OFFICE USE ONLY

Date Stamp, Initials &

Time
ID No: 1453495

HE COVERSHEET
(To be completed by HE students, including Higher Nationals)

Course BSc/FdSc/CHE in Construction Management

Year 1st/ 2nd/ 3rd/ 4th/ 5th/ 6th
(please circle)
Unit / Module Title Construction and Materials Technology

Unit / Module Code 02C

To be marked by Bill Martin

Assignment Title & No. 1 Site evaluation

Hand in Deadline 04.12.2015 Word Count 1500

(if required)

Feedback on your assessed work is overleaf or provided separately.

In submitting this assignment I make the following declaration:

I understand that the piece of work submitted will be considered as the final and complete version of my
assignment of which I am the sole author. I have accurately stated the word count. I understand both the
meaning and consequences of plagiarism and that my work has been appropriately attributed unless
otherwise stated. I have not knowingly allowed another to copy my work.

UNRATIFIED* MARK / GRADE Selected for Second Marking

OR HN CRITERIA ACHIEVED

This mark is provisional and subject to confirmation by the Board of Examiners

1st MARKER SIGNED DATE

2nd MARKER SIGNED DATE

 CONTENTS:

1. Introduction .Page 2

2. Site Evaluation.Page 2

2.1. Site Neighbours .Page 2

2.2. Particulars of the Site.... ...Page 2

2.3. Trees, Land Clearance and Environmental Issues............................ Page 3

3. Identification and Explanation of the need for Various site and soil
investigation techniquesPage 4

3.1. Soil Investigation and some Possible Implications for choosing the right
Foundation Page 4

3.2. Hazards and Risks Page 5

4. Recommendations. . Page 5

5. Conclusion . .Page 7

6. Bibliography .. ..Page 8

7. Annexes Pages 9-15

1
 Site Evaluation and Recommendations for Proposed Development

1. Introduction
The site for the proposed development is situated in immediate vicinity of Colchester
Institute and the Matalan Retail Park. It is meant to comprise of a five storey block of one
bedroom and two bedroom apartments.

One of the clients requirements is that the external envelope of the new block will be
in line with the architectural etiquette of the existing buildings at the boundary of the site.
This report aims to perform a general evaluation for the above mentioned site in order to
propose some possible solutions in regard to a relevant foundation type for this new
development. An over ground parking lot is suitable as the area measures in excess of
0.7 Hectares, enough to accommodate the 2000 sqm building and car park (Photo 1).

2. Site Evaluation
2.1 Site Neighbours

The proposed development is neighboured on the northern side by Colchester

Institute and Matalan Retail Park, a number of existing buildings on the southern side
comprising of town houses and blocks of flats, which are bordered by a free pathway that
intersects another at the western side (see photo 2 below). There is also a pedestrian
paved way that connects the Retail Park with the residential area from the south borders
of the eastern side (see Photo 3 below).

2.2. Particulars of site

The site comprises mostly of shrubs and willow trees in a large number. In
accordance with The British Standards (2015), the presence of trees and large shrubs
should be noted during the course of the ground investigation, so that decisions can be
taken concerning their retention or subsequent removal.

The site is crossed by a surface drainage course from the west to north and then to
the east which will need to be re-routed (see Photo 4 below). It also presents a slope
with a fall from south to north. Levelling of the land will use the cutting produced to fill the
northern side, which is bordered by a fence known as woven chain link mesh. Hoarding
of 12mm plywood on timber rails and four by four inches posts should be installed prior

2
to any works commencing. The northern and southern sides would see the necessity of
walling piles to be installed to secure the ground prior to levelling of the land and to
control the ground-water table. A contiguous piled wall must be constructed along the
southern and northern border with a ring beam to strengthen the walling by linking all the
piles 100mm apart together and gaps between them should be filled to resist ground
water. Although steel sheet piling would be quicker this method is not suitable on
environmental grounds. Noise and vibration would be associated with this method which
would constitute a nuisance for neighbours and hazard for adjacent buildings,
respectively. The northern side that neighbours the Matalan retail park will need to have
a brick face walling to match existing neighbouring building and brick fence (see Photo 5
and 6 below).

