Tenth Internatiorznl Confererice 011 Ground Penetrating Radai; 21 -24 June, 2004, Delft, The Netherlands

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GPR survey for investigation in building foundations

Marco Tallini, Angelo Giamberardino, Danilo Ranalli, Marco Scozzafava Department of Structural, Water and Soil Engineering LAquila University LAquila, Italy e-mail: tallini @ing.univaq.it
Abstract - Planning of restoration works on degraded buildings should be preceded by collection of detailed data on their engineering, geotechnical and geophysical characteristics. These data should concern the design of the building, its structural features and foundations, as well as the geotechnical and geological characteristics of the soil and rock formations interacting with its foundations. Moreover, if the building has instability problems (settlements, slope failure, seepage, soil collapse, sink-holes, etc.) or has an old age (oxidization of reinforcing steel bars, masonry degradation), data acquisition should be as non-destructive as possible, fast and extend all over the investigated area. In the data acquisition stage, nondestructive methods, such as Ground Penetrating Radar, are very useful and in many cases absolutely necessary, as demonstrated in the two case studies presented here. Geophysical and geological investigations were carried out on two buildings located in LAquila and Chieti (Central Italy) which have undergone strong differential settlements. These phenomena caused widespread damages, which were mitigated by consolidation works. For the planning of these works, GPR, and geological surveys were performed in the area. GPR investigations (1600,600 and 100 MHz frequency monostatic type antennas and 300 MHz frequency borehole antenna) enabled to determine the actual size, depth and location of the types of foundation and of underground infrastructures. Wells and local geological and structural survey and excavations allowed to integrate and to calibrate the GPR data. Keywords: buildirtg foundations; 1600, 600 and 100 MHz frequency monostatic type antennas; 300 MHz frequency borehole antenna; Central Italy

MHz - case of Chieti) [l]. The data were collected via the GRASWIN software programme and processed via the GRED/S software programme [ 2 ] .
1 1 .

MHz - case of LAquila) and to one boreholde antenna (300

THECASE STUDY OF A BUILDING IN LAQUILA

The geophysical and geological investigations reported in this paper were carried out on a structurally heterogeneous building located in the centre of LAquila (Central Italy). The building has undergone differential settlements since its erection (1966). These phenomena caused widespread damages, which were mitigated by consolidation works. For the planning of these works, geological and geophysical surveys, above all NDT technique as GPR, were performed in the area.

A. Building description and settlement history The building was erected on the slope of a small valley, to which it is connected by a masonry bridge. The main entrance of the building is on the same level as the bridge. The building consists of two main structural bodies (Fig. 1). The upslope body (named B) consists of eight floors, three of which are below-ground, i.e. below the bridge level. The downslope body (named A) consists of four floors, three of which lie below the bridge level. The building has a reinforced concrete structure; its outer and partition walls are made up of bricks. Prior to erection of the building, the level of the original valley was raised, by filling it with heterogeneous material, in order to obtain a flat area for foundations.
Field surveys evidenced that settlements occurred in body
A and not B of the building. The main cracks and damages lie

I.

INTRODUCTION

The use of GPR single-frequency (1,600 to 600 MHz) and borehole (300 MHz) antennas may provide useful data on the characteristics of building foundation systems, whether shallow (grade beam and mat foundations) or deep (piles and micropiles). These investigations are imperative for planning, designing/engineering and carrying out works of reinforcement of foundations. The frequent unavailability of data on the design of foundations, especially of old buildings, requires the use of non-invasive investigations of the subsoil. For these investigations, GPR is an efficacious technique, which can be used both for monitoring the progress of failure or movements of foundations, if any, and to test structures after their construction. For characterising the foundations in the two case studies (central Italy) discussed in this paper, resort was made to 3 monostatic single-frequency antennas (1,600, 600 and 100

along the joint between the two bodies and in its below-ground floors, but more evident damages are present near the main entrance of body A. The main damages are conjugate tension and shear cracks in its partition walls and steps in the floor areas close to the joint between the two bodies. Differential settlements between the two bodies are equal to about 20 mm. The settlements have increased since 1983-1985, probably as a result of the seismic events which struck the centre of LAquila. The settlement of body A results from the settlement which occurred in its foundations.

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GPR sunley for investigatiori in building ,foundations M. Tallirzi, A . Gianiberardino, D. Raiialli arid M. Scozzafava

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Figure 1. Scheme of the garage level of the L'Aquila building with the location of GPR sections.

To gain a better understanding of the settlement phenomenon, the following investigations were carried out: i) in situ building surveys and geological surveys of the foundation area; ii) monitoring of displacements along the joint between the two bodies; iii) identification of the type of foundations (GPR, pits, and wells); iv) geological and geotechnical investigations (wells, SPT and oedometric tests). B. Results about GPR surveys (1600,600 and 100 MHz anterinas inonostatic type) Given the lack of data on the type of foundations of the building, use was made of the Ground Penetrating Radar method. The method was also applied for detecting underground infrastructures (such as sewage or water pipelines) beneath the building. GPR surveys were based on a set of low-, medium- and high-frequency radar scans of the lowest-level (ground-level) garage of the building. Use was made of 1600, 600 and 100 MHz antennas, all of monostatic type.

