Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Plate load test on rock with soaking under a massive raft foundation

  • Technical paper
  • Published:
Innovative Infrastructure Solutions Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Iconic Tower, a 385.8 m high-rise building, is the landmark of Egypt New Capital’s Central Business District project and will be the tallest building in Africa when completed. The location of the Iconic Tower is underlain by basalt rock and supported by raft foundation. Obtaining the accurate performance parameter experimentally is key to foundation design. Due to high elastic modulus of the rock, settlement of the bedrock under design load is estimated around 2 mm, which is sensitive to any millimeter-scale errors that may cause deviation to the result. The high flatness and stiffness of loading plate and the underlying grout bedding is key to minimize the error. The results show that the behavior of bedrock under the range of test stresses can be closely presented by a bilinear elastic stress deformation. Excavation-induced disturbance leaves open joints and fractures in the bedrock which produce plastic settlement in the bedrock under loading in addition to the settlement caused by soaking the bedrock under the design load for 24 h. The present study was able to overcome various challenges in the testing procedure, to provide a methodology to obtain the deformation characteristics of basalt bedrock with argillaceous interlayers under dry and wet conditions, to validate the suitability of the test setup and to obtain reliable results. The study also enabled elaborate design and cost savings.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Tian W, Chang WC, Li DF (2019) Value engineering practice of the highest building iconic tower in Africa. Constr Technol 48(17):5–9

    Google Scholar 

  2. Gao WH, Zhu JQ, Zhang ZM, Huang ZY (2008) Experiment study on bearing capacity of soft rock. J Rock Mech Eng 27(5):953–959

    Google Scholar 

  3. Finley RE, George JT, Riggins M (1999) Determination of rock mass modulus using the plate loading method at Yucca Mountain, Nevada (No. SAND99-1998C). Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (US); Sandia National Labs., Livermore, CA (US)

  4. Xiang ZQ (2001) New view on bearing capacity of soft rock foundation. J Rock Mech Eng 20(3):412–414

    Google Scholar 

  5. Zhang L (2014) Study on method for determining bearing capacity of composite foundation by in situ loading test. Rock and Soil Mechanics 35(2):240–244

    Google Scholar 

  6. Jing T, Liu Y (2012) Bearing capacity calculation of rock foundation based on nonlinear failure criterion. Ieri Procedia 1(11):110–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Hoek E, Carranza Torres C, Corkum B (2002) Hoek–Brown failure criterion (2002 edition). In: Proceedings of the North American rock mechanics society meeting in Toronto, Toronto, pp 267–273

  8. Shen L (2017) Study on engineering characteristics and correction rules of bearing capacity of soft rock. Lan Zhou University, Lan Zhou

    Google Scholar 

  9. Kahraman S (2001) Evaluation of simple methods for assessing the uniaxial compressive strength of rock. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 38(7):981–994

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. American Society for Testing and Materials (2017) Standard Test Method for Determining. In: Situ Modulus of Deformation of Rock Mass Using Rigid Plate Loading Method. D4394-17. ASTM International, West Conshohocken. https://doi.org/10.1520/d4394-17. www.astm.org

  11. Merifield RS, Lymin AV, Sloan SW (2006) Limit analysis solutions for the bearing capacity of rock masses using the generalized Hoek–Brown criterion. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 43(16):920–937

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of China State Construction Engineering Corporation via the Scientific Research Funds provided under (1) China State Construction Research Project CSCEC-2019-Z-22 and (2) China Construction Eighth Engineering Division Research Project 2019-2-08. The authors would like to extend their acknowledgement to Prof. Tarek Thabet Abdelfattah for the efforts and guidance provided during the project, Eng. Mohamed Ibrahim for his in situ supervision efforts and CSCEC Egypt Iconic Tower team for their hard work during the test.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. China State Construction Overseas Development CO., LTD, Shanghai, China

    Wei Tian

  2. Iconic Tower, CSCEC-Egypt, New Cairo, Egypt

    Wei Tian

  3. Housing and Building National Research Center (HBRC), Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering Institute, Giza, Egypt

    Abdullah Galaa

Authors
  1. Wei Tian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Abdullah Galaa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Abdullah Galaa.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they are not aware of any conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tian, W., Galaa, A. Plate load test on rock with soaking under a massive raft foundation. Innov. Infrastruct. Solut. 6, 45 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41062-020-00434-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41062-020-00434-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation