STABILITY ANALYSIS OF SLURRY TRENCHES

By Greg C. Y. Wong, 1 M . ASCE

ABSTRACT: A brief treatise of the mechanics of stability aspects of slurry trenches

excavated in short panels is presented. Three case histories of slurry trench
excavation including two failures are described and back-analyzed by arching
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theory. Some existing analytical methods for trench stability are shown to be
conservative in predicting earth pressures. Special emphasis is made on the
subject of stability of slurry trenches subjected to heavy surcharge load, such
as from adjoining and adjacent foundations. A design procedure is proposed
for such loading conditions without undue conservatism by taking into consid-
eration the redistribution of surcharge load to soil adjacent to the excavation
and the redistribution of stresses in the building structure.

INTRODUCTION

The use of slurry trenches in short panels to support excavations for

underground structures has been gaining popularity in recent years. Al-
though many successful diaphragm walls have been excavated in urban
areas adjacent to roads and buildings, the mechanism and analysis of
stability of short panel slurry trenches remains obscure. In particular,
the effect of surcharge load on slurry trench stability remains not fully
understood.
The first attempt to analyze trench stability and to design the required
slurry head used the theory of arching. Huder (3) applied the theory of
arching (7) to determine the earth pressure, a 3 , to be supported by the
slurry head. Thus
7L j _ e-2JCtan<|>f:
0"3 = (1)
2tan<f> L
in which L = length of trench; 4> = soil angle of friction; and z = depth.
He recommended to use K0 > K > Ka as the value for the earth pres-
sure coefficient, K, at the arch support.
Schneebeli (5) adopts the Caquot theory for the earth pressure in silos
to deduce the active earth pressure on the trench wall:
L Z
^ - , 22 / ! ! _ * V 1 _ < , - s-i n 2 *
o-3 = -tan - - - I-* ""*- (2)
sin 24 \ 4 2/V L/
His approach is similar to Huder's but estimated earth pressure is lower
in magnitude. Furthermore, Schneebeli's solution does not rely on the
designer to choose a value for K.
In the 1970's researchers in Germany and Poland (4,8) adopted a lim-
iting equilibrium approach to analysis of trench stability, i.e., similar
to 3-dimensional slope or wedge slip analysis. These methods require
'Prin., Greg Wong & Assoc, Consulting Engrs., Ste. 905, World Shipping Cen-
ter, Harbour City, Kin, Hong Kong.
Note.Discussion open until April 1, 1985. To extend the closing date one
month, a written request must be filed with the ASCE Manager of Technical and
Professional Publications. The manuscript for this paper was submitted for re-
view and possible publication on September 14, 1983. This paper is part of the
Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, Vol. 110, No. 11, November, 1984. ASCE,
ISSN 0733-9410/84/0011-1577/$01.00. Paper No. 19269.
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J. Geotech. Engrg., 1984, 110(11): 1577-1590

 parametric trial and error calculations, which are rather difficult to apply
to general practical problems. Furthermore, these methods are still in
the development stage at this time and refinements are apparently forth-
coming.
In this paper, a description of the mechanics of stability of slurry
trenches excavated in short panels is presented and compared with ob-
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servations from case histories. The theory of arching and related meth-
ods of analysis are reviewed and considered for problems of trenches
subjected to surcharge loads.
Theory of Arching for Slurry Trenches.The principal advantage of
the diaphragm wall construction technique is that excavation and con-
creting is carried out in small panels one at a time. This permits arching
to develop during individual panel excavation, minimize adjacent ground
settlement, and the risk of major failure. Therefore, in trench stability
analysis, particularly for cases with surcharge load located adjacent to
the trench, the benefits of arching must be utilized.
To illustrate the effect of arching, a simple linear finite element anal-
ysis is carried out for a typical 4 m (13.1 ft) long trench subjected to a
load that has a horizontal component of 100 kN/m 2 (14.3 psi) (Fig. 1).
The load may be due to a footing, laterally loaded piles, or simply the
horizontal pressure due to the self-weight of the soil adjacent to the trench.
The three unloaded sides of the FEM model are supported on rollers.
The soil is assumed to have Poisson's ratio of 0:49 and Young's modulus
of 41.7 x 103 kPa (6 X 103 psi) typical of residual soil below the ground
water table.
The FEM analysis results plotted in Fig. 1 show that the principal
stresses normal to the trench rotate to develop arching. This reorienta-
tion of stresses occurs within a semi-circular area extending to approx-
imately L/2 from the center of the trench, with L = length of trench.

