Technical Report Submitted for Problem Based Learning (KA21603

Geotechnical Engineering 1), Sem. II, Session 2015/2016

SOIL INVESTIGATION REPORT FOR PROPOSED CRUISE TERMINAL AT

LIKAS BAY, KOTA KINABALU BY MALAYSIAS GOVERNMENT

Thomas Kho Swee Boon1

ABSTRACT Recently, Malaysias Local Government have expressed their interest in constructing a cruise
terminal at Likas Bay, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Our consultancy firm have been elected to conduct a survey and
research on the most suitable site to construct the proposed building. The selected site are Kolej Kediaman Tun
Fuad (CD) of University Malaysia Sabah and Tanjung Aru Beach, Sabah. The dry density of Tanjung Aru is
2804.46 kgm-3 which is higher than the required 1250.00kgm-3 and has a moisture content of 19.45%. Soil from
Tanjung Aru also has the pH value of 6.60 which is slightly acidic. Out of these locations is it found out that
Tanjung Aru which meet the requirement of dry density and soil profile is the most suitable out of the two
locations tested while Kampung CD which fails to meet any of the requirement is eliminated. It is recommended
that Tanjung Aru should be selected and some enhancement or fortification can be done to improve its
performance as a cruise terminal.

Keywords: Tanjung Aru, Soil Classification, Cruise Terminal, Moisture Content, Dry Density.

INTRODUCTION: structure. The piles snapped and the building

Likas Bay, located five minutes north east of
city centre, is a scenic bay with a distant view of
The Crocker Range and Sepangar Bay in the
distance with the shoreline of Universiti Malaysia
Sabah visible. Likas is a stop for migratory swamp
and in fact, the beautiful and long Tun Fuad
Stephen Road along this bay was not following the
actual shoreline of Likas Bay. Due to these
attractions, Malaysias government foresees the
potential of Likas Bay to become one of the tourist
spot in Sabah. A cruise terminal is proposed to be
constructed at location within 30KM from Likas
Bay.
It is very important that some tests should be
carried out to determine the suitability of the site as
a cruise terminal. Since years ago, lots of accidents
happened due to mistakes in construction. On a
Saturday morning of late June, 2009, a 13-story
apartment building in China collapsed. Lotus
Riverside Block 7 lay next to a river, and the
foundation structure consisted of Precast Concrete
Piles. When excavating sub-grade parking garage,
construction workers dumped the removed soil
adjacent to Block 7, on the side of the building
opposite the river. During a heavy rain, the soil
became dense and fluid with water. This caused a
sideward pressure on the piles and soil below the
toppled over. Unfortunately, the collapse killed one
worker and affected nearby citizens. After
investigation, it was concluded that the collapse
was caused by the excess soil storage during
construction. Unfortunately, the life of one worker
was lost in this incident. The collapse also caused
significant monetary damage. 120 families initially
had to move from their homes and stay in hotels
that were paid for by the local government. Cost of
materials, administration, and labor had been
wasted due to destruction of the almost finished
building. A new structure had to be rebuilt on Block
7. Compensation for the damages to their
investment had been made for the homebuyers.
Surrounding buildings had been evacuated
immediately following the collapse. Nearby
residents described the collapse as an earthquake,
and had to stay in hotels paid for by the government.
The objectives of this investigation is to survey
for the most suitable site as cruise terminal in Likas
Bay, Kota Kinabalu area as appointed by the
Malaysias Local Government. The requirement of
the soils is listed in a table in Result and Discussion.
In this investigation, 2 sites with different
properties are selected to be tested on their
suitability as a cruise terminal, the soil samples will
be classified using several soil classification system
such as AASHTO, USCS, BS, ASTM & USDA

