Influence of Variation in Moisture Content to Soil Bearing Capacity in Nairobi Area and Its Environs

Hannah Nyambara Ngugi; Stanley Shitote; Nathaniel Ambassah; Victoria Okumu; John Thuo

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajetm.20190406.14

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Influence of Variation in Moisture Content to Soil Bearing Capacity in Nairobi Area and Its Environs

Hannah Nyambara Ngugi, Stanley Shitote, Nathaniel Ambassah, Victoria Okumu, John Thuo

Published in American Journal of Engineering and Technology Management (Volume 4, Issue 6)

Received: 10 October 2019 Accepted: 12 November 2019 Published: 18 December 2019

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Abstract

The increasing human population in cities and urban areas continues to raise the demand for housing and other infrastructure in developing nations. Stability of structures is critical for sustainable development to ensure longer useful life of structures and reduction in the rate at which natural resources for construction purposes are extracted from the environment. Foundation of buildings infrastructure plays a key role of transferring the loading from the structure to the soil underneath. In foundation design, the ultimate bearing capacity of soil under normal circumstances assumes that the water table is located well below the foundation. Variation in soil moisture content during construction and during the structure’s lifespan affect the soil bearing capacity. Information on the extent to which variation in soil moisture content affect the soil bearing capacity was lacking. This paper presents findings of a research that sought to establish the extent to which variation in soil moisture content affects the soil bearing capacity. Seven soil samples collected from Nairobi area and its environs were subjected to 30%, 50% and 75% moisture content variation. The soil bearing capacity was tested using Direct Shear method and Undrained Triaxial method in accordance to British Standard 1377 of 1990 Part 7 and Part 8 respectively. Test results determined that the insitu moisture content for the collected 7 soil samples from Nairobi area and its environs varied from 21.9% to 55.4% implying the diverse characteristics of soil samples and sites studied. Increasing the soil moisture content from 30% to 50% and to 75% all other factors held constant contributed to reduction in soil bearing capacity as illustrated by a linear equation y = -170.89x + 565.64 using direct shear method. y is the resultant soil bearing capacity (kN/mm²) while x is the soil moisture content in percentage. This shows that variation in soil moisture content contributes to a significant reduction in soil bearing capacity by a factor of -170.89x. To mitigate the negative effect of reduction in soil bearing capacity as a result of changes in soil moisture content, a factor of safety should be applied at design stage by adjusting the allowable soil bearing capacity to take cognisance of the contribution by changes in soil moisture content. This is critical to ensure that all structures are designed to withstand variation in moisture content at the foundation throughout their lifespan and avoid potential structural failure.

Published in	American Journal of Engineering and Technology Management (Volume 4, Issue 6)
DOI	10.11648/j.ajetm.20190406.14
Page(s)	97-109
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Foundation, Building Structure, Soil Moisture Content, Bearing Capacity, Construction Technology