1
+
+ + M+

+ + T \ "V V im BY )m

+
+ +
+
+ + + * V\ \
\ \ \ \ \ V'
* ++ **v *
\ + + +
\ + *V
+ + \* \ *
, -x-V *+ +
1 T Y T T T T I T T T '
EXCESS
LEGEND: \ ^ J L*-X BENTON I I E -
2- PRESSURE
SCALE FOR STRESS : ^-> .100 KN/M 2 " M J ! 7 KN/M*
ALL COMPRESSION SCALE DISTANCE FROM TRENCH

FIG. 1.Stress Distribution Adjacent to FIG. 2.--Variation of Normal Stress with

Slurry Trench by Finite Element Anal- Distance from Slurry Trench
ysis

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J. Geotech. Engrg., 1984, 110(11): 1577-1590

 This effect is more evident by plotting the variation of normal stresses,
a,,, towards the trench, i.e., along section A-A through the center of the
panel and section B-B through the end of the panel, Fig. 2. Fig. 2 also
indicates the transference of the 100 kN/m 2 (14.3 psi) lateral pressure to
the soil adjacent to the trench. Along section A-A, the normal stress,
a,,, reduces from 100 kN/m 2 (14.3 psi) to 7 kN/m 2 (1.0 psi), the excess
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of bentonite pressure over ground-water pressure. Along plane B-B, the

stress o-y, however, increases towards the trench. The value of <ry re-
mains at 100 kN/m 2 (14.3 psi) from the point of load application to a
point at L/2 from the trench. The stress then increases gradually to 140
kN/m 2 (20.3 psi) at the corner of the trench. This zone of stress con-
centration extends approximately L/2 to the side of the panel, thus com-
pensating for the partial loss of support within the excavation. The finite
element analysis illustrates that, for shallow trenches, the earth pressure
and, in particular, surcharge load are essentially supported by arching
of the ground. The function of the bentonite is to retain ground water
and to prevent erosion. At great depths, the excess bentonite pressure
also contributes to the resisting force for trench stability.
A plot of the stress ratio, K' = o^/o-y, in Fig. 3 indicates that along
section B-B K' increases from 0.41 at the trench to 0.6 at approximately
one panel length from the trench. At a distance beyond L/2 from the
trench, the 100 kN/m 2 load is supported by soil arch action. The soil at

ALONG SECTION B - B THROUGH END OF TRENCH

DISTANCE FROM TRENCH

FIG. 3.Variation of K' = ax/(j with Distance from Trench

i 1 i t i'i i i l l

' /-vyfv

FIG. 4.Diagrammatic Representation of Arching in Slurry Trench

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J. Geotech. Engrg., 1984, 110(11): 1577-1590

 the arch support is in a passive earth pressure condition, and, therefore,
the ratio of earth pressure K' = ax (normal to applied load)/<ry (in di-
rection of applied load) is greater than the coefficient of earth pressure
at rest. This load condition in the FEM analysis example may be com-
pared with the case of vertical arching in which the soil gravity load is
vertical, i.e., in the z direction. The coefficient of earth pressure, K', in
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the example is in principle the same as K = vxl<3z in Huder (3) and Ter-
zaghi (7).
The results of the analysis shown in Fig. 3 suggests that the value of
K at the arch support is greater than the earth pressure at rest. This
means that the proposal to use Ka < K < K0 in calculation for the earth
pressure on slurry trench wall (3) may be conservative. The value of K'
= 0.6 evaluated from the FEM analysis is, however, comparable to the
experimental results by Terzaghi (7). Terzaghi conducted a model ex-
perimental to measure the state of stress in sand located above a yielding
strip of length L. His results showed that the value of K above the center
of the strip is between 1-1.5 at a distance of L from the strip. The av-
erage value of K' for sections A-A and B-B in Fig. 3 is 0.7. The lower
value of K from the FEM analysis is due to the difference between load-
ing from self-weight of the sand as in the case of the experiment from
the case of external load applied at some distance from the opening.
Although the analysis was carried out for a horizontal section of the
trench, the results can be generalized to a 3-dimensional model with
surcharge located at some distance from a slurry trench. A diagrammatic
model of the principle of arching and surcharge load transfer adjacent
to a slurry wall is shown in Fig. 4 in three dimensions.

