Dr. R. G.

Robinson
Department of Civil Engineering
IIT Madras, India
Lumpy fill in land reclamation
Prof. Tan Thiam Soon
Dr. Ganeswara Rao Dasari
Contents of Presentation
Overview
Coastal Reclamation
Lumpy fill
Laboratory studies on lumpy fill
Field Tests
Conclusions
Overview
Coastal reclamation
Lumpy fill
Laboratory studies on lumpy fill
Field tests
Conclusions
Contents of Presentation
Original land area : 580 km
2
Population: 4 million
Expected to increase to 5.5 million
in 40-50 years
Overview
Coastal reclamation
Lumpy fill
Laboratory studies on lumpy fill
Field tests
Conclusions
Contents of Presentation
Stages of Reclamation
Stage I- Planning
Identify the area to be reclaimed. (HDB, JTC and
PSA are the major agencies).
Stage II-Environmental Impact Assessment
Tidal flow patterns, water level, sedimentation
and water quality.
Impact on sea life.
Erosion of main land and silting of ports.
Convince and get approval from Parliament.

Stage III- Construction of sand bunds along the
perimeter to contain the fill

Stage IV-Placing of fill within the sand bund
Sand
Clay
Hydraulic fill
Lumpy fill
Stage V-Soil stabilization
Dynamic compaction if it is sand fill
Surcharge if it is clay
.. Stages of Reclamation
560
600
640
680
720
760
1940 1960 1980 2000 2020
Year
L
a
n
d

a
r
e
a

(
k
m
2
)
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
1960 1980 2000 2020
Year
P
o
p
u
l
a
t
i
o
n

d
e
n
s
i
t
y

(
p
e
r
s
o
n
/
k
m
2
)
Land Area
Population density
Land Reclamation in Singapore-Growing city state
Southern Islands
Sentosa
Pasir Panjang Port
Tuas
Jurong Island
Punggol
Marina Bay
Tekong/
Ubin
Changi Airport
Reclaimed area=31%
Kranji
Strait Times (2000)
Land Reclamation in Singapore-Some major projects
Year Site Area (ha) Vol. of
sand, Mm
3
1974-1979 Changi airport 750 40
1983-1986 Changi north 181 12
1985-1989 Tuas 637 69
1981-1985 Pulau Tekong Besar 510 28
1992-2005 Changi East 2086 272
Reclamation
depth
increasing
In-land
materials
depleted
High cost of
imported
sand
Increasing
Underground
Constructions
Maintenance
of Navigation
Channels
Lack of
disposal
ground
HYDRAULIC FILL- Clay slurry
Contains mainly slurry with occasional
occurrence of small lumps suspended in
slurry
Apply surcharge to consolidate

Double handling
Cannot handle unwanted soil directly
40 ha (1988) Trial project
Clay slurry ~ 200% water content
after 1 week
Sand cap can be formed for dosage
< 15 cm
Careful construction control crucial
to prevent sand loss
Sand placement rather time-
consuming
Cannot handle waste soils directly
Changi south bay
Layered sand-clay scheme (Karunaratne et al. 1990)
Seabed
Clay slurry
Clay slurry
Clay slurry
Overview
Coastal reclamation
Lumpy fill
Laboratory studies on lumpy fill
Field tests
Conclusions
Contents of Presentation
CLAY LUMPS
Produced by underground construction & seabed
dredging
Volume of lumps can easily exceed 1 m
3

Waste soil (unwanted soil) can be handled directly

Dredging of seabed
Lumps placed in a barge
1.0m
Clamb-shell grab
Lumpy Fill
Dredging of seabed
Clamshell grab
- Place the material in the form of lumps,
directly at the reclamation site
Clay lumps placed in a barge
Dumping of clay lumps by bottom-open barge
Barge size:
Width: ~10 m
Length: ~20 m
Depth : ~5 m
Volume: 900-1000 m
3

