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Site Characterization for Container Terminal Project at North Coast of Jakarta

City by In-Situ Testing

Chapter · January 2020

DOI: 10.1007/978-981-15-2184-3_181

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Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering

Phung Duc Long

Nguyen Tien Dung
Editors

Geotechnics for
Sustainable Infrastructure
Development
Site characterization for container terminal project at north coast
of Jakarta city by in-situ testing

Aflizal Arafianto
PT. Geotechnical Engineering Consultant, Bandung, Indonesia. E-mail: [email protected]
Paulus Pramono Rahardjo
Universitas Katolik Parahyangan, Bandung, Indonesia. E-mail: [email protected]

Keywords: site characterization, in-situ testing, soft soils, coastal engineering

ABSTRACT: New container port terminal is to be constructed in the Jakarta offshores. The seabed in the
project location is generally very soft, and the thickness may vary. Undisturbed sampling is difficult, and
disturbance cannot be avoided. Consequently, it is required to perform a set of in-situ soil testing. This
paper presents site characterization of an offshore-container terminal by in-situ tests. Several types of in-
situ tests have been performed on the port area, which is drilling with SPT, mechanical CPT, CPTu
(piezocone), and Vane Shear Test (VST). All of the test results are compared to investigate the variation
of the ground condition, as well as to check the consistency between the tests. In general, the results show
that the subsurface condition is soft clays with the thickness varies from 11.0 to 18.5 m, and with the cone
resistance (qc) value of 0.2 – 0.4 MPa. Underneath is a dense sand layer with an average SPT N-value of
50 blows/0.3 m. Furthermore, interestingly it is found diluvium clays deposit below the sand layer, with
an average of cone resistance (qc) of 2.0 MPa. Besides, interpretation of geotechnical parameters of the
soft clay deposit is also presented. The use of Bq* parameter (Rahardjo, 2016) is introduced to interpret
the results better, and it is mainly used for the detection of under-consolidation behaviour.

1. INTRODUCTION avoided. Consequently, it is required to perform

Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia and as well as sets of in-situ testing.
a harbour city, is planning to construct a new 2. GENERAL SOIL CONDITION
container port terminal in the north bay. The
project is actually the extension of the existing The subsurface condition in the project area is
Tanjung Priok Port. The location of the new port is investigated by conducting in-situ tests. All tests
shown in Figure 1. were performed in the offshore before the
The new port is divided into two areas; reclamation works. Error! Reference source not
reclamation (225 hectares) and the pile-slab area found. summarizes the types and quantity of the
(32 hectares). Figure 2 shows the location of the in-situ tests.
areas. In the meantime, the reclamation is still on Table 1. Geotechnical Investigation Program
progress while the pile-slab area has already Type Total Tests
finished and is currently in fully-operational.
The seabed in the project location is generally Piezocone (CPTu) 6
very soft, and the thickness may vary. Undisturbed Mechanical CPT (DCPT) 5
sampling is difficult, and disturbance cannot be Vane Shear Test (VST) 24
Standard Penetration Test (SPT) 12

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 1383

P. Duc Long and N. T. Dung (eds.) et al., Geotechnics for Sustainable
Infrastructure Development, Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering 62,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2184-3_181
1384 A. Arafianto and P. P. Rahardjo

Figure 1. Project location (Satellite: Google EarthTM)

Figure 2. Two main areas of the new port (Satellite: Google EarthTM)
Soil investigation test locations are spread in the From the piezocone test results, the seabed is
reclamation and pile-slab area. Geotechnical cross identified as clays with a very soft consistency and
sections are made to give clearer information about its thickness varies from 11.0 – 18.5 m. In geology,
the subsurface condition. Figure 3 shows the layout this layer is defined as alluvium clays. Underneath
of the tests and the location of the geotechnical the alluvium, a clayey silt layer with soft to
cross section. medium consistency is identified. Moreover, at the
In the reclamation area, the assessment of soil depth of 20.0 m, the cone cannot penetrate deeper
stratification is performed based on the piezocone and therefore predrill is performed. This hard layer
tests. Figure 4 shows the geotechnical cross-section is underlain by a stiff silty clay layer, which is
A-A’ of the reclamation area. The length of the defined as diluvium clays.
cross section is relatively wide (> 800 m) and
therefore should be used as a guide only.
Site characterization for container terminal project... 1385

