CAFEO2002

Cost Effective Geotechnical Solutions For Roads And Factories Over Soft Ground
By : Ir. Dr. Gue S.S. , Ir. Tan Y. C & Ir. Liew, S. S. 2 September 5 September, 2002

Cost Effective Geotechnical Solutions For Roads And Factories Over

Soft Ground
Ir. Dr. Gue, See-Sew
Managing Director, Gue & Partners Sdn Bhd

Ir. Tan, Yean-Chin

Associate Director, Gue & Partners Sdn Bhd

Ir. Liew, Shaw-Shong

Associate Director, Gue & Partners Sdn Bhd
ABSTRACT: Geotechnical solutions for roads and factories over soft marine or alluvium deposits are varied. In the case of
roads, the approach to bridges or the transition between rigid bridge abutment and the settling fill behind the abutment is a challenge
to engineers in exploring cost effective solutions to ensure smooth riding comfort and reduce maintenance. Similarly, the engineering
challenge also exists at the approach to drainage culverts across a road. This paper presents some of the geotechnical solutions that
are commonly used in Malaysia to treat the subsoil for road embankment construction. The advantages and disadvantages of these
methods are also briefly discussed.

A safe and cost effective geotechnical solution for the foundation treatment of a palm oil mill is also presented in this paper. Value
engineering has applied in this project with the use of the local tree trunks during site clearing as friction piles for the foundations and
the platform. Significant savings in terms of construction time and cost have also been achieved.

1 INTRODUCTION bridge abutment is often supported by piles. The

piles are driven or installed through the soft
Road design and construction over soft ground overburden into the hard stratum.
especially over very soft and soft marine deposits
are interesting engineering challenges to engineers
especially at the approaches to bridges and culverts.
Many geotechnical options are available for
engineers consideration. Of course, the one that
uses the local materials and resources that are
cheaper and easier to construct would no doubt be
the choice. This concept is also common to
foundations for buildings and factories.

Plate 2 : Hump at Bridge Approach

These piles rarely settle compared to the

approaches which are settling due to the imposed
embankment load onto the compressible soft
deposits. The settlement is due to the consolidation
of the subsoil when the excess pore pressure
induced by the embankment dissipates with time
and creeping (secondary compression) of the
Figure 1 : Hump over piled culvert subsoil. Consequently constant topping up of the
uneven surface at the approaches are needed to
The approaches to bridges and culverts over soft ensure smooth riding surface and prevent accidents.
deposits often suffer differential settlements as The thicker the compressible layer the longer the
shown in Figures 1 and 2. The reason for this time for consolidation. Similar phenomenon also
phenomenon is not difficult to apprehend. The

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CAFEO2002
Cost Effective Geotechnical Solutions For Roads And Factories Over Soft Ground
By : Ir. Dr. Gue S.S. , Ir. Tan Y. C & Ir. Liew, S. S. 2 September 5 September, 2002

occurs for approaches to culverts if culverts are clayey marine deposits, vertical drains are often not
piled into the hard stratum. necessary.
Buildings constructed over compressible marine
deposits also suffer the same problem when the
buildings are supported on piles installed into the
hard stratum. Fig. 3 shows the differential between
the building and settling platform.

Figure 3 : Settling platform detached from

building

2 PROBLEMS OF SOFT GROUND

Figure 4 : Distribution of Recent Clays in
Soft Ground Southeast Asia (after Cox, 1970)

Very soft and soft deposits of river alluvium and The spacing of vertical drains is also sensitive to
marine deposits are common in Southeast Asia as the information and permeability or consolidation
shown in Fig. 4. The river alluvium and marine properties of the clay. The spacing of vertical drain
deposits normally consist of clay, silty clay and is very sensitive to the cost. Hence, SI needs to
occasionally with intermittent of sand lenses provide reliable subsoil data for design. The details
especially near a major river mouth and delta. The on subsoil subject can be obtained from the papers
marine deposits in Malaysia are encountered along by Gue & Tan (2000), Gue (1999) and Tan (1999).
the coast of the Peninsular, where they are up to
20km in width. (Raj & Muhinder, 1990). 3 SOLUTIONS FOR SOFT GROUND

