Chapter 1

PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

1.1 Background of the Study
The composition, moisture, and compaction of soil are all major factors
in determining the erosivity during rainfall. Sediments containing more clay
tend to be more resistant to erosion than those with sand or silt, because the
clay helps bind soil particles together.
Liquefaction is commonly used to be describing all failure mechanisms
resulting from the build-up of pore pressure during undrained cyclic shear
of saturated soil (Castro an Poulos 1977).
By narrowest definition, true liquefaction refers only to the flow of soil
under static shear stress that exceeds the undrained, residual shear
resistance of a contractive soil (Castro 1987). Liquefaction of loose,
cohensionless soils can be observed under both monotonic and cyclic shear
loads.
Although earthquakes often triggers this increase in water pressure, but
activities such as blasting can also cause an increase in water pressure.
When liquefaction occurs, the construction above it decreases the strength
and the ability of a soil deposit to support the soil.
Groundwater, sand and soil combine during seismic shaking to form
liquefaction during a moderate to powerful earthquake. A quicksand like
soil is the result of this process. When liquefaction takes place under
buildings the foundations sink and the building collapse. After the

earthquake, the soil firms again and the water settles deeper in the ground.
Areas with sandy soil and groundwater close to the surface are far more at
risk of liquefaction.
Earthquakes accompanied with liquefaction have been observed for
many years. In fact, written records dating back hundreds and even
thousands of years have descriptions of earthquake effects that are now
known to be associated with liquefaction. However, liquefaction has been
so common in a number of recent earthquakes that is often considered to be
associated with them.
The effects of soil liquefaction on the built environment can be
extremely damaging. Buildings whose foundations bear directly on sand
which liquefies will experience a sudden loss of support, which will result
in drastic and irregular settlement of the building causing structural damage,
including cracking of foundations and damage to the building structure
itself, or may leave the structure unserviceable afterwards, even without
structural damage. Where a thin crust of non-liquefied soil exists between
building foundation and liquefied soil, a 'punching shear' type foundation
failure may occur. The irregular settlement of ground may also break
underground utility lines. The upward pressure applied by the movement of
liquefied soil through the crust layer can crack weak foundation slabs and
enter buildings through service ducts, and may allow water to damage the
building contents and electrical services (Institution of Professional
Engineers of New Zealand, 2005).

The soil holding Bato Elementary School is slope and steep. Without
further studies of the soil, its properties, type of soil, particle size analysis,
liquid limit, plastic limit, moisture content, specific gravity, porosity, void
ratio and unit weight, the structure and lives of students and teachers are in
risk since soil liquefaction and erosion are such things that is unstoppable
by human.
The researchers resolve in leading on this study is to ensure the safety of
the students and the structure, to give them knowledge and awareness on
their surroundings particularly for probable soil liquefaction.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

This study aims to evaluate the condition of the soil for the possible
occurrence of soil liquefaction and erosion. Specifically, this study is
expected to answer the following questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

What kind of soil Bato Elementary School has?

What properties of soil do Bato Elementary School has?
Will soil liquefaction and erosion occur on this kind of soil and load?
Does the soil need to be stabilized for it to hold the school?
Does the site needed to be evacuated?

1.3 Theoretical Framework

In-situ Soil Sample

1.4 Scope
and Limitations
(Independent
Variable) of the Study

CSR
Liquefaction safety

Wall
This study is expected only to evaluate theErosion
soil ofControl
Bato Elementary
Design

School for the possible soil erosion and liquefaction

to occur.
In addition,
(Dependent
Variable)

the design of the erosion control wall will be reliable in case of soil erosion
to occur.
1.5 Significance of the Study
The researchers believe that the findings on the test will give knowledge
and awareness to the students and teachers of Bato Elementary School
about the land they are stepping everyday. This study will show them how
important the stability of soil not only for structures but also for the living
things above it. For the parents of the students, it will give them assurance
that their children is in a safe place to study. Since any parents always wants
their children to be away from harm and danger. No parent in the world
wishes their son/daughter to be injured.