References

[1]	M. Budhu, Soil Mechanics and Foundations, 3rd Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2010.
[2]	B. N. Das, Advanced Soil Mechanics, 3rd ed. Taylor & Francis, 2008.
[3]	D. Braja, Principles of Foundation Engineering, SI, 7th Editio. Cengage Learning, 2011.
[4]	J. A. Lamb, “Differential Settlement Anaysis of Building Frames by Digital Computer Methods,” Oklahoma State University, 1966.
[5]	Y. A. Jimoh, “Shear strength / moisture content models for a laterite soil in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria Shear strength eu humidité teneur modelé pour un sol latérite a Ilorin état de Kwara au Nigeria,” no. 4, pp. 521–525, 2006.
[6]	W. Liu, S. Qu, Z. Nie, and J. Zhang, “Effects of Density and Moisture Variation on Dynamic Deformation Properties of Compacted Lateritic Soil,” vol. 2016, 2016.
[7]	M. Chadli, M. Mellas, A. Ounis, and A. Mamache, “the Frame Concrete Structure,” no. February, pp. 85–87, 2010.
[8]	A. A. Adel and A. Akbari, “Effect of groundwater and various parameters on bearing capacity of shallow Foundations using finite element method,” Int. Res. J. Eng. Technol., vol. 02, no. 05, pp. 39–43, 2015.
[9]	Y. L. Kuo, “Effect of soil variability on the bearing capacity of footings on multi-layered soil,” The University of Adelaide, 2008.
[10]	A. S. Balasubramaniam, H. Cai, D. Zhu, C. Surarak, and E. Y. N. Oh, “Settlements of Embankments in Soft Soils Author Downloaded from Griffith Research Online Settlements of Embankments in Soft Soils,” 2010.
[11]	X. Yuan, S. Meng, Z. Shi, and R. Sun, “A Procedure for Evaluation of Differential Settlements of Buildings During Earthquake,” in 12WCEE 2000, 2000, pp. 1–8, 1465.
[12]	G. Min and D. Yuanming, “Analysis of the Influence Factors of Differential Settlement of High Embankment in Mountain Area,” Open J. Civ. Eng., vol. 02, no. 04, pp. 214–217, 2012.
[13]	A. Ghalba, M. B. Jaksa, W. S. Kaggwa, G. a Fenton, and V. Griffiths, “Probabilistic Analysis of Foundation Settlement on Multilayered Soil with a Complex Layer-Boundary,” in ANZ 2012 Conference Proceedings, 2012, no. April, pp. 608–613.
[14]	E. P. Kenneth, “Settlement of Foundation on Expansive Clay soils Due to Moisture Demand of Trees,” 2001.
[15]	C. K. Onyancha, E. M. Mathu, S. K. Mwea, and W. M. Ngecu, “Dealing with sensitive and variable soils in nairobi city,” vol. 9, no. November, pp. 282–291, 2011.
[16]	C. K. Onyancha (b), E. Mathu, S. Mwea, and W. Ngecu, “A study on the engineering behaviour of Nairobi sub soil,” ARPN J. Eng. Appl. Sci., vol. 6, no. 7 ISSN 1819-6608, pp. 85–96, 2011.
[17]	British Standards Institution, “British Standards Methods of test for Soils for civil engineering purposes. Part 7: Shear strength tests (total stress).” British Standards Institution, pp. 1–13, 1990.
[18]	British Standards Institution, British Standard Methods of test for soil for Civil Engineering Purposes Part 8: Shear Strength Tests (effective stress). BS 1377: Part 8: 1990. British Standard Institution, 1990.
[19]	G. G. Feleke and A. A. Araya, “PREDICTION OF CBR USING DCP FOR LOCAL SUBGRADE MATERIALS,” in International Conference on Transport and Road Research, 2016, pp. 1–25.
[20]	British Standards Institution, Methods of tests for soils for civil engineering purposes. Part 2: Classification tests. British Standards Institution, 1990.
[21]	S. H. and Transportation, Standard Test Procedures Manual Foundation Investigation Dynamic Cone Penetrometer, STP 240-20. 1992.
[22]	M. Tomlinson, Foundation Design and Construction, 7th ed. Prentice Hall, 2001.

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APA Style

Hannah Nyambara Ngugi, Stanley Shitote, Nathaniel Ambassah, Victoria Okumu, John Thuo. (2019). Influence of Variation in Moisture Content to Soil Bearing Capacity in Nairobi Area and Its Environs. American Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 4(6), 97-109. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajetm.20190406.14

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ACS Style

Hannah Nyambara Ngugi; Stanley Shitote; Nathaniel Ambassah; Victoria Okumu; John Thuo. Influence of Variation in Moisture Content to Soil Bearing Capacity in Nairobi Area and Its Environs. Am. J. Eng. Technol. Manag. 2019, 4(6), 97-109. doi: 10.11648/j.ajetm.20190406.14

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AMA Style

Hannah Nyambara Ngugi, Stanley Shitote, Nathaniel Ambassah, Victoria Okumu, John Thuo. Influence of Variation in Moisture Content to Soil Bearing Capacity in Nairobi Area and Its Environs. Am J Eng Technol Manag. 2019;4(6):97-109. doi: 10.11648/j.ajetm.20190406.14