Subsurface Investigation (SI) GEOTECHNICAL SOLUTIONS FOR ROADS

The use of piezocone and insitu vane shear test Embankment Design
is particularly useful in determining the direct
undrained shear strength of the soft marine clayey Embankment design of roads needs to satisfy
deposits. This is in addition to collecting two important requirements among others; the
undisturbed samples from conventional boreholes stability and settlement.
for unconfined compression and consolidation tests. The short term stability for embankment over
The use of piezocone is useful to detect presence of soft clay is always more critical than long term
sand lenses and indirect determination of undrained simply because the subsoil consolidates with time
shear strength. The detection of sand lenses is under loading and the strength increases. In design,
particularly important for the assessment of ground it is very important to check for the stability of the
treatment. The selection of surcharge alone or embankment with consideration for different
surcharge with prefabricated vertical drains to potential failure surfaces namely circular and non-
accelerate consolidation depending on this circular.
information for economical design. For example, It is also necessary to evaluate both the
when intermittent layers of sand lenses within the magnitude and rate of settlement of the subsoil

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CAFEO2002
Cost Effective Geotechnical Solutions For Roads And Factories Over Soft Ground
By : Ir. Dr. Gue S.S. , Ir. Tan Y. C & Ir. Liew, S. S. 2 September 5 September, 2002

supporting the embankment when designing the multistage construction could be reduced by
embankment so that the settlement in the long term geometry change in the embankment as described
will not influence the serviceability and safety of the by Tan & Gue (2000). However, geometry change
embankment. The details of the embankment requires wide road reserve due to flatter slope and
design can be obtained from papers by Tan & Gue stabilizing berms. Prefabricated vertical drains
(2000). could also be installed to reduce the time required
Design considerations include numerous issues for consolidation.
such as those outlined by Tan & Gue (2000). The Other techniques such as piled embankment,
height or thickness of embankment is often dictated stone columns, vacuum preloading with
by the flood level. As the height of embankment is prefabricated vertical drains could be considered.
most critical over marine deposits, hence decision However, the technique would increase the cost of
on height after consideration of settlement of the the embankment. Piled embankment in particular
subsoil is critical to the cost and time of the project. using local wood piles for shallow subsoil could be
When the height exceeds the maximum one stage competitive.
construction (loading), multistage construction will The details on the design and construction
be required. The crude estimate of the maximum control for embankment over soft clay are also
height of embankment can be obtained as follow : described in the above reference.
5su Ground Treatment Methods
Hmax =
Fs f In order to identify suitable ground treatment to
where be adopted, the design engineer needs to carry out
Hmax = Estimated Maximum Height of Fill both technical and cost analyses. Some of the
(Single Stage Construction) embankment construction methods commonly used
su = Undrained Shear Strength of the in Malaysia are as follows :
subsoil. (a) Modification of Embankment Geometry
Fs = Short Term Factor of Safety (usually (b) Excavation and Replacement of Soft Soils
1.2). (c) Surcharging (with or without vertical
f = Unit weight of compacted fill (usually drains)
about 18 to 20 kN/m3) (d) Staged Construction
(e) Lightweight Fills using Expanded
Of course more detailed analyses are required Polystyrene (EPS)
when more refined soil layers and properties are (f) Geosynthetics Reinforcement
obtained. In the detailed analyses, both circular and (g) Stone Columns
non-circular slope stability analyses should be (h) Piled Embankment
carried out. Very often, the non-circular failure is Modification of embankment geometry through
more critical than circular slip failure for layered reduction of slope angle or construction of
soil especially with very soft subsoil at top few counterweight berms can be cost effective option if
meters. there is sufficient cut earth or abundant suitable
Long term stability of embankment is usually materials nearby. Although excavation and
not an issue for embankment over soft marine replacement of soft soil (either partial or total) is an
deposits because the subsoil would gain strength old method but still viable and popular where the
with time after the excess pore water pressure in the very soft compressible is not very deep. The
subsoil dissipates during consolidation. experience on highway construction in West
When the analyses based on subsoil and Malaysia indicates that the excavation and
thickness of embankment indicate multistage replacement depth of up to a maximum depth of
construction is required, the construction of the 4.5m in soft clay is still viable in terms of cost and
embankment usually take substantially longer time practicability. The excavation should extend up to
especially when the cohesive subsoil does not have the toe of the embankment and beyond to increase
sand lenses. If time permits with early planning, the stability of the embankment.