1.6 Definition of Terms

In this section, definition of terminology is given so that the readers of
this study will easily refer to this section which will provide definition of
words that they might find hard to understand.
Bore Hole- a narrow shaft bored in the ground, either vertically or horizontally.
Erositivity- is the ability to cause erosion.
Silt- a granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay, whose
mineral origin is quartz and feldspar.

Clay- is a fine-grained natural rock or soil material that combines one or more
clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter.
Sand- is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided
rock and mineral particles.
Cyclic Shear- is the distribution of forces (aka stresses) that change over time
in a repetitive fashion.
Monotonic Shear- forces in which it does not change throughout the period.
Punching Shear- a type of failure of reinforced concrete slabs subjected to
high localized forces.
Stability of soil- is the potential of to withstand and undergo movement.
Holocene Epoch- is the current geological epoch which started some 11,500
years ago when the glaciers began to retreat.
Cementation- The new pore-filling minerals form "bridges" between original
sediment grains, thereby binding them together.
Shear Resistance- the ability to resist sliding failure.
Phenomenon- a fact or situation that is observed to exist or happen, especially
one whose cause or explanation is in question.
Saturated Soil- A condition of soil in which all easily drained voids (pores)
between soil particles are temporarily or permanently filled with water
Dilated- make or become wider, larger, or more open.

Susceptibility- the state or fact of being likely or liable to be influenced or

harmed by a particular thing.
Gravelly soil- soil composed mostly of gravel.
Permeability- is a measure of the ability of a porous material (often, a rock or
an unconsolidated material) to allow fluids to pass through it.
Plastic Limit- is the water content, in percent, at which a soil can no longer be
deformed by rolling into 3.2 mm (1/8 in.) diameter threads without crumbling.
Liquid Limit- is conceptually defined as the water content at which the
behavior of a clayey soil changes from plastic to liquid.
Unit Weight- the weight per unit volume of a material.
Fault- In geology, is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock,
across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock mass
movement.
Tremors- a slight earthquake.
Epicenter- the point where an earthquake or underground explosion originates.
Soil Fabric- is the geometric or spatial arrangement of individual soil particles
and voids while structure includes the organization of soil constituents into
larger aggregates or compound particles.
Propagation- The motion of a wave throughout a medium or the transfer of its
energy.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presents the supporting information and details that might
be needed to perform the research study.
According to Youd and Perkins, 1978, Soils deposited prior to the
Holocene epoch (more than 10, 000 years old) are usually not prone to
liquefaction, perhaps due to weak cementation at the grain contacts.
Liquefaction is a phenomenon wherein mass of soil loses a large
percentage of its shear resistance, when subjected to monotonic, cyclic or
shock loading and flows in a manner resembling of a liquid until the shear
stresses acting on the mass are as low as the reduced shear resistance
(Sladen, 1985).
Liquefaction results from the tendency of soils to decrease in volume
when subjected to shearing stresses. When loose, saturated soils are
sheared, the soil tend to rearrange into a more dense packing, with less
space in the voids, as water in the pore spaces is forced out. If drainage of
pore is impeded, pore water pressures increase progressively with the shear
load. This leads to the transfer of stress from the soil skeleton to the pore
water precipitating a decrease in effective stress and shear resistance of the
soil. If the shear resistance decreases less than the static, driving shear
stress, the soil undergo large deformations and is said to liquefy (Martin et
at; Seed and Idriss 1982).

When dense sands are sheared monotonically, the soil gets compressed
first, and then it gets dilated as sand particles move up and over one another.
When dense saturated sands are sheared, impeding the pore water drainage,
their tendency of volume increase results in a decrease in pore water
pressure and an increase in the effective stress and shear strength. When
dense sand is subjected to cyclic small shear strains under undrained pore
water conditions, excess pore water pressure may be generated in each load
cycle leading to softening and the accumulation of deformations. However,
at lager shear strains, increase in volume relieves the excess pore water
pressure resulting in an increased shear resistance of the soil (Biswas and
Naik, 2010).
Characteristics of the soil grains like distribution of shapes, sizes, shape,
composition etc. influence the susceptibility of a soil to liquefy. While sands
or silts are most commonly observed to liquefy, gravelly soils have also
been known to have liquefied (Seed 1979).
Ishihara (1993) gave the theory that non-plastic soil fines with dry
surface texture do not create adhesion and hence do not provide appreciable
resistance to particle rearrangement and liquefaction.
Koester (1994) stated that sandy soils with appreciable fines content
may be inherently collapsible, perhaps because of greater compressibility of
the fines between the sand grains.
Permeability also plays a significant role in liquefaction. When
movement of pore water within the soil is retarded by low permeability,

