Indian Geotechnical Conference 2017 GeoNEst

14-16 December 2017, IIT Guwahati, India

Optimal Foundation Solution for Storage Terminal in Mangalore

Tanmay Gupta
Valluri Sridhar
Madan Kumar Annam
Keller Ground Engineering India Private Limited, Mumbai - 400059
E-mail: tanmay@kellerindia.com; sridhar@kellerindia.com; madankumar@kellerindia.com

ABSTRACT: Storage terminals are one of the major growing facilities in the coastal area of India. This paper presents
optimal foundation solution for one such terminal located along the west coast of India. Subsoil at the present location
consists of filled up soil followed by loose silty sand which is further underlain by soft to firm silty clay. In order to
develop storage terminals in such type of soil, it is necessary to provide suitable foundation technique to meet the
technical specifications. Ground improvement using vibro stone columns is one of the technique to increase the bearing
capacity and to reduce the total and differential settlements to acceptable limits. Besides minimizing the differential
settlement of tank foundations, vibro stone columns are also designed to address the liquefaction susceptibility of the
loose silty sands. The various aspects of sub soil conditions, design, construction methodology, quality control and
hydro test results are discussed in this paper.
Keywords: Storage Terminals, Ancillary Structures, Optimal Foundations, Ground Improvement, Vibro Stone Columns, Hydro test
1. Introduction the variable soil layer is converted to a homogenous mass
In last few decades, tremendous growth is observed in which behaves uniformly, resulting in minimal
construction of storage terminals in coastal area of India. differential settlements.
The foundation for these storage terminals should be
Figure 1 shows schematic procedure of vibro stone
geotechnically competent to ensure serviceability during
column construction using dry bottom feed method.
design life of structures. The storage terminal addressed
Crushed stone aggregates according to specifications in
in this report lies on west coast of India and subsoil
BS EN 14731 (2005) are ejected from the tip of vibrator
present at the project location consists predominantly of
which accompanied by strong vibratory forces results in
silty sands followed by silty clay. Hard stratum is
compacted stone column. Stone columns are constructed
observed in soil investigation below this silty clay layer.
from bottom to up and the diameter of stone column
The subsoil has low bearing capacity and is expected to
depends on stiffness of surrounding soil and vibrator
undergo large settlement on application of loads. Also,
properties.
the silty sands present at project location are vulnerable
to liquefaction in event of earthquake.
2. Motivation and Objective
Optimal foundation solution provides an alternative or a
scenario in design of foundations which utilizes resources
in effective manner and ensure that the serviceability of
structure is maintained during its design life. The design
of optimal foundation considers the technical
performance criteria to arrive at most beneficial solution
for structure under consideration.
Also, optimal foundation accompanied by progressive
design and time convenience, can also provide cost Figure 1 : Installation of vibro stone columns (dry bottom
effective solution. Storage steel tanks founded over sand feed method)
pads or ring beams are classified as flexible footing
structures. These types of structures can be effectively Ground treatment using vibro stone columns improves
founded over ground improvement using vibro stone the ground in following ways:
columns and have long proven track record, Bhushan et  Stone columns are elements of greater stiffness than
al (2004), Vetriselvan and Raj (2006), Bohn and Lambert surrounding soil. As a result, the load bearing of
(2013). stone column is greater than that of surrounding soil.
The objective of this paper is to highlight the Thus, a uniformly spaced stone column arrangement
performance of vibro stone columns as an effective will have higher bearing capacity and less settlement
method of ground improvement for tank foundations and than that of natural ground.
ancillary structures.  Stone columns being elements of greater
permeability, provides drainage path for dissipation
3. Optimal Foundation Solution of excess pore water on application of load. The
Ground improvement using vibro stone columns (dry vertical movement of water in soil deposit is
bottom feed method) introduces crushed stone aggregates converted to radial drainage thus increasing the rate
as backfill material which acts as load bearing elements of settlement. This property of stone column is
and functions as drainage elements. With improvement,
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Optimal Foundation Solution for Storage Terminal in Mangalore

beneficial in reducing the long-term settlement of
footings founded on clayey soil.
 Also, installation of vibro stone columns imparts
vibratory energy to soil thus densifying loose
deposits of sands.
 Vibro stone columns also acts as earthquake drains
which helps in dissipation of pore water pressure
during earthquake.
Vibro stone columns are designed to achieve uniform
improvement of soil in such a way that technical
performance criteria of foundations are satisfied with
most optimal solution.
determine the geotechnical concerns and to arrive at most
optimal solution for foundation. Figure 2 shows eCPT
location plan and Fig. 3 presents average eCPT plot for
Tank 101. Based on site observations and this plot, it is
observed that subsoil consists of filled up soil followed
by loose to med dense silty sands. This silty sand is
further underlain by firm to stiff silty clay followed by
hard stratum.
3.2 Soil Investigation

