MSCE Seminar - Safety in Design - Geotechnical

Safety in Design:
Geotechnics
S S Soh
20 Oct 2019
DESIGNERS
 Ensure foreseeable design risks are
eliminated or reduced through the design
plan
 Collective protective measures are taken
to manage any residual design risks
 Ensure all relevant information on the
design construction and maintenance are
available to stakeholders
What are the Designer’s Responsibilities
when preparing a design?
 To understand:
 the range of work activities associated with intended use of the structure
as a workplace
 any maintenance, repair, service and cleaning activities for the structure
when in use
 To identify and control:
 hazards and risks associated with the above activities
 To communicate:
 inform the client of any high risks in their design requirements
 recommend design alternatives that will eliminate / reduce risks arising
from original design
 some jurisdictions have mandatory requirements for a written report
Expect the unexpected
…. As we know, there are known knowns; there are things

we know we know.
We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say
we know there are some things we do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we
don’t know we don’t know.
Four levels of checks:
 Self check – do markups
 Peer check – have we done the calcs right
 Senior check – right process
 PE check – overall sanity
Design Review Record on what we have done:
 Checks on accuracy
 Checks on appropriateness
 Posterity – future generations
Risk Management Approach
Review
Options
No
Is
Identify Residual
Identify Assess
Control Risk
Hazards Risks
Measures Acceptable
?
What could • Quantify • Mitigation
go wrong? • Rank • Management Yes
• Control
RISK REGISTER
Implement Update risk

Control Monitor
Measures
register
Benefits of Safety in Design
Lifecycle Phase Health & Safety Benefit Project Benefit
Design  Risks identified  Reduced re-design or retrofitting

 Risks reduced/controlled  Reduced lifecycle OHS costs
Construction  Communication of residual risks to  Informed contractor reduces risk contingency
contractor  Increased time & cost certainty
 Reduced likelihood of accidents
Operation  Occupant health & safety  Reduced costs (absence & claims)
 Public health & safety  Company image
 Reduced civil claims
Maintenance &  Safe access & repair strategies  Informed contractor reduces risk contingency
Repair  Reduced likelihood of accidents  Reduction in maintenance costs
 Reduction in repair costs
Demolition/  Communication of residual risks to  Informed contractor reduces risk contingency

Refurbishment contractor  Increased time & cost certainty
 Reduced likelihood of unplanned
events
1 Foundation
 Millennium tower
 Florida Selmon Expressway
 Shangai Apartment
 Bored Piles in Jurong Rock
Millennium Tower, San Francisco
Settlement of 457 mm as of Sept 2019
Hazards: Risks:
 Very heavy  Excessive
concrete settlement due to
structure inadequate shaft
 Weak soil layer friction and
possible
 Adjacent dewatering
excavation
 Bearing failure
 Dewatering due to adjacent
excavation
 Uneven
settlement
causing tilt
57m
17m
 TTC excavation was expected to reduce
the pressure on the soil below the train
box.
 Reduced resistance to soils pushing
laterally from under the Millennium Tower.
 Bearing capacity failure that deforms
along a slip circle.
Harm:
Millennium Tower Excessive Settlement & Tilt