pore water pressures are likely to generate during the cyclic loading. Soils
with large non-plastic fines content are more likely to get liquefied because
the fines inhibit drainage of excess pore pressures. The permeability of
surrounding soils also affects the vulnerability of the soil deposit. Less
pervious soils such as clay can prevent the rapid dissipation of excess pore
water pressures that may have generated in the adjacent saturated sand
deposit. Sufficient drainage above or below a saturated deposit may inhibit
the accumulation of excess pore water pressure and hence liquefaction.
Gravelly soils are less prone to liquefaction due to a relatively high
permeability unless pore water drainage is impeded by less pervious,
adjoining deposits (Biswas and Naik, 2010).

Soil liquefaction Occurrence in the Philippines

Liquefaction was widespread in various parts of Northern Luzon during
the recent 16 July 1990 Philippine Earthquake which registered a magnitude
of 7.8 on the Richter scale. The Philippine government, through the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the
Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is undertaking steps to
mitigate the effects of future major earthquake not only in areas affected by
the above mentioned event but also in other developed and liquefaction
prone areas in the country. Part of that effort is the project study reported
herein (Reyes et al, 2011)

Soil liquefaction and associated ground deformations caused extensive

damage to residential buildings and lifeline facilities in many areas in
Christchurch City (New Zealand) during the 2010 Darfield Earthquake.
Twenty years earlier, the 1990 Luzon (Philippines) earthquake also caused
widespread damage in Dagupan City due to liquefaction. This paper
compares the liquefaction phenomenon observed in bot earthquakes, with
emphasis on the characteristics of the sites affected by liquefaction, the
extent of ground deformations observed and the influence of liquefactioninduced settlement and lateral spreading on the built environment (Orense,
2011).
With the anticipated magnitude 7.2 earthquake triggered by the West
Valley Fault along areas in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, the
Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) warned
residents living in areas where the ground is prone to liquefaction. During
the earthquake preparedness forum in Malabon organized by the City of
Malabon and Assistance and Cooperation for Community Resilience and
Development/ACCORD last June, Kathleen Papiona of Phivolcs said
liquefaction is among the other hazards caused by earthquake. Other
hazards are ground rupture, ground shaking, fire, landslide and tsunami.
The phenomenon is triggered by strong ground shaking and is commonly
observed near rivers, bays, and other bodies of water since it occurs in
water-saturated soils. (Philippine Star, 2015)

Without having any magnitude of earthquake, liquefaction occurred in

Benguet City. Large area of soil in the hill of Benguet move and slides
down from the hill. Many houses and structures that have been constructed
in the lower level in the hill are totally damaged (Philippine Daily Inquirer,
2015).
According to Deocampo, Davao city specialist of the Phivolcs, 2015
that, starting last year, we have been updating young active fault map since
it has been done a decade ago. One of the initial things that the geologists
have seen was the new active faults within Davao City.
Deocampo, 2015 stated, we are not releasing this initially and we will do
additional surveys and maybe some trenching for the actual location of the
fault and then we will make it official. The Philippine fault zone is a very
active fault, so although I won't say alarming, it's best to be prepared all the
time as we know earthquake cant be predicted.
In addition, even tremors felt in the City of Mati can have a greater
impact in Davao, since the city's underlying soil material is softer compared
to Mati. What will happen is, the intensity here in Davao will be higher than
in Mati due to ground shaking even Mati has the epicenter (Deocampo,
2015).

