Example 3

Site
Classification
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Procedure for
Seismic Design

In this example, the seismic site class is determined for a given site.

Site class is used to characterize the type and properties of soils at a given
site and account for their effect on the site coefficients, Fa and Fv, used in
developing the design response spectrum (generalized simplified seismic
analysis). The procedure can also require a site response analysis in accor-
dance with Section 21.1, depending on the site class determination. However,
the site classification procedure does not encompass evaluation of potential
geologic and seismic hazards (Section 11.8). The following example is appli-
cable for the site classification procedure provided in Chapter 20 of ASCE
7. Other codes appear similar but contain important differences. See Chapter
11 for definitions pertaining to the site classification procedure.
Based on the competency of the soil and rock material, a site is catego-
rized as Site Class A, B, C, D, E, or F. The site classes range from hard rock
to soft soil profiles as presented in Table G3-1. This table appears in ASCE
7 as Table 20.3-1.
For this example, the shear wave velocity criteria are not covered in
detail. Shear wave velocity correlations and direct measurement require
considerable experience and judgment, which are beyond the scope of this
example. Proper use of shear wave velocity data requires consulting with an
experienced professional.

Seismic Loads
 Table G3-1  Site Classification (Table 20.3-1 of ASCE 7-10)

Site Class vs N or Nch su

A. Hard rock > 5,000 ft/s NA NA
B. Rock 2,500 to 5,000 ft/s NA NA
C. Very dense soil 1,200 to 2,500 ft/s > 50 > 2,000 lb/ft2
and soft rock
D. Stiff soil 600 to 1,200 ft/s 15 to 50 1,000 to 2,000 lb/ft2
E. Soft clay soil < 600 ft/s < 15 < 1,000 lb/ft2
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Any profile with more than 10 ft of soil having

the following characteristics:
- Plasticity index PI > 20,
- Moisture content w ≥ 40%, and
- Undrained shear strength su < 500 lb/ft 2
F. Soils requiring site See Section 20.3.1
response analysis in
accordance with
Section 21.1

Data Collection
To classify a site, the proper subsurface profile and necessary data need to
be obtained. According to Section 20.1:
• Site soil shall be classified based on the upper 100 ft (30 m) of the
site profile.
• In absence of data to a depth of 100  ft, soil properties may be
estimated by the registered design professional preparing the soil
investigation.
• Where soil properties are not known in sufficient detail, Site Class
D shall be used unless Site Class E or F soils are determined to be
present.
Where site class criteria are based on soil properties (PI, w, su), the values
are to be determined by laboratory tests as specified: Atterberg limits (ASTM
D4318, 2005b), moisture content (ASTM D2216, 2005a), and undrained
shear strength (ASTM D2166, 2006, or ASTM D2850, 2007).

Site Class Determination

The procedure can be generally broken into three steps as follows. Fig. G3-1
summarizes the steps.
12 Seismic Loads: Guide to the Seismic Load Provisions of ASCE 7-10

Seismic Loads
 Fig. G3-1 Profile
Site class determination Gathering &
Data Lab Data
flowchart

Any Site Class F

Check Site Criteria Site Class
Step 1 Class F (Section 20.3.1) F

All soft clay layer

Check Site Criteria Site Class
Step 2 Class E (Section 20.3.2) E
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Choose
Step 3 Method

v̄s N̄ N̄ch & s̄ u

Table G03-1 Table G03-1

Check Site Does not meet all Criteria Site Class

Class A, B (Sections 20.1, 20.3.4) C, D, or E

Section
20.3.5

Site Class Site Class Site Class Site Class Site Class
A B C D E

Step 1: Check Site Class F (Section 20.3.1)

If any of the following conditions are met, the site shall be classified as Site
Class F:
1. Soils vulnerable to potential failure or collapse under seismic
loading, such as
• liquefiable soils,
• quick or highly sensitive clays, and
• collapsible or weakly cemented soils.
Exception: T ≤ 0.5 s (Section 20.3.1)
Or
2. Peat and/or highly organic clays [H > 10 ft (3 m)].
Or
3. Very high plasticity clays [H > 25 ft (7.6 m) with PI > 75].
Or
4. Very thick soft to medium stiff clays [H > 120 ft (37 m)] with su
< 1,000 lb/ft2 (50 kPa).
Seismic Loads: Guide to the Seismic Load Provisions of ASCE 7-10 13

Seismic Loads
 A site response analysis (Section 21.1) shall be performed for sites
determined to be Site Class F.