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CAFEO2002
Cost Effective Geotechnical Solutions For Roads And Factories Over Soft Ground
By : Ir. Dr. Gue S.S. , Ir. Tan Y. C & Ir. Liew, S. S. 2 September 5 September, 2002

alone is not adequate to ensure safety. All other

modes of failure shall be checked and they are
bulging failure, general shear failure and sliding
failure. If not careful mushroom effects will
appear in the long term for the low embankment
supported by stone columns. The mushroom
effects is the small area of embankment fill directly
above stone column will protrude up like hump
compared with the area between the stone columns.
This is due to instability of the arch region in the fill
above the stone columns and excessive settlement
(consolidation and secondary settlement) of the
Figure 5 : Use of EPS at Bridge Abutment subsoil between the stone columns under
embankment loading.
Surcharging is to subject the ground to higher Some general solutions to this problems are to
pressure than that during the service life in order to use granular (gravels) materials with high angle of
achieve a higher initial rate of settlement thus friction as fill materials above the closely spaced
reducing long term settlements. Usually stone columns to ensure soil arching of the fill
surcharging method is used to control both total and between stone columns or to place high strength
differential settlement at the approaches to geosynthetics on top of the stone columns before
abutments of a bridge/flyoever and culvert beneath placing the fill. It is generally recommended to
the embankment. Vertical prefabricated band- limit the spacing of the stone columns to less than
shaped drains (commonly called Vertical Drains) 2m c/c to prevent mushroom effects. Figure 6
can be used together with surcharging to reduce the shows the mushroom effects at the road median
waiting time or rest period for consolidation. The which has not been regulated.
spacing of vertical drains has significant influence
on the cost. For example, 1m c/c spacing vertical
drains will cost 300% more than 2m c/c spacing
vertical drains. In view of the cost sensitive nature, Mushroom Effects
it is very important to acquire sufficient information
of the subsoil so that a cost effective design can be
carried out. If the subsoil is very soft and bearing
capacity is the major concern then staged
construction is required.
Lightweight fills using Expanded Polystyrene
(EPS) can be an option for bridge approach Pavement requires
embankment to smoothen the differential settlement
Constant resurfacing
between rigid structure (bridge) as shown in Figure
Figure 6 : Mushroom Effects (Defects)
5. The most critical consideration in designing
embankment using EPS is floatation (uplift forces)
Piled embankment is sometimes used especially
under flood condition because of its low density.
when time is a major constraint and in some cases it
Geosynthetics in the form of geogrid or
could be more cost effective than other ground
geotextile are sometime used to improve the
treatment methods. Piled embankment with
stability of the embankment over soft soils by
transition piles is also used to provide a smooth
placing it at the base of the embankment.
transition (reduce differential settlement) at bridge
Geosynthetics could facilitate and improve the
approaches and the bridge as shown in Figure 7.
stability of the embankment but the magnitude of
Many case histories in Malaysia have shown
consolidation settlement generally remains the
that using isolated pile caps with or without
same.
geosynthetics had caused mushroom effects and
Stone columns are occasionally used to
therefore piled embankment with reinforced
strengthen thus increase the stability of the
concrete slab is preferred. It is very important to
embankment. The two case histories of failure of
construct the slab of the piled embankment lower
embankment supported by stone columns
than the original ground level to ensure the soft
investigated by the Authors indicate that the design
subsoil is not subjected to the loads from the fill
of stone columns using Priebes Method (1995)

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CAFEO2002
Cost Effective Geotechnical Solutions For Roads And Factories Over Soft Ground
By : Ir. Dr. Gue S.S. , Ir. Tan Y. C & Ir. Liew, S. S. 2 September 5 September, 2002

embankment. When the subsoil is subjected to The possible geotechnical solutions to eliminate
loads from the fill, the subsoil would consolidate the differential settlement are described by Gue
and induce negative skin friction to the piles. (2000). It includes :-
- Provide a larger culvert to allow for long
term settlement (Figure 8b)
- Provide a transition piled embankment at
the approaches to a culvert (Figure 9).
This option is often more costly.