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1
BK14110239, thomaskho94@gmail.com, Civil Engineering Program, UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA SABAH
and run through a few test such as the Casagrande
Test and compaction test. The location where the
samples are gathered from are at Kampung CD of
UMS, and Tanjung Aru, Sabah..
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In this investigation, 2 soil samples were
collected from 2 different sites located around Kota
Kinabalu which are Kolej Kediaman Tun Fuad,
UMS and Tanjung Aru Beach 1, Sabah. All
samples obtained for this investigation are collected
from a site which is at least 500 metres away from
residential area to avoid issues such as pollution or
contamination of the soil due to human activity. 5
kilograms of each sample are collected and kept in
natural condition in order to maintain their natural
moisture content and profile.
Sieve Analysis Test
Both samples collected are sieved using sieve
size 6.30mm, 4.75mm, 3.35mm, 2.00mm, 425 m,
212 m, 150 m, and 75 m. The soil are then
classified based on AASHTO, USDA, USCS,
British Standard (BSI, 1990), and ASTM system.
Before weighing the sieves and pan, the impurities
are cleaned by using the brushes in order to prevent
the effect of impurities on the results obtained later.
The weights of each sieve with different size
openings as well as the pan are determined prior to
the test being conducted. Each sample is also
weighed to 2500gram.
The sieves are then stacked according to their
sizes, which are ranging from sieve with larger size
openings on top to the sieve with smallest size
openings at bottom. The pan is stacked at the
bottom most in order to collect the soil sample that
is finer than 75 m. The whole compartment of
stacked sieve along with lid and pan are put on the
sieve shaker. The first sample is then carefully
poured into the sieve stacks. It is then left to be
shaken and rotated by sieve shaker for about 15
minutes. After 15 minutes, each sieve is weighed
again which contains different amount of soil. The
weight of the soil retained on each sieve is then
obtained by deducting the total weight of soil
retained plus sieve with the original weight of sieve.
The steps are repeated for another soil sample after
the impurities in each sieve is brushed away. The
results are recorded in a table form.
The cumulative percentage of sands retained
versus sieve size graph is then plotted onto a semi-
logarithm graph paper to get a better understanding
of the profile of soil sample. Datas such as D10, D30,
and D60 can be obtained by reading the sieve size at
the corresponding percentage of sand retained from
the graph. These data can be used to find out if the
soil is well graded or poorly graded by calculating
the Cu and Cc value. The calculation of Cu is the
ratio of D60 to D10 while the calculation of Cc is the
ratio of D30 to the power of two divided by D60
multiplied with D10.
Atterberg Limit Test
Casagrande Test (Liquid Limit)
Atterberg Limit test is a test to obtain Liquid
Limit (LL )and Plastic Limit (PL) which are crucial
information needed in order to classify soil and to
have a better understanding at the soil profile. One
way of obtaining the Liquid limit is through the
Casagrande Testt. Before conducting the test test,
all soils sample that passes through the sieve size of
425m are collected. This step is carried is to
remove the larger soil size particles which would
affect the Atterbergs Limit. About 150gram to 200
gram of soil is needed for both plastic and liquid
limit test. A suitable amount of water is added to
the soil sample and mix. The wet soil is then place
in the Casagrande Cup. The soil is pressed down
into the cup and then spread out to create a level
surface that is about 10mm deep at the center. This
is to place the wet soil in the cup without trapping
air bubbles within the soil. A grooving tool is then
used to cut a groove from the top to the bottom of
the soil. Once the groove is cut, the cup is lifted and
dropped by turning the crank at a rate of about 2
drops per second until the two halves of the soil pat
come together. The number of the blows is recorded.
Then the sample is removes, added into small can
and weighed. Each sample is being tested for five
times. The five samples are then put into an oven at
100 oC to 105 oC for 24 hours to oven dry. After 24
hours, the oven dried samples are weighed. The
weight of tin can plus wet soil minus the weight of
tin can plus dry soil will give the weight of water.
The moisture content versus number of blows is