A geotechnical cross section is also made for the is identified, with N-value of > 50 blows/0.3 m.
pile-slab area, which is represented by the cross- The same as the soil layer in the reclamation area,
section B-B’. the sand layer is underlain by a stiff to very stiff
Figure 5 shows the soil stratification based on silty clay layer.
boring logs. Based on the two geotechnical cross-sections, it
The three boring logs show a relatively can be concluded that the soil stratification in the
consistent data of soil layer. The seabed condition two areas is most likely the same. However, there
is generally very soft clays except in the bore hole are differences such as the thickness of the very
BH-21, which is identified as soft to medium clays. soft clays (alluvium), the thickness of the very
The second layer is identified as stiff silty clay dense silty sand layer, and the consistency of the
with N-value ranging from 9 – 15 blows/0.3 m. silty clays (diluvium).
Underneath this layer, a very dense silty sand layer

A’

B’
A

Legend
BHV: Bore Hole + SPT + VST
BH: Bore Hole + SPT
SL: Mechanical CPT
CPTu: Piezocone
B
Figure 3. Geotechnical investigation layout

CPTu-01 CPTu-03 CPTu-04 CPTu-05

±260 m ±220 m ±330 m

Sea Water Level

qT (MPa) qT (MPa) qT (MPa) qT (MPa)

0 2 4 6 8 0 2 4 6 8 0 2 4 6 8 0 2 4 6 8
Seabed Seabed
0 0 0 0

5 Clays 5 5 Clays 5
Very Soft to Soft Very Soft to Soft
10 10 10 10

15 15 15 15
Depth (m)

Clayey Silt Stiff

20 20 20 20
Silty Sand
Predrilled
Very Dense*
25 25 25 25

Silty Clay
30 Stiff 30 30 30

35 35 35 35

40 40 40 40
*Soil identification obtained from the nearest bore log
1386 A. Arafianto and P. P. Rahardjo

Figure 4. Soil stratification of reclamation area (Cross section A-A’)

BH-21 BH-04 BH-06

±300 m ±360 m

Sea Water Level

N-Value N-Value N-Value
(blows/0.3 m) (blows/0.3 m) (blows/0.3 m)
0 10 20 30 40 50 0 10 20 30 40 50 0 100.7520 30 40 50
Seabed Seabed
0 0 0
0 0 0
2 Silty Clay Silty Clay 0
0 0 Silty Clay
5 2 5 Very Soft 5
Soft Very Soft
3 1 0
10 4 10 9 10 12
9 10 Silty Clay 12
16 10 Stiff 13
15 15 15 15
42 >50 >50
Depth (m)

41
36 >50 13
20 20 20
47 Silty Sand >50 >50
>50 Very Dense
25 >50 25 >50 25 >50
10 48 >50
30 11 30 30
33 18 10
Silty Clay
23 28 Stiff to Very Stiff 13
35 16 35 35
11 22 13
40 14 40 23 40 16

Figure 5. Soil Stratification of Pile-Slab Area (Cross Section B-B’)