After the site visit and studying of maps, it became clear that the remote placement of
the site will make the access difficult. The only suitable way for access of construction
plant and delivery vehicles and future access for the development is along the free path
way off St Marys Fields road (see Photo 7 and 8 below). Rights of way will cease once
the planning application will have been approved and the paths described above will be
closed to public as they will become excepted land (Gov, 2015).

2.3. Trees, Land Clearance and Environmental issues.

The presence of willow trees indicates an unstable ground and high content of
water. As a consequence, the removal of trees will create an imbalance to the ground.
The Crack Willow is a large native tree, usually found near waterways and on riverbanks.
It is ideal for planting in boggy areas for shade and shelter, soil improvement and
windbreak. Also, it is known that the dense root system of the Crack Willow helps to
prevent erosion. Salix fragilis is found almost exclusively on riversides, stream banks,
pond sides, boggy ground and dry river beds with a permanent water table not far from
the soil surface (Anon., 2015). There are neither protected species of plants or trees on
site, nor protected or endangered fauna.

3
 3. Identification and Explanation of the need for Various site and soil
investigation techniques

3.1 Soil Investigation.

After drilling of a bore hole, the investigation of the site soil has revealed a composition
of:

- Sandy clay between 300mm and 1000mm depth;

- Loose sand between 1000mm and 1500mm. In consequence, the removal of
trees could cause the ground to retain more moisture than usual and in clay soils
that could result in swelling of the ground, which in turn will cause the effect of
heave to buildings. Heave is similar with subsidence, but in reverse (Chudley &
Greeno, 2014). Therefore, shallow foundations like pads, strips or raft foundations
would not be suitable, given the immediate subsoil of sandy clay and loose sand.
On the other hand, under the pressure of the load on foundations clay soils are
very gradually compressed by the expulsion of water through the very many fine
capillary paths, so that buildings settle gradually during building work and this
settlement may continue for some years after the building is completed (Emmit &
Gorse, 2014). Therefore, given the load that a five storey building would transfer
to the ground, another type of foundation with a greater capacity of subsidence
should be considered.
- Slightly compressible chalk between 1500mm and 7500mm. It is known that
chalk is commonly assumed to be a fully saturated material, clearly identifiable as
weak or very weak rock at one end of the spectrum and a firm to stiff soil at the
other (Lake 1975). Chalk can easily deteriorate in wet conditions and then does
soften as a result. It is also susceptible to frost heave. In chalk soils, holes can be
formed as water dissolves the soil and create big cavities, which could then cause
the collapse of foundations (Martin, accessed on 5/11/2015). This is the reason
why the most suitable strata are the next found in the bore hole, which is dense
sand and gravel at a depth of 7500mm and beyond.

4
 - Water table has been found at 1250mm which will make the whole construction
process somewhat more challenging. To avoid even more expense by choosing
an underground design for car parking, we will choose the one which offers an
over ground car park to cover all residents needs. However, the presence of
ground water at high level is a problem that should be tackled by constructing
suitable barrier such as contiguous pile walling around the perimeter of the site.
The type of concrete used for foundations should also be considered, as it needs
to be water resistant.
- There are no reported remains of archaeological sites.
- Roots from trees will likely cause difficulties in building the foundations.

3.2. Hazards and Risks.

The following can be considered as hazards that can pose some real risks to the
planned development:
- muddy conditions;
- open excavations and trenches. If there are adjacent foundations or temporary
loads that overloads the ground near excavation, collapse of excavations can
happen without warning usually when exceeding 1.5 metres. Ground water is
another factor that can reduce the strength of an excavation (Skinner 2005).
- congested working areas with plant and machinery;
- lifting and handling plant and materials;
- confined spaces;
- noise and dust;
- unexploded bombs in the ground.

