THE DESIGNAND

PE O NCEOF THE
STATI
D P NICHOLSON 'SENIOR GEOTECNNiCA ENGIN
........... 'EEF OVE ARUP AND PARTNERS

SUMMARY Bukit Timah Road, see Figure 1. At the western end of

Newton Station is about 180m long by 21m wide by
15m deep. Ground conditions at the site comprise soft
farine Clay up to,20m deep overlying Fluvial ands.
.id Clays which are underlain by Cor0!bletel' : west to 102.5m in the east. This is close to the mean
Decomposed Granite. Inv,estiga.,tions ientified.threeZ:.-::il
'buried'chanls nning tansve'sely cross the station
The paper discusses the design and performance of the
perimeter diaphragm walls at the eastern end of the
station, where a reasonably complete set of
instrumentation data are available. The predicted
movements of the top down excavation are compared
with the, field measurements.
INTRODUCTION
Newton Station forms part of the new Singapore
Metro which is being constructed for the Mass Rapid
Transit Corporation (MRTC). In addition the station has
been designed as a Civil Defence Shelter. The main
contractor for this design and construct contract was
Dragages Sembawang Construction. eve Arup and
Partners were their designers.
THE SITE
Road adjacent to the Newton Circus junction with the
the station is a crossover which also formed part of the
contract but will net be discussed in this paper.
Ground levels at the site vary from 103.0m in the
sea level of 100m. Occasionally the eastern end of the
siteisfi0ode durin periods of very heavy rainfall.
GROUND CONDITIONS
The results of five phases of site investigations
comprising 56 boreholas and 25 Dutch cone tests
revealed highly variable ground conditions at Newton
Station and the CrosSover. The soil classification in this
.paper is in-accordance with Andrews and Morton (1).
Geological Setting
At depth, the site is underlain by the Bukit Timah
Granite. The surface of this formation has been
weathered in situ to Completely Decomposed Granite
(G4). Contours of the top of the G4 are shown in Figure
2. These show the presence of three buried channels
running in a N-S direction across the station. These
channels were probably eroded during glacial periods
when the sea level was Iowar, as discussed by Pitts (2).
The investigations showed that the eastern and
central, valleys were mainly inffiled with Fluvial Sand
(F1), whilst the western and part of the eastern valley
were infilled with Lower Marine Clay (M) to a level of

Hotel Federal

Nine' / X/.X/ heetpiles

FIGURE 1. SITE PLAN

147
 was obtained by piston
The soil for laborator tests
+90m, shown in the seCtion in Figure 3. Laboratory undrained strengths
about as
12000 years ago, the sea level
'and thin wall sampling.
Subsequently, about
(C.) from these samples lower than the in situ
the Lower Marine Clay. During
expsing were
dropped aga n, strengths, Figure 4. The Upper Marine Clay
this period a mixtur of Fluvial Sands (F1), and Clays ':vane see
strength designline is also shown in Figure
undrained
(F2), deposited to about +91m elevation. About
were 4. It represents about 80% of the average field vane
10000 years ago the level rose again and the
of 70/o Bjerrum (3)
Clay (Mu)
sea
deposited to about 101m. strength. For a plasticity index
Upper Marine was
.,..Over the past 50 years reclamation schemes h ave filled recommended a 70% reduction in the field vane
strength. This design line generally corresponded to a
,
t -;the sitei'to itspresent ground level.
ratio of c/p= 0.23 where p is the preconsolidation
<tpressure. The direct correlation between Dutch (electric)
Upper and Lower Marine
resistance (q=)
and field vane (%) was 12 and 15
Marine Clays (M) The cone
Upper and Lower Marine Clay respectively. Typical
Clays very soft to soft light greenish-grey
silty clays for
are soil consolidation parameters obtained from oedometer and
with some intact shelts containing water. Very few Delft piezocone tests are summarised in Table 1. An
<:'< fabric features are present. Occasional peat layers and
encountered. Index.
properties are shown in undrained soil modulus (E) was derived assuming
roots were Eu/c 450.