OBSERVATIONS FROM CASE HISTORIES

The following three case histories of trench performance are reported

in the literature and described in the following subsections to provide
further insight on the mechanics of slurry trench stability.
Gerstheim (5).The site is adjacent to the River Rhine. Over 100 slurry
trench panels were excavated to depths between 26-30 m in a sandy soil
with <|>' = 35 and bulk density = 2.15 t/m 3 (134 pcf). The water table
is 1.5 m (4.9 ft) below ground. The trench panel lengths varies from 2.5
m-5 m. Several collapses occurred in panels longer than 5 m. It was
reported that failure surfaces extended to depths of 12 m. Back-analysis
of Gerstheim failures by the Schneebeli method and Huder's method are
shown in Fig. 5. The earth pressure predicted by Schneebeli's formula
indicated that the excess slurry pressure will be inadequate to counteract
earth pressures at depths of 7-12 m (23-39.3 ft) for 5 m (16.4 ft) long
panels. Shorter panels should be stable. Site trials confirmed the limiting
length of the panels. The observed failure surfaces in unsuccessful ex-
cavations also confirmed the extent of the initial zone of instability. Thus,
the earth pressure profile calculated by Schneebeli's formula is in general
agreement with the observations of failure. If Huder's formula is used
with his recommended value of earth pressure coefficient, K = Ka + K0/
2, failure would have occurred for the shorter panel lengths for the soil
conditions of this particular site. For comparison, earth pressures cal-
culated by a method by Kowalewski (8) are also presented in Fig. 5 and

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J. Geotech. Engrg., 1984, 110(11): 1577-1590

 :
ABARE SURfiftCE

EARTH AND EXCESS BENTONITE PRESSURE KN/m2

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a 50 m i0 sf

WATER TABLE _, ELAN

3ENT0 ITE
PRESS ise

s
s.p.i. v , ^y
\ N- VALUES nn
GRfyC WATER TABLE

\\ g
FAILURE SURFACE

MARINE

\\\ \ - DEPOSITS
:OLLUVIM

\ i
\\ CONPLETELY
WEATHERED
1 GRANTTE

|\
'

FIG. 5.Earth Pressure and Excess FIG. 6.Charter Garden Trial Slurry
Bentonite Pressure at Gerstheim Case Trench
History

are comparable to the results from the Huder method.

Charter Garden Test Panel, Hong Kong (2).The site is located in
downtown Hong Kong, and the test panel was carried out for the Mass
Transit Railway Corporation prior to construction of the Modified Initial
System. The soil consists of 4 m (13.1 ft) of fill, 3 m (9.8 ft) of marine
sand and silt and 26 m (85.3 ft) of a residual soil locally known as com-
pletely decomposed granite. The soil properties and N-value profile are
shown in Fig. 6. Ground water table was 3 m (9.8 ft) below ground. The
panel is 6.1 m (20.0 ft) long and 35 m (114.8 ft) deep. The slurry used
has specific gravity = 1.08, and 10 min gel strength of 1.4-3.8 N/sq m
(3-8 lb/100 sq ft). Inclinometers and ground settlement gages were in-
stalled and monitored. The bentonite slurry level was lowered in stages
starting from 1.7 m (5.6 ft) above ground-water table. When the ben-
tonite level was 0.3 m (1.0 ft) below the water table, the bentonite pres-
sure at depth only just balanced the water pressure in the ground, and
the soil itself was effectively unsupported. Nevertheless, only minor
instability was observed close to the guide walls. On attempting to very
slowly lower the bentonite level further, a major slip occurred, the ex-
tent of which is indicated on the plan and elevation in Fig. 6. The sliding
soil mass extended to approximately 0.65 L (L = length of panel) behind
the trench and to a depth of 7 m (23.0 ft) in the fill and marine deposit.
The arching theories were again applied to analyze the failure. A com-
parison of earth pressures computed by Schneebeli and Huder's method
and the effective slurry pressure is presented in Fig. 7. It appeared that
the Huder theory would predict failure when the slurry head was at or
slightly below the initial level of slurry, i.e., 1.7 m (5.6 ft) above ground-
water table. The Schneebeli theory predicts failure at a lower slurry head
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J. Geotech. Engrg., 1984, 110(11): 1577-1590

