AQS 3192 -

CIVIL ENGINEERING
CONSTRUCTION 1

ASSOC PROF. IR DR. MOHD FAIRULLAZI AYOB

PART 1: The assessments
CIVIL ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION
Methods of Assessment
1
Grade for the overall course will be given based
on the following methods of assessment:
1. Attendance (1st and 2nd Warning
Letters, Barring from Exam)

2. Course Outline
3. Group Assignment Report
4. Group Poster Design
5. Group Presentation
6. Final examination
 COURSE PLAN

 Refer to attachment
PART 2: The lecture
 SITE INVESTIGATION
Contents
Objectives of investigation
Types of investigation
Method of exploration
Laboratory testing
SITE INVESTIGATION
• Civil engineering works and
building structure are alike in
having some form of foundation
which is supported by the ground
• Interaction between a structure
and soil beneath is complex
• Knowledge of site and soil
condition is an essential
prerequisite to sound design
OBJECTIVES FOR SITE INVESTIGATION
1. To investigate the
suitability of the site for
proposed works
i. An adequate and economic
foundation design
ii. The difficulties that may
arise during construction
period
iii. Investigation relating to
suitability and availability of
materials for construction
purpose
2. The occurrence or cause of
all changes in site
conditions
3. Investigation of defect or
failure of existing works
TYPES OF INVESTIGATION
i) Sites for new works
ii) Defect or failure of existing works
iii) Relating to safety of existing works
iv) Suitability and availability of
materials for construction
 INVESTIGATION OF SITES
FOR NEW WORKS –
• Ground water condition and implications such as
the necessity of ground water lowering
• Whether excavation of the soil will be difficult
• Whether the sides of the excavation will be stable
if unsupported
• Test analysis will indicate bearing capacity of
foundations, the amount of settlement likely to
occur, the stability of cutting and embankments
• Detection of underground cavities
INVESTIGATION OF DEFECT OR
FAILURE OF EXISTING WORKS

• To established the cause of the

failure
• To provide information
indicative of remedy
• If ground condition involved,the
soil investigation should take
place
 INVESTIGATION RELATING
TO SAFETY OF EXISTING
WORKS
• Whether existing works affected by the
changes in ground conditions brought about by
the new works
• e.g., excavation which may reduced ground
support
• Extra load created by new works may overload
stratum supporting existing works
• Vibration which may cause fractures
• Ground water lowering may cause settlement
 INVESTIGATION RELATING TO
THE SUITABILITY AND
AVAILABILITY OF MATERIALS FOR
CONSTRUCTION
• Problems with the mass movement of
earth
• Disposal of spoil from the cuts
• The acquisition of suitable materials
• Needs to established the quantity and
suitability of the soil
 TYPES AND PROCEDURE
OF SITE INVESTIGATIONS
• Desk study
• Site reconnaissance
• Detailed studies for design
purposes
DESK STUDY
 Review the available information relating
to the site : e.g.
• geological data
Site boundaries
Ground contours
Obstruction above the ground level
Aerial photograph
Historical information
• Local knowledge
• Online data, e.g., Google Earth
 SITE RECONNAISSANCE
• Carried out by “walking the site”
• Checked on the position of the buildings,
boundaries and other obstructions and related
to the desk study
• General topography will often be indicative of
the soil conditions
• e.g.:
• Stepped ground which may be caused by geological
faults
• Depression in a limestone may indicate the
existing swallow holes
DETAILED STUDIES FOR DESIGN
PURPOSES
 Afterdesk study and site
reconnaissance
 Includes:
 Detailed land survey
 Further investigation on regarding the
earlier use of the site
 Soilinvestigation and testing (in-situ
and/or lab)
METHODS OF SOIL INVESTIGATION
• Small works – trial pits up to 3 m
deep
• Medium to large scale work –
boring up to 30 m
• Large scale works (e.g., dams,
power stations) – combination to
deep boring, pits and in-situ
examination from headings and
shafts
TRIAL PITS
• Cheap in shallow depth (up
to 3m) but above 3m cost
increases rapidly
• Size 1.2x1.2m and 20 m
apart
• Best method for exploring
back filled areas and sites
overlain by variable natural
deposits
 Advantages
Soiland rocks can be exposed and
examine in-situ
Shows changes in strata much more
clearly
 Disadvantages
Inwater bearing soils – cost of
pumping water makes it expensive
BORINGS
• Hand or mechanical borings
• The diameter of bore hole is
usually 150 or 200 mm, this
allows soil sampling tubes to
be used with out difficulties
• Shell and auger boring can be
carried out in all types of
soils because the bore hole is
lined with a thick-walled
Thick-
steel casing walled
steel
casing
1. HAND AUGER (add)
•Used for drilling into soft soil
to maximum of 5-6 m
•Consist of 100 mm diameter
half cylinder auger
•To obtain sample the auger is
replaced with 38 mm sampling
tube
•the sampler tube is driven
into the ground at the bottom
of the hole. The crosspiece is
then rotated to shear off the
bottom end of the sample and
the sample tube is brought
upwards
2. SHELL AUGER / PERCUSSION RIG
BORING TEST (add)
•Consists
of a derrick, a power
winch and a set of drilling
tool.
•Tool is allowed to fall under
its own weight, thus driving
the cutting tool into the soil.
•When the tool become full of
soil, it is raised to the
surface, and disturb samples
is taken from its content
3. ROTARY AUGER
• Used for drilling in a
hard stratum such as
rock but also for soft
stratum
• Power operated
rotary auger
mounted on vehicle
provides an
extremely portable
and versatile method
of drilling
 4. WASH BORING
• The soil is loosened and
removed from the bore holes
by means of a strong jet of
water or drilling mud.
• The liquid disintegrates the
soil and carries it up in the
annular space between the
tube and casing
• Advantage - soil is not
disturbed by the blow of a
tool or shell
• Limited to soils that do not
contain boulders/stones or
large gravels
 IN-SITU TESTING

