Soils and Foundation Handbook

1 Soils and Foundation Handbook 2000 State Materials Office Gainesville, Florida iRegistration Form Soils and Foundation Handbook 2000 Name: Name of Firm or DOT Unit: Mailing Address: Telephone: Fax: E-mail: Please remove this sheet from your Handbook and complete the requested information so that addenda and revisions may be forwarded as necessary. Please return to: Florida Department of Transportation State Materials Office Attn: Geotechnical Engineer 2006 NE Waldo Road Gainesville, Florida 32609 iiThis page is intentionally blank. iiiTable of Contents Registration Form.

2 I Table of Contents ..iii List of xi List of Tables ..xiii Chapter 1 .. 1 1 Introduction .. 1 Geotechnical Tasks in Highway Projects .. 2 Planning, Development, and Engineering 2 Project Design Phase .. 2 Construction Phase .. 2 Post-Construction Phase .. 3 Chapter 2 .. 4 2 Subsurface Investigation 4 Review of Project Requirements .. 4 Office Review of Available 4 Topographic Maps .. 4 Aerial Photographs .. 5 Geological Maps and 5 Soils Conservation Service Surveys .. 5 Potentiometric Surface Map .. 5 Adjacent Projects .. 5 Field 6 Field Exploration Methods .. 6 Test Pits and Trenches .. 6 Boreholes .. 6 Auger Borings .. 7 Hollow-Stem Auger 7 Wash Borings.

3 7 Percussion Drilling .. 7 Rotary Drilling .. 7 8 Soundings .. 8 Geophysical Methods .. 8 Seismic Refraction and Reflection .. 8 9 Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) .. 9 soil Sampling .. 9 Bag Bulk Samples .. 9 Split-Barrel .. 9 Shelby 9 Piston Samplers .. 10 Stationary .. 10 Floating .. 10 Retractable .. 10 Rock Core Sampling .. 11 Double Tube Core 11 Triple Tube Core 11 14 Specifications and Standards .. 14 Chapter 3 .. 16 3 Subsurface Investigation Guidelines for Highways and Related Structures .. 16 General 16 Guidelines for Minimum Explorations .. 17 Roadway soil 17 Structures.

4 19 Bridges .. 19 Approach Embankments .. 20 Retaining Walls .. 20 Buildings .. 21 Drainage Structures .. 21 High Mast Lighting, Strain Poles and Sign Structures .. 21 Mast Arms Assemblies .. 21 Tunnels .. 22 Other 22 Borrow 22 Retention 22 26 Specifications and Standards .. 26 Chapter 4 .. 27 4 In-situ 27 Standard Penetration Test (SPT).. 27 Cone Penetrometer Test (CPT) .. 28 Dynamic Cone Penetrometer Test .. 29 Dilatometer Test (DMT) .. 29 Pressuremeter Test (PMT) .. 30 Field Vane Test .. 30 Percolation Test .. 30 Infiltration Test .. 31 Permeability Test .. 31 Seepage Test .. 31 Open-End Borehole Test .. 32 Exfiltration 32 Pumping Test .. 32 Environmental Corrosion Tests.

5 32 pH of Soils .. 33 pH of Water .. 33 Chloride Ion in Water .. 33 Chloride Ion in soil .. 33 Sulfate Ion in Brackish Water .. 33 Sulfates in 33 Electrical Resistance of 33 Electrical Resistance of soil .. 33 Grout Plug Pull-out Test .. 33 43 Specifications and Standards .. 44 Chapter 5 .. 45 5 Laboratory Tests .. 45 45 Grain-Size Analysis .. 45 Sieve Analysis .. 45 45 Moisture Content .. 46 Atterberg Limits .. 46 Liquid Limit .. 46 Plastic Limit .. 46 Specific Gravity of 47 Strength Tests .. 47 Unconfined Compression Tests .. 47 Triaxial Compression 47 Unconsolidated-Undrained (UU), or Q 48 Consolidated-Undrained (CU), or R Test .. 48 Consolidated-Drained (CD), or S 48 Direct 48 Miniature Vane Shear (Torvane) and Pocket 48 Consolidation 49 One-Dimensional 49 Constant Rate of Strain 49 Organic 50 Shrinkage and Swell.

