GEOTECHNICAL INVESTIGATION FOR PROPOSED WATER SUPPLY PROJECT IN HINNAVARU ISLAND, LHAVIYANI ATOLL, MALDIVES
Prepared for:
M/s. United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)
Document No: OVE 092
Geotechnical Investigation 0 01/08/2014 in Hinnavaru Island R. M.Wasantha G.D.P.De Zoysa Prof. H.S.Thilakasiri Ratnayake Recommendation Rev Date Description Prepared By Approved By given By
Engineering & Laboratory Services (Pvt) Ltd 62/3 Neelammahara Road Katuwawala, Boralesgamuwa, Sri Lanka Tel: 011-4309494, 011- 2517365; Fax: 011-2509806 Email: [email protected] Web site: www.elslanka.com
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ELS & AMIN
GEOTECHNICAL INVESTIGATION FOR PROPOSED WATER SUPPLY PROJECT IN HINNAVARU ISLAND, LHAVIYANI ATOLL, MALDIVES
1.0 Introduction The project involves the construction of a sewerage treatment plant, water pumping station and rainwater storage tanks of 165 to 714m3 capacity in Hinnavru Island.
The detail summary of the geotechnical investigation as follows;
Table 1: Summary of the Geotechnical Investigation in Hinavaru Island Location Borehole No Proposed Structure Site ‐01 BH‐01, BH‐02 and BH‐03 Sewerage Treatment Plant, Water Pumping Station and Rainwater Storage tank of 714m3 capacity Site ‐02 BH‐07 Rainwater Storage tank of 165m3 capacity Site ‐03 BH‐04 Rainwater Storage tank of 270m3 capacity Site ‐04 BH‐05 Rainwater Storage tank of 668.5m3 capacity Site ‐05 BH‐06 Rainwater Storage tank of 432m3 capacity
M/s. ELS & AMIN International (Pvt) Limited was authorized the M/s. United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), to carry out the necessary geotechnical investigations and to carry out the soil investigation at proposed development area and prepare the report of soil investigation.
2.0 Site Description The Maldives is situated on the Central Indian Sill, running from the southern point of India via the Kerguelen – Gauberg – Ridge to the Antarctic continent.
When considering the climatic characteristics, Maldives experience a monsoonal climate, as the northeast monsoon is from January to March; hot days, cooler nights and relatively dry periods are common feature during this season. The wet, southwest monsoon prevails from mid‐May to November. Gales and heavy rainfall occur during this season.
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The investigated site is in Hinnavaru Island of Lhaviyani atoll. Lhaviyani Atoll is an administrative division of the Maldives and is located between 5° 15" and 5° 35" N and between 73° 20" and 74° 40" E. The capital of the atoll is Naifaru. There are a total of 54 islands in the atoll of which only 5 are inhabited, namely Naifaru, Hinnavaru, Kurendhoo, Olhuvelifushi and the recently settled Maafilaafushi.
Hinnavaru has a population of more than 4000 people. There are around 715 houses registered but people live in only around 480 houses.
Geotechnical Investigation was carried out to get the bearing capacities values of the soil underneath. Seven boreholes were drilled at five sites as summarized in Table 1.
Investigation area is shown in Figure 1(a) and 1(b).
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Figure 1(a): Hinnavaru Island, Lhaviyani Atoll
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Figure 1(b): Proposed Development Area and Borehole Locations
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2.1 General Geological and Sub Grade Characteristic of Site Area When the underneath geological formation of the site is considered, the coral reef formation is predominated at all the Maldivian islands, it may be stated that a classic atoll chain and the reef limestone, of which they are built, have accumulated on a volcanic ridge foundation associated with a transform fault on the floor of the Indian ocean which is now inactive. As mentioned above the Male Island also had been formed under volcanic ridge foundational phenomena.
When describing the soil conditions in the Maldives, it has been observed from previous investigations that the structure of the reef flats generally consists of either coral sand, soft or hard coral rock and is usually overlaid with a relatively thick layer of coral sand. On the lagoon side of the reef edge the reef is mostly covered with dead corals and a few colonies of live corals. The cavities between the coral heads are constantly being filled up with coral sand and pieces of broken and dead corals and will ultimately become a substantially hard cemented material.
2.2 Formation of Coral in the Region With respects to coral formation in general corals are preserved as calcareous skeletons, originally secreted by a simple animal known as polyps. Reef building polyps avoid deep water more than 25m deep and grow optimally at depths within 10m. The sea water temperature should be between 250C‐290C. Emersion or exposure above water could be tolerated only for short periods during tidal cycles. Salinity levels should generally be between 2.7% and 4.0%. The water turbulence is desirable in order to disperse carbon‐dioxide to bring in plank tonic food and oxygen.
