Load Tests For Jet Grouting at Macau
Load Tests For Jet Grouting at Macau
Load Tests For Jet Grouting at Macau
T.M.H. Lok, H.S. Leong, Y.L. Wong, I.C. Chan & W.M. Yan
Macau Association for Geotechnical Engineering, Macau SAR, China
ABSTRACT
A construction project involved ground improvement for a mat foundation with high pressure jet
grouting is described. The mat foundation is about 1700 m2 in area. The soil profile consists of
12 m of soft soil below the ground surface, which was improved by jet grout piles at 1.5 m
spacing. There were two tests on individual jet grout piles and two plate load tests on the
composite foundation. Observations of the foundation settlements during and after construction
showed satisfactory performance of the ground improvement.
1 INTRODUCTION
This paper describes a project of ground improvement for a mat foundation by jet grouting at Macau (Tai Ah
Co., 2006). The project is for the extension of police station which covers an area of about 1700 m2,
approximately in L shape with maximum dimension of about 39m 70m. As shown in Figure 1, the center to
center spacing of jet grout columns is 150 cm. There are about 780 jet grout columns with depth from GL-1.1
to 12.0 m and diameter of about 30 cm.
2 SITE INVESTIGATION
According to the site investigation, a layer of fill of about 2 m is found at the ground surface, underlain by soft
clay followed by alluvium and decomposed soils. The variation of SPT N values is shown in Figure 2. N
values are generally less than 12 from depth of 0 to 12 m, where jet grouting was applied. Below 12 m, N
values are generally over 25 where soil improvement was not planned. Average ground water table is at about
GL-2.0 m.
N-Value
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0
Back Filling
N=5
Marine Deposit
5
N = 12
Alluvium
10
N = 24
Alluvium
Depth, m
15
20
C.D.G.
25
N = 50
30
35
Table 1 shows the simplified soil parameters for design purpose. Undrained shear strength was determined
from consolidated undrained triaxial tests. Undrained shear strength (Su) was correlated with preconsolidation
pressure (pc), and the Young modulus was estimated based on Bjerrum (1972), where Es = 1000Su for
cohesive soils, or as Es = 4000log N for cohesionless soils.
Soil Layer
pc
(kN/m2)
Su
(kN/m2)
Es
(kN/m2)
Back filling
silty sand
2.0
19.6
__
__
29,430
Marine deposit
6.0
16.7
92.2
106.0
106,050
Alluvium
fine to coarse
clayey sand /sand Silt
12.0
19.8
12
136.0
156.4
156,370
Alluvium
medium to coarse
clayey sand /sand silt
19.0
19.6
24
200.3
230.3
230,340
Completely
Discomposed
Granite (C.D.G)
fine to medium
sand /sandy silt
26.0
20.6
>50
267.0
307.1
307,050
Pile Q22
Pile N25
Plate B
Site boundary
Plate A
50
100
150
200
2
3
4
50
100
150
200
1
Pile head settlement (mm)
24 hours
load maintaining
2
3
4
Figure 4a: Load test curve for jet grout pile No. N25
24 hours
load maintaining
Figure 4b: Load test curve for jet grout pile No. Q22
Loading (kPa)
settlement (mm)
50
100
150
5
3
4
10
1
dial gauge 2
15
Figure 5a: Load settlement curve for plate load test A
Loading (kPa)
50
100
150
200
250
settlement (mm)
5
10
4
1
15
3
20
25
dial gauge 2
30
Figure 5b: Load settlement curve for plate load test B
Cr
0.0139
0.0043
The distributed loading from the superstructure is shown in Figure 6. Most of the foundation will be loaded
with 63.8 kPa (6.5 t/m2) except the lower rectangular part will be loaded with 25.5 kPa (2.6 t/m2). The
estimated settlements of the mat foundation are within 1.4 cm as shown in Figure 7. A monitoring program of
the settlement after the completion of the superstructure was carried out for a period of about 8 months. As
shown in Figure 8a, 8b and 8c; the observed settlement at the end of the monitoring were in the range of 5 to 8
mm, which were generally less than the predicted final settlement except at a few locations.
10 m
(Point No. 1)
(Point No. 3)
10 m
X-X direction
0
86 days - observed
166 days - observed
250 days - observed
predicted final settlement
Settlement (mm)
10
0
20
40
60
Y-Y direction
Settlement (mm)
12
86 days - observed
166 days - observed
250 days - observed
predicted final settlement
16
0
10
20
30
0
Monitoring Point
Observed - Point No. 1
Observed - Point No. 3
Observed - Point No. 12
Predicted final settlement (No.3)
Settlement (mm)
10
0
50
100
150
200
250
Time (day)
Figure 8c: Settlement vs. time curve for selected monitoring points
5 CONCLUDING REMARKS
A case history of load tests for jet grouting at Macau was presented. The project involves ground
improvement of an area of about 1700 m2. Two tests on individual jet grout piles and two plate load tests on
the composite foundation were carried out according to the local requirements. The monitoring of the
settlement during construction of the superstructure indicated that the improved foundation performed
satisfactory.
As driven piles are commonly recommended for such scale of construction projects in Macau, jet grouting
provides an economical alternative. The case history presented here is just one of the few cases using ground
improvement in Macau. Further utilization and improvement of the technique in Macau is foreseen for the
future.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The information of this paper is provided by Tai Ah Construction and LECM. The assistance of relevant
personnel is greatly appreciated. The responsibility of the correctness of the presentation, however, is borne
by the authors.
REFERENCES
Bjerrum, L. (1972) Embankments on Soft Ground, 5th PSC, ASCE, vol. 2, pp. 1-54.
Tai Ah Construction (2006) Police Station 2 Extension: Ground Improvement for Foundation - Construction
Plan for High Pressure Jet Grouting. (in Chinese)