Seabed
Sand surcharge
Clay lumps
Inter-lump voids
Filled water
Mean sea level
Typical Land Reclamation Scheme
Some aspects.
Consolidation behaviour
Closing of inter-lump voids
Shear strength of the fill after stabilization
Creep/Secondary compression
Influence of clay slurry in the inter-lump voids
Effect of degree of swelling
Overview
Coastal reclamation
Lumpy fill
Laboratory studies on lumpy fill
Field tests
Conclusions
Contents of Presentation
Typical seabed profile
0 4 8 12
Corrected cone resistance, q
t
(MPa)
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
D
e
p
t
h

b
e
l
o
w

s
e
a
b
e
d

(
m
)
0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2
Pore pressure, u
2
(MPa)
Pore pressure
Cone resistance
Surface soft marine clay
Upper marine clay
Intermediate layer
Lower marine clay
Weathered rock
~8200 years
~24000 years
~28000 years
Forms slurry
Forms lumps
Forms lumps
May or may not
form lumps
After dredging
Soil used for the study
Depth : 13m
LL=77%
PL=36%
PI=41%
Sand=5%
Silt size=55%
Clay=40%
NMC=60%
1.5 m
One-dimensional consolidation tests











0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
0.1 1 10 100
Time, min
S
e
t
t
l
e
m
e
n
t
,

m
m

C
v
=1.25 x 10
-3
cm
2
/s
H = 19 mm
Double drainage
Typical time-settlement curve
e-log o
v
curves from conventional oedometer tests on
homogeneous clay
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
1 10 100 1000
Consolidation pressure, kPa
V
o
i
d

r
a
t
i
o
,

e
Undisturbed
ICL
o
c
=200 kPa
OCR= 2.5
Tests on lumpy fill


Preparation of clay lumps
Cut using wire cutter
25 mm cubical lumps
LVDT
Burette
Loading frame
Perforated loading cap
Geotextile filter
Geotextile filter
Clay lumps
Sand drain
Experimental set-up
1. Effect of packing (using 25 mm lumps)
1. Placed directly in water-Test 1
2. Packed in the container and then added
water
(Test 2 and Test 3)
2. Effect of size
12.5, 25, 50 mm cubical lumps
3. Effect of degree of swelling
Degree of swelling =0%
50% and
100%

Experimental Programme
0 kPa
10 kPa
50 kPa
27 kPa
State of the fill under different consolidation pressures in Test 1
100 mm
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
1 10 100 1000
Consolidation pressure, kPa
V
o
i
d

r
a
t
i
o
,

e
Test 1 (eiv=1.05, e=4.31
Test 2 (eiv=0.93, e=3.99)
Test 3 (eiv=0.57, e=3.07
Undisturbed
ICL
Effect of initial packing on e-logo
v
curves
25 mm cubical lumps
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
1 10 100 1000
Consolidation pressure, kPa
V
o
i
d

r
a
t
i
o
,

e
12.5 mm
25mm
50 mm
Effect of size on e-logo
v
curves
e
iv
= 0.600.03
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000 1000000
Time, s
N
o
r
m
a
l
i
z
e
d

s
e
t
t
l
e
m
e
n
t
16-27 kPa
27-50 kPa
50-100 kPa
100-200 kPa
200-400 kPa
Test 1
Typical time-settlement curves
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000
Time, s
P
o
r
e

p
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
,

k
P
a
Ao
v
=25 kPa
Pore pressure inside and in between the lumps
Inside the lump
In between the lumps
25-50 kPa
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000 1000000
Time, s
P
o
r
e

p
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
,

k
P
a
100-200 kPa
Inside the lump
In between the lumps
Ao
v
=100 kPa
Typical e-log o
v
curves of lumpy fill
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
1 10 100 1000
Consolidation pressure, kPa
V
o
i
d

r
a
t
i
o
,

e

Lumpy fill
Undisturbed
ICL
e
0
= 1.59
o
c
=200 kPa
Lump size : 25 mm
No. of lumps: 90
Fill height: 170 mm
Permeability of lumpy fill system
1.E-11
1.E-10
1.E-09
1.E-08
1.E-07
1.E-06
1.E-05
1.E-04
1 10 100 1000
Consolidation pressure, kPa
C
o
e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
t

o
f

p
e
r
m
e
a
b
i
l
i
t
y
,

m
/
s
Lumpy fill
Undisturbed
ICL
Lump size : 25 mm
No. of lumps: 90
Fill height: 170 mm
Cone penetration test on lumpy fill
Lump size : 50 mm
Penetration rate: 5mm/s
The Cone
3 mm
3
0

m
m

10 mm
k
vo c
u
N
q
s
o
=
s
u
Undrained shear strength
o
vo
Overburden pressure
N
k
Cone factor
N
k
= 9.5 against vane shear
CPT were conducted under
o
v
=50, 100, 200 and 360 kPa
Load Cell
Thanks to Hokuto Ricken Co., Japan
Shear strength profile under 50 kPa
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0 10 20 30 40 50
s
u
, kPa
D
e
p
t
h
,

