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Geotechnical Engineering

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Geotechnical Engineering in COWI

Quality Management System

Certificate and Certification

Conditions.

COWI is an international market leader in

Bridges, Marine and Foundation Engineering,

not least because of successful interplay be-

tween the various disciplines. For a very wide

range of projects and structures the Geotech-

nical Group provides in-house support in all

phases of projects.

This ensures state-of-the-art foundation solu-

tions and the capability to perform stand-alone

geotechnical services. COWI employ more

than 60 geotechnical engineers, ranging from

internationally recognised experts to young

professionals, in the COWI Group offices in

Denmark and at the COWI subsidiaries world-

wide.

The Geotechnical Groupmainly provides services in

the following subjects Geotechnical investigations

Site investigations

Laboratory investigations

Material prospecting

Geological modelling

Geotechnical design

Underground Engineering

Earth retaining structures

Groundwater control

Shallow and deep foundation

Earth structure

Soil reinforcement

Soil structure interaction

Numerical modelling

Physical modelling

Preparation of tender documents

Rehabilitation/maintenance

Feasibility studies

Geotechnical supervision

COWI has a total of more than 3300 employ-

ees, the main part engineers. COWI operates

around the world, and has subsidiaries and

project offices in several countries. The turno-

ver amounted to 300 million EURO in 2005.

Quality

Quality is a key issue in all our projects. We

operate a Quality Management System which

is certified within the requirements of ISO

9001. This assures our clients of professional

management on all our projects.

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3

Data Managing

When working on jobs that involve geological,

geotechnical, geoenvironmental or monitoring

data, COWI has a range of tools that can be

used to manage, query and present such infor-

mation. These tools are used routinely on all

jobs and are an integrated part of our service.

Domestic Market

To complement COWIs drilling rigs and our

general understanding of the regional geology,

a large database is maintained with geological,

geotechnical, geophysical, environmental and

hydrogeological data. The database is main-

tained using GeoGIS on all projects.The data have been used to establish and

maintain a geological model for parts of

Zealand. The model and the database are then

used by HoleBASE and KeyHOLE to create

contour maps, sections, volume calculations

etc. HoleBASE and KeyHOLE are software

used extensively worldwide.

Data Management

International Market

COWI has developed a high expertise for

handling large amounts of geotechnical, geoen-

vironmental and survey data that are to be

reviewed quickly to produce an interpretative

report with meaningful enclosures and draw-

ings. Such data processing is possible using

tools like HoleBASE and KeyHOLE that are

based on the internationally recognised data

exchange format AGS.

COWI has developed expertise with other

geotechnical data management systems such

as gINT and GEODASY, in order to ensure

correct application of contractors data in AGS

format.It is therefore a standard procedure that

qualified staff works closely together with the

contractor in the beginning of a project to

ensure the higest possible quality of data.

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4 Site investigations

It is a well known fact that the client often

pays for the investigations not carried out.

The expenses just show up later in the building

process.

COWI strives to show due dilligence in

organising and conducting site investigations

of the quality and extent to minimise cost and

risk for the client.

COWI carry out site investigations with

our own drilling rigs. COWI operates 7 large

drilling rigs and 4 small rigs to perform geo-

technical and environmental boreholes. The

fieldwork is mainly carried out in Denmark.

Two of the large rigs are fitted with CPT

equipment. Furthermore we have equipment atour disposal to perform static plate load test,

Mudcrawler used in Kuwait. Offshore investigation in Qatar.

light dynamic plate load test and compaction

test using Troxler (for example).

In connection with our many projects

abroad, our engineers have great experience in

planning geotechnical investigations for large

projects, preparation of tender documents,

negotiations with drilling contractors and sub-

sequent supervision.

All investigations are presented in a geotech-

nical report. The reports are often divided into

a factual report and an interpretative report.

COWI has both Danish and British programs

to perform and present borehole logs. The

British program, HoleBASE, is used on all our

international projects.