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@article{10.11648/j.ajetm.20190406.14,
  author = {Hannah Nyambara Ngugi and Stanley Shitote and Nathaniel Ambassah and Victoria Okumu and John Thuo},
  title = {Influence of Variation in Moisture Content to Soil Bearing Capacity in Nairobi Area and Its Environs},
  journal = {American Journal of Engineering and Technology Management},
  volume = {4},
  number = {6},
  pages = {97-109},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajetm.20190406.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajetm.20190406.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajetm.20190406.14},
  abstract = {The increasing human population in cities and urban areas continues to raise the demand for housing and other infrastructure in developing nations. Stability of structures is critical for sustainable development to ensure longer useful life of structures and reduction in the rate at which natural resources for construction purposes are extracted from the environment. Foundation of buildings infrastructure plays a key role of transferring the loading from the structure to the soil underneath. In foundation design, the ultimate bearing capacity of soil under normal circumstances assumes that the water table is located well below the foundation. Variation in soil moisture content during construction and during the structure’s lifespan affect the soil bearing capacity. Information on the extent to which variation in soil moisture content affect the soil bearing capacity was lacking. This paper presents findings of a research that sought to establish the extent to which variation in soil moisture content affects the soil bearing capacity. Seven soil samples collected from Nairobi area and its environs were subjected to 30%, 50% and 75% moisture content variation. The soil bearing capacity was tested using Direct Shear method and Undrained Triaxial method in accordance to British Standard 1377 of 1990 Part 7 and Part 8 respectively. Test results determined that the insitu moisture content for the collected 7 soil samples from Nairobi area and its environs varied from 21.9% to 55.4% implying the diverse characteristics of soil samples and sites studied. Increasing the soil moisture content from 30% to 50% and to 75% all other factors held constant contributed to reduction in soil bearing capacity as illustrated by a linear equation y = -170.89x + 565.64 using direct shear method. y is the resultant soil bearing capacity (kN/mm2) while x is the soil moisture content in percentage. This shows that variation in soil moisture content contributes to a significant reduction in soil bearing capacity by a factor of -170.89x. To mitigate the negative effect of reduction in soil bearing capacity as a result of changes in soil moisture content, a factor of safety should be applied at design stage by adjusting the allowable soil bearing capacity to take cognisance of the contribution by changes in soil moisture content. This is critical to ensure that all structures are designed to withstand variation in moisture content at the foundation throughout their lifespan and avoid potential structural failure.},
 year = {2019}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Influence of Variation in Moisture Content to Soil Bearing Capacity in Nairobi Area and Its Environs
AU  - Hannah Nyambara Ngugi
AU  - Stanley Shitote
AU  - Nathaniel Ambassah
AU  - Victoria Okumu
AU  - John Thuo
Y1  - 2019/12/18
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajetm.20190406.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajetm.20190406.14
T2  - American Journal of Engineering and Technology Management
JF  - American Journal of Engineering and Technology Management
JO  - American Journal of Engineering and Technology Management
SP  - 97
EP  - 109
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-1441
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajetm.20190406.14
AB  - The increasing human population in cities and urban areas continues to raise the demand for housing and other infrastructure in developing nations. Stability of structures is critical for sustainable development to ensure longer useful life of structures and reduction in the rate at which natural resources for construction purposes are extracted from the environment. Foundation of buildings infrastructure plays a key role of transferring the loading from the structure to the soil underneath. In foundation design, the ultimate bearing capacity of soil under normal circumstances assumes that the water table is located well below the foundation. Variation in soil moisture content during construction and during the structure’s lifespan affect the soil bearing capacity. Information on the extent to which variation in soil moisture content affect the soil bearing capacity was lacking. This paper presents findings of a research that sought to establish the extent to which variation in soil moisture content affects the soil bearing capacity. Seven soil samples collected from Nairobi area and its environs were subjected to 30%, 50% and 75% moisture content variation. The soil bearing capacity was tested using Direct Shear method and Undrained Triaxial method in accordance to British Standard 1377 of 1990 Part 7 and Part 8 respectively. Test results determined that the insitu moisture content for the collected 7 soil samples from Nairobi area and its environs varied from 21.9% to 55.4% implying the diverse characteristics of soil samples and sites studied. Increasing the soil moisture content from 30% to 50% and to 75% all other factors held constant contributed to reduction in soil bearing capacity as illustrated by a linear equation y = -170.89x + 565.64 using direct shear method. y is the resultant soil bearing capacity (kN/mm2) while x is the soil moisture content in percentage. This shows that variation in soil moisture content contributes to a significant reduction in soil bearing capacity by a factor of -170.89x. To mitigate the negative effect of reduction in soil bearing capacity as a result of changes in soil moisture content, a factor of safety should be applied at design stage by adjusting the allowable soil bearing capacity to take cognisance of the contribution by changes in soil moisture content. This is critical to ensure that all structures are designed to withstand variation in moisture content at the foundation throughout their lifespan and avoid potential structural failure.
VL  - 4
IS  - 6
ER  -

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Author Information

Hannah Nyambara Ngugi

Civil Engineering Department, Pan African University Institute for Basic Sciences Technology and Innovations, Juja, Kenya
Stanley Shitote

Rongo University, Rongo, Kenya; Civil Engineering Department, Pan African University Institute for Basic Sciences Technology and Innovations, Juja, Kenya
Nathaniel Ambassah

Department of Civil Construction and Environmental Engineering, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Juja, Kenya
Victoria Okumu

Civil Engineering Department, Multimedia University of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
John Thuo

Civil Engineering Department, Dedan Kimathi University of Technology, Nyeri, Kenya

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APA Style

Hannah Nyambara Ngugi, Stanley Shitote, Nathaniel Ambassah, Victoria Okumu, John Thuo. (2019). Influence of Variation in Moisture Content to Soil Bearing Capacity in Nairobi Area and Its Environs. American Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 4(6), 97-109. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajetm.20190406.14

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ACS Style

Hannah Nyambara Ngugi; Stanley Shitote; Nathaniel Ambassah; Victoria Okumu; John Thuo. Influence of Variation in Moisture Content to Soil Bearing Capacity in Nairobi Area and Its Environs. Am. J. Eng. Technol. Manag. 2019, 4(6), 97-109. doi: 10.11648/j.ajetm.20190406.14

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AMA Style

Hannah Nyambara Ngugi, Stanley Shitote, Nathaniel Ambassah, Victoria Okumu, John Thuo. Influence of Variation in Moisture Content to Soil Bearing Capacity in Nairobi Area and Its Environs. Am J Eng Technol Manag. 2019;4(6):97-109. doi: 10.11648/j.ajetm.20190406.14

