Construction and testing of marine

bridge foundation
By
Sing-lok CHIU, AECOM
Zheng-ru Fang, CHEC Construction (M) Sdn Bhd (CHEC)

Shi-jing, LIU, China Habour Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC)

Presented by Dr SL Chiu
AECOM, Hong Kong

29 November 2012

Page 1

Contents
Background of bored pile foundation
Construction bored pile foundation
Quality assurance testing of production piles
Loading tests on the trial and production piles
Test results
Conclusion

29 November 2012

Page 2

Background of Bored pile foundation

Main Bridge over navigation channel- supported on 4
piers- P24 to P27- by 66 bored piles , 2m in diameter,
socketted 2 to 6m in (Granite) bedrock
Approach bridge at eastern end- supported on 10
piers- P283 to P292- by 80 bored piles, 1.5m in
diameter, socketted 5 to 8m in (SHALE) bedrock

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2nd Penang Bridge under construction

P24 TO P27

P283 TO P292

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Main Span: Cablestayed bridge

117.5m

117.5m

240 m

150m x 30m

Pier P24

12-pile group

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Pier P26

Pier P25

21-pile group

21-pile group

Page 5

Pier P27

12-pile group

Approach bridge

55m

2x 4-pile group

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2x 4-pile group

Page 6

2x 4-pile group

Geological conditions

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Layout of bored piles

Main span piers

Approach bridge piers

(117.5 m + 240+117.5 m )

7000 mm

15, 240 mm

8 x 1.5m bored piles

117,500 mm

12 2.0m
bored piles
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21 2.0m
bored piles
Page 8

(55m apart)

Construction of bored piles

Approach bridge piers

Main span piers

2.3 m

40 m

Protective casing in soft

marine mud

20 m

Slurry-supported bored hole

2.0 m

2 to 6 m

Toe-socketted in Grade
III or better bedrock

Grade III Granite

29 November 2012

1.8 m

1.5 m

5 to 8 m

Grade III Shale

Page 9

Engineering properties of slurry for the bore pile works

Slurry Density

<1.25g/cm3

PH-Value

7 to 12

Viscosity in Marsh
32 to 60 s
Funnel seconds
<4% (during drilling)
Sand content
<2% (after drilling)

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Reinforcement details
Pier numbers

Main Bridge

Approach bridge

Steel Cage

P24-P27

P283-P292

Top Section

36m (L)
44T32 (M)
T16x150 (B)

34m (L)
36T32 (M)
T12x 150(B)

Middle section

36m (L)
44T32 (M)
T16x150 (B)

24m (L)
18T32 (M)
T12x200 (B)

Bottom section

Various (L)
22T32 (M)
T16x300 (B)

Various (L)
9T32 (M)
T12x 300 (B)

(L) Length, (M) Main reinforcements,

(B) Spiral binder

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Concreting to marine bored piles

Cement grout to cleanse
sediments at the pile base
prior to concreting

Concrete batching plants to

produce Grade 40/20 concrete
for bored piles

Concrete mixing plant on site and a temporary platform for piling works

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Quality assurance testing of bored piles

Interface coring
Cross hole sonic logging
Load testing
Maintained load test (MLT)
Statnamic test

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Interface coring
To carry out on every production bored pile

To verify the workmanship of piling work

To take core sample through the pile base
To inspect the concrete quality
To measure the core length against the core run for
any missing material

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4 x 50mm
Access tubes

2 x 100mm access tubes

Access tubesinterface coring

sonic logging

4 x 50mm
Access
tubes

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Page 15

200 mm

Perforated section
250 mm

2 x 100mm
access
tubes

Interface coring (contd)

Typical core sample from interface

coring through a production pile

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Page 16

Interface coring (contd)

Minor imperfection at
the interface

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Page 17

Cross-hole Sonic logging (CSL)

The quality of the shaft concrete
of the bored pile was checked
using CSL to the ASTM D6760.
6 access tubes in total provided
to each of the production bored
piles, 4 of them 50 mm in
diameter and the other two 100
mm
2 x 100mm
access tubes

Extracted from FHWA report

FHWA-CFL/TD-05-007 on Drilled shaft
foundation defects, October 2005

4 x 50mm
Access tubes

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Cross-hole Sonic logging (CSL), contd

Cross Hole AnalyzerTM (CHA) systemthe equipment employed for CSL in
this project

Typical site set up for CSL

testing

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Defects identification by CSL

Principlesound wave velocity and
energy may change as it
traverses through
material of different
densities
MeasurementsFirst arrival time (FAT)
Energy reduction (ER)

Typical CSL results- Water fall diagram

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Defects identification by CSL, contd

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CSL field operation

- with CHA system

Transmission
probe
Receiver
probe

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Page 22

CSL- Results interpretation, contd

Class

Characteristics

Good Pile
First Arrival Time (FAT) and Energy Profiles are regular. Pile is good

Minor Anomaly
Some delay in FAT on the test profiles. Still within acceptable limits. Pile is
questionable

Major Anomaly
Two or more test profiles indicate major delay in FAT at similar depths.
Corresponding low energy curves observed. Pile is poor quality or flawed.