A moderate fall out of fine sediments from the water can be tolerated because corals have self cleansing mechanisms but burial beneath sediment for lengths of time could result in an asphyxiation and death.
The polyp sack like body had an internal cavity which acted as its stomach. There was only a single opening to the out side, surrounded by tentacles. The polyp sat in a cup like depression on to pot its calcareous skeleton, or corallites, which is built upwards to form a support as it grew. Coral are classified according to this internal structure, which cannot often be observed directly.
3.0 Field Investigation Field investigation consisted of advancing seven boreholes and five field permeability tests at the locations marked in Figure 1(b). The field investigation was commenced on 17th of July 2014 and completed on 25th of July 2014.
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3.1 Borehole Investigation The boreholes were advanced by means of rotary drilling machine and the drilling was carried out with overburden cutting tools and the wash boring process was adopted to remove the cuttings from the bottom of the borehole. During the drilling operation the walls of the boreholes were supported by 82 mm dia. NX type flush coupling casings. In order to achieve better alignment of borehole NWY flush coupling drill rods were used. Details of the depths of drilling are indicated in the Table 2.
Table 2: Summary of the Borehole Investigation
Ground water Overburden Rock Drilling Borehole No. Total Depth(m) level (m) Drilling (m) (m) BH‐01 0.60 11.45 ‐ 11.45
BH‐02 0.60 11.50 ‐ 11.50
BH‐03 0.65 11.50 ‐ 11.50
BH‐04 0.60 11.50 ‐ 11.50
BH‐05 0.60 11.45 ‐ 11.45
BH‐06 0.82 11.45 ‐ 11.45
BH‐07 0.90 12.45 ‐ 12.45
3.1.1 Standard Penetration Test (SPT) In this investigation the SPT was carried out in regular intervals in the overburden, at each of the borehole. The performance of this test is based on the test method specified in BS 1377. Disturbed samples of soil were collected from SPT tube.
3.1.1.1 Test Procedure • SPT sampler (Split spoon sampler) inserted in to the boring and it has been connected via steel rods to 63.5kg hammer. • Using automatic safety hammer mechanism, hammer was raised a distance of 760mm and allowed it to fall freely and the energy drives the sampler in to the bottom of the boring. The process was repeated until the sampler has penetrated a distance of 450mm. The numbers of blows were recorded for first 150mm (Seating drive) and then two consecutive 150mm intervals (Test drives). • The N value was computed by summing the blow counts for the two 150mm intervals of penetration. The blow count for the first 150mm is retained for reference purposes but not
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used to compute N value because the bottom of the boring is likely to be disturbed by drilling process and may be filled with loose soil that fell from the side of the boring. • The SPT samples were extracted from the sampler and saved the obtained soil samples in appropriate manners. • Boring to the depth of the next test been done with the above procedure.
3.2 Field Permeability Test Five numbers of field permeability tests were carried out in the Boreholes BH‐01, BH‐04, BH‐05, BH‐ 06 and BH‐07. The results of the field permeability test are attached as Annexure II.
The method used was Variable Head Method (Falling Head Method) as specified in Section 4: 25.4 of BS: 5930:1999.
Table 3: Summary of field permeability test
Depth –Test Borehole No Test No Permeability (m/Sec) Section (m)
BH‐01 3.00 Test 01 3.47 x 10‐4
BH‐04 3.00 Test 01 2.08 x 10‐4
BH‐05 3.00 Test 01 2.75 x 10‐4
BH‐06 3.00 Test 01 4.46 x 10‐4
BH‐07 3.00 Test 01 3.02 x 10‐4
4.0 Laboratory Investigation Laboratory investigations were taken place in order to the sub surface assessment in geotechnical investigation. In connection with the entire laboratory testing the performance has been made as per BS 1377 part 4: unless otherwise stated. The detailed results of the laboratory investigation are presented in Annexure III.
4.1 Chemical Analysis of Soil • Ph, Sulphate & Chloride Content • 5.0 Sub‐Surface Conditions The results of the borehole investigation are given in Annexure I. Using this, profiles of subsurface conditions across the boreholes have been constructed and these are shown in Figure 2(a) to 2(g). ELS & AMIN Construction (Pvt) Ltd., 01st of August 2014
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6.0 INTERPRETATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE SITE INVESTIGATIONS
6.1 Properties of the materials in the subsurface and bedrock
The energy method of SPT correction (Bowles, 1996) was used to estimate the soil strength parameters of the soil layers. The energy method of SPT correction uses the following / relationship to determine the N 70 from the field SPT blow counts (N Field ):
/ N 70 = N Field C Nη1η 2η 3η 4
Where
95.76 CN = / po
E η = r 1 70
/ Po = Effective overburden pressure at the test level Er = Efficiency of the hammer used (taken as 55%) ηi = Modification factors (Bowles, 1996)
/ The estimated N 70 together with the particle size could be used to estimate the soil strength parameters at respective depths. Table 4 shows the estimated soil strength parameters at borehole locations with the depth.