 -SWIRE HOUSE FBANKI PILES

6 OO o o o o o o
m
o o o o o o O O P

PLAN OF TRENCH PANELS

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r-WSEQ GUDE HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT I rtmI

J WALLS FROM INCLINOMETER

RLES

Fill
DRAWDOWN-^
IN DECOM-
POSED
- S GRANITE TO
-4majt
Marine
deposits

_,s-Decomposed
granite

FIG. 7.Charter Garden Trial Slurry FIG. 8.Slurry Trench Construction

Trench Earth Pressures Adjacent to Swire House

but still overestimates the earth pressure acting on the trench, and thus
underestimates the factor of safety. The third analysis using the Schnee-
beli theory, having cohesion = 7 kN/m 2 (0.73 psi) and <> j = 35, predicts
failure when the slurry head is slightly below the ground-water table.
The assumption of cohesion for the partially saturated fill and marine
deposit appears to be justified for an analysis. Partially saturated fill can
be excavated temporarily using a vertical cut to a depth of 1.5 m (4.9 ft)
or more, and triaxial tests generally indicated some cohesion for old fill
and marine deposits.
Swire House, Hong Kong (1).The site is located some 300 m (984.3
ft) from the test panel. The site consists of 10 m (32.8 ft) of fill, 6 m (19.7
ft) of marine deposits, and 8 m (26.2 ft) of completely decomposed gran-
ite. The panels are 2.7 m (8.9 ft) in length and the slurry head is 0.7 m
(2.3 ft) above ground. The slurry properties are similar to the Charter
Garden test panel. The excavation is approximately 1 m (3.3 ft) adjacent
to the 500 mm (1.6 ft) diameter Franki piles of the building. These piles
are estimated to carry 1,000 kN (100.4 t) each and are terminated in the
completely decomposed granite 7 m (23.0 ft) above the bottom of the
trench. To improve the stability of the slurry trench excavation, the pi-
ezometric level in the decomposed granite was reduced by well-point to
approximately 8 m (26.2 ft) below ground. During the construction of
the primary panel, the soil lateral movement was 10 mm (0.4 in.) at the
tip of the piles (see Fig. 8). The lateral movement increases to 14 mm
(0.6 in.) during the excavation of the adjacent panels. The building was
estimated to settle approximately 14 mm (0.6 in.) due to diaphragm wall
excavation.
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 Back-analysis of the stability of this trench, taking into consideration
the surcharge load effect, is reported in the subsequent sections.
REVIEW OF CASE HISTORIES

From the case histories reported, failure usually occurred when the
slurry head in the trench fell to approximately 1 m (3.3 ft) below ground-
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water level. At this instant, at certain critical depths, the earth pressure
exceeded the excess (over ground-water pressure) slurry pressure. The
localized failure propagated, and a general failure occurred with the slip
surface commencing from the critical depth. Thus, in the field case his-
tories reported herein, the failure zone extended only to a depth of 5 -
12 m (16.4-39.4 ft), although at the time of failure, the trenches were
excavated to over 20 m (65.6 ft).
The current practice of slurry trench design is to calculate the earth
pressure exerted on the trench wall at various depths by the Huder or
Schneebeli formula. The estimated earth pressures are compared with
the excess bentonite pressure at the corresponding depth. If the factor
of safety, defined as the ratio of excess bentonite pressure to the earth
pressure, at each depth is greater than 1.2, the overall stability is en-
sured.
It would appear from the back-analysis of the several case histories
that the Schneebeli's method of analysis quite adequately predicts trench
stability. Since this method eliminates the subjective assumption of a
value for K, as in the case of the Huder method, the method could be
more conveniently applied to practical problems. The wedge method of
analysis is an alternative design method believed to be less conservative
than the arching methods since it considers global equilibrium of the
failure mass. Comparisons with this method of analysis are not within
the scope of this paper.

SURCHARGE LOAD ON TRENCH

When a slurry trench is located adjacent to footings or piles, the trench

may be subjected to full or part of the load on the footing or pile. The
trench will be subjected to full load if the building structure, such as a
masonry building, is very flexible, and if the footing is located within
the semi-circular zone shown in Fig. 1. For other cases, there should be
some reduction of the applied load on the trench.
The first mechanism of load reduction is due to distribution of stresses
laterally to the more rigid zones of the ground as shown in the FEM
analysis in Fig. 1. This reduction would not occur unless the footing or
pile is located at least L/2 from the trench, so that arching can occur and
load can be distributed laterally.
Fig. 9 shows a strip footing located at a distance, d > L/2, from a
slurry trench and vertical stress distribution on a horizontal plane at a
depth, d, below this footing before and after trench excavation. The ver-
tical stress distribution before trench excavation is calculated by Bous-
sinesq's method. In the zone within L/2 from the trench, the vertical
stress on the horizontal plane is approximately 45% of the load on the
footing. After excavation, yielding of the trench wall occurs and arching
will develop. The vertical stresses reduce to the values as shown in Fig.
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 L = LENGTH OF TRENCH PANEL STRP LOAD P knMlZ
d = DISTANCE OF LOAD FROM TRENCH
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2d 3d 4d
DISTANCE FROM TRENCH

FIG. 9.Reduction of Boussinesq's Vertical Stress due to Arching

9, estimated by the Schneebeli formula. The load on the portion of the

strip footing adjacent to the trench will be distributed to the ground
beside the trench. In the following analysis, a simple procedure is pro-
posed to estimate the earth pressure on a surcharged slurry trench.
For design purposes, an extensive surcharge load, P, in Fig. 9 may be
replaced by an equivalent surcharge, q, on a horizontal plane at depth,
d. The magnitude of q may be estimated by the Schneebeli formula Eq.
3 to account for the surcharge reduction due to arching:
PL J g sin2<t> _
(3)
sin 2(|> L
in which L = length of trench; c)> = effective friction angle of soil; and d
= distance of P from trench. The lateral distribution effect of P has been
ignored in this assumption, and the procedure is therefore conservative
for surcharge loads over limited areas. The earth pressure on the trench,
LT3 (z), at any depth may then be computed by assuming that surcharge
load q at depth d replaces P.
The earth pressure on the trench from ground surface to depth d will
be

Q<z<dv3{z) = Ka \ g - s i n 2 , t>'. . . . . . . (4a)

sin2<)>
in which Ka = the active earth pressure coefficient; and 7 the appro-
priate soil density.
Below depth d, where the surcharge load is assumed to be acting on
the trench wall, the earth pressure may be calculated as <r3 = Kaa1.
The term ai(z) can be derived by considering the stability of the ver-
tical arch (Ref. 5):
Ldoi + sin 2<j) axdz - yLdz = 0 . (4b)
dax sin 2(f)
+ ^ - 7 = 0. (4c)

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J. Geotech. Engrg., 1984, 110(11): 1577-1590

 7l -sin2cfc
(Tj =
ae (4d)
sin2<j)
in which o-j = 0 at z = 0; and oi = g + a\{d) at z = d.
Thus, at depth z > d, the earth pressure on the slurry trench is
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, -sin24>
2_ <j sin 2<|) sin2(J> ^
<r3(z) = Ka 1 (4c)
sin2c|> 7L

The foregoing procedure assumes that the load P surcharge of the trench
is at one depth, d. However, the surcharge effect actually distributes
itself over a region, for example, from depths 0.6 d-1.7 d. A closer ap-
proximation will be to distribute q linearly at depths of, say, z = d tan
30 and z = d tan 60 and solving the differential equation of equilibrium.
An example of the results by this method of solution is shown in Fig.
10 for Swire House, where the full surcharge load from piles is assumed
to distribute between the top of the completely decomposed granite lay-
ers and 2 m below the tip of the pile.