Defective Pile
Two or more test profiles having a total loss in FAT and corresponding
loss in energy curves. Pile is defective

The acceptance criteria for production bored piles subjected to CSL tests

29 November, 2012

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Repair to defects in Class III and IV

Two methods were proposed by contractor:

Method A- suitable for defected areas at shallow or

intermediate depths
involving use of reverse circulation drill to form access
hole to the defective area and hack off the defects in
concrete and re-cast the defected areas with sound
concrete.
Method B- suitable for defected areas at all depths
involving sinking of a series of drillholes to the defective
areas and cleansing of the defected areas by high
pressure water jet and filling out the affected areas with
high strength grout.
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RCD to form access to

defected areas in pile

Method A

High pressure (40 MPa

max) water jet blasting to
hack off the defective
concrete

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Page 25

Repair to defects in Class III and IV

High pressure water

jet blasting to hack off
the defective concrete

Fill out the

cleansed area
with sound
concrete

RCD to form access to

defected areas in pile

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Method B

125 mm @ 300 mm c/cspaced access holes are

sunk to defected areas

29 November, 2012

Concrete cutting nozzle to

deliver high pressure water jet to
hack off the defective concrete

Page 27

CCTV to inspect the

cleansed area before
grouting

Loading Tests
Pile- pier No

L2P285

BHT 12P292

BHT9P25

Trial pileP25

diameter

1.5M

1.5m

2.0m

2.0m

Pile length (m)

106.4

89.5

125.1

115.07

Socket length (m)

6.3 m

2.06 m

8m

4.32 m

Rock Type

MD
SHALE

HD SHALE

S to MD S to MD
GRANITE GRANITE

Type of load test

ST

MLTtop
ST
loaded

MLT with O-cell in

socket

20MN

38MN

maximum test load 23MN

29 November, 2012

Page 28

50 MN

Testing methods

pile head

Maintained Load test

O-cell method

-8.50m
-9.95msea bed

2.3m

Trial pile at Pier 25

Pile dimensions:
Diameter: 2.3m to 2.0m
Length: 115.07m
Socket: 4.32m in M to S DG

115.07m

2.0m

112.75m

-38.50m

Upper plate of load cell

Loading method- embedded load cell

0.44m

Load cell
1.88m

lower plate of load cell

-121.69m

-123.57m
level of pile toe

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Page 29

O-cell method

data
displacement transducers
acquisition
reference beam
system
hydraulic pump with
pressure gauge

oil pipe
shaft
side
shear

steel telltale rods

telltale casings
load cell

shaft end bearing

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Page 30

Instrumentation of the test bored pile

5 hydraulic jacks of
a maximum stroke
of 200mm

Type

YG56510025

Access of tell-tale rods

to bottom plate

Outer
Diameter of Upper plate Lower plate
diameter
Cylinder
thickness
thickness
(mm)
(mm)
(mm)
(mm)
1800

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500

40

Page 31

40

Height
(mm)

max. stroke
(mm)

440

220

Instrumentation of the test bored pile

TGCL-1
Vibrating wire type strain
gauge
Operational range: 2500
Resolution: 0.4 ~ 1
Waterproof 150m under
water
Temperature: -20 to 80
29 November, 2012

WDL-50TZ
Linear Variable
Differential
Transformer (LVDT)
displacement
transducers

Page 32

19

20

21

refrence pile 1

Layout of testing platform

refrence beam

P25 test pile

Reference pile 2

Unitmm

29 November, 2012

Page 33

Instrumentation of the test bored pile

6 LVDT displacement transducers were installed,

namely
2 for upward movements of the top plate of load cell
2 for downward movements of the bottom plate of
load cell
2 for upward movements of the pile head.
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Vibrating wire type

strain gauges
Tell tale access

O-Cell

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Test Results

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Test results (contd)

38101 kN

32.24 mm

Equivalent load settlement curve for the test pile

subjected to equivalent head down loading
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Test results (contd)