plotted in semilog graph. The moisture content at
25th blows is recorded. The steps are repeated for
another sample.
Plastic Limit Test
In order to test for plastic limit, the hand
rolling test is used. A suitable soil sample
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remaining from the Casagrande Test are divided
into two parts and are rolled using the hand onto a
glass surface until the diameter is roughly 3mm.
The sample should be mixed and roll again until it
begins to crumbles. The process is repeated until
satisfactory condition is met, and then a portion of
the sample is taken to test for the moisture content
while the remaining samples are placed together
and weighed. The process is repeated for all two
parts to increase its accuracy. The average moisture
content indicates the plastic limit of the soil
(NYSDOT, 2007).
Compaction Test
Compaction test is conducted to obtained the
dry density of the soil. 2500 gram of soil is sieved
again on the sieve shaker, and the soil that passes
through the sieve with size opening of 20mm is
collected. A compaction mold is weighed and is
mounted with its collar onto a steel plate which acts
as its base. The sieved 2500 gram of soil is then
placed on a metal tray. 150ml of water is sprinkled
onto the soil sample and mixed by hand. After that,
the soil sample is distributed into three parts. The
first portion of the soil is added into the compaction
mold which is mounted to its base and collar using
a shovel. A blow-hammer is then used to apply 27
blows to the first layer evenly all around the sample,
then, the second layer is added and repeated with 27
blows. The final layer is added up to the mouth of
the mold and scrapped using a tool to make its
surface horizontal to the mouth level. Another 27
blows is applied. After that, the mold along with the
compacted soil is weighed and recorded.
The soils from the mold are then removed
and mix with the remaining soil sample. 100ml of
water is sprinkled onto the soil sample and mixed
by hand. The procedure for distributing the soil
samples into three portion and hitting each later
with 27 blows are repeated as mention in previous
paragraph. The weighed of the mold and sand are
constantly recorded and the test is repeated until the
weight of mold plus sand shows a consecutive drop
by two times. Then the experiment is stopped and
the readings calculated are used to determine the
dry density of the soil sample.
PH test of Soil
This test is conducted only using soil samples
that is fine enough to pass through the sieve with
size opening of 20mm. 30 gram of soil is added
with distilled water with same portion as soil into
the beaker. The soil is stirred to become slurry and
covered with watch glass. The mixture is then left
for one hour with stirring it at an interval of fifteen
minutes. Temperature at each 15 minutes interval is
then recorded. After one hour, the sample is stirred
well and the electrode is inserted into the soil slurry
solution for 30 seconds to allow the meter to
stabilize. The pH value is then read and recorded.
Error of the values on pH meter is corrected in
order to obtain an actual pH value of each sample.
Specific Gravity of Soil
In order to conduct this test, the soil sample is
undergoing sieve analysis again in order to obtain
the soil sample which its size is finer than 20mm
sieve. Approximately 50gram of soil is use for this
experiment. The weight of the beaker is weighed
and recorded, W1 An enough amount of soil sample
is added into the beaker and weighed, W2. The soil
is covered with distilled water from the glass wash
bottle and is shaken gently. Then, water is added to
fill the bottle to full. The weight is also weighed;
W3.The soils in the beaker is gently stirred with a
clean glass rod, carefully wash off the adhering
particles from the rod with some drops of distilled
water and see that no more soil particles are lost.
The beaker filled with water is weighed and
recorded. The specific gravity of two soil samples
are calculated using the formula as shown.
Gs= (1)
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
From the sieve analysis, cumulative percentage
of soil retained is recorded in the Table 1 for both
of the soil samples.
Table 1 Cumulative Percentage of soil retained
on each sieves for two locations.
Sieve Tanjung Aru Kampung CD
openings (mm) (%) (%)
6.30 3.59 4.45
4.75 6.03 8.96
3.35 10.07 16.2
2.00 14.51 25.61
0.425 30.56 48.29
0.212 68.02 70.69
0.150 76.86 76.52
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 0.075 91.72 87.70
The percentage passing each sieve is recorded in
Table 2 for both of the sample.