SURCHARGE REDUCTION FROM BUILDING STIFFNESS

The second mechanism of surcharge load reduction on a slurry trench

is by redistribution of load on foundations of a building by the stiffness
of the structure. The Swire House trench excavation described in the last
section took precautions to limit the lateral movement of the trench face
to 14 mm (0.6 in.). On examining the distortion of the building caused
by the trench excavation, it is evident that the distortion had resulted
in reduction in load on the piles adjacent to the excavation. The mag-
nitude of the reduction in pile load may be estimated by a frame analysis

EARTH AND EXCESS BENTONITE PRESSURE KN/,

SLURRY TRENCH

-*7mmmmMmmmmmmm&2

FIG. 10.Earth Pressure and Excess FIG. 11.Earth Pressure on Trench

Bentonite Pressure at Swire House After Footing Settlement
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 of the building in two dimensions normal to the slurry trench (Fig. 11).
Diagrammatically for the measured settlement of approximately 14 mm
(0.6 in.), the load reduction on the piles adjacent to the trench, which
is derived from the rigidity of the structure, is estimated to be 500 kN
(50.2 ton) per panel, which is over 15% of the nominal surcharge on the
trench. The effect of this reduction of surcharge due to building stiffness
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on the earth pressure is shown in Fig. 10. If the building stiffness were
permitted to be taken into consideration in the design of trench stability,
the guidewall used during construction may not need to be raised to
increase the excess slurry head.
In most other cases, where settlement and distortion are larger than
the Swire House case history or where the pile load is smaller, the per-
centage of load reduction may increase to over 50% of the gravity load
at the pile cap or footing. An extreme case is a building on a pile raft
or raft foundation typically 2.5-3 m (8.2-9.8 ft) thick. When the part of
this foundation adjacent to a slurry trench excavation settles 5 mm (0.2
in.), a load reduction of 9,000 kN (900 ton) develops from the bending
of the thick slab. In reality, the surcharge load on the slurry trench in
this case will be totally relieved.
The 2-dimensional model frame is further analyzed for the effects of
settlement on surcharge load on a slurry trench. The reinforced concrete
beams are assumed to be 300 by 600 mm (12 by 24 in.) for structures
with less than 3 stories, and 400 by 700 mm (16 by 28 in.) for taller
structures. The columns are 600 by 600 mm (24 by 24 in.). The footings
are located one at each column. The footings immediately adjacent to
the trench are assumed to settle 25 mm (1 in.), which is essentially the
minimum settlement observed for buildings on footings adjacent to slurry
trench excavations in Hong Kong. The reductions in footing load are
tabulated in Table 1, and the following observations can be made from
those results.
Magnitude of Surcharge Reduction.The estimated surcharge re-
duction on a slurry trench due to 25 mm (1 in.) settlement of the footing
is 70-100 kN (7-100 ton) per story for the typical building. This is a
significant reduction equivalent to over 50% of the surcharge load on
the slurry trench. For a three-story building, the footing adjacent to trench
may reduce its load by 80% after settling 25 mm (1 in.). The magnitude
of load reduction increases with the differential settlement between the
two adjacent footings and the stiffness of the ground beams. Thus, for
buildings with basements and rafts, the reductions are very significant
for a small settlement, e.g., case E analyzed for a raft.
Stresses in Building Structural Members.Accompanying the reduc-
tion in surcharge load is an increase in load on the adjacent footings.
The increase is shown to be very significant for flexible buildings and
of the same order of magnitude as the reduction. This effect is not sur-
prising because the dead and live load on footing must be transferred
to adjacent footings for overall force equilibrium. The factor of safety of
the adjacent footing may be reduced from an initial value of 3 to 2. Sim-
ilarly, as the surcharge load on the trench reduces, the fixed end mo-
ment of the ground beam and first floor beam for a small building may
increase from, say, 2,000-5,000 kN-m (60.8-152 ton-ft), i.e., 150% for a
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 TABLE 1.Reductions in Footing Load
Reduction Increase
in footing Increase in fixed
load, in in load on end moment
Settlement kilonewtons adjacent of beam, in
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of footing, in (percentage footing, in kilonewtons

Number of stories millimeters of reduction)0 kilonewtons per meter
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
Only ground beam,
a a
w i t h 4 bays 25 75
2, w i t h 4 bays 25 331 100-400 b 302
(91)
3, w i t h 4 bays 25 448 100-400b 302
(83)
a
10, w i t h 2 bays, 25 1,038 306
beam size 400 x (58)
700
Pile raft, 2 m thick 5 9,259
(100)
a
Not calculated.
'Depends on settlement of adjacent footing.
'Assumed gravity load on footing is 15 kN/m2 per story.

distortion of 1-240 (250 mm in 6 m). For the 10-story building, the col-
umn and beam sizes are larger at the lower floors, and, therefore, the
reduction in surcharge load on the trench results in smaller percentage
increase in fixed end moments, say, 70%. Considering the combined
safety margin in the load factor and material safety factor, the structural
member of the tall building may not yield. The extreme case is that of
a 2 m (6.6 ft) thick piled raft, whereby a 5 mm (0.2 in.) settlement results
in a total load reduction for the piles adjacent to the trench with a neg-
ligible percentage increase in bending moment in the raft.
The numerical exercise indicate that short, 3-4 story buildings may
not have sufficient stiffness in their structural members to provide large
surcharge reduction on slurry trenches without resulting in unacceptable
increase in bending moments in the structure. Therefore, it may not be
advisable to attempt to rely on structural rigidity to reduce surcharge
load for short framed buildings. For tall and heavy buildings, e.g., 10-
story building, the surcharge effect is critical to trench stability design,
and surcharge load reduction due to structural rigidity is essential. For-
tunately, most of these tall buildings have large and stiff structural mem-
bers near ground floor level, and small distortion will result in signifi-
cant load reduction. Invariably, however, load will be transferred to other
footings or pile caps, and the load transfer should be thoroughly ana-
lyzed to ensure safety of the building.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

In constructing diaphragm walls for subway and deep basements, slurry

trenches are often excavated within a meter of residential and commer-
cial buildings. Normally, the critical loading condition is during the 16-
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 24 hr period of trench excavation. During this period, the surcharge from
the footings and piles onto the open trench is often so great that if the
full surcharge load is assumed to act on the trench, an adequate theo-
retical factor of safety for trench stability cannot be maintained. Design-
ers should realistically take into consideration the affects of arching and
building stiffness to reduce the surcharge effect, otherwise the purpose
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of excavation in small panels will be defeated. Based on the study de-

scribed in the preceding sections, a procedure to design slurry trenches
for stability is suggested:

1. Decide on a value for minimum factor of safety defined as ratio of

effective slurry head to earth pressure on trench. Normally 1.2 is ade-
quate.
2. Determine the geological parameters, e.g., c, 4>, and design ground-
water level.
3. Study adjacent building foundations, foundation loads, and build-
ing superstructure. Determine the magnitude and position of surcharge
loads that will affect trench stability. Based on existing building condi-
tions, decide on an allowable distortion and settlement.
4. Conduct a preliminary design of trench panel length, slurry den-
sity, and slurry head.
5. Determine the depth of application of equivalent surcharge load
according to Fig. 9. Decide if surcharge may be distributed by arching
to adjacent ground, and then, if appropriate, apply Eq. 3 to reduce sur-
charge load.
6. Further consider reducing the surcharge load by building stiffness
using the information on building superstructure, field inspection of
structural conditions, and predetermined allowable distortion. The rec-
ommendations of Skempton and MacDonald (6) of 1/500 may be used
as a reference. A frame analysis may be used to provide quantitative
evaluations of the magnitude of load reduction.
7. Apply the reduced surcharge load to evaluate the earth pressure
by Eq. 4.
8. Compare the earth pressure with effective slurry pressure to eval-
uate the factor of safety for trench stability. If factor of safety is inade-
quate, redesign by using higher slurry density, higher slurry head, or
shorter panel length or by lowering ground-water table or strengthening
the building to increase its stiffness.

CONCLUSIONS

This study of slurry trench stability points to the following conclu-

sions:

1. The stability of slurry trenches relies on the bentonite cake to pre-

vent ground-water flow and erosion of soil grains. The active earth pres-
sure on a typical 2.4-6.4 m (7.9-21 ft) long trench is principally sup-
ported by soil arching and is further balanced by the effective slurry
pressure. Case histories indicate that failures of trenches occurred to a
depth of 5-12 m (16-40 ft), despite the fact that trench depth at the time
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 of failure may be over 20 m (66 ft). It is postulated that failure of trenches
occurs progressively, first at a critical depth where the effective slurry
pressure is less than the earth pressure. Failure progresses upwards from
this critical depth to form a sliding soil mass. Analysis indicates that,
for typical cases, the critical depth is 5-12 m (16-40 ft). Due to the arch-
ing effect, the failure zone extended laterally on ground surface to a
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distance of half the panel length behind the trench face.