_.[ q mopofG4
k_/, i"/ ) \ s'l
t )

J 1 s,

Borehole ' Piezometer ''Set-t

emRt point i
In&linometer
FIGURE 2. PLAN OF STATION

metres
Ftii
100-
Mu
90-

80--

70--
FIGURE 3. SECTION A A

-,/Mglm Cu kNlm=
80 120 1.4 1.8 0 20 40
40
Laboratory

Vane

i Design
o': line

FIGURE 4. MARINE CLAY PROPERTIES

148
 TABLE 1. CONSOLIDATION PARAMETERS found to be more than 2m across. Rock head was not
established [n any of the boreholes.
The silty nature of the G4 soil means that it is
Soil Oed6rfietr' Piezocone sensitive to sample disturbance and rapidly becomes
partially saturated. Therefore in situ tests were relied
upon to derive parameters. The following correlations
were used; q= 0.165N MN/m , q 30% and c.
5.5N kN/mZ Consolidation parameters for the G4 soil
"are set out in Table 1. The soil modulus was assessed
;_,.u.sing,Ec_ 650. A drained angle of internal
ihce : 3 - was used.
Pumping Tests
Fluvial Deposits (F) The Fluvial Sands (F1) and Pumping tests were conducted to assess the
Clays (F2) between the M arid M,!ayeps.ar,:hig!y dewatering requirements for the station and the
variable. The Sands very oose to ;Ioose,-gFey
comprise possibility that the Fluvial Sand layer might be
ang,ular quaGz sand with some:si!t,:,Th, horizontally continuous. Well W3 was installed at the
fine to coarse
Clays comprse firm m6led :eLI6WH "ii
and lays position:shown in Figure 2. Fluvial Sand was
-encountered between 16.7 and 20.0m depth in this well.
desiccation and a design c. kN/m was adopted. A To monitor drawdown, piezometers were installed in
drained angle of internal resiance 35.5 was separate boreholes in the F1 layer and in the G4 at
determined from trivial and shear x tests. Howeve a about the depth of the proposed toe of the diaphragm
value of o was used in the calculations. Index wall (80m level). These piezometers were installed along
propeies and SE results for the Fluvial soils are the length of the station and were subsequently used to
:ped in-Figure' 5.: :: : '%"::'" monitor the excavation dewatering. Pumping from the
onsolida{ion pramtePs for:the :Clays (F2)Areset 275mm diameter well was started on the 2.4.84 and
out in Table 1. The Delft iezocones recorde,, continued for 7 days. The water level in the well was
5ydrost&tiC Snditions: n e SH (F1):sh]:}t kept at 86m elevation and the pumping rate settled
they were hhly pereabl#..A,correlation,beeen down to about 1.2m3/hr.
Dutch (eleric) cone resis{ac'e (q : The piezometers in the F1 reached their steady state
0.SN MN/m 2 was established for after 1 day whilst those in the G4 stabilised after 2
clays..(E2)
E j% adopted. (,thesaBds days. The initial piezometric levels together with those
the
a drained modulus
450 was
.5q was
esed:" after 7 days pumping are plotted against the distance
Completely Decomposed Granite (G4). his s0il from the well in Figure 6. This shows that drawdowns of
comprises medium dense becoming ve dense with, about 2.5m and 2.2m occurred in the F1 and G4
"'8#th; sCeckled grey-gree6Lbrown-red clayey sil withT respectively:to distance of 100m from the well. Beyond
some fine to coarse angular qua sand. Index
this distance little drawdown occurred. This showed that
propeies and S results are shown in Figure 5. At the F1 was hydraulicJly continuous over most of the
the eastern end of the station numerous inta granite station length.
boulders were encountered, paGicularly beeen the It should also be noted that the drawdown in the F1
central and eastern buried channels, see Figure 2. sand was always greater than in the G4. This is
These were exposed during excavation and were oEen consistent with an upward flow of water into the F1 layer

FIGURE 5. FLUVIAL AND DECOMPOSED GRANITE PROPERTIES

 calculated During excavation the roof slab was also used as a
-and then horizontally to the well. The
about 8 10 and support-from which the oncourse sl.ab was temporarily
permeabilities of the F1 and G4 were x "s
hung. Th, e roof also provided a reaction for the inclined
5 10 m/sec respectively. struts, see Figure 7 temporary stage.
use of
x
The rapid response of the G4 confirmed the
drainage Once the permanent base slab, central columns and
effective stress parameters and steady statestrength internal walls had been constructed the hangers and
conditions rather than adopting undrained inclined struts were removed see Figure 7 permanent
parameters for the G4. stage. Tl?e central columns enabled the roof slab to be
In addition, ground surface settlements were
used :tO rist thelong term hydrostatic pressure acting
The recorded
i:monitored ddring the .pumping test.12th
"settteme nts between-the 2nd and April 1984 al;e ." Tlt.tporai':hangers and inclined struts were
[ ed
plotted in Figure& These settlements anddeveop
'