GEOTECHNICAL SOLUTIONS FOR

FACTORIES (A CASE HISTORY)

The project in this case study is a 120 Ton/hr

palm oil mill constructed over the sand filled
platform of about 83,000m2 on soft compressible
Figure 7 : Piled Embankment with Transition swampy ground. The location of the project site is
Piles about 50km away from the river mount of Sg.
Guntung of Riau province of Sumatra, Indonesia.
The total project cost for the earthworks, civil
(a) (b) works, building works and ancillary works
excluding the mechanical and electrical costs are
about RM60 millions. This mill is strategically
important as it will serve to process the palm oil
fruits from part of the surrounding 80,000 hectares
(a) Piled Culvert (Not Recommended) oil palm plantation. As such, it is a great challenge
(b) Oversized Culvert (Recommended) to complete the mill in relatively short contract
duration with difficult logistic conditions. However,
Figure 8 : Culvert Foundation Design value engineering has been carefully applied to this
project and results in significant reduction in terms
of construction costs and time.

Subsoil & Geomorphology Conditions

The site is generally underlain by recent alluvial

soils, which are very weak in strength and highly
compressible. Organic peat of about 1m thick are
found in the topsoil. Following the top layer of
peats is 34m thick very soft compressible clay and
subsequently 12m thick medium stiff clay overlying
Figure 9 : Culvert with Transition Embankment the medium dense fine clayey sand at lower stratum.
Piles Figure 10 shows the schematic subsoil strata of this
project site.
Consideration for Approaches to a Culvert The geomorphology of the site is featured with
typical extensive flood plain and high groundwater
Very often, the culverts are designed and table. Due to nature of the overall ground condition
constructed with piles foundation as shown in of the region, canals become a convenient way for
Figure 8a to ensure that the area of flow of the drain transportation of goods and passengers. With the
through the embankment remain unchanged with recent rapid development of oil palm plantation at
time. The consequences of having rigid support the area, more canals have been constructed for
(piles) as shown induces differential settlement transporting the fruits and irrigation purpose. Due
between the rigid piled culvert and the unpiled to the need of proper drainage and irrigation for the
embankment. palm oil plantation, the water level in the canal
system is then controlled by gated structures.

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CAFEO2002
Cost Effective Geotechnical Solutions For Roads And Factories Over Soft Ground
By : Ir. Dr. Gue S.S. , Ir. Tan Y. C & Ir. Liew, S. S. 2 September 5 September, 2002

coating to the piles. In the alternative design,

similar floating concrete pile system is used to
support heavy equipment, such as the crane system
for FFB Reception Bay, Incinerators, Chimneys,
Boilers and other processing stations. Figure 14
shows the floating concrete pile foundation. This
floating pile system results in much shorter pile
length of 36m as compared to the original design
using end bearing piles of 50m penetration length.
Most of the structural columns carrying light load
are supported by single length hardwood piles.

Figure 10 : Subsoil Condition of Project Site

Ground Treatment for Platform

Despite the water level in the canal system is

controlled, there is a concern on the extreme flood
condition in the vast canal system. Therefore, in the
conventional design, a platform above the expected
flood level was proposed on the very soft and highly
compressible subsoil. It was a great challenge to
construct the filled platform with provision for long-
term settlement. It required a thicker fill and longer
duration to reach the required platform using staged
construction method to prevent bearing capacity Figure 11 : Hardwood Blanket Piling
failure. The subsoil is too soft for a single stage
construction.
In the proposed alternative design, a thinner
platform of 1.1m was proposed to avoid instability
and long-term settlement. In case of extreme flood
event, provision of bund construction around the
mill compound has been allowed to protect the mill.
With the naturally available straight and long tree
trunks during the site cleaning for the oil palm
plantation project, wood piles of appropriate size
and length were selected and installed in square grid
pattern for supporting the 1.1m thick sand fill as
shown in Figure 11. Woven geotextile fabrics were
added over the grid of wood piles to spread the fill
loading uniformly for better stability and reduce Figure 12 : Hardwood Piled Foundations for
differential settlement. This is shown in Figure 12. Platform & Structures
Figure 13 shows a partially completed mill
structure. The buoyancy of the wood-piles in grids
and the stiffening effect of the soft subsoil by pile
installation have also helped in reducing the
platform settlement.

