IES SEMINAR ON CP– 4: 2003

CODE OF PRACTCE FOR

FOUNDATIONS
presented by

Dr. & Er. Chang Ming-Fang

Associate Professor
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

24 August 2005

SECTION TWO
DESIGN OF FOUNDATIONS

2.2 Design Considerations

2.2.1 Engineering classification of

soils and rocks

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Engineering classification of
soils and rocks
• Geological formations in Singapore
• Classification of recent deposits
• Classification of rock formations
– Material strength
– Weathering
– Discontinuities

Geological formations in Singapore

• Major:
The Bukit Timah Granite (BG)
The Jurong Formation (JF)
The Old Alluvium (OA)
The Kallang Formation
• Minor:
The Gombak Norite (GN)
The Bouldery Clay (Fort Canning Boulder Bed)
The Pandan Limestone (within the Jurong Formation)
The reclaimed or hydraulically-filled Sand

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Classification of recent deposits

• Kallang Formation
Fluvial sand, marine clay, peaty clay – USCS or
BS5930:1999

• Reclaimed sand fill

Sand – USCS or BS5930:1999

Classification of rock formations

• Basis of classification
–Material strength
–Weathering
–Discontinuities

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 Material strength
Table 2.1 – Rock strength grade based on uniaxial compression test

Description of Field definition Uniaxial

strength grade compressive
strength (MPa)
Extremely Rock rings on hammer blow. Only >200
Strong broken by sledge hammer
Very Strong Rock chipped by heavy hammer blows. 100 - 200
Strong When resting on a solid face, rocks can 50 – 100
be broken by hammer blows.
Moderately When held in hand, rock can be broken 12.5-50
Strong by hammer blows.
Moderately Only thin slabs, corners or edges can 5-12.5
Weak be broken off with heavy hand
pressure.
Weak Gravel size lumps can be broken in 1.25-5
halves by heavy hand pressure.
Very Weak Gravel size lumps can be crushed <1.25
between finger and thumb.

Weathering
Approaches – BS5930:1999

Approach 1: Factual Description of Weathering -

for all types of rock;
Approach 2: Classification for Uniform Materials -
aiming at rocks that are moderately strong
or stronger in a fresh state;
Approach 4: Classification Incorporating Material
and Mass Features - aiming at rocks that
are moderately weak or weaker in a fresh state;
Approach 5 - for special cases, such as karst.

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 Table 2.2 – Rock weathering classification for Bukit Timah Granite and Gombak
Norite (modified from Anon 1970)

BukitTimah Grade Designation Description Basis for assessment

Granite & I Fresh to

Faintly
No visible sign of
weathering, or weathering
Intact strength, unaffected
by weathering. Not broken

Gombak Weathered limited to the surface of easily by hammer – rings

major discontinuities. when struck. No visible

Norite
discolouration.
II Slightly Penetrative weathering Not broken easily by
Weathered developed on open hammer – rings when
discontinuity surfaces but struck. Fresh rock colours
only slight weathering of generally retained but
rock material. stained near joint surfaces.

III Moderately Weathering extends Cannot be broken by hand.

Weathered throughout the rock mass Easily broken by hammer.
but the rock material is Makes a dull or slight
not friable. ringing sound when struck
with hammer. Stained
throughout.
IV Highly Weathering extends Core can be broken by
Weathered throughout rock mass and hand. Does not slake in
the rock material is friable. water. Completely
discoloured.
V Completely Rock is wholly Original rock texture
Weathered decomposed and in a preserved, can be
friable condition but the crumbled by hand. Slakes
rock texture and structure in water. Completely
are preserved. discoloured.
VI Residual A soil material with the Original rock structure
Soil original texture, structure completely destroyed. Can
and mineralogy of the be crumbled by hand.
rock completely
destroyed.
NOTE – In the case of weathered rocks with significant clay content, the
material may exhibit plasticity rather than friability. For completely
decomposed rock (Grades V) and residual soils (Grade VI), a normal
description for engineering soils on the basis of USCS or BS 5930:1999 should
be followed.

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Jurong Formation

Weak mudrock - Approach 4

Stronger sandstone and conglomerate

- Approach 2 (Table 2.3)

Thinly bedded rocks - Approach 2

The Pandan limestone

- Approach 5:Special Cases

Strong rocks in JF
Table 2.3 – Rock weathering classification for Jurong Formation according to
Approach 2

Grade Basis for assessment

I Intact strength, unaffected by weathering
II Slightly weakened, slight discolouration, particularly along joints.
III Considerably weakened & discoloured, but larger pieces cannot be broken
by hand. (RQD is generally > 0, but RQD should not be used as the major
criterion for assessment).
IV Core can be broken by hand or consists of gravel size pieces. Generally
highly to very highly fractured, but majority of sample consists of
lithorelics. (RQD generally = 0, but RQD should not be used as the major
guide for assessment). For siltstone, shale, sandstone, quartzite and
conglomerate, the slake test can be used to differentiate between Grade V
(slakes) and Grade IV (does not slake).
V Rock weathered down to soil-like material, but bedding intact. Material
slakes in water.
VI Bedding destroyed

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Old Alluvium
Table 2.5 – Weathering classification of Old Alluvium

Class Classifier Characteristics Indicative SPT N-value,

(Blows/300 mm)*

A Unweathered Original strength >50 (cannot usually be

penetrated by CPTs with 20
Ton pushing capacity)
B Partially Slightly reduced >50 (cannot usually be
Weathered strength penetrated by CPTs with 20
Ton pushing capacity)
C Distinctly Further weakened 30 to 50
weathered
D Destructured Greatly weakened, 10 to 30
often mottled, bedding
disturbed
E Residual Bedding destroyed <10

* The SPT resistance should not be used in isolation to assess weathering.

Fort Canning boulder bed

• In the description of the Fort Canning Boulder Bed,

which consists of a mixture of clay, silt and sand and
usually 5% to 35% of boulders, the boulder content
that affects the compressibility of the stratum and the
selection of construction methods should be noted.
• The USCS or the British Classification System as
described in Section 6 of BS 5930:1999 should be
used in the classification of the matrix, which is
usually a heavily over-consolidated clayey soil.

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 Discontinuities
(a) Rock Quality Designation (RQD):
100 ∑ x i
RQD =
L
where are the lengths of individual pieces of rock core in a drill run having
lengths of 0.1 m or greater and L is the total length of the drill run.

(b) Relation between and the mean discontinuity frequency can be

approximated as (Priest and Hudson, 1976):
− 0.1λ (0.1λ + 1)
RQD = 100e

where λ is the number of discontinuities per metre. The correlation can be

used for the estimation of discontinuity spacing from RQD, if the
discontinuity spacing is not measured in the field.

Figure 2.2 – Relation between and mean discontinuity frequency

(after Priest and Hudson 1976)

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 SUMMARY
(1)Proper classification of geological formations
taking into consideration of factors that could
significantly influence the performance of a
foundation system is important.
(2)For rock formations that dominate the geology
of Singapore, the main factors to consider are
¾ Material strength
¾ Weathering
¾ Discontinuities

THANK YOU
For further clarification, please contact

Dr. Chang, Ming-Fang at

Email: cmfchang @ntu.edu.sg
Tel: 6790-5315