METU – Civil Engineering Department

CE464 GROUND IMPROVEMENT

HOMEWORK 2

a) Since unit weight of soils in the borehole didn’t given, assumptions are made as follows12.

Depth (m) Soil Type Unit Weight Assumptions (kN/m^3)

0 – 3,60 Sea 9,8
3,60 – 9,10 Granular 21
9,10 – 17,00 Granular 18
17,00 – 30,05 Cohesive 19
30,05 – 33,10 Cohesive 19
33,10 – 38,10 Granular 22
38,10 – 52,10 Cohesive 20
52,10 – 54,00 Cohesive 19

Net Foundation Pressure at 3.6m water depth:

20000
10∗10
− 3,6 ∗ 9,8 = 164,7 𝑘𝑃𝑎

Effective Vertical Stress Calculations:

Depth(m) Depth Diff Eff. Unit Weight Effective Vert.

Stress(kPa)
3,6 0
9,1 5,5 11,2 61,6
17 7,9 8,2 126,38
30,05 13,05 9,2 246,44
33,1 3,05 9,2 274,5
38,1 5 12,2 335,5
52,1 14 10,2 478,3
54 1,9 9,2 495,78

For Boussinesq, 10x10 area divided to 4 since Boussinesq calculates the corner of the area. The
calculations made for 2.5mX2.5m area and at the end multiply by 4, since each piece has same effect.
Also, since area is square, from fig. 1.4, stress increase will only be effective to 10*2 = 20m.

1
According to the tables in http://www.geotechnicalinfo.com/soil_unit_weight.html
2
Budhu, M. (2011). Soil mechanics and foundations, 3rd edition. New York: Wiley
Additional Stress due to foundation using Boussinesq:

Relative m=n Ir Stress

Depth to Increase
Sea Bed
5,5 0,45 0,07 46,1
13,4 0,19 0,02 13,2
20 0,13 0,01 6,6

Additional Stress due to foundation using 2V:1H:

Relative Depth to New Stress Increase

Sea Bed Area
5,5 240,25 68,6
13,4 547,56 30,1
20 900 18,3

b) Since square foundation, consolidation to the depth 2*10 = 20m will be calculated
i) Since Clay layer starts at 13.4m, only 6.6m of clay will consolidate. So, mid-depth of clay
layer will be 16.7m.

Initial vertical stress at 16.7 m  126,4+3,3*9,2 =156,8 kPa

Stress Increase Due to foundation  m=n=0,15  164,7*0,01 = 6,6 kPa

From Consolidation test results at YDSK16, assumption is made as Mv = 6,7*10^-4

m^2/kN

𝑆 = 𝐻0 ∗ 𝑀𝑣 ∗ ∆𝜎 ′ = 6,6 ∗ 6,7 ∗ 10−4 ∗ 6,6 = 0,03𝑚 = 30 𝑚𝑚

Correction  0,03*0,85 = 0,025 m

ii) For U = %95  Tv = 1,129 & Cv = 0,16 mm^2/s

𝑡 𝑡
𝑇𝑣 = 𝑐𝑣 ∗ 2 => 1,129 = 0,16 ∗ 10−6 ∗
𝑑 3,32
t = 29,6 months = 2,5 years