Table 2 Percentage Passing each sieve for both

soil samples.
Sieve Tanjung Aru Kampung CD
openings (mm) (%) (%)
6.30 96.41 95.54
4.75 93.97 91.04
3.35 89.93 83.80
2.00 85.49 74.39
0.425 69.44 51.71
0.212 31.98 29.31
0.150 23.14 23.48
0.075 8.28 12.30
With the data from table 1 and 2, graph of
Table 3: Liquid Limit at 25th blows for each soil
percentage passing each sieve against sieve size
samples
openings for soil samples from two locations is
Liquid Limit
plotted as shown is graph 1. The soil particles Soil Sample
(%)
diameters with 60%, 30%, 10% are determined
Tanjung Aru 16
which is needed to be used to calculate the
Kg. CD 32.5
coefficients of uniformity and curvature.

Graph 1 Percentage passing each sieve against
sieve size openings for soil samples from two
locations
From the rolling hand method, the mass of water
and soil can be determined. By that, moisture
content for each soil samples can be determined.
The table 4 shows the moisture contents of each
soil sample trials.
Table 4 Moisture Contents for each soil samples.

Moisture
Tg. Aru Kg. CD
Content
PL 1 5.64 15.98
PL 2 24.23 18.53
Average 14.935 17.256

From the data shown in Table 4, the average

water content for each sample can be obtained by
dividing both moisture content trials by two. Hence,
the plastic limit for soil sample taken from Tanjung
Aru is 14.935%; while the plstic limit for soil at
Kampung Tun Fuad will be 17.26%.

Next, the graphs of number of blows versus After that, the specific gravities of soil for both
water contents obtained from Casagrande Test are samples are tabulated in Table 5.
tabulated in Graph 2 in order to determine the
liquid limit of each soil sample. Table 5 Specific gravities for both soil samples.
Location Tg. Aru Kg. CD
Graph 2 Graphs of number of blows versus Specific gravity
water contents for each soil samples. 2.6539 2.7788
(Gs)
From table 5, it can be summarized that soil sample
from Tanjung Aru is mostly compromised of sand,

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while soil from Kampung CD can be categorized as
clayey soil by referring to the scale of specific
gravity of soil.
Table 6 also shows that the pH value for each
soil samples which is obtained and corrected.
Location Tg. Aru Kg. CD
pH 6.6 6.57
From the results obtained from few experiments
being conducted as mentioned above, soil samples
are classified based on AASHTO, British Standard,
USCS, USDA, and ASTM Systems as shown in
Table 6.
Table 6 Soil classification of two soil samples
using different soil classification system.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
From the result obtained above, it can be shown
that Tanjung Aru is a more suitable site to construct
a cruise terminal compared to the Kampung CD,
UMS. Tanjung Aru have a dry density of 2804.46
kgm-3 which is above the requirement of 1250 kgm-
3
, also fulfill one of the criteria requested by the
local government. Through this test, the objective
of surveying for a suitable site for constructing the
cruise terminal was achieved. Hence, the most
recommended location is Tanjung Aru.
In order to maintain long-term safety of the site
selected for construction of the terminal, the site
must be easily monitored and operated by the
authorities.

System Tanjung Aru Kampung CD

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
AASHTO A-2-4 A-2-6
BS SWM SPC
My deepest gratitude to Mr Jodin Makinda,
USCS SW-SM SC
lecturer of Geotechnical Engineering 1, University
USDA N/A N/A
Malaysia Sabah and my group mates Noraima,
ASTM SW-SM SC Fatihah, Reyhana and Najwa for their guidance and
By comparing the result obtained from test support while conducting the tests for this report. I
between two samples, it is shown that both Tanung would also like to thank my family for always
Aru only manages to fulfill one of the requirements, providing me the warmth and support which
while Kampung CD eliminated from the selection motivates me to go further and achieve success in
since it didnt fulfill any of the requirements needed. life. Thank you.

Graph 3 shows the graph of dry density of soil REFERENCES

against moisture content for each soil samples.
Graph 3 Dry density of soil against moisture
content for each soil samples.
From graph 3, soil from Tanjung Aru recorded
the highest value of dry density at optimum water
content of 19.45% which is 2804.46kgm-3, while
soil kampung CD only manage to reach
2711.99kgm-3 at water content of 21.43%. Hence,
Tanjung Aru is more suitable for the construction of
cruise terminal.
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