Offshore investigation in Qatar.

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5Laboratory Testing

COWI carries out all types of laboratory test-

ing using nominated or site specific laborato-

ries. Classification tests may be carried out in

the three in-house laboratories in Denmark.

The tests are carried out according to the

standard required by the client.

COWIs geotechnical engineers have experi-

ence with a wide range of soil and rock types

and programme, supervise and evaluate the test

results according to the clients needs. COWI is

familiar with and has used a number of dedi-

cated, advanced test facilities around the world

ensuring state-of-the-art testing if required for

the project.

Examples are: stress path triaxial testing onvery soft clay, centrifugal testing of dolphins

for ship protection, high pressure triaxial test-

ing of limestone including temperature related

creep, triaxial testing of highly weathered

Granodiorite.

The following test areperformed in-house

Soil and rock description

Moisture content

Bulk and dry density

Sieve analysis

Hydrometer test

Atterberg limits

Compaction test

Linear shrinkage

Free swell

Specific gravity

Sand equivalent

Capillarity

Organic matter

Calcium content

Sulphate content

Consolidation test

Unconfined CompressionStrength

Brazil test

Point load test

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6 Underground Engineering

COWI handles all aspects concerning under-

ground engineering and has great experience in

the design of building pits.

Underground construction works for design

and build contracts present technical and logis-

tical challenges. Due to the intrinsic uncertain-

ties of soil and rock behaviour, it is important

to consider several alternative construction

systems and methods. COWI can provide a

flexible design approach in which, by assess-

ment of more alternatives, the optimal solution

is obtained. This involves cost, safety, reliabil-

ity and environmental impact, and if possible

optimisation of the Contractors available

equipment.For excavations and tunnelling in urban

areas, an essential requirement is to prevent

damage to adjacent structures and services.

Settlements associated with excavations are

generally determined by three factors:

excavation and support systems

method of construction

groundwater control

These issues are invariably interlinked. For ex-

ample, an earth retaining structure that secures

adjacent buildings from damage due to settle-

ment can also be used to limit groundwater

drawdown - if necessary, in combination with

injection of grouts and groundwater recharge.

To find the best design for underground

structures including temporary support etc.,

advanced modelling of soil-structure interac-

tion must be performed.

COWI has extensive experience gained from

the use of modelling on several major infra-

structure projects. Advanced FEM-programmes

such as PLAXIS, ABAQUS and FLAC are used

to provide safe and cost effective solutions.

Assessment of geotechnical soil properties

and re-use of excavated material are carried

out by COWIs geotechnical engineers. By

collaboration with our department for Soil

and Groundwater Contamination a profes-

sional handling of a potential contamination

is ensured.

Construction pit in Copenhagen, Denmark.

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7Groundwater Control

The proper control of groundwater is an

important part of excavations, from both the

perspective of stability and external environ-

mental effects. COWI has extensive in-house

expertise in all aspects of groundwater control,

especially in areas where authorities have strict

requirements for the protection of existing

buildings and water resources.

In COWI, groundwater control is integrated

in construction plans from the earliest stages of

a project in order to provide a sound basis for

designing cost-optimal solutions.

Monitoring and modelling are used for

planning and management of ground water

systems.Based on our experience from large infra-

structure projects, COWI offers expertise

within groundwater monitoring, development

and maintenance of databases, flow simula-

tions as well as handling of interfaces between

the client, authorities and third parties.

Flintholm Station, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Construction pit for underground railway in Copenhagen, Denmark.

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8 Numerical Modelling

Numerical modelling is a concept for ap-

proximating real behaviour. It is a popular

means for solving civil engineering problems

when exact closed form solutions do not exist.

This is often the case in foundation engineer-

ing, when problem solving requires the use of

continuum mechanics and involves effects of

soil-structure interaction, 3-D, plasticity, hy-

draulic loads, seepage forces, etc. Examples are

shown in the following adjacent figures.