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ajetm.20190406.14,
  author = {Hannah Nyambara Ngugi and Stanley Shitote and Nathaniel Ambassah and Victoria Okumu and John Thuo},
  title = {Influence of Variation in Moisture Content to Soil Bearing Capacity in Nairobi Area and Its Environs},
  journal = {American Journal of Engineering and Technology Management},
  volume = {4},
  number = {6},
  pages = {97-109},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajetm.20190406.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajetm.20190406.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajetm.20190406.14},
  abstract = {The increasing human population in cities and urban areas continues to raise the demand for housing and other infrastructure in developing nations. Stability of structures is critical for sustainable development to ensure longer useful life of structures and reduction in the rate at which natural resources for construction purposes are extracted from the environment. Foundation of buildings infrastructure plays a key role of transferring the loading from the structure to the soil underneath. In foundation design, the ultimate bearing capacity of soil under normal circumstances assumes that the water table is located well below the foundation. Variation in soil moisture content during construction and during the structure’s lifespan affect the soil bearing capacity. Information on the extent to which variation in soil moisture content affect the soil bearing capacity was lacking. This paper presents findings of a research that sought to establish the extent to which variation in soil moisture content affects the soil bearing capacity. Seven soil samples collected from Nairobi area and its environs were subjected to 30%, 50% and 75% moisture content variation. The soil bearing capacity was tested using Direct Shear method and Undrained Triaxial method in accordance to British Standard 1377 of 1990 Part 7 and Part 8 respectively. Test results determined that the insitu moisture content for the collected 7 soil samples from Nairobi area and its environs varied from 21.9% to 55.4% implying the diverse characteristics of soil samples and sites studied. Increasing the soil moisture content from 30% to 50% and to 75% all other factors held constant contributed to reduction in soil bearing capacity as illustrated by a linear equation y = -170.89x + 565.64 using direct shear method. y is the resultant soil bearing capacity (kN/mm2) while x is the soil moisture content in percentage. This shows that variation in soil moisture content contributes to a significant reduction in soil bearing capacity by a factor of -170.89x. To mitigate the negative effect of reduction in soil bearing capacity as a result of changes in soil moisture content, a factor of safety should be applied at design stage by adjusting the allowable soil bearing capacity to take cognisance of the contribution by changes in soil moisture content. This is critical to ensure that all structures are designed to withstand variation in moisture content at the foundation throughout their lifespan and avoid potential structural failure.},
 year = {2019}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Influence of Variation in Moisture Content to Soil Bearing Capacity in Nairobi Area and Its Environs
AU  - Hannah Nyambara Ngugi
AU  - Stanley Shitote
AU  - Nathaniel Ambassah
AU  - Victoria Okumu
AU  - John Thuo
Y1  - 2019/12/18
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajetm.20190406.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajetm.20190406.14
T2  - American Journal of Engineering and Technology Management
JF  - American Journal of Engineering and Technology Management
JO  - American Journal of Engineering and Technology Management
SP  - 97
EP  - 109
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-1441
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajetm.20190406.14
AB  - The increasing human population in cities and urban areas continues to raise the demand for housing and other infrastructure in developing nations. Stability of structures is critical for sustainable development to ensure longer useful life of structures and reduction in the rate at which natural resources for construction purposes are extracted from the environment. Foundation of buildings infrastructure plays a key role of transferring the loading from the structure to the soil underneath. In foundation design, the ultimate bearing capacity of soil under normal circumstances assumes that the water table is located well below the foundation. Variation in soil moisture content during construction and during the structure’s lifespan affect the soil bearing capacity. Information on the extent to which variation in soil moisture content affect the soil bearing capacity was lacking. This paper presents findings of a research that sought to establish the extent to which variation in soil moisture content affects the soil bearing capacity. Seven soil samples collected from Nairobi area and its environs were subjected to 30%, 50% and 75% moisture content variation. The soil bearing capacity was tested using Direct Shear method and Undrained Triaxial method in accordance to British Standard 1377 of 1990 Part 7 and Part 8 respectively. Test results determined that the insitu moisture content for the collected 7 soil samples from Nairobi area and its environs varied from 21.9% to 55.4% implying the diverse characteristics of soil samples and sites studied. Increasing the soil moisture content from 30% to 50% and to 75% all other factors held constant contributed to reduction in soil bearing capacity as illustrated by a linear equation y = -170.89x + 565.64 using direct shear method. y is the resultant soil bearing capacity (kN/mm2) while x is the soil moisture content in percentage. This shows that variation in soil moisture content contributes to a significant reduction in soil bearing capacity by a factor of -170.89x. To mitigate the negative effect of reduction in soil bearing capacity as a result of changes in soil moisture content, a factor of safety should be applied at design stage by adjusting the allowable soil bearing capacity to take cognisance of the contribution by changes in soil moisture content. This is critical to ensure that all structures are designed to withstand variation in moisture content at the foundation throughout their lifespan and avoid potential structural failure.
VL  - 4
IS  - 6
ER  -

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