-surface movement monitoring
Inclinometer
Deflection tube Inclinometer
Boring Work & Installation of Inclinometer
Casing at Powari, Himachal Pradesh
 Inclinometer

Gravity Sensing Transducer

Readout Unit
Inclinometer sealed at bottom
to prevent water leakage
Annular space between
Inclinometer Sensor borehole and casing filled with
sand and saturated
 Deflection Tube Inclinometer
PVC tubes of suitable diameter installed in borehole
Tell-tale markers (Cylindrical weights tied using a taut
string) hung at different depths
When deflection tube is vertical, all markers can be
pulled up. After bending, one or more markers can’t be
pulled up, thereby indicating depth of sliding surface
Casagrande Open Stand Pipe Piezometer

Piezometer Sensor

Taking Piezometer
Ack: Dr Kishor Kumar et al
Readings at Powari
 Concluding Remarks
 Construction of road embankments over weak
and soft grounds is increasing
 Careful evaluation of sub-soil conditions is a
must in such cases
 Many options for ground improvement
available – Selection to be based on soil type
and other site conditions Guru Vittal

 Increased mechanisation of construction

making it possible to adopt suitable method of
ground improvement
Geotechnical Engineering is a Science
But its Practice is an Art

Thank you
U.K.Guru Vittal
[email protected]
098688 58380