Step 2: Check Site Class E (Section 20.3.2)

If a profile contains a soft clay layer with all of the following characteristics,
the site shall be classified as Site Class E:
1. Hlayer > 10 ft (3 m),
2. PI > 20,
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3. w ≥ 40%, and
4. su < 500 lb/ft2 (25 kPa).

Step 3: Check Site Class A, B (Sections 20.3.4 and 20.3.5)

or Site Class C, D, E (Section 20.3.3)
Using one of the following three methods, categorize the site using Table
G3-1. All computations of vs , N , Nch , and su shall be performed in accor-
dance with Section 20.4.

v s Method
An advantage of using shear wave velocity data is that the measured behavior
better characterizes the subsurface profile than data collected from point loca-
tions (i.e., borings). Disadvantages of the method include the somewhat high
cost and experience required to perform the method and interpret the data.
If appropriate shear wave velocity data are available, vs shall be calcu-
lated for the top 100 ft (30 m) using Eq. (20.4-1) and the appropriate site
class determined from Table G3-1.
If the classification falls into criteria of either Site Class A or B in Table
G3-1, the following additional criteria shall be considered:
• Site Class A or B shall not be assigned to a site if more than 10 ft
(3 m) of soil lies between the rock surface and the bottom of the
spread footing or mat foundation (Section 20.1).
• Shear wave velocity criteria specified in Section 20.3.4 for Site
Class B and in Section 20.3.5 for Site Class A shall be observed.
The applicable site class depends on which of the aforementioned criteria
are met.

N Method
Using standard field penetration values for all soil and rock layers, N shall
be calculated for the top 100  ft (30  m) using Eq. (20.4-2). The following
should be considered regarding standard field penetration values (Section
20.4.2):
• ASCE 7 states that standard penetration resistance values as
“directly measured in the field without corrections” should be
used. The author believes that energy corrections based on the type
of hammer used should be applied because this difference is fun-
damental in the values measured. For instance, the standard pen-
etration values from an automatic hammer should be appropriately
14 Seismic Loads: Guide to the Seismic Load Provisions of ASCE 7-10

Seismic Loads
 reduced to safety hammer (N60) values to reflect the high efficiency
of the automatic hammer.
• Eq. (20.4-2) requires a single N value for each distinct layer in the
profile. Average or conservatively choose values from multiple
borings to characterize each distinct layer.
• Use a maximum of 100 blows/ft. See Section 20.4.2 for discussion.
• Where refusal is met for a rock layer, N shall be taken as 100
blows/ft.
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Nch and su Method

Divide the 100-ft (30-m) profile into cohesionless and cohesive layers in
accordance with the definitions presented in Section 20.3.3.
Using standard field penetration values for the cohesionless layers,
Nch shall be calculated using Eq. (20.4-3). The comments on standard field
penetration values listed in the previous section entitled “N Method” apply
to Nch.
Using undrained shear strength values for the cohesive layers, su shall
be calculated using Eq. (20.4-4). As stated in Section 20.4.3, undrained shear
strength values shall be determined in accordance with ASTM D2166 or
ASTM D2850.
Determining a site class requires two steps, first using Nch as the clas-
sification criterion, and second using su as the classification criterion, using
Table G3-1. If the site classes differ, the site shall be assigned a site class
corresponding to the softer soil (Section 20.3.3).

Site Classification Example

The site profile presented in this example represents highly idealized subsur-
face conditions. Interpretation of actual subsurface data and soil properties
requires substantial judgment by the geotechnical professional. The site
profile used in the example is shown in Fig. G3-2.
The blow counts in the example represent N60 values obtained from a
safety hammer. As noted in the N Method section, the author believes these
are the appropriate values to be used in seismic site class determination. The
steps previously outlined are applied to the given example below.

