Groundwater Contamination

EU Water Framework Directive (2002) Europes Water protection policy Maintain quality of drinking water
In terms of groundwater: 1. Prevent input of pollutants 2. Recharge-discharge balance 3. Reverse current pollutant concentration trends 4. Do all the above within 15 years

Groundwater Contamination
Common contaminants: 1. Hydrocarbons (industry) 2. Pesticides 3. Human waste (sewerage) 4. Fertilisers: Nitrates Contaminant sources: 1. Storage tanks (point source) 2. Septic systems 3. Fly-tipping of waste 4. Contaminated water courses 5. Landfills 6. Roads and railways (line source) 7. Salt water intrusion 8. Farming (diffuse source) 9. Acid mine drainage (pyrite) Contaminant Transport

Diffusion (dilution) & dispersion

Advection; with groundwater

Foundations
1.
2. 3. 4. 5.

Foundation types Foundation design Considerations Examples Ground improvement

Foundation types
Shallow Foundations
Pad/strip footing Raft footing

Deep Foundations
Piles

Which foundation to use? Geology Geotechnical properties Structure to be built

= suitable for task

Foundation types
Pad footing

Pad & strip footings

Shallow foundations Single pad or continuous strip Distribute foundation pressure to ground over a sufficient area Suit the pressures that soil/rock can withstand Footing size dependent on strength of foundation materials

Pad footing for single columns

Strip footings
Usually for supporting walls

Raft footing

NB: referred to as a slab foundation also

Shallow foundations Where ground too weak for pads or strips Spread the pressure over a much wide area Reduce the load applied to ground Settlement can be managed Prevent lateral movement between foundations Improve rigidity & integrity of building superstructure High buildings in clay

Raft footing
Concrete & metal reinforcement

Piled Foundations
Where bearing material exists at depth Driven or drilled to required depth
Individual Pile Types

Pile group

a) Precast concrete b) Steel H pile c) Steel shell pile (hollow) d) Continuous flight auger pile e) In-situ cast bored pile f) Under-reamed bored pile (greater end bearing pressure)

Installing Piled Foundations

Driven Piles

Bachysoletanche.com

Drilled Piles

Displacement piles Driven in to ground by pile driver Accommodated by lateral displacement Diesel driver (hammer weight + explosion)

Non-displacement piles Hole hollowed out by auger Filled with concrete (+/- steel rebar) Sometimes steel cased Continuous flight augering

Pile drivers

Offshore Pile Foundations

Base of an offshore wind turbine
Turbine stem sits on three piles

Piled Foundations
Piles support loading in two ways: 1) End bearing Loads transmitted to layer that pile is resting on Terminating a pile in gravels, dense sands or bedrock 2) Skin friction Friction between material and sides of pile contributes to carrying capacity Reality: a contribution from both Cohesive materials: Suction piles

Ground Settlement
Load applied during construction -> subsidence occurs; ground consolidates As porosity decreases and grain packing increases

Foundation failures
Weight of construction > rock strength Failure into cavity; shear or flexural failure

Compaction or consolidation of permeable rocks

Slope profiles too steep; increase driving forces

Foundation Design

Foundations are the part of the building structure that transmit loads to the ground The load that a soil/rock can support is its bearing capacity Soils and rocks have a range of bearing capacities due to their shear strengths, groundwater level and consolidation; permeabilities and grain packing Foundation depth: confining effects, passive pressures Clay consistency: loss of structure and consolidation If foundation pressure for a given foundation is too great; spread load to below soils bearing capacity
One

pile to a group of piles

Foundation Design
Pressures exerted by a foundation into ground become less significant with depth; 0.2q at 3B. Depth to which foundation bearing pressure is felt: significant depth. Foundations are designed with 100 kPa high margins of safety (FoS:2-3)

Designed to ensure that: Applied foundation pressure is less than that which would cause soil to shear failure Use allowable bearing pressure ABP: foundation type & wide range of soil properties

20 kPa
Craigs Soil Mechanics

3 X Foundation Width

Significant Depth

Foundation Bearing Pressures

UBP ultimate bearing pressure, i.e. load at failure

Load

which causes settlement greater than 10% pile diameter

Do not want ground to fail therefore FoS applied: SBP safe bearing pressure UBP+ arbitrary Factor of Safety (usually 2-3) Still potential for settlement to take place: ABP allowable bearing pressure; SBP further reduced to take in to account all possible failure mechanisms. The reduction factor applied to SBP may be significant in soils but usually close to 1 in rocks

Allowable bearing values static loading

Category Type Decrease in supportable bearing pressure Strong sound igneous or gneissic rocks Rocks Strong limestone and sandstone Schists and slates Strong shales & mudstones Dense gravel or sand and gravel Coarse and very coarse soils Value kN/m2 10,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 >600 Width of foundation >1m. Water table below base of foundation Soils susceptible to long-term consolidation settlement Remarks Assumes foundation to grade 1/2 rock