 The 58-storey luxury condominium Millennium tower has sunk 457 mm
and tilted 360 mm since completion in 2008.
 Millennium Partners blames Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA) in
part for the tower's subsidence, claiming that the construction of the
nearby Transbay Transit Center is adding to the issue.
 TJPA said it bears "no responsibility for the tilt and excessive
settlement" of the Millennium Tower.
 The Millennium Tower sits on
950 reinforced concrete piles
driven up to 90 feet into bay
mud.
 The 52 new piles will extend
into bedrock beneath the soils
and will be structurally
connected to the existing
foundation by an extension of
the building’s concrete mat.
 US$100M fix to have
“perimeter pile upgrade” plan
have 22 along Mission St and
30 on Fremont St.
Selmon Expressway in Tampa, Florida
2004 Failure of Bored Pile
Hazard: Risks:
 Possible cavities  Bearing failure due to
beneath pile toe presence of cavity
Apartment Block in Shanghai collapse
27 Jun 2009
Hazards:
 Weak base shear
resistance from soil
 Heavy rain on earth
stockpile
Risks:
 Weakening of lateral
resistance due to adjacent
excavation
 Dumping of excavated
material too close to
apartment building
 Lateral pile capacity may
be compromised for spun
piles
Harm:
 Bending failure of
piles
 Differential
settlement of
building
 Overturning of
building
Overturning failure:
 Excessive tensile stress in the piles caused by combination of excavation and
the temporary surcharge of the excavated soil on the other side of the building.
 Effect of temporary surcharge adjacent to the building was overlooked in the
construction operations.
 Lesson from this failure is for engineers to consider not only the ﬁnal loading
conditions, but also any temporary and transient loading conditions during the
construction process.
Bored Piles in Jurong Rock
Base Cleaning
Hazard:
 Debris at pile
base
Risks:
 Poor shaft
friction near to
pile toe if base
cleaning is not
effective
 Soft toe if
sounding test
is not carried
out
Harm:
 No end
bearing or
shaft friction
at toe level
 Probable
excessive
settlement if
bored pile
requires
high
working
load
2 ERSS
 South Beach very thick F1 sand
 Tg Pagar full top down
 WCE earth wall collapse
South Beach Triple Circular Diaphragm
Wall Configuration – Interfacing Issues &
Existing Conservation Buildings
Hazards:
 21m thick fluvial sand
near to South Tower
 30m thick marine clay
near to North Tower
Risks:
 Excavation close to 4
conservation buildings
may cause damage
 Esplanade MRT station
movement may disrupt
train operation
 Consolidation settlement
of thick marine clay due
to pore pressure losses
Tanjong Pagar Top-Down Construction
adjacent to MRT Station on Raft Foundation
Hazards:
 Massive loading from 290m
tower structure
 High wind loading
Risks:
 Existing Tanjong Pagar
Station founded on raft
foundation may move
laterally or settle vertically
 MRT train operation during
construction may be
disrupted
 Work stop order if movement
in any one direction exceeds
15mm during construction
New West Coast Expressway Wall Collapse
4 May 2019
Hazards:
 Soil and traffic
loading on existing
pipes
 High pressure in
water pipes
 Weak soil layer
Risks:
 Impact of soil &
traffic load on
existing pipes may
affect pipe joints
 Water pipe burst
may cause soil
loss
 Settlement may
render expressway
unusable
Harm:
 Slip circle failure of
retained earth
 Expressway is unusable
Harm:
 Failure of reinforced
earth wall
 Opening of expressway
was delayed
Harm:
 Disruption of
water supply
 Delayed
opening of
expressway
The collapse of the 110m section caused water disruption in
65 areas in Klang due to three damaged main pipes under
the 223km highway project, which connects Banting,
Selangor, to Taiping, Perak.
Harm:
New West Coast Expressway Wall Collapse
 Earth movement seriously affected the 3 water
mains with diameters of 1,400mm, 900mm and
600mm.
 Almost 90 percent of consumers in Klang have
been hit by the unscheduled disruption due to
the burst pipes.
3 Slope Stability
 Tg Bungah landslide
Tanjung Bungah landslide
21 Oct 2017
Hazards:
 Regular blasting from
granite quarry
 Stockpile at top of slope
increase surcharge
loading
 Water retention on
stockpile adds weight to
top soil layer
Risks:
 Over excavation may
affect slope stability
 Inadequate I&M
monitoring has minimal
warning
Harm:
Tanjung Bungah landslide
 There were 11 fatalities.
 Inquiry rules human negligence as main cause.
 Disturbing forces had exceeded soil resistance over a
period of time.
 Contractor ignored its own safety officer’s warning and
advice that the slope was unsafe.
 Consultant may be prosecuted.
 Contractor’s PE may be charged.
4 Tunneling
 Cable Tunnel - Over Break in G-IV
 T228 Tunneling in Sandkey layer
Cable Tunnel
Tunneling in Bt Timah G-IV Granite
Nov 2015
ABH208 32 mRL HAZARDS:
 G-IV highly weathered
ABH208
BH122 rocks
 Very high water ingress at
65m bgl
 Blocked discharge pipe
BH242 BH122 42.3 mRL
BH242 50.8 mRL
101
Overbreak during mining at Napier Road
RISKS:
 Overbreak of G-IV highly weathered rocks
 Very high water ingress at 65m bgl
 Discharge pipe was blocked
 Clearing the blockage could worsened the overbreak
 Possible sinkhole
102
Grouting proposal at overbreak location Grouting section
103
T228 Gardens By The Bay
Tunneling in Sand Key
T228 Gardens By The Bay Station & Tunnels
Reclamation Fill
Marina Channel
Sand Key Ground Improvement
Bored Tunnel
Hazards:
 Water from Marina Channel
 Sandkey located near to top of tunnel face
 Marine clay in almost 90% of tunnel face
Marina Channel
Risks:
 Sinkhole on Marina Channel floor bed
 Inrush of water with through the sandkey
 Blowout from tail void grouting and additives in the Marina Channel
TAM grouting w/ Directional Drill

TAM grouting w/ Inclined Drill
DSM
Thank you
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MSCE Seminar - Safety in Design - Geotechnical

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MSCE Seminar - Safety in Design - Geotechnical

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Safety in Design:

…. As we know, there are known knowns; there are things

Implement Update risk

Design  Risks identified  Reduced re-design or retrofitting

Demolition/  Communication of residual risks to  Informed contractor reduces risk contingency

Millennium Tower Excessive Settlement & Tilt

BH242 50.8 mRL

Sand Key Ground Improvement

TAM grouting w/ Directional Drill

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