Fracture grouting to mitigate settlements of wooden pile foundations

J.K. Haasnoot North/South Line Consultants (Witteveen+Bos Consulting Engineers) A.E.C van der Stoel North/South Line Consultants (Ingenieursbureau Amsterdam) F.J. Kaalberg North/South Line Consultants (Witteveen+Bos Consulting Engineers)

ABSTRACT: In this paper the results of the Amsterdam North/South Line full scale compensation grouting trial are presented. In this trial, the feasibility of fracture grouting to mitigate settlements of wooden pile foundations is examined. It is the first time that fracture grouting has been applied on end bearing (wooden) pile foundations. An array of TAMs has been installed under the pile toes at 16 m below surface level against water pressures of 170 kPa. The vertical movement of the piles are discussed for each phase in the fracture grouting process: TAM installation, pre-conditioning, TBM passage, post passage grouting. The analyses are done using a specially developed GIS application. Trial results show that TAM installation by a soil displacement technique causes negligible vertical deformation of the pile. The trial has sufficiently shown that fracture grouting can be used to control of the vertical movement of several types of wooden pile foundations. 1 INTRODUCTION In Amsterdam the shield tunnelling method will be applied to construct a metro through the historic city centre. All the historic structures in Amsterdam are founded on wooden piles. At certain locations along the trajectory, additional measures will be necessary to avoid unacceptable deformation of the structures (Netzel & Kaalberg, 2000). Initially, permeation and jet grouting operations (Van der Stoel 2001) are planned to minimize the influence of tunnel construction. Considering the nuisance these techniques cause in a busy inner city, compensation grouting by means of fracturing is considered a very interesting alternative. However, this technique has not been applied to such a large extent on end bearing (wooden) pile foundations before. To study the feasibility of fracture grouting for structures founded on wooden piles, during the passage of a tunnel boring machine, a full scale trial is executed. In this paper the preliminary results of the trial are presented, focussing on the vertical movement of the piles throughout the fracture grouting phases. 2 OBJECTIVE OF THE FULL SCALE TRIAL The main objective of the trial is to determine the effectiveness of fracture grouting on masonry structures founded on wooden foundation piles during the passage of a tunnel boring machine. The trial results should answer the following questions: Figure 1: Computer image of the trial set-up

What is the feasibility of compensation grouting to actively and in real-time minimize or even avoid settlement due to underground activities of a structure founded on piles; What are the most important process parameters for compensation grouting with respect to grout technology, Tubes--Manchette (TAM) arrangement, sub-surface and structural monitoring? To validate the minimal influence of compensation grouting on the tunnel lining and constru ction process.

2/7 3 TRIAL SET-UP The full scale compensation grouting trial is executed along the trajectory of the bored Sophia railway tunnel, south-east of the city of Rotterdam. 3.1 Geology The geology at the site is typical for the western part of the Netherlands. The first twelve meters are Holocene deposits, consisting respectively of made ground, peat, clay and a silty/sandy clay layer, NAP 1 m to NAP 13.5 m (NAP: Dutch datum plane). This is followed by a twelve meter thick sand layer with cone resistance (CPT) 10-15 MPa, hence suitable for pile foundations. Ground water (polder) level is about 1 m below surface, the piezometric level in the s and layer is at NAP 0 m. A schematic soil profile is given in Figure 4. 3.2 Tunnel Boring Machine, TBM The TBM used to construct the two 9.5 m diameter tunnels is of the slurry type. Typical TBM progress at the test site is 20 m/day. The tunnel is situated in the sand layer. The crown of the tunnel is at NAP 15.5 m. the trial. Two types are used: the Amsterdam Structure Foundation and the Historic Structure Foundation. The foundation of a typical Amsterdam Structure consists of two rows of piles driven closely next to each other (Figure 2). Two piles are connected by a cross beam on which both the foundation plates as well as a push-off rib are placed (the latter to prevent the wall from shifting). On top of the plates a 0.75 m high masonry wall is constructed on which dragline plates and concrete plates are stacked, to simulate the buildings load. The piles in the bearing wall (perpendicular to the tunnel) have a load of 80 kN per pile, those in the facade (parallel to the tunnel) are loaded to a level of 30 kN.

masonry

push -off rib foundation plate cross beam

Figure 3: Plan view of the trial site, including piles, TAMs and the water cell monitoring system (WL##) The second foundation type is typical for the larger historic structures in Amsterdam. These structures have highly loaded columns, requiring pile group foundations up to 30 wooden piles. The foundation used in the trial consists of nine piles driven close to each other in a 3x3 grid. On top of the piles a concrete cap is cast on which a steel load distribution frame is placed. Concrete plates are used as ballast, resulting in a total load per pile group of about 800 kN. 3.4 Compensation Grouting Components Shaft To make the cross connection between the two tunnels, a shaft was sunk. This shaft could be used to install the TAMs. Inside this 5x7 m2 rectangular shaft, a circular face is created in order to use standard 360 drilling equipment.

