Cairo University

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

Design of Water Tanks:

Part (2) Underground Tanks
Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

Cairo University

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

Design Steps

Uplift Check
Stability

Check of Stresses on Soil

Strength

Design of Critical Sections

1. Wide Underground Tanks

(e.g. Swimming Pools)

Cairo University

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

Stability Checks
1) Uplift check
(in case of ground water,
during maintenance)
Dead loads > Uplift loads

Empty

GWT

hw

gwhw

2) Stresses on soil
(in case of full tank, just after
construction)
Stresses on soil < allowable stress

Full

fmax

fmax
4

Cairo University

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

Uplift Check
1. Calculate total weight including walls

GWT

WTank W floor Wwalls Wroof (if any )

2. Calculate total uplift

empty (maintenance)
hw

Uplift g w hw Floor Area

3. Check FOS
W
FOS Tank 1.2 For maximum level of water table
Uplift
1.5 If water table can rise

4. If unsafe
a) Increase floor thickness
b) Use plain concrete inside tank (above RC floor)
c) Use plain concrete below RC floor ( connected
with steel dowels)
d) Use toe to include soil weight
e) Use tension piles

gwhw
Wsoil
hw
Toe

Cairo University

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

Check of Stresses on Soil

Tanks resting on firm soil (rock or coarse sand)
1. No need to check stresses on soil
2. Distance (L) of floor that carry moment reversed
from wall (unsupported length) is calculated as;
w= floor weight + water weight
M
L2
M is calculated considering wall fixed @ bottom
w

Proof

Rotation @ point b=0.0

M

qb= qM + qw=0.0

ML wL

0 .0
6 EI 24 EI

L 2

M
w

qM

ML
6 EI

wL3
qw
24 EI

wL2/8
6

Cairo University

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

Check of Stresses on Soil

Tanks resting on medium soil (medium sand, silt or clay)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Stresses on soil must be checked

L= 0.4 H (for sandy soil)
w
L= 0.6 H (for clayey soil)
Consider 1m strip
Calculate w
w g RC t f g w H
6. Calculate Wwall
Wwall g RC t wall hwall + roof reaction(if any)
7. Check normal stresses on soil
Where;
N M
N M
f1
y & f2
y
f2
N= Wwall + wL
A I
A I
M=M + Wwall (L/2)
or
I=1*L^3/12
N 6M
N 6M
f1 2 & f 2 2
Y=L/2
L
L
L
L
A=1*L
f1 soil bearing capacity
f 2 0 ( for sand )
f 2 f1 / 2 ( for clay )

Wwall

L
1m

f1

Cairo University

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

Check of Stresses on Soil

Tanks resting on medium soil (medium sand, silt or clay)
8. If stresses on soil are unsafe;
Use toe

Use deep foundations (piles)

Make soil replacement

Cairo University

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

Design of Critical Sections

Case of water pressure
Sec. 1 W.S.S. (M & R)
Sec. 2 W.S.S. (R only)
Sec. 3 A.S.S. (M3 only)

gw h

3
M

M3
1

gw h
M3
M

g wh
6

g wh2
2

g wh3
15

g wh3
33.5

R 0.4g w h 2
9

Cairo University

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

Design of Critical Sections

Case of earth pressure
Sec. 1 WSS (M & -R)

M
R

g s h Ka
If no ground water
or surcharge

1 2
es g s h K a 2 h h
3 3
ew g w h h

If there is a ground water

or surcharge

es

2
ew
3

As ) earth pressure

2
As ) water pressure
3

Calculate M and Calculate As) earth pressure

Surcharge p

g s h1 K a

h1
h2

g w h2 p K a

g s h1 K a g s ) submerged h2 K a

10

Cairo University

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

Detailing

Usually Minimum RFt

As ) water pressure

As ) earth pressure

Deep beam Min RFT for

11
potential relative settlement

Cairo University

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

Example (1)
Design a swimming pool resting on a clayey soil with a gross bearing capacity of 120 kN/m2,
with no ground water and with the dimensions shown below

3m

40 m

15m

12

Cairo University

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

200 mm

Case (1): Just after construction

g w hw 3

10 33
M

45 kN .m
6
6
M
45
t
10 4
10 4 387 400 mm
3
3
L 0 .6 H 1 .8 m

3m

200 mm

Check of soil stresses

400 mm
400 mm

Wwater Wwall)1

Wwater 10 (3 1.4) 42 kN
Wwall )1 25 (0.2 3) 15 kN
Wwall ) 2 25 (0.5 0.2 3) 7.5 kN
W floor 25 (0.4 1.8) 18 kN

Wwall)2
o

Wfloor

1.8 m

N 42 15 7.5 18 82.5 kN
1
M @ o ( 3 30 1.4) 15 0.6 7.5 0.77 42 0.2 69.37 kN .m
2
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Cairo University

82.5 6 69.37

174 ( BC , unsafe)
1 .8
1 .8 2
82.5 6 69.37
f2

83 (tension , unsafe)
1 .8
1 .8 2

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

f1

1.0 m
1.8 m

Use toe with length= 1.0 m

Wwater 10 (3 1.4) 42 kN
Wwall )1 25 (0.2 3) 15 kN

Wwater Wwall)1
Wwall)2

Wwall ) 2 25 (0.5 0.2 3) 7.5 kN

W floor 25 (0.4 2.8) 28 kN
N 42 15 7.5 28 92.5 kN

o
1.8 m

Wfloor
1.0 m

1
M @ o ( 3 30 1.4) 15 0.1 7.5 0.27 42 0.7 37.1 kN .m
2
92.5 6 37.1
f1

61.5 ( BC , safe)
2
2 .8
2 .8
92.5 6 37.1
f2

4.6 (Compression , safe)

2 .8
2 .8 2
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Cairo University

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

Design of critical sections

15

Cairo University

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

16

Cairo University

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

Case (2): Maintenance Case

Same steps are followed
Wwall)1

Wsoil
Wwall)2

o
1.8 m

Wfloor

1.0 m

17

Cairo University

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

10F10/m

Detailing

6F10/m

6F10/m
10F10/m
6F10/m

6F10/m

5F16

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2. Short Underground Tanks

Cairo University

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

Tanks with relatively short width or length

L
B

If B 2L walls and floor behave

as one unit
20

Cairo University

Uplift Check

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

1. Calculate total weight including walls

WTank W floor Wwalls Wroof (if any )

2. Calculate total uplift

hw

empty
(maintenance)

GWT

Uplift g w hw Floor Area

3. Check FOS
W
FOS Tank 1.2 For maximum level of water table
Uplift
1.5 If water table can rise

gwhw

4. If unsafe
a) Increase floor thickness
b) Use plain concrete inside tank (above RC floor)
c) Use plain concrete below RC floor ( connected
with steel dowels)
d) Use toe to include soil weight
e) Use tension piles

21

Cairo University

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

Check of Stresses on Soil

f gross

WTotal
soil bearing capacity
Base Area

WTotal Wwater W floor Wwalls Wroof (if any )

GWT
Full

If stresses on soil are unsafe;

Increase floor (use toe)

Use soil replacement

Use deep foundations

Cairo University

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

Design of Critical Sections

(1) If no tension piles used
B

hw

w1

loads from walls ( for 1 m strip )

B
g RC t f g w hw

w1

loads from walls ( for 1m strip)

B

g RC t f g w hw
Note: if both the width and the length of the tank are short;
w1

loads from all walls ( or according to Grashoff )

floor area ( B L)

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Cairo University

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

Design of Critical Sections

(1) If no tension piles used
Free end

Top Beam

hw

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Cairo University

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

Design of Critical Sections

(2) Using tension piles
B

hw

w1

loads from walls ( for 1 m strip )

w1 g w hw g RC t f

g RC t f g w hw

g RC t f g w hw
Note: if both the width and the length of the tank are short;
w1

loads from all walls ( or according to Grashoff )

floor area ( B L)

25

Cairo University

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

Design of Critical Sections

(2) Using tension piles
Free end

Top Beam

hw

26

Cairo University

Example (2)

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

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Cairo University

Example (2)

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

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Cairo University

Example (2)

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

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Cairo University

Example (2)

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

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Cairo University

Example (2)

Prof. Dr. Hamed Hadhoud

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