resulted relatively short and therefore easy to manoeuvre in the

steadily throughout the pumping test from
very soft ground conditions
encountered whilst
the consolidation of the Marine Clay. excavating below the roof slab. Another advantage of
the 'iiqclined strut# was that they did not
obstruct the
excavation to the final formation level.
Studies had indicated that if the inclined strut had
Ti e T,.;i-I' ' efe n requiremeni-for, heaviiy
a:
rinforced'. been.it{lthn-il
diaptragm
0utd have been necessary to
wall thickness from 0.8 to 1.0m
incorporated into the top down increase the
2.0m thick roof slab was
and to deepen the toe embedment depth.
construction by using it as the top strut for the walls.

zFinal 9.4.84

20 50 100
10
DISTANCE FROM WELL W3 metres
'/ Initial (2.4.84)
KEY 7 Borehole No '

:-:;' FIOURE 0, RSLTS OF PPINO TEST

metres Central column

Roof slab

)urse
slab
Internal walls

0.8m
Diaphragm
wall
r

DIAPHRAGM WALL DESIGN the passive

earth pressure coefficients in accordance
with CP2 (4).
Full wall adhesion was assumed in the M
design
The of the diaphragm wall involved the and F2 clays whilst wall friction of 0.5 #1 was adopted in
following: the F1 and G4.

i) Seepage analysis. iii) Deformation Analysis The wall deflections and

ii) Lateral stability analysis to determine toe levels. bending moments associated with excavation of the
station were calculated using the computer program
iii) Wall deformation analysis for bending moments.
iv) Bearing capacity for vertical loads.

BILL described by Pappin et al, (5). A cracked wall
section stiffness El 355 MN.m 2 was used, this being
Lon g term h drostatic u-lift resistance i
:L.:..:.. :._: -:::- .i:about_hatftheal.astic section stiffne.ss. N,o, factors of.
These analyses are shown diagrammatically in Figure safety were ,a,pplled to !he "best e.stlm,ate, .deslgn ,,s,o,l,
8. To cater for the varying soil conditions the perimeter parameters. Mowever, the momen[s CalCu]a[ea oy [.

wall was eventually divided into 9 design cases, were increased by 1.2 and 1.6 for the reinforced
concrete design in the temporary and permanent
conditions respectively.
i) Seepage Analysis Ove Arup and Partners' finite Ground settlements were estimated from the BILL
element program SEEP used to calculate the
was predictions of tateral wall movements using the method
steady state piezometric pressures around the toe of the proposed by Milligan (6) with a small modification based
wall. These piezometric pressures were used in the on field observations reported by Tan et al,
(7) for the
calculations for toe embedment depth and deformation neighboudng MOE building shown in Figure 1. Details
analysis. SEEP also predicted flow rates so that the of these movements are given in Figure 9 where D is
pumping requirements inside the station could be the depth at which the maximum lateral wall
assessed. Where the buried channels contained F1 occurs. Additional allowances were also
(s,,rdit was necessary to extend the toe of the wall 2m
the underlying G4 to p'ovide .a hydraulic cut-off and
movements
made for diaphragm wall installation and consolidation
settlement,
limit drawdown outside the station during excavation. For
design purposes the extema -drawdwn was l!m!ted to iv) Bearing Capacity During excavation the diaphragm
101m in the Fluvial Sands. walls provided the vertical support for the roof and
Cncourse Slabs. Excavation within the station led to a
ii) Toe Depth The toe embedment
:edctionlof the overburden pressure and effective
stability was assessed using a factor of safetyf 2 on stress at the toe of the wall and hence a reduction in