3. PIEZOCONE TESTS that the layer comprises of clays-sands mixtures.
A series of piezocone tests have been performed in The layer identified in both piezocone readings but
the reclamation area. The identification of the soil in different depths; found at 15 – 20 m depth in
CPTu-01 and at 10 – 17 m in CPTu-02.
type is determined based on soil behaviour type
proposed by Robertson et al. (1986). The The third layer is classified as sandy silt to
porewater pressure readings were taken using clayey silt layer with qT of 2 – 3 MPa, which is
found at the depth of 27 m in CPTu-01. It is
porous filters located at the shoulder (u2) position.
Since the tests are conducted in the offshore, the interesting that this layer is not found in the CPTu-
02 because the predrill is insufficient. However, it
hydrostatic pressure (uo) is calculated and plotted
based on the seawater level in the current test gives the important information of that the soil in
location. Secondary parameters namely the pore the predrilled depth is sand or silty sand layer.
pressure ratio (Bq) and modified pore pressure 3.1 Pore Pressure Parameter (Bq) and Modified
parameter (Bq*) are also plotted. Figure 6 and Pore Pressure Parameter (Bq *)
Figure 7 show the piezocone test results, namely The pore pressure parameter (Bq) is an essential
parameter to check whether the soil is normally
CPTu-01 and CPTu-02.
consolidated or undergo consolidation process
Results from the piezocone test show that there
(under consolidating). The pore pressure ratio, Bq,
are three main layers; soft clays, medium clayey
is expressed by the equation as follows:
silts, and stiff silty clays underneath the hard layer.
In the first layer, the soil is classified as clays with u2  u0
Bq  (1)
very soft consistency of average corrected cone qT   v 0
resistance (qT) 0.2 MPa. The qT profiles of the soft
clays show a relatively smooth line, which means where u2 = pore pressure measured at the shoulder;
that the soil is homogenous. uo = hydrostatic pressure; qT = corrected cone
In the second layer, it is identified clayey silts resistance; σvo = total overburden stress.
layer with soft to medium consistency. This layer Setionegoro (2013) proposed a correlation
is identified by the jagged profile of qT, showing between the Bq and the Over Consolidation Ratio
Site characterization for container terminal project... 1387

(OCR), which can be written in the equation as 1

(2)
OCR 
follows: 1.2 Bq  0.1
0.75
Soil Behaviour Type qT (MPa) u2 (kPa) fs (kPa) Bq Bq* (u2/qT)
Robertson (1986) 0 2 4 6 8 0 1000 0 50 100 0 0.5 1 0 0.5 1
0 0 0 0 0 0
G.W.L = +8.0
(3) Clays
2
4
5 5 5 5 5
6
8
10 10 10 10 10 10
12
14
(3) Clays
15 15 15 15 15
16
Depth (m)

Depth (m)

Depth (m)

Depth (m)

Depth (m)
18
20 20 20 20 20 20
PREDRILL
22
24
25 25 25 25 25
26
28 (6) Sandy silt to clayey silt
(6) Sandy silt to clayey silt
30 (6) Sandy silt to clayey silt 30 30 uo 30 30 30
32
34
35 35 35 35 35
36
38
40 40 40 40 40 40

Figure 6. Piezocone Test Result (CPTu-01), soil classification based on Robertson et al. (1986)

0.75
Soil Behaviour Type qT (MPa) u2 (kPa) fs (kPa) Bq B q* (u2/qT)
Robertson (1986) 0 2 4 6 8 0 1000 0 50 100 0 0.5 1 0 0.5 1
0 0 0 0 0 0
G.W.L = +6.0
(3) Clays
(3) Clays
(3) Clays
5 (3) Clays 5 5 5 5 5

10 10 10 10 10 10
(3) Clays

15 (3) Clays 15 15 15 15 15
(3) Clays
Depth (m)

Depth (m)

Depth (m)

Depth (m)

Depth (m)
PREDRILL

20 20 20 uo 20 20 20

(7) Sand to silty sand

25 25 25 25 25 25

30 30 30 30 30 30

Insufficient predrill 35 35 35 35 Sign of 35 Under

Consolidating Soil
40 40 40 40 40

Figure 7. Piezocone test result (CPTu-02), soil classification based on robertson et al. (1986)
Practically, the soil is Normally Consolidated response to the cone resistance. The equation can
(NC) if the Bq = 0.75. The OCR is less than unity be written as follows:
means that the soil is under consolidating, and the u2
value of the OCR can be interpreted as the degree Bq*  (3)
qT
of consolidation.
From the CPTu-01 test result, the Bq value is Piezocone test results show that the very soft
less than 0.75 and therefore it is not under clay layer has the average Bq* value of 0.90. The
consolidation phase. However, a sign of under same condition is also shown in the CPTu-02.
consolidation is found in the CPTu-02, specifically Practically, the Bq* of 0.90 means that 90% of the
in the depth of 5.0 – 6.5 m. In general, it can be measured resistance was actually by water.
concluded that the soft soil is not under
consolidating. 3.2 Pore Water Pressure Dissipation Tests
Besides the pore pressure parameter, Rahardjo
During piezocone soundings, a series of porewater
et al. (2016) proposed a new parameter Bq* to
pressure dissipation tests were performed at several
check the proportion of the excess pore pressure
depths to determine the horizontal coefficient of
consolidation and permeability characteristics.
1388 A. Arafianto and P. P. Rahardjo