Shaft friction of P25

Axial forcekN
0

10000

20000

30000

20

-20

50

100

estimated

measured

60

6689
8332
9974
11617
13260
14902
16545
18187
19830

-40

Depth in m

depthm

40

-60

80

-80

100

-100

120

-120

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Max shaft resistance, fs in kPa

150

Maintained Load Test

0.0m

1.8m

-top-loaded method

SPT-N Value

Marine Clay
-22.4m

Test pile No. BHT12 @ Pier 292

Pile dimensions:
Diameter: 1.8m to 1.5m
Length: 89.5m
Socket: 2.06m in HD SHALE
The test pile was equipped with strain
gauges and extensometers thus the
settlement of the pile base and
shortening the pile shaft as well as
the load transfer along the pile shaft
could be measured

Alluvial silty sand

Grade V Shale
Grade IV Shale
-88.8m
1.5m

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Maintained load test- set up

Top-loaded method

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Page 40

Maintained load testset up

7 x 5000kN
hydraulic jacks
Pressure
synchroniser

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Page 41

Test results of MLT on the Bored Pile BHT12 @ Pier 292

Pile base settlement vs Load

Pile top settlement vs Load

29 November, 2012

Page 42

Test results of MLT on the Bored Pile BHT12 @ Pier 292, contd

Cycle 1

Cycle 2 End of test

Test load, kN

16001

19943

S top (mm)

81.42

113.92

94.27

S base(mm)

59.78

86.89

84.65

Shaft
shortened, mm

21.64

27.03

9.62

Load distribution along pile shaft

29 November, 2012

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Statnamic load test

Test pile No. L2 @ Pier 285
Pile dimensions:
Diameter: 1.8m to 1.5m
Length: 106.4m
Socket: 6.3 m in MD SHALE

Test pile No. BHT9 @ Pier 25

Pile dimensions:
Diameter: 2.3m to 2.0m
Length: 125.1m
Socket: 8.0 m in SD GRANITE

29 November, 2012

Page 44

Statnamic Test set-up

Testing cylinder

silencer

Gravel container
Cylinder

Reaction masses

Load cell and laser

sensor housing

piston

Piston mounting
frame

Test pile

29 November, 2012

Extracted from the test report on pile L2-P285 by

Geonamic for CHEC on 29 July 2011 ( ref: DIR 11810)

Page 45

Statnamic Test set-up

Extracted from the test report on pile L2-P285 by Geonamic for CHEC on 29 July 2011 ( ref: DIR 11810)

29 November, 2012

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Statnamic load test

Extracted from the test report on pile L2-P285 by Geonamic for CHEC on 29 July 2011 (ref: DIR 11810)

29 November, 2012

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Typical output of test results of Statnamic load test

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Page 48

Test results of Statnamic load test on the tested bored piles

29 November, 2012

Page 49

Test results of Statnamic load test on the tested bored Pples

Load vs Displacement (top)

Load vs Time (bottom)

29 November, 2012

Load vs Time (top)

Load vs Displacement (bottom)

Page 50

Force, displacement, velocity and

acceleration against time plots

Summary of test results

Ratio
fs/v

of

Clay

P292BHT12
MLT

P25-9
Statnamic

P25- Trial
O-cell

0.08

0.14

0.074

Medium
dense silty 0.09
Sand

P25-9
Statnamic

0.04-0.05
0.145

Dense silty
0.11
Sand

0.03-0.05

CD Granite

0.04

CD Shale

0.12

Remarks

Top-loaded tests- pile pile pushed up by

head moving Downward
o-cell from below

29 November, 2012

P25-Trial
O-cell

Page 51

Maximum
mobilised
920 kPa
skin friction
in SDG

941 kPa

Concluding Remarks
1. The works were fraught with difficulties and challenges given the
soft clay layer below seabed underlain by subsequent layers of
medium dense to dense silty sand above the rock head at a great
depth over 100 m.
2. The production piles were subjected to various types of quality
assurance checks:
a) Interface coring for existence of any imperfections at pile base
b) CSL for scanning the integrity of the shaft concrete
3. For those piles that were found containing imperfections, high
pressure water jet and subsequent backfilling of pressurised
cement grout were applied to rectify the defects and imperfections
in the piles
4. Different types of load tests were carried out on trial piles and
production piles for determination of design parameters and for
quality insurance check of the quality of the bridge foundation.
29 November, 2012

Page 52

Thank You

29 November, 2012

Page 53