m
m
s
u
=0.23 o
v
'
s
u
=0.23o
v
' (OCR)
0.75
Shear strength profile under 100 kPa
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0 10 20 30 40 50
s
u
, kPa
D
e
p
t
h
,

m
m
s
u
=0.23 o
v
'
s
u
=0.23o
v
' (OCR)
0.75
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0 10 20 30 40 50
s
u
, kPa
D
e
p
t
h
,

m
m
s
u
=0.23 o
v
'
Shear strength profile under 200 kPa
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0 20 40 60 80 100
s
u
, kPa
D
e
p
t
h
,

m
m
s
u
=0.23 o
v
'
Shear strength profile under 360 kPa
Secondary compression of lumpy fill
0
1
2
3
4
10 100 1000
Average consolidation pressure, kPa
C
o

(
%
)
Undisturbed
ICL
12.5 mm
25 mm
50 mm
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.05
0.06
0.07
10 100 1000
Average consolidation pressure, kPa
(
C
o
/
C
c
)
(C
o
/C
c
) = 0.03
(C
o
/C
c
) = 0.05
Coeff. of Secondary Compression
Mesris (C
o
/C
c
) concept
Influence of clay slurry
Lump
Water
Lump
Clay slurry
Lump
Inter-lump voids filled with water
Inter-lump voids filled with slurry
LVDT
Burette
Loading frame
Perforated loading cap
Geotextile filter
Geotextile filter
Clay lumps
Sand drain
Experimental set-up
Typical time-compression curves
1 100 10000 1000000
Time,s
16
12
8
4
0
S
e
t
t
l
e
m
e
n
t
,

m
m
ILV with water
ILV with slurry
(w=150%)
ILV with slurry
(w=300%)
(a) 6-12 kPa
.Typical time-compression curves.
1 100 10000 1000000
Time, s
12
8
4
0
S
e
t
t
l
e
m
e
n
t
,

m
m
ILV with water
ILV with slurry(w=300%)
ILV with slurry
(w=150%)
(b) 50-100 kPa
.Typical time-compression curves
1 100 10000 1000000
Time, s
12
8
4
0
S
e
t
t
l
e
m
e
n
t
,

m
m
ILV with water
ILV with slurry(w=300%)
ILV with slurry
(w=150%)
(c) 200-400 kPa
0
20
40
60
80
100
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10
Time factor (Tv)
D
e
g
r
e
e

o
f

c
o
n
s
o
l
i
d
a
t
i
o
n

(
%
)
Terzaghi's Theory
6-12 kPa (150%)
12-25 kPa (150%)
6-12 kPa (300%)
12-25 kPa (300%)
Applicability of Terzaghis theory
1 10 100 1000
Consolidation pressure, kPa
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
V
o
i
d

r
a
t
i
o
,

e
Undisturbed
ICL
ILV with water
ILV with slurry (w=150%)
ILV with water (w=300%)
e-log o
v
curves
1 10 100 1000
Consolidation pressure, kPa
C
o
e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
t

o
f

p
e
r
m
e
a
b
i
l
i
t
y
,

m
/
s
10
-11
10
-10
10
-9
10
-8
10
-7
10
-6
10
-5
10
-4
Undisturbed
ICL
ILV filled with water
ILV filled with slurry (w=150%)
Variation of permeability with consolidation pressure
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000
Time, s
P
o
r
e

p
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
,

k
P
a
Ao
v
=25 kPa
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000 1000000
Time, s
P
o
r
e

p
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
,

k
P
a
25-50 kPa
Ao
v
=25 kPa
Pore pressure inside and in between the lumps
Inter-lump voids with water Inter-lump voids filled with slurry
Inside the lump
In between the lumps
Inside the lump
In between the lumps
25-50 kPa
Pore pressure inside and in between the lumps
Inter-lump voids with water Inter-lump voids filled with slurry
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000 1000000
Time, s
P
o
r
e

p
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
,

k
P
a
100-200 kPa
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000 1000000
Time, s
P
o
r
e

p
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
,

k
P
a
100-200 kPa
Inside the lump
In between the lumps
Ao
v
=100 kPa Ao
v
=100 kPa
Influence of swelling of lumps
Swelling test
To find the time required for different degrees of
swelling
Degree of Swelling, U
s





w = moisture content of the specimens after
immersing in water at any instant of time
w
i
= initial moisture content of the specimen
w
f
= moisture content of the fully swollen specimen
100
i
s
f i
w w
U
w w
| |
|
\ .