• Tests to obtain the

density and/or shear
strength of soils in-situ
are very valuable since
they can be carried out
without disturbing the
soil
THE MAIN IN-SITU TESTS
ARE:
 i) Standard penetration test
(shear strength)
 ii) Vane test
(shear strength)
 iii) Plate bearing test
(allowable bearing capacity)
 iv) California bearing ratio (CBR)
(allowable bearing capacity)
1. STANDARD PENETRATION TEST

• Carried out in boreholes during site

investigation
• Measure the resistance of soil to penetration
under static or dynamic loading
• Made by driving a 35mm (internal diameter)
split barrel sampler into the soil at the bottom
of a bore hole
• The sample is first driven 150mm into the soil
by the falling standard weight (65kf falling
through a distance of 760mm)
• The sampler is driven a further 300mm and the
number of blows is noted
• This number of blows is referred as the
standard penetration resistance or N value
 STANDARD PENETRATION TEST
(cont’d)
Sands Clays
No of blows Relative Notes No of blows consistency Compressive
up to density up to strength
300mm 300mm kN/mm2
0-4 Very loose Can behave 0 – 2 Very soft 0 -24
like a liquid
4 - 10 Loose 2-4 Soft 24 - 49

10 - 30 Medium 4-8 Medium 49 - 98

30 - 50 Dense/ 8 - 15 Stiff/ Firm/ 98 - 196

Compact Hard
Over 50 Very dense 15 - 30 Very Stiff 196 -392

Over 30 Hard Over 392

 2. VANE TEST
•Very often silt and clays
particularly those of alluvial or
shallow water origin are difficult
to sample
•The vane test is used to measure the
in-situ undrained shear strength of
these soils
•The vane is pushed into the soft
clay and rotated by hand by constant
rate
•The amount of torque necessary for
rotation is measured and the shear
strength is calculated
 3. PLATE BEARING TEST
1. Used on large construction
projects as a mean to provide
in-situ data on behavior of soil
at foundation level
2. A trial pit is excavated to
required depth and a steel
plate set firmly on the soil
3. A static load is then applied to
the plate in a series of
increment and the amount and
rate of settlement are
measured. Loading is continued
until the soil under the plate
yields
4. Where there is no clear
indication of failure, the load to
produce 15% penetration of the
plate width is considered as
ultimate load
5. Safe load should be taken as
1/3 of the load which cause
failure
 4. CBR TEST
• Used in design of flexible pavement
and carried out on site
• A circular area is first trimmed flat
• A circular plunger is forced to
penetrate the soil at a constant rate
of 1 mm/min while reading are taken
at very 0.25mm of penetration.
• A plot is drawn of force/penetrating
and the forces corresponding to a
penetration of 2.5 and 5 mm read off
• CBR = force required on the test
soil/ force required for the same
penetration on standard soil
LABORATORY TESTING
To established the following
characteristic:
1. Identification and
classification
2. Measurement of their
engineering properties
3. Chemical contents
 IDENTIFICATION AND
CLASSIFICATION
Analyses involve:
1. Visual examination - types of soils
2. Moisture content - compressibility
3. Liquid and plastic limits -
compressibility
4. Particles size distribution –
permeability of soil
 MEASUREMENT OF SOIL
ENGINEERING PROPERTIES

• Bulk density of soil

• Shear strength of soil
• Consolidation of soil
1. BULK DENSITY
• Weight of material per unit
volume including of void and
water
• Important in the design of
retaining works: soil stability,
formation of earth dam,
retaining wall
• Dry density is used to
determine of optimum
compaction in earth dam,
embankment and soil
structures
 2. SHEAR STRENGTH
• Used to calculate the bearing
capacity and pressure on
supports in excavation
• Use three types of triaxial
compression test :
• untrained,
• consolidated undrained,
• drained
• Subject the cylindrical sample
of undisturbed soil to lateral
hydraulic pressure in addition
to vertical load
• Measurement of forces
needed to shear the sample is
used in the calculation of
bearing capacity
 3. CONSOLIDATION OF

SOIL
Used Oedometer
• Placing a cylindrical
sample in a metal ring
and capped with porous
discs in water filled
tray.
• The load is increased
every 24 hours and a
time settlement curve is
plotted
CHEMICAL CONTENT
Carried out to assess the effect if
any on the material to be used in
the proposed works
 Test mainly :
 sulphate content
pH value
• bacteriological analysis on for works in
tidal and mud flats
THE END

Thank you