Step 1: Check Site Class F

If the profile meets any of the criteria in Section 20.3.1, the site shall be clas-
sified as Site Class F. This profile has been chosen to ensure that Site Class F
does not apply. However, this check should not be overlooked in practice.

Step 2: Check Site Class E

If the profile contains any layers meeting all criteria in Section 20.3.2, the
site shall be classified as Site Class E. Soft clay layer criteria are checked
below (bold text indicates a criterion that is not met):
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Seismic Loads
 Fig. G3-2 Standard Penetration
Values (Typical)
B-1 B-2 B-3 Layer # Comments
Subsurface profile
17 Clayey Sand (FILL) 16 Clayey Sand (FILL) 19 1
Notes:  Standard 7’ 7’ 7’
penetration values 10 Lean Clay (CL) 8 Lean Clay (CL) 9 2
PI = 27, w = 16%,
s̄ u = 1,200 psf
presented as N60 values 18’ 18’ 18’
(ASTM 1586). Soil
14 Clayey Sand (SC) 13 Clayey Sand (SC) 14 3
designations are based
30’
on USCS classification ? 31’ 31’
PI = 23, w = 34%,
(ASTM 2487). Lean Clay (CL) 3 Lean Clay (CL) 4 4 s̄ u = 400 psf
? 43’ 43’
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45’

15 Silty Sand (SM) 5

60’ ?

26 Poorly Graded Sand (SP-SM) 6

75’ ?
62 Rock 7
85’ 100 (Spoon Refusal)
8

Soft clay: H > 10 ft PI > 20 w ≥ 40% su < 500 lb/ft 2

Layer 2: H = 11 ft PI = 27 w = 16% su = 1,200 lb/ft 2
Layer 4: H = 12 ft PI = 23 w = 34% su = 400 lb/ft 2

Layer 2 does not qualify based on its water content and undrained
shear strength. Layer 4 does not qualify based on its water content.
Because neither layer satisfies all soft clay layer criteria, the site does
not automatically qualify for Site Class E.

Step 3: Check Site Class A and B or Site Class C, D, E

For this step, the N method determines site class. Using this method auto-
matically excludes Site Class A or B because they are based on shear wave
velocity.
Using the notation from Eq. (20.4-2) and the example profile in Table
G3-2, the site can be classified as follows: the value of N = 100/8.65 = 12
calculated using Eq. (20.4-2) classifies the site as Site Class E (N < 15).
Some observations that can be made from the values in Table G3-2 are
the following:
• Standard penetration value of 50 blows/in. at refusal (85 ft) was
assigned a maximum value allowed of 100 blows/ft (Section
20.4.2).
• Based on the known geology, this blow count was then used from
refusal to a depth of 100 ft to complete the site profile, resulting
in a 15-ft layer with blow counts of 100 blows/ft.
16 Seismic Loads: Guide to the Seismic Load Provisions of ASCE 7-10

Seismic Loads
 Table G3-2  Summary of N Method
Soil or Rock
Layer No. (i) Designation Cohesionlessa Cohesivea Ni (blows/ft) di (ft) di/Ni
1 SC (FILL) X 17 7 0.41
2 CL X 9 11 1.22
3 SC X 13 13 1.00
4 CL X 3 12 4.00
5 SM X 15 17 1.13
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6 SP-SM X 26 15 0.58
7 Rock X 62 10 0.16
8 Rock X 100 15 0.15
Total 100 Total 8.65
N = 100 / 8.65 = 12
a
Based on ASCE 7 definition, Section 20.3.3.

Comments on Site Classification

Although highly idealistic, the site profile used in this example illustrates the
need for adequate site investigation. Had only the data from shallow boring
(B-1) been available, the designer would be unaware of the potentially soft
clay layer encountered in B-2 and B-3.
Other important considerations that are not explicitly covered by ASCE
7 include
• Where to begin the site profile for below-grade structures;
• How to incorporate planned site grading (cut and fill) at the site;
• How to apply the design response spectrum method (generalized
simplified seismic analysis) to structures supported on deep foun-
dations; and
• How to characterize highly variable site profiles (e.g., layer thick-
ness and/or properties) within a given site.

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Seismic Loads