3.1 Structure Details

Proposed storage terminal consists of ten nos. of steel
tanks including two nos. of fire water tanks (floating and
fixed roof type) founded over sand pad. The diameter of
tanks is ranging from 13.5m to 28m with height varying
from 15m to 20m. The height to diameter ratio for tanks
is in between 0.7 to 1.3. Ancillary structures such as
office building, truck loading platform and pump room
are also proposed in this facility. Table 1 and Table 2
presents details of structures in proposed facility.
Table 1 : Details of proposed tanks
Loading
Height.
Tank ID Diameter (m) Intensity
(m)
(kPa)
T101* 21.0 18.5 210
T102* 23.0 15.0 180
+
T103 to
18.5 20.0 220
T106+
T107* 16.0 20.0 220
T108* 28.0 20.0 220
Figure 2 : eCPT location plan
FWT 1*
13.5 17.0 190
&2 CPT qc (MPa)
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
0
*Fixed Roof; +Floating Roof
Table 2 : Details of proposed ancillary structures on 1
Filled
up soil
isolated footings 2

Loading
Length, Width, 3
Structure Intensity
m m
(kPa) 4

Loading &
13.5 10.0 150 5
unloading-1 Silty Sand
Depth (m)

6
Pump room-1 6.0 5.0 150
Loading & 7
31.5 10.0 150
unloading-2 8

Pump room-2 16.0 6.0 150 9

Stores room 16.0 8.0 150 10

Silty Clay

Office Building 27.8 16 150 11

Extensive soil investigation works using eCPTs (electric 12

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
cone penetration tests) were conducted at project location qc Rf Rf (%)
to understand the subsoil characteristics. eCPTs were
conducted at center and along the periphery of tank to Figure 3 : eCPT plot for Tank 101

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 Indian Geotechnical Conference 2017 - GeoNEst
14-16 December 2017, IIT Guwahati, India
3.3 Design of Optimal Foundation time. These plots enable real time monitoring of column
From the soil investigation works, geotechnical concerns build up and compaction energy utilized at each depth.
for the proposed structures were identified as shown
Post construction quality assurance was demonstrated
below:
using routine load tests and hydro tests.
 To address bearing capacity
4. Post-Performance Results
 To limit settlements
 To mitigate liquefaction potential The post-performance was evaluated using routine load
o Zone Factor 0.16 for Zone III (IS 1893), tests on vibro stone columns according to IS 15284.
Magnitude 7.5 Summary of load vs settlement for routine group load test
Liquefaction potential of sands was evaluated using is presented in Table 3.
NCEER guidelines, Youd et al (2001) and design for
Table 3 : Summary of load tests on vibro stone columns
vibro stone columns was done using Priebe’s
methodology for vibro replacement, Priebe (1995), Priebe Design Settlement Test Settlement
(1998). Design criteria and loading requirement, Type
Load, @ Design Load, @ Test
considered for the analysis is summarized below: of Test
kPa Load, mm kPa Load, mm
ISLT 220 2.30 330 4.17
 Loading Requirement : 220 kPa
RGLT 220 3.56 242 4.70
 Long term post construction permissible settlements
In addition to above tests, successful routine single
o At edge : <150 mm
column load tests were also conducted.
o Differential settlement: 1 in 500
Vibro stone column parameters: Also, the efficacy of ground improvement was monitored
 Unit weight of column material: 22 kN/m3 using hydrotest readings. Hydrotests were conducted
 Submerged unit weight : 12 kN/m3 according to BS 2654 Standard. Results of hydro test for
 Angle of internal friction : 42̊ Tanks are presented in Fig. 5 and Fig. 6.
 Modulus of compressibility : 120000 kPa 20
18
Proposed treatment scheme: 16
Water Height [m]

 Area replacement ratio : 10.0 % 14

12
A typical cross section of tank founded on vibro stone 10
8
columns is presented in Fig. 4. 6
4
2
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Day
0 5 10 15 Day
20 25 30 35 40
0
10
20 1 (0 deg)
30
Settlements (mm)