Foundation Engineering is generally con-

cerned with predicting the behaviour of natural

or man-made structures on, or in, the ground.

The problem generally is to predict fields of

displacements, strains and stresses, both withinthe ground and the founding structure.

Limit equilibrium Methods

For the purpose of solely investigating the

safety of any given structure against any

loading, limit equilibrium methods will often

suffice.

COWI uses several software packages for

limit equilibrium analyses, a.o.:

Programmes SPOOKS, Qwalls and ReWard,

for the design of sheet pile walls and their

anchorages

Programme Geo Studio 2004 for the stability

of soil and rock slopes, dams, breakwaters

etc., including possible seepage forces.

Contour plot of displacement field for existing block

quay wall, as a result of dredging in front of the wall.

Displaced mesh for ultimate horizontal loading

(ship impact) on piled bridge pier.

Contour plot of shear strain (J2 strain invariant) for

block quay wall, revealing potential rupture figure.

Contour plot of shear strain (J2 strain invariant)

for double sheet pile wall cofferdam.

Contour plots from PLAXIS

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Soil Structure Interaction

COWIs geotechnical specialists have extensive

experience and knowledge in soil structure

interaction.In projects like the Great Belt Link, the

resund Link and the Metro in Copenhagen

COWI made extensive use of advanced

computational methods in analysis of founda-

tion bearing capacity and stability as well as

for prediction of movements related to deep

excavations and tunnelling.

All of the mentioned software packages and

more (not listed) are regularly used by the Geo-

technical Group. The Group has considerable

expertise in assessing soil/rock properties fromfield investigations, lab. tests and monitoring

data for real structure behaviour, all of which

are essentials for setting up realistic input data

for the software packages.

For truly 3-D continuum problems and

complex material behaviour, the Geotechnical

Group also use sophisticated software pack-

ages such as the general purpose FE pro-

gramme ABAQUS.

COWI uses a suite of softwarepackages for displacement type

analyses

Program PLAXIS is a user friendly anddedicated geotechnical FE program,handling soil, water, structures, soil-structure interaction, material elasticityand plasticity, construction stages, etc.PLAXIS is a popular tool for continuumanalysis and prediction of the behaviourof any given structure on, or in, any givensoil or rock profile

COWI has developed an advanced FEprogramme to handle pile groups. Theprogramme is a module to our wellknown IBDAS (Integrated Bridge DesignAnalysis System). It can handle all types

of piles, including large diameter drilledshafts. The programme can handle bothaxial and lateral influence

Program SAP2000, a structural finiteelement program, particularly suitedto dynamic analyses, e.g. consideringearthquake loads, push-over analyses etc.

Program LPILE for the analysis andprediction of the behaviour of a singlelaterally loaded pile

Program GROUP for the analysis of thebehaviour of axialy and lateraly loadedpile groups

Programme SHAFT for the study of

drilled shafts under axial loads

Program MPILE for the analysis andprediction of the behaviour of generallyloaded pile groups, with several more orless sophisticated options for consideringpile-soil-pile interaction (group effects)

Program PIGLET for the analysis andprediction of the behaviour of generallyloaded pile groups, considering linearelasticity only and group effects

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10 Shallow and deep foundations

In competent soils shallow foundations are

often the most economical foundation solution.

With proper soil characterisation and deriva-

tion of soil design parameters COWI appliesstate-of-the-art design methods combined with

numerical and physical modelling to provide

cost effective and safe solutions.

Often the project area is not blessed with

competent soil condition for shallow founda-

tions, then deep foundations are the solution.

COWIs very experienced staff have been

involved in all types of deep foundation from

traditional driven or bored piles to very in-

novative foundation solutions for large bridge

projects.Many of the challenges met are from a

combination of excessive amounts of very soft

deposits, extreme water depths, strong current

and excessive environmental loading, notably

earthquake and ship collision forces.