Factors Affecting Soil Liquefaction

Since liquefaction is associated with the tendency for soil grains to

rearrange when sheared, anything that impedes the movement of soil grains
will increase the liquefaction resistance of a soil deposit. Particle cementation,
soil fabric, and aging all related to the geologic formation of a deposit- are
important factors that can hinder particle arrangement (Seed, 1979).
Some investigators use the term limited liquefaction for conditions
where large deformations after initial liquefaction are prevented by an increase
in the undrained shear strength (Finn 1990).
Stress history may also contribute to the liquefaction resistance of older
deposits. Overconsolidated soils having been subjected to greater static
pressures in the past, are most resistant to particle rearrangement and
liquefaction. Soil deposits subjected to past cyclic loading are usually more
resistant to liquefaction as the soil grains tend to be in a more stable
arrangement but some deposits may loosened by previous shaking.
In addition, the frictional resistance between soil grains is proportional
to the effective confining stress. Consequently, the liquefaction resistance of a
soil deposit increases with the depth as the effective overburden pressure
increases. For this reason, soil deposits deeper than about 15m are rearly
observed to liquefy ( Krinitzky et al. 1993).
Characteristics of the soil grains( distribution of sizes, shape,
composition, etc.) influence the susceptibility of a soil to liquefy ( Seed, 1979).

While liquefaction is usually associated with sands or silts, gravely soils

have also been known to liquefy. Rounded soil particles of uniform sizes are
generally most susceptible to liquefaction (Poulos et al, 1985).
Well-graded sands with an angular grain shapes are generally less prone
to liquefy because of a more stable interlocking of the soil grains. On the other
hand, natural silty sand sediments tend to be deposited in a looser state, and
thus are more likely to exhibit contractive shear behavior, than clean sands.
(Seed, 1978).
Koester (1994), suggests that sandy soils with a significant fines content
may be inherently collapsible, perhaps due to the greater compressibility of
fines between sand grains.
In addition, as pointed out by Selig and Chang (1981) and Robertson
(1994), it is possible for a dilative soil to reach a temporary condition of zero
effective stress and shear resistance.
During an earthquake, the upward propagation of shear waves through
the ground generates shear stresses and strains that are cyclic in nature. If a
cohesionless soil is saturated, excess pore pressures may accumulate during
seismic shearing and lead to liquefaction. ( Seed and Idriss, 1982).

Erosion Control Wall as countermeasure to earthquake-induced liquefaction and

Soil erosion
Earthquake-induced liquefaction is a major cause of damage that needs
to be controlled by engineers. A popular option for protecting against
liquefaction is the installation of gravel drains to relieve generated excess pore
pressures. Using these, it was possible to determine a time varying extent of
drain effectiveness, and a zone of influence consisting of a conical volume of
soil from which draining fluid left the ground via the drain (University of
Cambridge, 2004)
Soil erosion and surface runoff occurs as water moves along the ground.
The more exposed the soil and the faster the rate of flow, the greater the
damage and the bigger the concern. It is imperative to make certain a slope is
covered or planted so that erosion is minimized. Erosion is prevented by
shortening a potentially long slope into a sequence of more level steps. This
allows heavy rains to soak in rather than run off, taking soil with it. Think of
terraces like steps in an embankment. Soil is cut out of the hill to create the
level tread or landing area. As with garden steps, the level area is not exactly
level. Sloped terraces ought to be graded by about 2% perpendicular towards
the incline in order to gently direct drainage towards one side or the other.
(Landers, B. 2011)
Retaining walls are yet another way to slow runoff and erosion but their
primary function is to support and retain an embankment. However, whatever

the weight, it has to be strong enough to contain back the pressure of a great
amount of soil weight, yet porous enough to be suitable for adequate drainage.
(Landers, B. 2011)

METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the methodology used in the study. Type of research,
research design, research equipment, research process and investigation of the
problem are here discussed.
In addition, a more precise definition of liquefaction as given by Sladen et
al (1985) states that Liquefaction is a phenomena wherein a mass of soil loses
a large percentage of its shear resistance, when subjected to monotonic, cyclic,
or shocking loading, and flows in a manner resembling a liquid until the shear
stresses acting on the mass are as low as the reduced shear resistance
1.7 RESEARCH DESIGN
The research design that was used in the study is experimental. An
experimental research design is concerned with the examination of the
effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable, where the
independent variable is tested through the process to observe its effect to the
dependent variable.
1.8 SUBJECTS/PARTICIPANTS

In performing the experiment/ testing of in-situ soil, the researchers used

the soil samples from Bato Elementary School through the use of data from
bore hole.