2 (45 deg)
40 3 (90 deg)
50
4 (135 deg)
60
5 (180 deg)
70
6 (225 deg)
80
7 (270 deg)
90
8 (315 deg)
100
110
120

Figure 5 : Time vs settlement plot for hydro test for T101

Figure 4 : Typical cross section for tanks founded on
vibro stone columns 20
18
16
3.4 Quality Assurance 14
Water Height [m]

12
State of the art quality control was observed for vibro 10
stone columns works. Before start of main works, 8
6
extensive soil investigation using boreholes and eCPTu 4

were conducted to arrive at suitable ground improvement 2

0
scheme for each of the tanks and buildings. Also, initial 0 5 10 15
Day
20 25 30
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
load test was performed to establish the safe bearing 0
2
capacity of proposed treatment scheme. 4
6
8
During installation of vibro stone columns, quality
Settlement (mm)

1 (0 deg)
10
12 2 (45 deg)

control was ensured using computerized M4 system 14

16
3 (90 deg)
4 (135 deg)
which continuously records depth, compaction effort and 18
20 5 (180 deg)

movement of vibrator throughout the construction 22

24
6 (225 deg)
7 (270 deg)

process. A sample M4 graph is presented in Fig. 7. Left 26

28
8 (315 deg)

30
plot shows Depth on x-axis vs Time on y-axis. Right plot
shows Amps on x-axis vs Time on y-axis. Figure 6 : Time vs settlement plot for hydro test for
The graph shows the compaction effort in form of FWT2
electrical energy and plots it with respect to depth and

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Optimal Foundation Solution for Storage Terminal in Mangalore
4.1 Observations
Based on results of post-performance routine load tests, it
is observed that:
 The settlement of the plate is well within the
permissible limit (i.e. <12mm at design load).
 The treated ground can carry the stipulated design
safe bearing capacity (22.0 T/m2) with sufficient
stability as well as serviceability performance.
Further, readings of hydro test show that:
 The immediate settlement from non-cohesive layers
took place during hydro test stage.
 Settlement from treated cohesive layers has occurred
on account of decrease in consolidation path.
 The differential settlement is well within permissible
limits
 The rebound is less than 20mm which accompanied
by settlements occurred leaves long term settlement
well within expected and permissible limits.
 The settlements were analyzed using API standard
653 (2014) Bhusand were found to be meeting the
technical performance criteria.
5. Conclusions
Oil storage tanks were constructed on loose silty sand
followed by soft to firm silty clay in active seismic zone
along the west coast of India. Vibro stone columns were
implemented to address the differential settlement and
bearing capacity of subsoil. Liquefaction susceptibility of
loose silty sand was also addressed in the design of vibro
stone columns. Based on the performance of vibro stone
columns, it can be opined that ground improvement using
vibro stone columns can be employed as an optimal
solution to support the steel tanks in similar type of soil
and for similar type of structures.
Figure 7 : Sample M4 Graph
6. References
American Petroleum Institute 653 (2014) Tank inspection,
repair, alteration and reconstruction
Bhushan K. et al. (2004) Ground improvement by stone
columns and surcharge at a tank site, Fifth International
Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering,
New York, USA
Bohn, C. and Lambert, S. (2013) Case studies of stone columns
improvement in seismic areas, 3ème Conférence Maghrébine
en Ingénierie Géotechnique (3ème CMIG’13), Alger, Algeria
BS, 2654. (1989) Manufacture of vertical steel welded non-
refrigerated storage tanks with butt-welded shells for the
petroleum industry, British Standard
BS EN. 14731. (2005) Execution of special geotechnical works
– Ground treatment by deep vibration, British Standard
IS, 15284. (2003) Part 1: Design and Construction for Ground
Improvement – Guidelines, Indian Standard
Priebe, H.J. (1995) The design of vibro replacement, Ground
Engineering Journal
Priebe, H.J. (1998) Vibro replacement to prevent earthquake
induced liquefaction, Ground Engineering Journal
Vetriselvan, A and Raj, D (2006) Vibro replacement as
foundation for tank farms in India, Indian Geotechnical
Conference (IGC 2006), Chennai, India
Youd, T. L. et al. (2001) Liquefaction Resistance of Soils:
Summary Report from the 1996 NCEER and 1998
NCEER/NSF Workshops on Evaluation of Liquefaction
resistance of soils, Journal of Geotechnical and
Geoenvironmental Engineering.