Permanent Ground Anchors for Uplift

Construction of deep basements below the

ground water level often cause the require-

ments for permanent ground anchors. COWI

has great experience in the design and supervi-

sion of ground anchors.

In Copenhagen the ground anchors are most

often fixed into the Copenhagen Limestone.

Elsewhere in Denmark anchors are mainly

fixed in glacial sand or clay.

Flintholm Station, Copenhagen, Denmark.

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Dredging and Reclamation

COWI has been involved in several large

dredging and reclamation projects notably in

the Middle East.Our geotechnical specialist has been in

charge of planning and supervision of the site

investigations. Furthermore, we are involved in

the design and preparation of technical speci-

fications for all the dredging and reclamation

aspects including edge treatment (costal protec-

tion structures). In these projects we are in

close cooperation with the large international

dredging companies.

Soil improvement / reinforcementFor a number of very different types of struc-

tures COWI has designed soil improvement or

reinforcement schemes to reduce settlements,

increase strength and to provide robustness for

environmental loadings, such as earth quakes.

During the construction of the Danish

METRO in Copenhagen, grouting was exten-

sively used as a ground water control measure

in order to reduce the permeability of Copen-hagen limestone.

Additional improvement of subgrade and

pavement materials projects has been carried

out using lime or cement stabilisation.

Dams, dikes and slope stability

COWI has assisted clients in locating feasible

dam sites, performing feasibility studies to

determine the most feasible dam heights, per-

forming soil investigations to locate materials

and geotechnical and hydro-geological investi-gations at dam sites.

The stability of existing slopes is analysed,

when the stability seems insufficient or new

loads are added at the top of the slope.

Earth Structures

Pearl of the Gulf Marina, Qatar.

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COWI is an international market leader in

bridge engineering. COWI is recognised world-

wide for our state-of-the-art knowledge.

In Denmark and around the world COWIhas been in charge of the design and supervi-

sion of the worlds largest cable stayed and

suspension bridges.

These projects include all the geotechnical

aspects, from preliminary evaluation of the soil

condition to site investigations, handling of

data, design and supervision.

Furthermore we have carried out site in-

vestigations and design for a large number of

highway bridges in Denmark and abroad.

Bridge Projects

Sutong Bridge, China.

Model of Sheikh Jaber Al AhmedAl Sabah Causeway, Kuwait. Load test of 800 mm drilled shaft.

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Cross Section of Busan-Geoje Fixed Link, South Korea.

Tunnel Projects

COWI has been involved in tunnel projects all

over the world. Our experience covers all types

of tunnels, including bored tunnels, immersed

tunnels, cut&cover tunnels, rock and NATMtunnels.

The success of tunnel projects relies heavily

on the understanding and handling of complex

soil-structure interaction problems.

The in-house cooperation between geotechni-

cal engineers and tunnel specialists ensures that

COWI can provide state-of-the-art consultancy

in all phases of tunnel projects worldwide.

Tunnel projects include many different geo-

technical issues. The geological model must be

well established for all types of tunnels. Focuson settlements, properties of rock/limestone

and design of backfill/locking fill around an

immersed tunnel is required.

Recently COWI has been responsible for the

design of the worlds deepest immersed tun-

nel in South Korea, constructed almost 50 m

below sea level on soft (reinforced) clay and an

up to 20 m high sub sea embankment.

In such projects we benefit from our finite

element programmes to evaluate the soil-struc-

ture interaction.

120m

80m

40m

0m

-40m

Geoje GadukJeo Jungjuk

Daejuk

Model of Busan-Geoje Fixed Link, South Korea.

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Flintholm Station, Denmark

Detailed design and supervision

of the third largest railway station

in Denmark, constructed in

connection with the new Metro.

Included detailed design, a large

quantity of sheet pile walls, large

plate load tests and supervision.