Table 4 Estimated soil strength parameters using SPT blow counts at borehole locations
Depth (m) BH 01 BH 02 BH 03 BH 04 BH 05 BH 06 BH 07 φ φ φ φ φ φ ɸ 1.30 32 34 36 33 32 33 31
2.30 29 29 29 32 32 32 33
3.30 27 35 31 34 31 33 29
4.30 32 32 33 31 32 32 32
5.30 34 32 32 35 31 31 32
6.30 36 34 36 36 36 31 30
7.30 36 36 - - 36 32 26
8.30 - - - - - 36 26
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9.30 36 - 36 - 36 - 31
10.30 ------36
11.30 36 - - - - 36 36
12.30 ------36
6.2 General subsurface conditions at the sites
There are five sites located across the island for this project and they are identified as Site 1, Site 2, Site 3, Site 4 and Site 5. The boreholes and the proposed structures at each site are given in Table 1.
6.2.1 Site 1
The subsurface condition at the locations consists of medium dense to very dense coral sand layers upto a depth of about 2m below the existing ground surface level underlain by loose to very loose coral sand layers up to about 3m to 4m depth underlain by medium dense coral sand layers overlying very dense coral sand with coral fragments or coral rock layers. The weakest ground condition was observed at the location of BH 01and the subsurface condition at the location of BH 01 is considered in giving the shallow foundation recommendations.
6.2.2 Site 2
The general subsurface condition at Site 2 based on BH 04 consists of medium dense coral sand upto a depth of about 5m underlain by dense to very dense coral sand with coral fragments or coral rock layers.
6.2.3 Site 3
The general subsurface condition at Site 3 based on BH 05 consists of medium dense coral sand upto a depth of about 6m underlain by dense to very dense coral sand with coral fragments or coral rock layers.
6.2.4 Site 4
The general subsurface condition at Site 4 based on BH 06 consists of medium dense coral sand upto a depth of about 8m underlain by dense to very dense coral sand with coral fragments or coral rock layers.
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6.2.5 Site 5
The subsurface condition at this location consists of medium dense coral fragments layer upto a depth of about 3m below the existing ground surface level underlain by a loose coral fragments layer up to about 4m depth underlain by medium dense coral sand with coral fragments or coral fragments layers upto about 7m depth overlying a very loose coral sand layer. The very loose coral sand layer is overlying a layer of medium dense to very dense coral sand with coral fragments.
7.0 FOUNDATION RECOMMENDATIONS
The shallow foundation options considered are square footings, strip or combined footings, and raft foundations. The allowable bearing capacities of the shallow foundations are estimated based on the shear failure and settlement considerations.
7.1 Shear Failure of Soil
The ultimate carrying capacity (q ult ) of shallow foundations on sand is estimated using the following standard bearing capacity equation (Bowles, 1996) assuming general shear failure and vertical applied load.
_ 1 q = s d q N + s d Bγ N ult q q q γ γ 2 eff γ
Where
si = Shape modification factors di = Depth modification factors ii = Load inclination modification factors (for vertical loads ii=1.0) Ni = Bearing capacity factors c = Cohesion _ q = Effective overburden pressure at the foundation level B = Width of the footing
γeff = Effective unit weight of soil below the foundation.
However, it should be noted here that the estimation of ultimate carrying capacity in a layered medium should be carried out considering the stress distribution through the layered soil medium. When a loose soil layer is present at shallow depths (3 to 4m), ultimate carrying capacities of the foundation at 1m and 2m levels were estimated assuming the friction angle
Page 17 of that loose layer. Allowable bearing pressure ( qall ) could be obtained from the following relationship:
_ q − q q = ult all FoS
7.2 Estimation of Settlement of Shallow Foundations
Settlements of shallow foundations are determined using both Parry (1971) method and the Schemertmann (1970) method.
7.2.1 Parry (1971) method
The material present below the foundation is sand and therefore, only immediate (or elastic) settlements are considered. The elastic settlement of footings is estimated using the method proposed by Parry (1971), which is given below:
qB ρ = aC C C N D W T
Where
ρ = Settlement in mm a = 200 in SI units B = width of the footing in meters q = pressure from the foundation in MN/m 2 N = Average SPT value in the influence zone CD = factor for excavation, Cw = factor for depth of water table, CT = factor for the thickness of the compressible layer.
7.2.2 Method proposed by Schemertmann (1970)
Method proposed by Schemeertmann (1970) utilizes the relationship given below, which uses the vertical elastic modulus of the soil within the influence zone in the settlement estimation.