Figure 8 shows the dissipation curves at two Figure 8. Pore water pressure dissipation curves
particular depth, specifically at the soft clays in the The dissipation tests were carried out to 50%
upper layer and the stiff clays in the lower layer. dissipation of excess pore pressure to provide
250 sufficient data for interpretation. The values of ch
z = 6.96 m
are determined from a simplified diagram from
Pore Pressure (kPa)

200
Robertson et al. (1992).
uo A significant difference of ch value is observed
150
between the two soil types. The soft clays in the
100
upper layer (alluvium) have much lower
t50 = 72.08 min permeability than the lower layer (diluvium). The
50 ratio between the ch values is about 12.
ch = 0.076 cm 2/min
0 4. MECHANICAL CPT
0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000
Time (Minutes) The conventional mechanical CPT, which also
known as the Dutch Cone Penetration Test
(a) Upper Soil (Alluvium)
(DCPT), is one of the most common soil tests used
1600
in Indonesia until today. The main reason is that
1400 the mechanical CPT is cheap and relatively fast.
Pore Pressure (kPa)

1200
z = 29.75 m
The offshore CPT is conducted on the wooden
1000 platform, as shown in Figure 9.
800 In this particular project, five mechanical CPTs
600 t50 = 5.97 min
are spread in the project area to obtain the
uo variability of the depth of the hard layer. Figure 10
400
shows the cone resistance (qc) and friction ratio
200
ch = 0.92 cm2/min (Rf) profiles vs depth.
0
0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000
Time (Minutes)

(b) Lower Soil (Diluvium)

Figure 9. Wooden Platform for Offshore CPT

Site characterization for container terminal project... 1389

The results show that the hard layer is found at Undrained Shear Strength, Su (kPa)
0 2 4 6 8 10
the depth of 14 – 15 m below the seabed level. As
0
for the soil classification, the Rf profile shows that
the subsurface is generally clays and sand-clay
2
mixtures. This information shall be used as a
preliminary guide only since it is difficult to verify
the real soil condition. To assure the soil type, core 4

sampling and conducting piezocone test are

Depth (m)
suggested. 6
qc (MPa) Rf (% )
0 1 2 3 4 5 0 2 4 6 8
0 0 8

10
5 5

12
Undisturbed Remolded
Depth (m)

10 10 Figure 11. Distribution of Undrained Shear Strength

with Depth from VST
Sensitivity, St
15 15 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
SL-02
0
SL-08
SL-12
Sands
Mixed
Clays

SL-18

20
SL-20
20 2

Figure 10. Mechanical CPT Results (Soil Classification

based on Schmertmann 1978) 4
Depth (m)

5. VANE SHEAR TESTS 6

Recommended Value
When the ground consistency is very soft, for Design

undisturbed sampling is difficult and therefore the 8

disturbance cannot be avoided. Consequently, it is
required to perform in-situ testing. Vane Shear Test
10
(VST) are used primarily to determine the
undrained shear strength (su) of saturated clay
deposits with strength generally up to 200 kPa. 12

Sets of VST were performed at eight bore holes Figure 12. Sensitivity (St) vs Depth
with three depths each. The range of test depths is
2.5 – 10 m below the seabed level. The VST allows The undrained shear strengths from the VST are
the measurement of the peak (undisturbed) and in the interval of 3 – 7 kPa and 1 – 4 kPa for
residual (remolded) strength of clays, which is not undisturbed and remolded, respectively. This value
possible by any other in-situ test. Figure 11 shows is quite low since the soil is very soft with N-value
the obtained value of undrained shear strength for of 0 – 1 blow/0.3 m.
all depths. Very soft clays are mostly categorized as
sensitive clays, which means that the soil tends to
have lower shear strength after experiencing
disturbances. By definition, sensitivity (St) is the
ratio of intact to remolded undrained shear strength
at the same water content. Figure 12 shows the
distribution of St with depth for all tests.
Based on the graph, it can be concluded that the
interval of sensitivity value (St) is from 1 – 12. It is
recommended to adopt a higher value of St for the
layer on the depth of 5 – 10 m as suggested in the
 1390 A. Arafianto and P. P. Rahardjo