pile head

Figure 2: Typical Amsterdam Foundation 3.3 Foundation and Structures The trial consists of two foundation systems reflecting the typical foundation types in the vicinity of the Amsterdam North/South Line. To compare compensation grouting performance as the tunnel is being driven, both a reference structure as well as a compensation structure are constructed (Figure 1 and Figure 4). The constructions consist of wooden piles (toe diameter 130 mm) driven about 0.75-1.0 m into the sand layer. In total 126 wooden piles are used in

Wooden Foundation Piles Holocene CLAY and PEAT Pleistocene SAND Compensation Grouting Zone Schematic Zone of Influence

TBM / Tunnel

Figure 4: Cross section of the tunnel, structures and the compensation grouting zone

Figure 5: Section along the tunnel axis: structures, shaft and TAMs TAM lay-out In order to control the settlement by fracture grouting, an array of 22 TAMs is installed beneath the pile toes. The TAMs have injection points at 1 m interval. Figure 3 presents the plan view of the trial site including pile lo cation and the TAM array. Figure 4 and Figure 5 show cross -sections of the TAM layout, the shaft and the structures.

The hole inclinations of the TAMs are generally close to the horizontal and varied in two levels to create a treatment zone with a nominal thickness of 2 m. The specific variation in inclination also compensates to a certain degree for any hole deviation.

4/7 3.5 Monitoring To monitor the compensation grouting process a variety of monitoring sensors are installed. To monitor sub-surface movements and establish sub-surface movement profiles, rod extensometers and (automatic) inclinometers are used. Piezometers are installed at different levels to monitor water pressures. Water cells are used to automatically monitoring vertical movement of the structures. Two separate circuits are used, for the Amsterdam Structures and the Historic structures respectively. Both systems have their own reference cell, placed on a wooden pile, outside the zone of influence. Some piles are monitored using load cells. Precise Levelling Points (PLP) are placed as a back-up system to monitor the vertical movement of the structures. On the Amsterdam structure PLPs are placed on all cross beams. On each pile group cap of the Historic structure three PLPs are placed, to establish the direction of tilt of the pile group. 4 RESULTS 4.2 TAM installation TAM installation is carried out in relative difficult conditions. The wall of the shaft is made of 1 m thick reinforced concrete. The water pressures at TAM level are about 170 kPa and the soil consists of fine sand. Several techniques are applied in the trial, either soil removing or soil displacing. Eventually, after the placement of a jetgrouted interface between the shaft and the soil, the drilling method based on soil displacement proved to be most successful. 4.2.1 Accuracy of placement After placement of the TAMs the deviation from the designed position is determined using the MAXIBOR system. In Figure 6 the results are presented graphically. The centre of this graph should be considered as the designed end-position of the TAM. The points plotted in the graph are the measured end-positions of the 14 TAMs that have been logged. The amount of deviation is expressed as the ratio of the total deviation to the length of the TAM, expressed as a percentage. It can be concluded from Figure 6 that the average accuracy of placement is around 1.25%. The preferred direction of deviation is to the right, without a clear preference in the vertical direction.
TAM drilling by soil displacement

No. of observations (total No. = 73)

4.1 Introduction The results that are presented in this paper are limited to the accuracy of TAM placement and the vertical displacement behaviour of the piles. In the fo llowing sub-paragraphs the results are discussed for each phase in the fracture grouting process: TAM installation, pre-conditioning, TBM passage, post passage grouting. The analyses are done using a specially developed GIS application (Netzel & Kaalberg, 1999).
0

100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 2 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
pile displacement (mm), negative is settlement

3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5

270

90

Figure 7: Pile displacement due to TAM drilling 4.2.2 Pile displacement In the compensation grouting process it is important that the drilling of the TAMs does not cause significant pile settlement.