Foundations of Heavy Equipment

With the expected settlement of subsoil,

negative skin friction would develope on the
originally designed end bearing piles and are
expected to be very high and required expensive slip

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CAFEO2002
Cost Effective Geotechnical Solutions For Roads And Factories Over Soft Ground
By : Ir. Dr. Gue S.S. , Ir. Tan Y. C & Ir. Liew, S. S. 2 September 5 September, 2002

coated with bitumen strips in order to have uniform

seating between the coned-down tank base and the
reinforced concrete (RC) raft with thickness
optimized to 500mm. This is rather thin as
compared to the similar type of tank structures on
floating piles. Figure 15 shows the completed tank
structures and the tank raft. A total number of 137
of 350mm diameter hollow circular prestressed
concrete (PC) spun piles with characteristic concrete
strength of 60MPa have been designed and installed
to support the tank through the RC raft.

Figure 13 : Partially Completed Mill Structure

Figure 16 : Piled Raft Foundation for Storage

Tank

Figure 16 shows the installation of the tank

foundation piles. To avoid the bowl shaped
Figure 14 : Floating Piles for Structures deflection profile of the raft as a result of the
interaction effect of large floating piles group, the
floating piles are designed with varying lengths to
control the deflection profile of the raft as part of the
design optimization for the raft. The central portion
of the raft is supported with longer piles, in which
the supporting stiffness is relatively higher than that
of the short piles at outer rim of the raft. Figure 17
shows the schematic diagram of the pile foundation
for tank structures. Detailed documentation on the
performance of the tank foundation can refer to the
technical paper by Liew S.S., Gue, S.S. & Tan, Y.C.
(2002).

Retaining System for Wharf Structures

Figure 15 : Completed Tank Structures
As the oil palm fruits are transported through
Bulk Storage Structures canal, there is a need to construct a wharf structure
for receiving the oil palm fruits. Because of the
There are seven numbers of heavy steel tank very weak subsoil, it is practically difficult to design
structures for the storage of processing water and a 3.6m high retaining wall facing the canal. An
processed palm oil. The total weight of the tank innovative concept in the retaining wall design for
structure is about 3500Ton including maximum the FFB crane bay was used. The design concept
storage capacity of 3000Ton for water or crude palm used the sheetpiles in a successive T arrangement
oil. The steel tanks are seated on 0.5m sand bed to act as a container for soil containment and, at the

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CAFEO2002
Cost Effective Geotechnical Solutions For Roads And Factories Over Soft Ground
By : Ir. Dr. Gue S.S. , Ir. Tan Y. C & Ir. Liew, S. S. 2 September 5 September, 2002

same time, to act as the primary supports for the

wharf deck. Figure 18 shows the schematic diagram
of the design. Only 12m long FSP IIIA sheetpile
section has been used. This penetration length
would not be possible to have adequate wall
stability in the conventional retaining wall design in
this type of soil condition. Figure 19 shows the
steel frame erection of the crane system.

Figure 19 Erection of Steel Frame of FFB Crane

Bay

Performance from Instrumentation Results

Figure 17 : Piled Raft Foundation for Storage Instrumentation and load tests have been
Tank implemented to validate the actual performance
against the design expectation. The monitoring
results show very convincing and satisfactory
outcome. The maximum settlement on the
monitored structural columns and stumps, floor slab
and sand fill platform is less than 30mm at the time
of handing over. The maximum settlement of the
storage tank with full water storage is also only
about 18mm, which is well within the tolerance of
75mm. Figure 20 shows the instrumentation results
of the tank structure during the water test. The view
of the completed mill is shown in Figure 21.