1.9 RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

For this study, borehole is needed. A borehole is used to determine the
nature of the ground (usually below 6m depth) in a qualitative manner and then
recover undisturbed samples for quantitative examination.
Obviously the information gained from a borehole is an extremely limited
picture of the subsurface structure. It is therefore essential to compare the
results obtained with those that could have been expected from the desk study.
The greater the number of boreholes the more certain it is possible to be of the
correlation and thus to trust in the results
Apparatus of Standard Penetration test:
1. Tripod
2. Standard split-spoon sampler.
In consists of three parts:
a. Driving shoe, about 75 mm long.
b. Steel tube about 450mm long, split longitudinally in two halves having
inner diameter as 38mm and outer diameter as 50mm.

c. Coupling at the top of the tube about 150mm long.

3. Guide Pipe
4. Drill rod
5. Drop hammer weighing 63.5 kg.
Field Investigation
Field investigation by the SPT was to be done at Bato Elementary
School. The number of boreholes cone penetrometer test positions in each
location are as follows:

Location

No. of Borehole

SPT

Bato Elemetary School

In the field investigation, SPT was conducted to obtain the necessary borehole
data needed for the study. In the same manner, the storage of data is categorized
into the SPT data. All data gathered using the washboring (SPT) method are in
the SPT Table. Data tables are stored in database files that are (conceptually) in
tabular form and containing all field and (in case of the SPT) laboratory test
data.
Drilling Procedure
The SPT was done in accordance with ASTM specifications. For each test,
a 2-inch (50.8 mm.) outside diameter split spoon sampler is driven a total
distance of 18 inches (460 m.) by means of a 140 lb. (63.5 kg.) driving head

falling free from a distance of 30 inches (760 mm.). The number of blows
needed to drive the sampler in 6-inch (153 mm.) increments is recorded and the
number of blows needed to drive the last 12 inches (300 mm.) is taken as the
N-value. Soil samples were recovered using the spoon sampler and were taken
to the soils laboratory for analysis and testing.

1.10

RESEARCH PROCEDURE

Laboratory Test Procedure

The laboratory tests performed on soil samples from the boreholes are
briefly described as follows:
1. Classification of Soils for Engineering Purposes
The Unified Soil Classification System (USCS) was used to classify the
soils.
2. Particle Size Analysis
Soil is passed through a series of sieves and the weight of soil retained in
each sieve determined. A graph is drawn relating the percent finer by weight
and the particle size on a semi-long scale. D50 or equivalent particle
diameter (in mm) that equally splits the soil in coarser and finer fractions is
read off from this graph.
3. Liquid Limit
The liquid limit is the moisture content at the point of change between the
liquid and plastic states of the soil.
4. Plastic Limit
The plastic limit is the moisture content at the transition between the
semi-solid state and the solid state.
5. Plastic index
PI= LL-PL
6. Moisture Content

W= (Weight of water / weight of oven-dry soil) x 100%

8. Void ratio
e = Vv / Vs
9. Porosity (n)
n = (Vv / VT) x 100%
10. Degree of saturation, S
S = (Vw / Vv) x 100%
11. Specific Gravity.
Gs = Unit weight of soil / Unit weight of water
1.11

STATISTICAL TOOLS

CSR = 0.65 ( Amax/g)( / )rd

Where: Amax = the peak horizontal acceleration at the ground surface
generated by an

earthquake.

The N value observed in the field, using the SPT and the standard test
procedure must necessarily be corrected for various corrections, such as: (a)
Overburden Pressure (Cn), (b) Hammer Energy (Ce), (c) Bore hole
diameter (Cb), (d) presence of liner (Cs), (e) Rod length (Cr) and (f) fines
cotent (Cfines). Corrected N value i.ec..(N60) is obtained using the
following equation (Anbazhagan and Premalatha 2004):
N60 = (N)(Cn)(Ce)(Cb)(Cs)(Cr)(Cfines)
Correction for overburden pressure Cn (Seed and Idriss, 1982)
Cn = 2.2/(1.2 +Vo/Pa)
Where, Vo = effective overburden pressure

Pa = 100 kPa
Cn should not exceed a value of 1.7

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