TAMs longer than 25 m

180

TAMs shorter than 25 m

Figure 6: Accuracy of TAM placement (deviation as a percentage of the TAM length) and direction of deviation

10

displacement (mm)

-2

-4

-6 12-Jun-01 22-Jun-01 02-Jul-01 12-Jul-01 22-Jul-01 01-Aug-01 11-Aug-01

Time
average WL structure B pre-conditioning 1 average PLP structure B pre-conditioning 2 average WL structure C TBM passage average PLP structure C post grouting

Figure 8: Average vertical displacement of the Amsterdam Structure during grouting phases.

displacement (mm)

-2

-4

-6

-8

-10 25-Jul-01 29-Jul-01 02-Aug-01 06-Aug-01 10-Aug-01 14-Aug-01 18-Aug-01

Time
pre-conditioning 1 TBM passage pre-conditioning 2 post grouting average PLP structure A average PLP structure D

Figure 9: Average vertical displacement of the Historic Structure during grouting phases

6/7 For each TAM, water levels are selected that lie within the influence zone of that TAM. The response of these water levels is analysed within the time frame of drilling. In Figure 7 this analysis is summarized in a probability curve. It is shown that 80% of the 73 observations show no displacement of the pile. Around 14% show a settlement of 0.5 mm. However, due to the often noisy character of the water level readings, it can be questioned whether these are actual settlements. The 4% of 1 mm settlements are observed with confidence in the data. As no larger settlements than 1 mm have been observed with the drilling by soil displacement technique, the influence of TAM drilling on the piles is considered to be negligible. 4.3 Pre-conditioning Pre-condition is split up in two parts, separated by a demobilization period of the crew due to program reasons. Pre-conditioning started on June 13th with small injection volumes, gradually increasing from 15 to 40 per sleeve. In Figure 8 the average vertical displacement for the Amsterdam structures (B and C) is plotted. It can be seen that both the water levels and the PLPs show an upward trend from June 25 onwards, resulting in an average heave of structure B of 5 mm. From the PLPs can be concluded that consolidation effects are minimal, whereas the water levels show a relaxation of about 1 mm. The reference structure C remains at the same level during that period. During the second pre-conditioning phase, prior to tunnel arrival, some additional heave of structure B can be observed. The readings for the historic structure are given in Figure 9. During the conditioning phase it is clearly observed that the time it takes for the sensors to respond is dependent on the stress state in the ground. The extensometers at pile toe level showed the first signs of response, followed by the piles with relative small loads (Amsterdam structure). The heavily loaded pile groups of the Historic structure did not respond during the pre-conditioning 1 phase (not shown in Figure 9). Only during pre-conditioning 2 a slight average movement can be observed. 4.4 TBM passage The speed of the TBM of the Sophia tunnel is relatively high. During the passage of the trial site an average speed of 1 m per hour is recorded. Given the small distance between tunnel, pile toes and grout zone, deformations are instantaneous and the speed at which the deformation field goes through the trial site is high. To minimize the risk of grout entering the excavation chamber an exclusion zone of 15 m in front of the face has been applied. During TBM passage sleeve injection volumes are in the order of 50 to 75 per sleeve. The TBM process and the tunnel lining have not been affected at all, as a result of the fracture grouting activities. From the data of structure C in Figure 8 it can be concluded that an average settlement of 3 mm occurred during TBM passage. According to the average readings of the water levels structure B appears to be stable. The average PLP readings do show some settlement. Looking into the data in more detail shows that also at structure B settlement occurred, which is compensated subsequently. In Figure 9 it can be observed that both the compensated and the reference Historic structure (A respectively D) settled during TBM passage. No direct positive influence of the fracture grouting during TBM passage is observed. Apparently during TBM passage there has been an imbalance between the high speed of the TBM, i.e. the progress of the deformation field, and the amount of grout that can be injected within a certain time span in order to be efficient. Detailed analyses of the trial data should explain the ineffectiveness of the compensation grouting during TBM passage at the trial site. 4.5 Post passage grouting After tunnel passage additional grouting is pe rformed with injection volumes of 30 to 40 per sleeve. Post grouting mainly focused on the Historic structure (pile group). Post grouting is performed to verify whether control over the pile group could at least be re-established after TBM passage. Figure 9 shows a perfect 5 mm heave of structure A in the post grouting phase, with negligible consolidation effects. 5 CONCLUSIONS The trial results have shown that TAM installation by a soil displacement technique causes negligible vertical deformation of the pile. It was also shown that fracture grouting can be used to control of the vertical movement of several types of wooden pile found ations. Detailed analyses of the data should provide an answer to the relative ineffectiveness of fracture grouting during TBM passage.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The permission of the client and contractor of the Sophia Railway tunnel for using the trial site is gratefully acknowledged. REFERENCES Van der Stoel A.E.C. 2001, Grouting to Improve Pile Foundations, Ph.D. thesis, Delft University of Technology, ISBN 90-4072223-4 Netzel H., Kaalberg F.J. (2000) Numerical Damage Risk Assessment Studies on adjacent buildings due to TBM-tunnelling in Amsterdam - Proc. of GEOENG 2000, Melbourne Netzel H., Kaalberg F.J. (1999), Settlement Risk Management with GIS for the North/South Metroline in Amsterdam, Proc. World Tunnel Congres, Oslo