4. Recommendations

The following are some recommendations for a suitable foundation type:

- Retaining wall should be similar to the existing one on the free path way off James
Wicks Ct (see photo 9 below).
- The building should also be constructed so that ground movement caused by
swelling, shrinking or freezing of the subsoil or landslip or subsidence -other than

5
 subsidence arising from shrinkage- will not impair the stability of any part of the
building.
A pile is usually a column of reinforced concrete that is driven or cast in the ground in
order to carry structural loads that are beyond the capacity of traditional foundations. A
pile transmits loads to the ground in one of the following two ways:
- Friction piles transfer the structural load to clays and silts through the perimeter
- End bearing piles - transfer the structural load to a high load bearing stratum e.g.
compact gravel, hard clay or rock (Martin n.d.).
Piles that transfer loads mainly by friction to clays and silts are termed friction piles,
and those that mainly transfer loads by end bearing to compact gravel, hard clay or rock
are termed end-bearing piles. Bored piles are those formed by casting concrete in a hole
previously bored or drilled in the subsoil (Emmitt & Gorse, 2014).
The operation of boring the hole is more rapid than might be expected. As the
concrete is cast under pressure, it extends beyond the circumference of the original
drilling to fill and compact weak strata and pockets in the subsoil. Due to the irregular
shape of the surface of the finished pile, the concrete acts mainly as a friction pile to form
what is sometimes called a floating foundation.
As the pile continues to settle into the soil, the friction forces surrounding the pile
increase. Friction forces develop between the surface of the shaft of the pile and the
surrounding strata. In most soils, the resistance to the piles increases as the pile settles.
As with all foundations, a small amount of settlement will occur as building loads are
transferred to the ground. It will therefore react to accommodate the load, and some
(minor) settlement should be expected (Emmitt & Gorse, 2014). If needed, steel lining
tubes could be lowered or driven in if subsoil isnt too stable. It can be concluded that the
mechanical rigs, which are to be used for boring the holes for the piles, should be of
small dimensions. However, these rigs should be capable of drilling the holes needed for
the type of foundations recommended by also taking in account the tight access
described above (see Photo 10 below).

6
 5. Conclusion

The main function of a pile is to transmit loads to lower ground levels, and in this
case we found non-cohesive granular soil in the form of dense sand and gravel at a
depth of 7.5 metres and beyond, and for that matter Continuous Flight Auger piling (CFA)
is the most suitable foundation type for this development through a combination of
friction along the sides of the piles and end bearing at the pile point or base, which
settles only by the duration of the construction of superstructure unlike other foundations
on cohesive soils that take longer to settle.

In deciding this type of foundation all the arguments that have been presented in this
report were taken into account, such as:

- the sub soil characteristics

- the size of building
- the topography
- the environmental issues
- the subsidence and load bearing.

7
Bibliography
Anon., 2015. www.cabi.org. [Online]
Available at: http://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/48577
[Accessed 29 November 2015].

Chudley, R. & Greeno, R., 2014. Building Construction Handbook. Abingdon: Routledge.

Emmit, S. & Gorse, C. A., 2014. Barry's Introduction to Construction of Buildings. 3rd ed. Oxford: Wiley
Blackwell.

Emmitt, S. & Gorse, C. A., 2014. Barry's Advanced Construction of Buildings. 3rd ed. Oxford: Wiley-
Blackwell.

Gov, U., 2015. www.gov.uk. [Online]

Available at: https://www.gov.uk/right-of-way-open-access-land/use-your-right-to-roam
[Accessed 29 November 2015].

Lake, L. M., 1975. The engineering properties of chalk with special reference to foundation design and
performance. [Online]
Available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/804394/1/Lake1975.pdf
[Accessed 20 November 2015].

The British Standards, I., Second (present) edition, June 2015. BS 8004:2015. In: Code of practice for
foundations. s.l.:BSI Standards Limited, p. 9.

Martin, B., Class Handout. Colchester Institute Moodle. Available at:

http://moodle.ccacolchester.com/course/view.php?id=3678 [Accessed December 3, 2015].

Skinner, H., 2005. Safer foundations by design. Health and Safety Executive. Available at:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr319.pdf [Accessed November 25, 2015].

8
Annexes:

Photo 1

9
Photo 2/
(Google/https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.8899236,0.8893319,473m/data=!3m1!1e3)

10
Photo 3 (Taken on site)

Photo 4
(Map)https://stratus.pbondemand.eu/connect/colchesterborough/?mapcfg=planningservi
ces

Accessed 3/12/2015

11
Photo 5 (taken on site)

Photo 6 (taken on site)

12
Photo 7 (Google)

Photo 8 (Google)

13
Photo 9 (Taken on site)

14
Photo 10 (Emmitt & Gorse, 2014)

15