6 50 50 50 50 Constant-Head Test .. 50 Falling-Head Test .. 51 Flexible Wall 51 Environmental Corrosion Tests .. 51 Compaction Tests .. 51 Standard Proctor .. 51 Modified Proctor .. 52 Relative Density Tests .. 52 Maximum Index 52 Minimum Index Density .. 52 Limerock Bearing Ratio (LBR) .. 52 Florida Bearing Value (FBV) .. 53 Resilient Modulus Test (Dynamic).. 53 Rock 53 Unconfined Compression Test .. 53 Absorption and Bulk Specific Gravity .. 54 Splitting Tensile Strength Test .. 54 Triaxial Compression Strength .. 54 Unit Weight of Sample .. 54 54 Specifications and Standards .. 55 Chapter 6.

7 57 6 Materials Description, Classification, and Logging .. 57 Materials Description and Classification .. 57 Soils .. 57 58 58 58 Coarse-Grained Soils .. 58 Well-Graded .. 58 Poorly-Graded .. 58 Gap-Graded .. 58 Fine-Grained 58 Relative Density or Consistency .. 58 Moisture 59 Particle Angularity and 59 Additional Descriptive Terms .. 59 Classification .. 60 Unified soil Classification System (USCS) .. 60 AASHTO Classification 60 Rocks .. 60 60 60 Weathering .. 61 Hardness .. 61 Cementation .. 61 Additional Description Terms .. 61 Logging .. 61 Comments on Drilling Procedures and/or Problems .. 61 Test Results .. 61 Rock Quality Designation (RQD).

8 61 71 Specifications and Standards .. 71 Chapter 7 .. 72 7 Field 72 Instrumentation .. 72 Inclinometers (Slope Indicators) .. 72 Settlement Indicators .. 73 74 75 Monitoring 75 Vibration 75 Special Instrumentation .. 75 79 Specifications and Standards .. 79 Chapter 8 .. 80 8 Analysis and Design .. 80 Roadway Embankment Materials .. 80 Limits of Unsuitable Materials .. 81 Limerock Bearing Ratio (LBR) .. 81 +2% of Optimum Method .. 81 90% Method .. 81 Corrosivity .. 81 Drainage .. 81 Earthwork Factor .. 82 Other Considerations .. 82 Foundation 82 Spread Footings .. 82 Design Procedure.

9 82 Considerations .. 82 Driven Piles .. 82 Design Procedure .. 83 Considerations .. 83 Drilled Shafts .. 83 Design Procedure .. 83 Considerations .. 83 83 Design Procedure .. 83 Micro 84 Design Procedure .. 84 Foundation Analysis .. 84 Lateral Loads .. 84 Scour .. 84 Downdrag .. 84 Construction Requirements .. 85 Embankment Settlement/Stability .. 85 Settlement .. 85 Design Procedure .. 85 Considerations .. 85 Possible Solutions .. 85 86 Design Procedure .. 86 Considerations .. 86 Possible Solutions .. 86 Retaining Wall Design .. 87 Design Procedure .. 87 Consideration .. 87 Steepened Slopes.

10 87 Design Procedure .. 87 Computer Programs used in FDOT .. 90 97 Chapter 9 .. 99 9 Presentation of Geotechnical Information .. 99 Roadway soil 99 General Information .. 99 Conclusion and Recommendations .. 100 Roadway Soils Survey Sheet .. 100 Roadway Cross Sections .. 100 Structures Investigation .. 101 Introduction .. 101 Scope of Investigation .. 101 Interpretation of Subsurface 101 Existing Structures Survey and Evaluation .. 102 Structure Foundation Analysis and 103 Spread 103 Driven Piles .. 104 Drilled 105 Approach Embankments Considerations .. 106 106 Stability .. 106 Construction Considerations .. 106 Retaining Walls and Seawalls .. 106 Steepened Slopes.