Medium dense gravel or sand and gravel <200-600 Loose gravel or sand and gravel Medium dense sand Loose sand Very stiff glacial till; hard clays <200 100-300 <100 300-600 150-300 75-150 <75

Fine soils

Stiff clays Firm clay Soft clays and silts

Safe Bearing Pressure

Can be defined in terms of rock type & weathering:
Rock Type Strong igneous, gneiss Strong limestones and sandstones Schists and slates Strong mudstones, weak sandstones Shale, sound chalk, weak mudstone Unweathered and massive 10 MPa 4 MPa 3 MPa 2 MPa 750 kPa Heavily fractured or thinly bedded 6 MPa 3 MPa 2 MPa 1 Mpa 400 kPa

Safe Bearing Pressure

Or based on rock strength and degree of fracturing:
RQD % / Fracture spacing in millimetres Unconfined Compressive 100 Strength 25 (MPa) 10 25 / 60 4 1 0.2 70 / 200 8 3 1 Fewer fractures SBP for a rock of given UCS, RQD and fracture spacing 90 / 600 12 5 2

Foundations in an area of old mine workings

To avoid subsidence: 1. Pile through to below mine workings 2. Fill mine chambers with grout Normal footings where subsidence at great depth

Foundations in limestone

Leaning Tower of Pisa

150 MN

100 MN 50 MN

Tower of Pisa

Leaning Tower of Pisa

58m high; 4m out of vertical; weighs 14,000t; imposed a load on soft clay of 500kPa with an ABP of c. 50kPa Main settlement due to compaction and deformation of the soft clay Stabilisation: 1993-2001 1. controlled induced settlement on north side with 600t lead counterweight tilted tower back 15mm; 2. 41 boreholes that removed 35m3 of soil tilted tower back additional 425mm Tower now stable although still not vertical

North

South

metres below surface

Mexico City foundation settlement

Lake deposits, volcanic ash & pyroclastics Weathered to weak, highly compressible, water charged clays Extensive abstraction of aquifer below city caused regional subsidence Settlement of 13-26 cm/year Total settlement 8-9 m Soils consolidate & compact Alters how ground responds to loading; less able to support building loads Buildings begin to sink

Building collapse in China

Car park under construction

High rise tower on pile foundations

Construction of underground car park adjacent to tower

Stages of foundation failure

Bell, engineering geology

3 1. Wedge beneath foundation concentrates load 2. Radial zones accommodate load by distortion and bulging 3. Passive zones provide counterweight, resisting bulging 4. Passive zones provides a reaction to shearing

Result of removing passive zone

Pub affected by mining subsidence, Staffordshire

Dailymail.co.uk

Ground improvement
Drainage; surcharge; dynamic compaction; Pregrouting; Use of stone columns; ground freezing
Load the ground in advance of construction; eliminate settlement and Consolidation post-construction

Ground improvement
Drainage; surcharge; dynamic compaction; Pregrouting; Use of stone columns
Load the ground in advance of construction; eliminate settlement and consolidation

Ground improvement
Drainage; surcharge; dynamic compaction; Pregrouting; Use of stone columns
Improves bearing capacity of ground and improve pwp dissipation

Summary
There

are three main types of foundation The design factor of safety for foundations is usually a minimum of 2.0 Foundations are design to take the weight of a structure, with a known amount of settlement within a given time period Ground can be improved for foundations

Permafrost engineering Subsidence flow and heave occur on poorly drained silts and clays when ground ice melts; sands and gravels generally thawstable Conservation - best to conserve the permafrost. Any disturbance of natural insulation increases summer thaw and depresses the permafrost surface below buildings and roads Block support - needed for heated buildings, can be stable on gravel active layer over preserved permafrost Piles placed into stable ground these need to reach depths of around 10 m Utilidors pile supported conduits built in streets for heated services Gravel pads - can form whole embankments. Usually a few metres thick can provide enough insulation and let the permafrost expand into them, stabilising the old active layer Alaskan oil pipeline built on piled trestles each internal circulation coolant

Foundation investigation example

Toronto CN Tower

One of the worlds largest free-standing structures 550m high, weighing 110000t, TV transmitter tower Founded on shale, UCS 10-25 Mpa; RQD 50 to 80%; thin weak bands within the shale mapped and avoided Slab (raft) foundation 7 m below rockhead, which was below 10 m drift 6.7 m thick reinforced concrete slab Contact pressure variation minimised by machine smoothing shale Mean load on shale 580 kPa; peak load in high wind 2.89 Mpa (dynamic) Settlement 6 mm after 6 mm heave in excavations