graph. If the sensitivity is taken 2 – 3, the soil is settlement since the thickness of the soft layer is
then categorized as medium sensitivity clays as not uniform all over the area. Moreover, if the
suggested by Skempton and Northey (1952). hydraulic filling is to be conducted, there will be an
Undrained shear strength value is also can be issue of slope stability (deep sliding) considering
determined from the piezocone test using cone its low shear strength. Therefore, the filling rate
factor, Nkt. By assuming the undrained shear shall be very slow to prevent the embankment
strength from the VST is the true value, the cone failure.
factor is back-calculated using the equation as
follows: 7. REFERENCES
𝑞𝑇 𝜎𝑣 GEC, PT. (2011). Soil Investigation Factual Report
𝑁𝑘𝑡 (3)
𝑠𝑢 Project Container Yard Tanjung Priok (in
After performing trial and errors, the calculation Indonesian). Final Report, Issued March 2011,
gives the cone factor Nkt value of 30. The Bandung.
undrained shear strength from piezocone shows a Rahardjo, P.P., Anggoro, B.W., Yakin, Y.A.,
good agreement with the VST results, as shown in Darmawan, H. (2008). Determination of Degree
Figure 13. of Consolidation of Reclaimed Site on Deep
Undrained Shear Strength, su (kPa) Soft Mahakam Deltaic Soils Using CPTu. The
0 10 20 30
0
4th International Symposium on Deformation
Characteristics of Geomaterials, Atlanta,
Georgia, USA.
2
Rahardjo, P.P. (2016). CPTu in Consolidating
Soils. Proceeding International Conference for
4
Site Characterization. ISC6, Gold Coast,
Australia.
Depth (m)

6
Robertson, P.K., Campanella, R.G., Gillespie, D.,
and Greig, J. (1986). Use of Piezometer Cone
8 Data. Proceedings of the ASCE Specialty
Conference In Situ '86: Use of ln Situ Tests in
10 Geotechnical Engineering, Blacksburg, 1263-
VST 80, American Society of Engineers (ASCE).
CPTu (Nkt = 30) Robertson, P.K., Sully, J.P., Woeller, D.J., Lunne,
12
T., Powell, J.J.M. and Gillespie, D.G. (1992).
Figure 13. Undrained Shear Strength (su) from VST and
Estimating coefficient of consolidation from
Piezocone Test
piezocone tests. Canadian Geotechnical
6. CONCLUSION Journal. 29(4):551–557.
Schmertmann, J. H. (1978). Guidelines for cone
A geotechnical site characterization has been led at penetration test performance and design, Report
the improved understanding of North Jakarta FHWA-TS-78-209. U.S. Dept of Transportation,
seabed which are comprised of very soft clays Washington, 145 pp.
(alluvium), underlain by very dense silty sand layer Setionegoro, N. (2013). Research on the
and stiff silty clay (diluvium). At the new port Characterization of Consolidating Soils (in
project area, several series of in-situ tests (SPT, Indonesian). PhD Dissertation submitted to the
CPT, CPTu, VST) have been performed. Very soft Graduate School, Universitas Katolik
seabed clays are unique in that they have very low Parahyangan, Bandung Indonesia.
cone resistance (qc), and therefore low undrained Skempton, A. W. and Northey, R. D. (1952). The
shear strength. The sleeve friction (fs) is also sensitivity of clays. Geotechnique, pp 3:30–53.
extremely low, which is less than 2 kPa. This is
due to the existence of shell fragments reducing the
sleeve resistance.
These seabed characteristics provide some
essential aspects that must be considered for the
design and construction of the port such as the
long-term settlement, as well as the differential

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