Figure 2. 600 MHz sections identifying the mat foundation. I) radar section scan over the entire mat foundation of body A; well W6 was used for calibrating the radar section and validating its interpretation. 11) Radar section scan over the joint between bodies A and B. The mat foundation is clearly located only beneath body A.

Instead, beneath body B, the GPR enabled to identify grade beam foundations. Along the joint between body A and B in the GPR section (1600 MHz), two foundation beams with square cross-sections are recognisable. They are almost in a contact with each other and only separated by the joint (few millimetres). This difference is probably related to the differential settlement between body A and body B. The upper side of the larger beam (grade beam foundation, body B) lies 8-10 cm below ground level, while the upper side of the smaller one (mat foundation, body A) lies about 16-18 cm below ground level (Figg. 1, 3). This difference (about 80 nun) is probably related to the differential settlement between body A and body B. A branch sewer is located under the garage area. GPR investigations (100 MHz frequency) allowed to recognise the depth, inclination and routing of the pipeline. The actual location of the pipeline has a crucial importance, because water leakage may be involved in amplification and acceleration of the building settlement phenomenon. Understanding the evolution of the settlement phenomenon over time requires the comparison between the observed settlement (based on the data provided by centesimal comparator devices and by GPR section, Fig. 2 ) and the calculated settlement (soil deformation model). This comparison allows to choose the best soil deformation model to be used for forecasting and planning purposes.

GPR investigations (1600 and 600 MHz frequency) provided information about the foundations of the two bodies, which are of different type [4], [5]. The GPR enabled to determine the actual size, depth and location of the two types of foundation and of underground infrastructures. Six wells and local pits validated the results of GPR surveys.
The foundation of body A is a mat foundation about 60-70 cm deep (Figg. I , 2). The latter depth refers to the upper reinforcing steel mesh of the foundation. The type of foundation was confirmed by wells and local pits.

111.

THECASE STUDY O F A BUILDING IN CHIETI

A series of investigations with a 300 MHz borehole antenna was conducted with a view to monitoring the micropiles installed for reinforcing the stability of a building in Chieti.

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Tenth hztematiorzal Confererice on Ground Perzetratiiig Radar; 21-24 June, 2004, Delft, The Nctlzerlaiids

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Figure 3. GPR 1600 MHz radar section showing the detail of foundations near the joint between bodies A and B.A series of investigations with a 300 MHz borehole antenna was conducted with a view to monitoring the micropiles.

Figure 5. GPR 300 MHz radar section showing grouting bulbs (1 ). the bottom of micropiles (2) and watertable (3).

Cylindrical multi-directional scans were made from a number of boreholes into which the antenna was installed. Seven continuous-coring holes were bored. The holes, about 20 m-deep, were located in such a way as to cover the highest possible number of micropiles (Fig. 4). Under optimum conditions, the radius of the antenna, in a direction perpendicular to its axis, is equal to about 9 m. In this case study, given the lithology (sands with altemating arenaceous levels), the maximum useful radius was 2.5 m.

By contrast, based on GPR scans, the bulbs were smaller than expected. Two assumptions might explain this finding: i) the sealing injection was not made prior to the anchoring injection; ii) the grouting mix was not injected under the high pressures which are usually prescribed for the above conditions (2000 to 3000 KPa).

A. Results obtained with the 300 MH: borehole antenna GPR scans with the borehole antenna yielded the following results (Fig. 5):
i) identification of the depth of settlement of the micropiles, which proved to vary from 12 to 16 m vs. a design depth of 1618 m; ii) formulation of assumptions on the mode of installatioddriving of the micropiles into the soil. The scans showed anomalies in the micropiles due to grouting bulbs. The anomalies, observed in the deepest section of the micropiles, extended for a length of about 4-6 m.

CONCLUSIONS In the first case (building of LAquila), the GPR technique helped identify the foundation systems used for the building and determine the absolute value of the differential settlement between the two separate bodies of the building. The latter finding is more reliable than direct observations on exposed structures. In effect, over the years, as the movements of the foundations advanced, the structures were hidden with floors, stuccoes, plasters, etc. in order to mask their differential settlement. In the second case (Chieti building), the GPR technique revealed that the reinforcement works had not been carried out in accordance with the desigdproject and that, consequently, they had been ineffective.
IV.

As the hosting formations were of a porous nature (sands altemating with arenaceous levels), the bulbs should have been larger. In such formations, the soil usually becomes massively impregnated with grout, thereby generating large bulbs.

REFERENCES D. J. Daniels, Surface-penetrating radar. Short Run Press .td., Exeter, 1996. Ingegneria dei Sistemi, GRASWIN 2: manuale duso (rev 1.O)., Pisa, 2000a. Ingegneria dei Sistemi. GPO: nlanuale duso (rev. 1.I). Pisa, 2000b. S.G. Millard, J.H. Bungey, M.R. Shaw. C. Thomas and B.A. Austin, Interpretation of radar test results, Innovations in Non-Destructive Testing of Concrete. ACI SP168, pp. 1-24, 1997. S. Valle and L. Zanzi, Traveltime radar tomography for NDT on masonry and concrete structures. European Journal of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics, vol. 2, pp. 229-246, 1998.

Figure 4. Location of nlicropiles and boreholes for GPR investigation.

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