Time
U
s
For a cubical lump of 25 mm, t
50
=20 min
Lumps in the field are very large and may not reach fully swollen state
if sufficient time is not allowed before the application of surcharge
State of the lumpy fill under o
v
= 50 kPa (25 mm lumps)
U
s
= 0%
U
s
=50%
U
s
=100%
Swelling of clay lumps
THREE DIMENSIONAL SWELLING OF CLAY LUMPS
Method I

Obtain the water content of the lump with time
during swelling.
Suitable for small size lumps only

Method II

Obtain the volume change with time during swelling
Not simple for three-dimensional swelling

Method III

Obtain the pore-pressure dissipation with time
Simple and easy to make the measurements
Soils used

Kaolinite:
LL=82%, PL=40%

Cylindrical samples of
105, 205 and 400 mm

Marine clay:
LL=56%, PL=33%

Cylindrical samples of
105 and 205 mm

Three dimensional swelling of clay lumps
PPT Tensiometer
28 mm
12 mm
Instrument used
6 mm diameter
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 5000 10000 15000 20000
Time, min
S
u
c
t
i
o
n
,

k
P
a
PPT
Tensiometer
240 mm
2
4
0

m
m

T PPT
Performance of PPT in comparison with Tensiometer during desiccation
Lump
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
Outer container
Filter
Split mould
Load
Water
400
650
5
5
0
7
5
0
1
6
0
1
6
0
1
6
0
1
6
0
Clay
Slurry
Split
mould
Outer container
Pore pressure
transducers
50
Bottom sand
drain
(All dimensions are in mm)
400PPT-1 2
3 4 5 6
7 8
Geotextile
Schematic of the split mould for conducting swelling test
View of the split mould for conducting swelling test
Pneumatic piston
Split mould
Outer container
400 mm
View of the kaolinite lump of 400 mm diameter
after removing the split mould
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000
Time, s
N
o
r
m
a
l
i
z
e
d

s
u
c
t
i
o
n

(
u
/
u
0
)
400PPT-3
400PPT-5
400PPT-6
Clay lump
50 mm
400PPT-3 4 5 6
7 8
9
7
.
5
1
9
5
9
7
.
5
Dissipation of suction on submerging the kaolinite lump
of 400 mm diameter in water
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000 1000000
Time, s
N
o
r
m
a
l
i
z
e
d

s
u
c
t
i
o
n

(
u
/
u
o

)
105 mm
205 mm
Normalized suction at the centre of marine clay lumps



Initial state
End state
Kaolinite
Marine clay
Variation of water content within the marine clay lump of
205 mm diameter after full swelling
0
4
8
12
16
20
42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56
Water content (%)
D
e
p
t
h
,

c
m
w
o
w
l

60
65
70
75
80
-30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30
Distance from centre of lump, mm
W
a
t
e
r

c
o
n
t
e
n
t

(
%
)
w
L
w
o
Water content variation within the lump-Undisturbed
Cube : 50 mm
Finite Element Analysis
Finite Element mesh
Finite Element Analysis
Property Kaolinite Marine clay
|
o
25 23
K
o
0.58 0.61
v 0.3 0.3
E in kPa 3000 4000
k 0.05 0.03
k
v
in m/s e=1.21log(k
v
)+11.2 e=0.912 log(k
v
)+9.8
k
h
/k
v
1.9 2.3
Soil Parameters
1 10 100 1000 10000
T i m e , s
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
N
o
r
m
a
l
i
z
e
d

p
o
r
e

p
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(1) Linear Elastic
LE
(2) Non-linear Elastic (NLE1)
k
' ) 1 (
'
p e
K
+
=
NLE1
(3) Non-linear Elastic (NLE2)

k = 0.005 +0.10 log (OCR)
NLE2
(4) NLE2
-Permeability increased
(4)
Effect of soil model (Kaolinite lump 105 mm diameter)
Acknowledgement: Dr. Ganeswara Rao Dasari
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000 1000000
Time, s
N
o
r
m
a
l
i
z
e
d

