The Twenty-Eighth KKHTCNN Symposium on Civil Engineering

November 16-18, Bangkok, Thailand

Performance of Contiguous Pile Wall with Raking Strut for Basement

Construction of BITEC Phase 2 Project
Wanchai Teparaksa1, Pongsathorn Sontiprasart22, Nitti Prachayaset2,
Suraparb Keawsawasvong
1
Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
2
Geotechnical Engineer, Strategia Engineering Consultants Co., Ltd., Thailand
1
wanchai.te@chula.ac.th, 2strategia.secc@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

The extended exhibition building called BITEC Phase 2 consists of 3 basements. The elevations of BITEC Phase 2
basements are -1.65, -5.50 and -8.35m. depth from ground surface. The final depth of this project is -10.65m. depth from
ground surface. Because this project was constructed on the very large area, the raking strut is used as the bracing system in
order to reduce the cost and time of construction. The finite element analysis was carried out to predict the movement of
contiguous pile wall. The measured lateral movement of contiguous pile wall by means of inclinometer at all stages of
construction is compared with FEM prediction.

INTRODUCTION

Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre (BITEC) is located between Sukhumvit Road and Bang na-Trad Road,
Bangkok. The extended exhibition building called BITEC Phase 2 was designed and consist of 7 storey buildings with 3
basements. The elevations of BITEC Phase 2 basements are -1.65, -5.50 and -8.35m. depth from ground surface as shown in
Figure 1. The final depth of this project is -10.65m. depth from ground surface. The contiguous pile wall was used as the soil
protection system. This paper presents the design and performance of contiguous pile wall using the raking strut as the
temporary bracing system. The lateral movement of contiguous pile wall was predicted by Finite Element Method (FEM) with
simulation of all construction sequences. The inclinometer was installed in contiguous pile wall in order to observe the lateral
movement of the contiguous pile wall and be compared with the FEM analysis.

Fig.1. Three basements of extended exhibition building of BITEC

SOIL CONDITIONS

The soil investigation with 3 bored holes was carried out up to approximately 60-70m. depth below ground surface. Soil
condition consists of 12m. thick soft clay. Below the soft clay, the medium stiff clay is encountered to about 15.0m. depth. Stiff
to very stiff silty clay layer was found below soft to medium clay to about 22.5m. depth. The first dense silty sand is
encountered below very stiff silty clay to about 27m. depth then followed by the second layer of very stiff silty clay which was
encountered to about 34.5m. depth. Finally, the hard silty clay is encountered to about 39.0m. depth then followed by the very
dense silty sand. The summary of soil conditions and its properties are presented in Table1.
Table 1 The summary of soil condition and property.
Depth Soil Description t Su N-value Eu/Su E/N
(m.) (t/m3) (t/m2) (Blows/ft.)
0.0 - 4.0 Soft Clay (First Layer) 1.70 1.90 - 500 -
4.0 7.5 Soft Clay (Second Layer) 1.60 1.60 - 500 -
7.5 12.0 Soft Clay (Third Layer) 1.55 1.30 - 500 -
12.0 15.0 Medium Stiff Clay 1.65 2.60 - 750 -
15.0 18.0 Stiff Silty Clay 1.90 8.20 - 1000 -
18.0 21.0 Stiff Sandy Clay 2.00 8.30 - 1000 -
21.0 22.5 Very Stiff Silty Clay (First Layer) 2.00 11.40 - 1000 -
22.5 27.0 Dense Silty sand 2.00 - 38 - 200
27.0 34.5 Very Stiff Silty Clay (Second Layer) 2.00 13.70 - 1000 -
34.5 39.0 Hard Silty Clay 2.00 25.00 - 1000 -
39.0 End Very Dense Silty Sand 2.00 - 55 - 200
Note: Su = Undrained shear strength, t = Total unit weight, N-value = SPT N-value, Eu = Undrained Youngs modulus, E= Drained Youngs modulus

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The extended exhibition building called BITEC Phase 2 was constructed on a very large area. For bracing system, if the
horizontal strut (Cross strut) is used as the bracing system, the cost of construction will be very expensive. So, the raking strut is
used as the strut of the system in order to reduce the cost of construction. Meanwhile, using of raking strut also reduce the time
of construction. The contiguous pile wall has 1.0m. diameter, 1.1m. spacing and 17.3m. long and used as the soil protection
system. The first layer raking strut was braced at EL -2.5m. on the contiguous pile wall while at EL. -8.35m. on floor slab as
shown in Figure 2. However, the reinforce concrete slab at the center or inner area should be constructed before the first layer
raking strut was installed. Therefore, the Island excavation method was carried out by excavating the soil in middle area and the
base slab was constructed, and still leaving the soil berm at the boundary of the construction area in order to prevent the
movement of the contiguous pile wall. After the base slab was completed, the soil berm will be excavated and the first layer
raking strut will be then installed. The different level between the second basement and third basement is about 3-4m. The inner
sheet pile types FSV-III that has 12 m. long and second layer raking strut were carried out as the soil protection system of this
different level. The second layer raking strut was braced between EL. -7.0m. on the sheet pile and EL. -8.35m. on the base slab
as shown in Figure 2. After completion of third base slab, the second layer raking strut was removed as soon as second
basement floor was completed then the first layer raking was removed as shown in Figure 3.