2. Finite element analysis of a slurry trench indicates that stress re-
orientation occurred within a semi-circular area behind the trench dur-
ing excavation. The load originally acting on the trench is supported at
an area at half panel length from the two ends of the trench. Thus, when
excavating is carried out panel by panel, the arching effect is preserved.
The analysis also indicates that the coefficient of earth pressure at the
arch support increases from K0 to a value higher than K0 due to the ori-
entation of stresses that developed a passive pressure effect.
3. The Schneebeli method of trench analysis generally results in earth
pressure lower than the Huder's method, using Huder's recommended
earth pressure coefficient. This method, when applied to case histories,
predicted the trench failure including the zone of failure. The Huder's
method is shown to be conservative for the case histories described in
this paper.
4. Both methods are conservative for the case histories in downtown
Hong Kong where the soil type is fill, marine deposit, and colluvium.
This appears to be caused by the local practice of not using soil cohesion
(effective or apparent) in design. For a short term excavation, such as a
diaphragm wall panel, it is believed that some apparent cohesion due
to partial saturation may have developed. Using a small cohesion value,
the Schneebeli method predicts that failure of typical slurry trenches will
occur when the slurry level is within 0.3 m (1 ft) of the ground-water
level. The test panel in Charter Garden actually began to fail when the
slurry level was dropped to 0.3 m (1 ft) below ground-water level.
5. Slurry trenches subjected to surcharge load will develop very large
earth pressures near the point of load application. Surcharge located within
half-panel length of the trench will act totally on the trench wall. Sur-
charge, such as footings or piles located farther than half-panel length
from the trench will be distributed to soil adjacent to the panel (or con-
creted panels), and the actual surcharge on the trench will be reduced.
The reduction may be computed by assuming that arching developed in
the soil separating the load from the trench wall.
6. During construction of the diaphragm wall, settlement of adjacent
buildings inevitably occurred. The settlement results in distortion of the
building structure and in reduction in load surcharged by the building
on the trench. A frame analysis indicates that, for types of building with
pile raft foundations or basements, and for tall buildings with heavy
ground beams and columns, a small distortion will result in large or
even total surcharge load reduction. For other buildings that are flexible,
such as 3-4 story buildings, the load reduction may be accompanied by
rather large bending moments onto the lower floor beams. Thus, in the
design of a slurry trench for stability, it is feasible to apply building stiff-
ness to reduce surcharge load for some types of buildings. However,
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 the existing building condition, load redistribution, a n d servicebility of
utilities m u s t be thoroughly studied for each building individually.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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The author is indebted to the Mass Transit Railway Corporation of

Hong Kong for permission to publish the factual data from its case his-
tories of construction.

APPENDIX.REFERENCES

1. Davis, R., and Henkel, D., "Geotechnical Problems Associated with Construc-
tion of Charter Station," Mass Transportation in Asia, Hong Kong, May, 1980.
2. "Diaphragm Wall Test Panel Excavation," Report by Metro Joint Venture/Ove
Arup & Partners for Modified Initial System of Mass Transit Railway Corporation,
Sept., 1976.
3. Huder, J., "Stability of Bentonite Slurry Trenches with some Experiences in
Swiss Practice," Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Soil Mechanics and
Foundation Engineering, Vol. 1, Madrid, Spain, 1972.
4. Muller-Kirchenbauer, H., "Stability of Slurry Trenches," Proceedings of the 5th
European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Vol. 1, Mad-
rid, Spain, 1972.
5. Schneebeli, G., "La Stabilite Des Tranchees Profondes Forees en Presence de
Bour," La Houille Blanche, No. 7, 1964.
6. Skempton, A. W., and MacDonald, D. H., "Allowable Settlement of Build-
ings," Proceedings of the Institute of Civil Engineers, Part III, Vol. 5, 1956.
7. Terzaghi, K., Theoretical Soil Mechanics, Institute of Civil Engineers, 1945.
8. Xanthakos, P. P., Slurry Walls, McGraw Hill, New York, N.Y., 1979.

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