Seepage Toe stability Bending / Bearing

Deformation capacity

FIGURE 8. DIAPHRAGM WALL DESIGN

20 10 ' 0 ':,l.i 20 10

6.8m

incIin0meter

FIGURE 9. PREDICTION OF GROUND SETTLEMENTS

 for granite in Hong Kong has demonstrated the importam
bearing capacity. The horizontal effective stresses BILL of maintaining an adequate net slurry pressure to
calculating wall friction taken from the
were
maintain trench stability and limit ground movements,
deformation analysis. The maximum allowable
were calculated see Davies and Henkel (8). At Newton Station the
piezometric levels at the toe of the wallmaintain the factor table often less than 0.5m below the ground
at various stages of the excavation to was
guide walls were extended lm
capacity. During surface and therefore the
of safety of 2 on the ultimate bearing ground level, provide the net slurry
the final excavation stage about 30% of the working above the to
pressure. Ground settlements of 20ram allod
load was calculated to be taken by end bearing on
the were let
in the design.
base of the diaphragm wall.
The groundmovements recorded by inclinometer
during the excavation of panel 58 followed by 57 are
v) Hydrostatic Uplift On completion of the base slab allowed to shown in Figure 10. These show inward movements of
and internal walls the water pressure was
showed that the up to 15ram occurred in the G4 during excavation.
return to its original level. Calculations However outward movements of 20mm occurred in the
dead load of the station and the diaphragm wall were
hydrostatic uplift pressures. Marine Clay during concreting to about 0.5m above
adequate to resist the
ground level. The concreting also resulted in the
adjacent ground heaving by about 10mm.
FIELD PERFORMANCE
Excavation
Before commencing excavation, new datum readings
Monitoring all settlement points and
were established for
The performance of the wall during excavation was inclinometers. The excavation programme is shown at
monitored using inclinometers, settlement points and
the top of Figure 11. This figure also shows the
piezometers. installed within the wall settlement records at $1, $2 and $18, together with the
either
The inclinometers
('",anels just outside,
were
with inclinometer I3, see changes in piezometric levels inside the perimeter wall
or as
Figure 2. Ground surface settlement points were located (]P1), below the toe of the wall (TP6) and outside the
from the excavation. The wall (B5a and B5b). Their positions are shown in
at different distances Figures 2 and 3.
piezometers were installed in boreholes outside
overlying
the
Fluvial Pumping from the wells within the diaphragm wall
excavation either in the G4 or in the started ihe beginning of January 1985. The
Sand. In addition piezometers were installed immediately box was at
below the base of the diaphragm wall and inside the
rapid drawdown in the F1 layer inside the box is shown
on Figure 11. The more
gradual response at the toe and
station excavation, e.g. TP6 and IPI.
outside the excavation can also be seen. The pumping
The toe piezometers and wall inclinometers were piezometric
rate was controlled to suit the calculated
installed by rotary coring through steel tubes attached to level requirements Set for the toe piezometers. Once the
This
the diaphragm wall pane!, reinforcement cages. slab the pumps switched off
provided the opportunity to core the soil immediately base was cast. were

below the base of the wall and confirmed that

all slurry (August 1985) and the wells allowed to overflow onto the
debris had been removed and therefore base slab.
and excavation To reduce drawdown outside the excavation external
good bearing provided.
end was
recharge wells were installed in the F1 sand layer.
These were fed with water pumped from the internal
Diaphragm Wall Installation
Previous experience with completely decomposed wells.

-20 -10
T3 metres 102.6m
0

Fill
58

57

2 56

L__.-_:::". :!: -:;: F GURE::I0, i3RO.UN[MOVEMI.-N.,S.--:DE[TO;INSTA LATION OF

.:
-:" ! ::PANEL:,58 bLEOE"iB?P'RNEIL 57: ,;;.

152
 Roof Concourse Base
I
Excavation
r-11984 1985
[ Concrete

o
O N D j _F M A M J 1J A S O N

o-

104

100-
B5a BSb

E
" 92- TP1

LU 84-

80-

FIGURE 11. MEASURED SETTLEMENTS AND

PIEZOMETER READINGS.

102.6 L40 80
0
0 40x
DEFLECTION
80
(() mm
40 80 120

' 7--I-FI
/' "28.685

CaseA 1"3 Roof Concourse :Base

Design

FIGURE 12. PREDICTED AND MEASURED

DEFLECTIONS.

The lateral movements recorded by inclinometer I3 for The inclinometer I3 deflections recorded the on
28.7.85 are plotted in Figure 13. Also shown the are
.the roof, concourseand base slab excavation stages.ar '"undrained" surface settlements predicted from I3 using
shown in Figure 12. The predicted wall deflections for
profile at the same stages also the method given in Figure 9. In addition Figure 13
the Case A soil are
shows the settJements recorded for $1, $2 and $18 on
the 28.7.85. It can be seen that these settlement points
shown.
The roof slab excavation to 100m level in this part of predicted
the station was completed by 10.10.84. At this time about have settled about 100mm more than those
from I3. This .additional settlement is due to the
20mm lateral deflection had occurred at the ground
surface, see Figure 12. The roof slab was not cast until consolidation of the Marine Clay resulting from
the end of November and by 22.11.84 creep effects had
drawdown in the Fluvial deposits.
-increased the movement to 60ram, see Figure 12. This The effect of the consolidation settlement can also be
seen from the record of $2 shown on
Figure 11. Rapid
was similar to the predicted
surface deflection. However
below 12m, depth in the F2 and G4, the predicted increases in &ettlement were recorded during the
concourse anI base excavation stages in
February and
deflections were about twice those measured. This may gradual settlement of about
be associated with underestimating the small strain
May 1985. However, a more
.stiffn-(ssof.theqsitu-soil:-h_predicted and measured :10mm/month occurred between these
$18,
excavation
which is
stages.
outside
excavation stages were n This settlement rate is similar to
deflections for the subsequent
Figure 12. The maximum the influence of exctavatien
,movemen,n.'is4herfo
.reasonable agreement, see
predicted deflection was about 100mm compared with considered to reIlect the consolidation of-the Marine
110mm measured. Clay.
 DISTANCE FROM WALL metres DEFLECTION
30 20 10 0 100mm