3.6m

Figure 18 : Schematic Diagram of Crane Bay Figure 20 : Instrumentation Result of Tank

Structure

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CAFEO2002
Cost Effective Geotechnical Solutions For Roads And Factories Over Soft Ground
By : Ir. Dr. Gue S.S. , Ir. Tan Y. C & Ir. Liew, S. S. 2 September 5 September, 2002

REFERENCES

Bishop, A.W. (1955) The use of the Slip Circle in

the Stability Analysis of Slopes. Geotechnique,
Vol 5, pp 7-17.
Cox, J.B. (1970) A Review of the Engineering
Characteristics of the Recent Marine Clays in
Southeast Asia Research Report No. 6, Asian
Institute of Technology, Bangkok.
Gue, S.S. (1999) Selection of Geotechnical
Parameters for Design. Short Course on Soil
Figure 21 : Overview of Completed Mill Investigation and Design for Slope
Structures (SCOFG99), 11 & 12th May, 1999, Kuala
Achievements in Value Engineering Lumpur.
Gue, S.S. & Tan, Y.C (2000). Subsurface
The proposed alternative geotechnical designs Investigation and Interpretation of Test Results
have satisfied the four design criteria demanded by for Foundation Design in Soft Clay. Seminar
the turnkey contractor. There are remarkably cost on Ground Improvement Soft Clay (SOGISC-
savings in the geotechnical design and the 2000), 23rd & 24th August 2000, UTM, Kuala
construction time. The objective to utilise the local Lumpur.
resources rather than transporting from outside has Gue, S.S. (2000). Innovative Geotechnical Input
been well satisfied as the water transportation is not for Approaches to Bridges and Culverts over
as effective as land transport. The uses of less sand Compressible Soils. 4th Malaysian Road
fill, optimized thinner tank raft, successive T sheet Conference, 30-31 October 2000, Kuala Lumpur.
piles as wharf structure, local wood-piles for Janbu, N. (1972) Slope Stability Computations.
platform construction and floating piles system of Embankment Deam Engineering: Casagrande
shorter length have cut down significant amount of Vol., John Wiley & Sons, New York, pp.47-86.
the construction materials and time. In the original Liew, S. S., Gue, S. S. & Tan, Y. C. (2002), "Design
design, the total cost of earthwork and foundation and Instrumentation Results of A
are about 75% of the total civil and structure costs. Reinforcement Concrete Piled Raft Supporting
The alternative design has a cost saving of more 2500 Ton Oil Storage Tank on Very Soft
than 30% on the total costs and significant time Alluvium Deposits", Ninth International
saving. The performance of the proposed system has Conference on Piling and Deep Foundations,
been verified by instrumentation and the alternative Nice, 3rd - 5th June, 2002
foundations performed better than expected. From Raj, J.K. & Singh, M. (1990) Unconsolidated
the instrumentation results, it appears that further Holocene Sediments along the North-South
design optimization is possible. Expressway. Proc. of the Seminar on
Geotechnical Aspects of the North-South
4 CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION Expressway, Kuala Lumpur, pp.159-166.
Stauffer, P.H. (1973) Cenozoic. In Gobbett, D.J. &
a. It has been shown that geotechnical design Hutchison, C.S. (Eds.) Geology of the Malay
can be innovative to provide cost effective Peninsular West Malaysia and Singapore. John
solutions for roads and factories. Wiley Interscience, New York, pp.143-176.
b. Floating or friction pile system is a very Tan, Y.C. & Gue, S.S. (2000) Design of
cost effective solution for projects over soft Embankment on Very Soft Cohesive Soils
ground. However, the floating pile system Seminar on Ground Improvement Soft Clay
shall be designed with appropriate (SOGISC-2000), 23rd & 24th August 2000, UTM,
settlement tolerance. Kuala Lumpur.
c. An inclusion of transition between the rigid Tan, Y.C. (1999) Piezocone Tests and
bridge and the settling embankment Interpretation. Short Course on Soil
provides smooth riding comfort. Oversize Investigation and Design for Slope (SCOFG99),
culverts without end bearing piles are 11 & 12th May, 1999, Kuala Lumpur.
economical and also provide smooth riding
comfort.

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