Performance of gravity caisson on sand compaction piles

Abstract

Gravity caissons were employed as part of the wharf front structures for a container port terminal in Singapore. This paper reports the movements of eight consecutive gravity caissons supported on sand compaction piles (SCPs) with highly variable lengths of penetration. It is established that the caisson movements increase with an increase in the length of the SCP, as longer SCPs are necessary when hard strata are at greater depth. The large caisson movements observed during caisson infilling and backfilling do not pose a concern because the wharf deck beams connecting adjacent caissons can be adjusted. However, the caisson movements under service loads would affect the operation of the overlying quay cranes on top of the caissons. The present field study reveals that preloading the caissons is effective in reducing the caisson movements under service loads because the observed caisson movements are insignificant during subsequent unloading-reloading of the caissons. Back-analysis using the finite element method (FEM) shows that the observed caisson movements at different construction stages can be reasonably replicated. The numerical results are also used to evaluate the caisson tilt angle, which could not be measured in the present field study. The caisson tilt is found to be independent of the length of SCPs underneath a caisson. © 2008 NRC Canada.