100
200
28.7.85

!
Inclinometer T3 /
profile 287.85 --------

30-

FIGURE 13. GROUND SURFACE SETTLEMENTS.

CONCLUSIONS REFERENCES
Pumping tests and piezocone tests provided valuable (1) ANDREWS, D. and MORTON, K., Geotechnical
information on the permeability and hydraulic continuity Studies for Singapore Mass Rapid Transit. Proc. 2nd
of the Fluvial Sand layers. These tests also demonstrated Conf. on Mass Transportation in Asia, Singapore,
that steady state (flownet) drainage conditions would be 1984, pp 272 283.
rapidly established in the underlying Decomposed (2) PITTS, J., A Review of Geology and Engineering
Granite and therefore effective stress soil parameters Geology in Singapore. Quarterly Journal of Eng.
were adpoted in these soils.
Geol., London, 1984, Vol. 17, pp 93 101.
The top down construction technique proved to be (3) BJERRUM, L., Problems of Soil Mechanics and
successful. This used the 2m thick roof slab to support Construction on Soft Clays. Proc. 8th Int. Conf. Soil
the concourse slab and provide the reaction for the Mech. and Found. Eng., Moscow, 1973, Vol 3, pp.
temporary inclined struts which propped the final 109 159"
excavation stage. (4) CP2. Earth Retaining Structures. The Institution of
The Ove Arup and Partners' computer program BILL Structural Engineers, London, 1951.
was used to calculate deflections and bending moments (5) PAPP1N, J.W., SIMPSON, B., FELTON, RJ. and
in the diaphragm walls. The program incorporates the RAISON, C.R., Numerical Analysis of Flexible
effects of wall stiffness, propping system and ground Retaining Walls. Proc. Int. Conf. on Numerical
conditions. Reasonable agreement with the measured Methods in Engineering: Theory and Applications,
deflections was obtained. Edited by Middleton, J. and Pande, G.N., Swansea,
As the excavation progressed the predicted wall 1985, pp. 789 802.
(-' deflections and toe piezometric levels were compared (6) MILLIGAN, G.W.E., Soil Deformations Near Anchored
with the field instrumentation records. This enabled the Sheetpile Walls. Geotechnique, London, 1983, No. 1,
Contractor, Designer and MRTC to monitor the pp. 41 55.
performance of the wall at all stages of the excavation. ('7) TAN, S.B., TAN. S.L. and CHIN Y.K., A Braced
A simple method of predicting ground surface Sheetpile Excavation in Soft Singapore Marine Clay.
settlements associated with wall deflection was adopted. Proc. 11th Int. Conf. on Soil Mech. and Found. Eng.,
This method differs from the approach described by Peck San Francisco, 1985, Vol. 3, pp. 1671 1674.
(9) because the predicted surface settlements are (8) DAVIES, R.V. and HENKEL, D.J., Geotechnical
directly related to the wall deflections rather than the Problems associated with the construction of Chater
excavation depth. It has been used to separate the Station. Conf. on Mass Transportation in Asia, Hong
undrained deformation settlements outside the wall from Kong, 1980.
the consolidation settlements associated with (9) PECK, R.B., Deep Excavations and Tunnelling in Soft
dewatering. Ground. Proc. 7th lnt. Conf. Soil Mech. and Found.
Eng., Mexico City, 1969, State of the art volume, pP.
225 290.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Author would like to thank his colleagues in Ove Arup and Partners and Dragages Sembawang Construction
_who jointly developed the designand monitored the excavation performance. The assistance provided by MRTC in
checking the design and construction is also acknowledged.