MANILA: Room 206, JPD Building, CM Recto Avenue, Manila

CEBU: 4/F J. Martinez Bldg., Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City

Telephone Number: (02) 516 7559 (Manila) E-Mail: buksmarquez1 @yahoo.com
(032) 254-9967 (Cebu)

Review MODULE – GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING (Soil Settlement)

COMPRESSIBILITY OF SOIL SITUATION: A soil deposit, shown in figure consists of 7 m of gravel

overlaying 10 m of clay. Water table is 2 m below the surface of the
The increase in stress caused by foundation and other loads compresses
gravel. A 100 KPa surcharge load is applied at the ground surface. The
a soil layer. This compression is caused by:
preconsolidation stress at A is 200 KN/m², and the deposit is normally
1. Compaction consolidated at B. The gravel has a saturated bulk unit weight of 22
It is the instantaneous process of reducing the volume voids due to KN/m3 and a dry unit weight of 18 KN/m3 and is relatively incompressible
expulsion of pore air. when compared to the clay. The voids ratio of the clay is 0.6 and the
skeletal particles have a specific gravity of 2.8. The compression index
2. Consolidation
of the clay is 0.40 and the recompression index is 0.08.
It is a time dependent process of reducing the volume voids due to
expulsion of pore water and plastic readjustment of soil solids. 1. Determine the settlement of Clay B.
2. Determine the settlement of Clay A.
Settlement is defined as the deformation of soil due to vertical stress.
Settlement is defined as the vertical movement of the ground due to 3. If the water table rises to the surface of the gravel slowly over a
increased vertical stresses are applied to the ground surface. period of time and the preconsolidation at A becomes 300 KPa,
determine the settlement of the clay.
Soil Settlement may be divided into three categories:
1. Immediate settlement - caused by the elastic deformation of
dry, moist, and saturated soils, without any change in moisture content.
2. Primary consolidation settlement – caused by a volume
change in saturated cohesive soils due to expulsion of water that
occupies the void spaces.
3. Secondary consolidation settlement – caused by plastic
readjustment of soil fabrics. It is an additional form of compression that
occurs at constant effective stress.

PRIMARY CONSOLIDATION SETTLEMENT (CLAY)

∆𝒆
𝑺= 𝑯
𝒆𝒐 + 𝟏

where: H = thickness of stratum

eo = void ratio before the vertical load is applied
CONSOLIDATION SETTLEMENT UNDER A FOUNDATION
S = primary consolidation settlement
Approximate Slope Method:
PRIMARY CONSOLIDATION SETTLEMENT OF NORMALLY ∆𝑷𝒕 + 𝟒∆𝑷𝒎 + ∆𝑷𝒃
CONSOLIDATED CLAY ∆𝑷 =
𝟔
𝑪𝑪 𝑯 𝑷𝒐 + ∆𝑷 where: ∆Pt = increase in pressure at the top of the layer
𝑺= 𝒍𝒐𝒈 [ ]
𝒆𝒐 + 𝟏 𝑷𝒐 ∆Pm = increase in pressure at the middle of the layer
∆Pb = increase in pressure at the bottom of the layer
PRIMARY CONSOLIDATION SETTLEMENT OF
OVERCONSOLIDATED CLAY
Case 1: (Po + ∆P) < Pc SITUATION: It is desired to calculate the consolidation settlement of the
4 m thick clay layer shown in figure that will result from the load carried
𝑪𝒔 𝑯 𝑷𝒐 + ∆𝑷 by the footing measuring 4 m x 2 m in plan. Assume the clay to be
𝑺= 𝒍𝒐𝒈 [ ]
𝒆𝒐 + 𝟏 𝑷𝒐 normally consolidated and using 2:1 method.
Case 2: (Po + ∆P) > Pc 1. Calculate the initial effective stress at the mid-height of the clay
𝑪𝒔 𝑯 𝑷𝒄 𝑪𝒄 𝑯 𝑷𝒐 + ∆𝑷 layer.
𝑺= 𝒍𝒐𝒈 [ ] + 𝒍𝒐𝒈 [ ]
𝒆𝒐 + 𝟏 𝑷𝒐 𝒆𝒐 + 𝟏 𝑷𝒄 2. Calculate the induced stress at the mid-height of the clay layer.
3. Calculate the consolidation settlement of the clay layer if it is
where: H = thickness of clay layer eo = initial void ratio normally consolidated.
Cc = compression index Cs = swell index
Pc = preconsolidation pressure ∆P = additional load 4. If the coefficient of volume compressibility is 0.0005 m2/kN,
Po = present overburden pressure calculate the settlement

COMPRESSION INDEX, Cc (Skempton)

For Remolded Clay: For Undisturbed Clay:
Cc = 0.007(LL – 7%) CC = 0.009(LL – 10%)

SWELL INDEX, Cs
𝟏 𝟏
Cs ≅ 𝟓 𝑪𝒄 𝒕𝒐 𝟏𝟎 𝑪𝒄
 MANILA: Room 206, JPD Building, CM Recto Avenue, Manila
CEBU: 4/F J. Martinez Bldg., Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City
Telephone Number: (02) 516 7559 (Manila) E-Mail: buksmarquez1 @yahoo.com
(032) 254-9967 (Cebu)

Review MODULE – GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING (Soil Settlement)

SITUATION. Figure shows the geometry of a rectangular footing (2.5 m

x 1 m) of a three storied building and the properties of clay layer.

1. Calculate the bearing pressure at the base of the foundation.

2. Calculate the overburden pressure.
3. Calculate the immediate settlement.
4. Compute the secondary consolidation settlement of the clay 4 years
after the completion of primary consolidation settlement. Time for
the completion of primary settlement is 2 years. Secondary
compression index is 0.020

IMMEDIATE & SECONDARY CONSOLIDATION SETTLEMENT TOTAL SETTLEMENT

Immediate Settlement, Se 𝑺𝑻 = 𝑺𝒆 + 𝑺𝒑 + 𝑺𝒔

𝑩𝒒(𝟏 − 𝒖𝟐𝒔 ) 𝑰𝒇
𝑺𝒆 =
𝑬𝒔

Secondary Consolidation Settlement, Ss

𝑪𝜶 𝑯 𝑻𝟐
𝑺𝒔 = 𝒍𝒐𝒈 [ ]
𝒆𝒑 + 𝟏 𝑻𝟏

1. From the figure shown, compute the total consolidation settlement of

the clay 3 years after the completion of primary consolidation
settlement. Time for the completion of primary settlement is 1 year.