investigation practice – The Dogger Bank Project
Don J. DeGroot, Sc.D., P.E.
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Acknowledgements
Tor Inge Tjelta, Statoil
Tom Lunne, NGI
Integrated Geotechnical Site Charaterisation
Requires multidisciplinary geo‐teams Geological
model
Bathymetry
Soil investigations
‐ field tests
‐ sampling
Site ‐ lab testing
Geophysical Characterization
Design
properties
After NGI
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Project requirements ‐ geotechnical engineering
1. Foundation design, soil‐structure interaction studies
2. Geohazards assessment, e.g., free gas, submarine landslides, etc.
3. Cabling
4. Pile drivability, jackup platform assessment, e.g., punch through
5. Anthropogenic surveys, e.g., plane/ship wrecks, ordnance, etc.
Geotechnical Site Characterization ‐ outcomes
1. Stratigraphy: soil units, type (spatial distribution)
2. Initial State Variables: current and "past" (geologic) stress states
3. Soil Properties/Design parameters: strength, stiffness, cyclic
behavior
Key geotechnical parameters ‐ SANDS
1. Current state of stress ‐ 'v0
2. Relative density – DR (proxy for stress history)
3. Drained shear strength ‐ '
4. Stiffness
5. Cyclic and dynamic properties
2
Key geotechnical parameters ‐ CLAYS
1. Current state of stress ‐ 'v0
2. Stress (geologic) history = yield stress or
preconsolidation stress ('vy = 'p)
3. Undrained shear strength (su) anisotropy
4. Stiffness
5. Cyclic and dynamic properties
su
Integrated Geotechnical Site Characterization
Site Characterization
In Situ Testing Laboratory Testing
CPT
Requires Empirical Requires Good
Correlations Correlate & Quality Samples
Corroborate
Design Parameters
‐ DR, ', 'p, su, etc
Best Practice: develop site specific correlations
between lab data and in situ data
3
Offshore SI deployment modes
ISO/FDIS 19901‐8:2014(E) — Part 8 Marine Soil Investigations
Drilling mode: borehole advanced using rotary drilling from vessel (= vessel based
drilling) or seabed system (= seabed based drilling)
Non‐drilling mode: advance of tools from seabed (i.e., no borehole drilling)
The In Situ Testing Enterprise
Cone Penetration Test (CPTU)
Standard CPTU Diameters:
36 mm or 44 mm
4
The Soil Sampling Enterprise
All steps in the process will influence sample quality
1. Drilling 2. Sampler 3. Processing 4. Transportation
Dogger Bank Zone
www.forewind.co.uk www.wiki.com
5
Dogger Bank Zone key facts
Capacity:
Up to six 1.2 GW projects
Area:
8660 km2. Cape Cod = 880 km2, MA =
27,000 km2
Distance:
125 ‐ 290 km from shore
Water Depth:
18‐63 m; ≈ 4GW in < 30m water
depth
Wind:
>10 m/s average wind speed across
the zone.
From www.forewind.co.uk
www.thecrownestate.co.uk
Historical geologic mapping
From BGS
http://education.nationalgeographic.org/maps/doggerland/
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Geo‐ Site Investigation Work – for consent phase
The Geo‐team: geotechnical engineers (SI
and foundation), geoscientists, glacial
geologists, geophysicists, geostatisticians.
Geophysics:
‐ 60,000 line kms of geophysical survey
data collected
‐ multibean echo sounder
‐ side scan sonar
‐ marine magnetometer
‐ seismic profiles
Geotechnical – staged approach:
‐ 70 boreholes (up to 40 m depth)
‐ 171 CPTUs; ≈ 7 km total of CPTU
profiles! www.39‐45war.com
Cotterill et al. (2012) and www.forewind.co.uk
Seismic data
‐ seismic data + CPTU data = definition of soil units, soil type, possible
geologic history (e.g., faulting) and spatial variability
‐ BUT does not give engineering properties for design
From www.forewind.co.uk
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Note: several slides delivered at this
point in the oral presentation are not
included here for confidentially
reasons.