38000 2000

36000
Ground Level (EL. - 0.70 m.)
1800

EL. -2.50 m. Strut Layer 1 ( Raking)

Strut Layer 2 ( Raking)

EL. -5.50 m.
EL. -6.70 m. EL. -7.00 m.
Lean Concrete
t = 0.20 m., fc' = 240 ksc
Distance 6.0 m. from pile wall EL. -9.00 m.
6000
EL. -10.65 m. Lean Concrete
t = 0.10 m.
Lean Concrete
Pile Wall Diameter 1.0 m, L = 17.3 m. t = 0.10 m.
Spacing @ 1.1 m.
Top EL. -0.7 m.
Tip EL. -18.0 m.
Sheet Pile Type III
L = 12.0 m.
EL. -17.50 m.
EL. -18.00 m.

Fig.2. Cross sections of the basement construction of the BITEC Phase 2 by using two layer raking struts
 Ground Level (EL. - 0.70 m.)

2800
Temporary Raking (EL. -4.3 m.)
EL. -3.50 m. Block out for Raking Strut
EL. -4.30 m.
Lean Concrete
t = 0.15 m., fc' = 240 ksc EL. -5.50 m. (B2)
Backfill
EL. -6.70 m. Lean Concrete
t = 0.20 m., fc' = 240 ksc EL. -8.35 m. (B3)
Distance 6.0 m. from pile wall EL. -9.00 m.
6000
EL. -10.65 m. Lean Concrete
Lean Concrete t = 0.10 m.
t = 0.15 m., fc' = 240 ksc Lean Concrete
Pile Wall Diameter 1.0 m, L = 17.3 m. Backfill t = 0.10 m.
Spacing @ 1.1 m.
Top EL. -0.7 m.
Tip EL. -18.0 m.

EL. -18.00 m.

Fig. 3. Cross sections of the basement construction of the BITEC Phase 2 after the second basement was completed

ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF CONTIGUOUS PILE WALL

The analysis and design of the contiguous pile wall was carried out by means of the two-dimensional plane strain finite
-40.000 -30.000 -20.000 -10.000 0.000 10.000 20.000 30.000 40.000 50.000 60.000 70.000
element analysis. The construction sequence was simulated by using finite element software, namely Plaxis2D. As the
basement constructed in soft clay layer, the undrained concept based on bi-linear Mohr-Coulomb failure theory was used for
finite element analysis. Generally, the Youngs modulus (E) was used in terms of undrained shear strength (su) of E/su = 500 and
1000 for soft clay and stiff clay, respectively (Teparaksa 1999; 2009). The values of undrained Youngs modulus (Eu) and
20.000

drained Youngs modulus (E) divided by undrained shear strength and SPT N-value of soil layers are showed in Table 1.
Figure10.000
4 presents the deformed mesh of the FEM analysis of the step of the second layer raking strut was installed. Figure 5
presents the deformed mesh of the FEM analysis of the step of the first layer raking strut was removed.
A A

0.000

-10.000

-40.000 -30.000 -20.000 -10.000 0.000 10.000 20.000 30.000 40.000 50.000 60.000 70.000

-20.000

20.000

-30.000

10.000
Fig. 4. Deformed mesh of the step of the second layer raking strut was installed
-40.000

A A

0.000

Deformed Mesh
-3
Extreme total displacement 100.98*10 m
(displacements at true scale)
-10.000

-20.000

-30.000

-40.000 Fig. 5. Deformed mesh of the step of the first layer raking strut was removed

The bending moment diagrams of all steps of excavation and construction are concluded in Figure 6. The solid line in
Figure 6 presents the bending moment envelope in the excavation Deformed Mesh side, while the dotted line presents the bending moment
-3
Extreme total displacement 112.80*10 m
envelope in the soil side. These lines were used for design(displacements
the reinforcement
at true scale)
of pile wall.
INSTRUMENTATION ANE THE RESULTS OF INSTRUMENTS

The inclinometer was installed inside the contiguous pile wall to observe the lateral movement of the contiguous pile wall.
The measurements of the inclinometer at various constructed stages are shown in Figure 7. In Figure 7, it can be seen that the
lateral movement by FEM agrees well with field performance and it is less than the maximum lateral movement by FEM. The
basement construction of BITEC Phase 2 was completed as schedule.
FEM Analysis and Inclinometer Monitoring Result
0

-2

-4

-6

-8
Elevation (m.)
-10

-12

-14 FEM Analysis

-16

-18

-20
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Horizontal Movement (mm.)

Fig. 6. The bending moment envelope Fig. 7. The cooperation of lateral movements

CONCLUSIONS

This paper presents the basement construction of BITEC Phase 2 located between Sukhumvit Road and Bang na-Trad
Road, Bangkok. The basement construction system of 10.65m. depth was designed using contiguous pile wall with two
raking struts. The finite element analysis was carried out to predict the movement of contiguous pile wall and the bending
moment diagrams. The measured lateral movement of contiguous pile wall by means of inclinometer at all stages of
construction is compared with FEM prediction. The FEM prediction agrees well with measured values. The deep basement
was completed on the schedule.

REFERENCES

W. Teparaksa, (1999) Principal and application of instrumentation for the first MRTA subway project in Bangkok 5th International
Symposium on Field Measurement in Geomechanics, Singapore.
W. Teparaksa, (2009)Usecontiguouspilewall fordeep excavation adjacent to Chao Phraya River: Case of Siriraj hospital, ATC 18 Mega
Foundation Seminar on Bangkok Recent Advance in Deep Excavation and Foundation, EIT, Bangkok