Optimisation of Foundation Design – Dubai Case Studies

Dr. Ying Tay

This industrial presentation concerns the foundation design process adopted for 12no. (40-60 stories high) towers in Dubai. The design process included carrying out large-scale preliminary pile testing prior to finalising the design and detailed soil-structure interaction assessment to achieve optimisation of foundation design.

Preliminary pile testing included bi-directional (Osterberg cell) static load testing to failure (with test loads of up to 87MN). The design process and findings from a number of pile tests will be presented along with optimisation of foundation design based on test results.

Findings of pile group behaviour from soil-structure interaction assessment of the towers will also be presented and discussed. In the vertical direction, the interaction assessment led to accurate pile group settlement estimates and raft/slab design. In the horizontal direction, lateral load distribution across the building footprint was predicted considering pile arrangements. This led to accurate prediction of pile shear and moment and optimisation of foundation design.

About the speaker

Dr. Ying Tay Principal Geotechnical Engineer, Golder

Dr. Ying Tay is a Principal Geotechnical Engineer at Golder, with 20 years’ experience in related fields of geotechnical engineering consultancy for projects in the Middle East, United Kingdom and Australia. Her leadership experience includes project management and technical delivery for the geotechnical design of major urban buildings and infrastructure projects.

During Ying’s 14.5 years in the UAE, her work experience covered a diverse range of projects. Her technical expertise includes soil-structure interaction analysis of deep basement and foundations, ground improvement, slope stability assessment, bilateral pile load testing, implementation of remediation strategy for sites with geo-hazard profiles such as voiding, compressible soils and high groundwater table. She will present some recent case histories from her work in Dubai.

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