s
u
c
t
i
o
n

(
u
/
u
o
)
Measured (105 mm diameter)
Measured (205 mm diameter)
NLE2 (105 mm diameter)
NLE2 (205 mm diameter)
Predicted and measured suctions at the centre of marine clay lumps
3
5
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
5
0
0
I-section
457x152x67
I-section
152x152x37
Base for fixing
hydraulic jack
1" thick plate
I-section
305x165x46
Stiffner
3
0
5
2280
1.4m
1.5m
Big Tank Experiment
SAMPLE PREPARATION
DREDGED & PLACED IN A FLAT BARGE
PACKED IN BAGS & TRANSPORTED TO THE LAB
CUT TO CUBICAL LUMPS OF 150 MM
STORED IN CONTAINERS AFTER COVERING
WITH CLING-FILM
Size of lumps : 15 cm
No. of lumps : 223
No. of layers : 6
Total weight : 1.37t
Height of fill : 93 cm
Overview
Coastal reclamation
Lumpy fill
Laboratory studies on lumpy fill
Field tests
Conclusions
Contents of Presentation
Density is related to scattering
of gamma ray
Cesium source Cs
137
with half
life of 37.6 years
Housed in standard CPT:
Diameter = 35.6 mm
Cone angle = 60

Cone area = 10 cm
2

Penetration = 1.5 cm/sec
NUCLEAR DENSITY CONE ND-CPT
30 cm
Diameter
Calibration Curve
Density Count Ratio (R
p
) = [RI Count BG Count ] / Standard Count

LUMPY FILL TEST SITE AT PULAU PUNGGOL TIMOR
Reclaimed ~ 14 years ago
8 m dredged fill &
10 m sand fill
Test Plan
Very dense grid:
79 ND-CPT
5 CPTS
11 Boreholes
Spacing 0.5 m at
centre to 6 m at
periphery

ND-CPT
Boreholes
PCPT
Legend
All dimensions are in metres
83
9 90
79
12
3 3
15
13 10
14
3 7
2 9
3 8
19
25
3 0
17
3 4
21
23
27
11
28
24
16
18
45
44
50
42
46
48
52
43
49
51
41 47
57
56
62
54
58
64
55
61
63
53 59
69
68
74
66
70
76
67
73
75
65 71
26
20
22
25.5m
22m
78
84
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0. 5
0 .5
8 91
81
85
77
89
82
80
4
2
1
3
7
5
88
6
BH 7
86
87
0.5
0.5
BH 1
BH 9
BH 5
BH 8
BH 3
BH 6
BH 4
BH 11
BH 2
BH 10
25.5 m
22 m
Final density of lumpy fill
14
15
16
17
18
14 16 18 20 22
Wet Density (kN/m
3
)
D
e
p
t
h

(
m
)
RI 21
BH8- Direct
measurement
BH8-from
water content
14
15
16
17
18
0 40 80 120 160 200
Undrained Shear Strength, (kPa)
D
e
p
t
h

(
m
)
14
15
16
17
18
30 50 70 90
Undrained shear strength (kPa)
D
e
p
t
h

(
m
)
BH 1
BH 2
BH 3
BH 4
BH 6
0.23o
v
'
Final shear strength of lumpy fill
Cone Penetration Test UU Test
0.23 o
v
14
15
16
17
18
100 200 300 400
Preconsolidation Pressure (kPa)
D
e
p
t
h

(
m
)
BH 1
BH 2
BH 3
BH 4
BH 5
BH 6
ov
'
Oedometer test results
OCR=1
OCR=2
Overview
Coastal reclamation
Lumpy fill
Laboratory studies on lumpy fill
Field tests
Conclusions
Contents of Presentation
SOME ISSUES

Time-settlement of lumpy fill
Double porous
Heterogeneous initial condition
Pore pressure generation and dissipation

Swelling of clay lumps
Time-swell
End state



Acknowledgements

NSTB and HDB for funding

Toa Corporation : Contractors for reclamation
Kiso-Jiban : Contractors for in-situ Testing

Researchers:

Mr. M. Karthikeyan Research Engineer
Mr. Yang Li-Ang Research Engineer
Mr. A Vijayakumar Research Scholar
Ms. Goh Wen Jean FYP
Ms. Lim Chea Rong FYP
Ms. Lim Hsiao Chern FYP
Mr. Lim Chee Kiong FYP

Had Useful discussions with:

Dr. D. W. Hight Geotechnical Consulting Group, London, UK

Prof. J. Locat Laval University, Canada

Dr. H. Tanaka Port and Airport Research Institute, Japan

Prof. M. Mimura Kyoto University, Japan

Mr. M. Nobuyama Soil and Rock Engg. Co. Ltd., Japan

Prof. J .Takemura Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan
Thank you