Copenhagen Metro, Denmark

Metro and Station Projects

As part of the multidisciplinary services inlarge infrastructure projects COWI plans,

designs and supervises all aspects of metro and

station projects.

Metro and station projects involve all kinds

of geotechnical issues depending on the project

layout. Deep excavated stations often com-

prise geotechnical challenges similar to tunnel

projects. Other projects comprise sheet pile

walls, piles, ground anchors, shallow founda-

tion etc.

Furthermore, groundwater lowering i s often

needed during the construction phase.

Flintholm Station, Denmark.

Photo:Aerodan

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15

Photo:AdamMrk

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16 Building Projects

COWI also has a large building construction

department. In close cooperation between

the construction engineers and geotechnical

engineers, COWI ensures the best foundation

solutions for smaller and larger buildings. In

Denmark, shallow foundations on late glacial

or glacial deposits or foundations on driven

piles are most common.

In addition temporary sheet pile walls or other

types of supporting systems are required when

building deep basements in urban districts.

Again in these projects, we often perform

the geotechnical investigations and establish

the geotechnical data for the design and are in-

volved in the supervision and the design phase.

Photomontage:Lundgaard&T

randbergArkitekter

Model of New Playhouse in Copenhagen harbour.

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17Harbour and Marine Projects

COWI is an international market leader in

marine and coastal engineering and offers a

comprehensive range of consulting sevices for

all aspects of projects related to ports, har-bours, coastal and marine structures. When

developing integrated design solutions to ma-

rine projects, COWI draws upon our in-house

expertise in e.g. geotechnical engineering.

COWIs marine and geotechnical engineers are

integrated in the same department to obtain

the best solutions and to have a common un-

derstanding for the final design.

Elsinore Harbour,

Denmark.

Rehabilitation of Tuborg Harbour,Copenhagen, Denmark.

Detailed design and supervision of a

new exclusive harbour in Copenhagen.

The project included new sheet pile

walls, a bridge, canals, breakwaters,

dredging etc.

Idku LNG Terminal, Egypt.

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18 Road and Airport Projects

The Geotechnical Engineering Group are often

involved in road and airport projects.

Our services range from the site investiga-

tion, soils and materials investigations, designand supervision. We are involved in all geo-

technical aspects for the pavement, earth work,

crossing bridges, tunnels, slopes etc.

Extension of motorway passing a soft spot.Road project in Ethiopia.

Extension of motorway M3 in Denmark. Sofia Airport in Bulgaria.

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Among our many geotechnical engineers, we

have at our disposal several engineers with

comprehensive experience in geotechnical

supervision. Our staff have supervised theconstruction of large scale foundation, briges,

roads, railways, harbours and dams including

off- and onshore geotechnical investigations.

The supervision is undertaken both in Den-

mark and overseas. Several of our staff in the

geotechnical group have long-term overseas

supervision experience, always supported by

our senior geotechnical engineers providing

home office support. Furthermore all our staff

are regularly involved in supervision on danish

projects ranging from small buildings to major

bridges performing the geotechnical control

of the excavations or approval of pile driving

records.

Harbour in Durres, Albania.

Geotechnical Supervision

Road projects in Tanzania.

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021-1700-015e-06a

PrintedinDenmarkbyKailow

www.c

owi.com

COWI A/S

Parallelvej 2

DK-2800 Kongens LyngbyDenmark

Tel.: +45 45 97 22 11

Fax: +45 45 97 22 12

E-mail: cowi@cowi.com

Internet: www.cowi.com

COWI Group

Main Office

Contact

Michael Bindseil

Head of Department,

Marine & Foundation

Engineering

mhb@cowi.com

Jrgen S. Steenfelt, Prof.

Head of Development,Marine & Foundation

Engineering

jos@cowi.com

Torben Bang

Section Manager

Geotechnical Engineering

tba@cowi.dk

COWI offices.

Geotechnical Engineering - more than just a hole in the ground.