Soil stress (geologic) history
Preconsolidation mechanisms = what causes changes in
soil (engineering) properties over geologic time
1. Mechanical (e.g., glacial loading)
YES at Dogger Bank
2. Desiccation (e.g., drying, freezing)
YES at Dogger Bank
3. Drained creep (e.g., aging)
4. Physicochemical (e.g., cementation)
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What is desiccation?
1. Drying, freezing, evapotranspiration
2. Main effect is development of very
large, highly localized stresses (MPa)
3. Hysteretic, cyclic, nonlinear process
4. Net result = significant and highly
variable changes in fabric and soil
properties
5. Very common in terrestrial soils
Why all the scatter in engineering properties?
Major reasons
1. Extremely complex geologic history: desiccation, freezing,
thawing, folding, faulting, erosion, glacial loading, etc.
2. Coupled with unprecedented size of project – significant
differences in source material, depositional environment
and geologic history
Other factors – complicated by above
3. Sampling issues – thick walled tubes, influence of gas
4. Lab testing issues – how to deal with scale effects (micro,
macro fissures), consolidation test procedures, etc
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Scale effects – desiccation, glacial loading
Intact (non‐fissured)
Strength
Shear
Strength
Operational
Strength
Lo 1970
Test Volume
Scale effects = most important factor in characterizing stiff
desiccated or fissured clays, e.g., London Clay
Common recommendation = in situ plate load tests to determine
the operational strength for bearing capacity type problems.
Field Validation of CPTU Nkt
Emperical correlaton between undrained
shear strenght su and CPTU tip resistance qt
su = (qt ‐ v0)/Nkt
1. Jackup barge spud can penetration
‐ bearing capacity mechanism = operational
strength
‐ resulted in upper bound Nkt value
2. Bucket foundation for Met Mast
‐ skirt penetration mechanism = nominal
intact strength
‐ resulted in lower bound Nkt value
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Outcomes – design basis for foundation options
1. Geologic history + project scale
‐ complex and challenging site to characterize
2. Soil Units
‐ geology + geophysics + CPTU = soil units
3. Foundation Options
‐ sensitivity studies
4. SANDS
‐ like North Sea sands
‐ CPTU → design parameters + lab cyclic framework
5. CLAYS
‐ nominally equal to or stronger than past North Sea experience, but
spatial variation, scale effects
‐ lab & field calibrated CPTU → design parameters
6. Predictive GeoModel – Carl F. Forsberg, NGI
‐ simple predictive geo‐statistical model that generates interpolated
synthetic CPTU profiles
Developed tentative draft Geologic "cartoon"
Rewrote the geology of Dogger Bank: Multiple sediment sources, terrestrial
& marine sediments, glacial deformation, aerial exposure, sediment freezing,
tundra, fresh water lakes, rivers, multiple phases of channeling and infill
From BGS
From www.forewind.co.uk
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Last glacial maximum ice terminus – approx. 25 cal ka
Northeast United States: From Janet Stone, USGS, CT
Schematic Cross Sections – Cape Cod, MA Region
From Janet Stone, USGS, CT
A Asterias 1973 Line 17 A’
South North
Meteroric G.L. Stellwagen
Channel fill
delta
Thrusted
G.L.Cape Cod Glacially
Bedrock Lacustrine Fans Lake Clay
deposits modified Coastal
Plain hills
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In Sum
Dogger Bank Zone – large site, complex geologic history, complex region for
geotechnical site characterization. Consent was approved August 2015 for two
projects areas.
Multidisciplinary team of geo‐specialists working hand‐in‐hand was essential to
developing an understanding of the geologic history and geotechnical engineering
properties for foundation design basis
Best practice recommendations for offshore geotechnical SI:
ISO/FDIS 19901‐8:2014(E) — Part 8: Marine soil investigations
DeGroot, D.J., Lunne, T. and Tjelta, T.I. (2010). "Recommended best practice for
geotechnical site charaterisation of offshore cohesive sediments." Proc. of the 2nd Int. Sym.
on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics. Nov. 2010, pp. 33‐57.
Acknowledgements
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