Hierros

American Journal of Applied Sciences 4 (7): 484-490, 2007 ISSN 1546-9239 © 2007 Science Publications

Design and Performance of EPS Footing for Lightweight Farm Structure on Peat Soil
1

Mohammad Abdullah, 2Bujang B.K. Huat, 1Rezuwan Kamaruddin, 1Abu Kasim Ali, and 2Youventharan Duraisamy 1 Malaysian Agriculture Research Institute, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia 2 University Putra Malaysia,Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract: The objective of this research project was to find a potential replacement for the conventional pile foundation principally for peat soil. It is fundamentally meant for lightweight and impermanent agricultural farm structures. Preceding the design and development of the foundation the physical characteristics of the in-situ peat such as; peat depth, soilconsolidation, soil compressibility, water table, liquid limit, soil moisture content, soil bulk density, loss on ignition, soil bearing capacity and soil shear strength were verified. Two types of foundation designs i.e. single shell and pad foundations were assessed. Both utilized Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) as the footing material. They were conceptually designed as floating foundation employing theweight compensation technique. The soil bearing capacity, soil shear strength, self-load and the lateral wind-load are factors taken into consideration in the footing design. The total design load was considered at 100 kg per foundation. The water table fluctuation, soil surface subsidence, the foundation vertical movement and its stability were constantly monitored. After a scheduled period, thefoundations continue to stay intact. Keywords: Peat soil, lightweight structures, foundations, pile footing, expanded polystyrene INTRODUCTION Peat land, covers more than 4 million km2 of the planet’s surface. Representing 50 – 70% of the total wetlands on earth, it forms a sizeable component of land resources globally. Peat of the temperate countries is distinctively diverse from tropical peat,which is very woody in nature. About 20 million hectares or 60% of the tropical peat is located in the South-East Asia countries. This is estimated to be roughly one tenth of the entire extent of the global peat land resource. Approximately 70% of the total peat land in South-East Asia is in Indonesia. Other major areas are located in Malaysia, with 2.6 x 106 hectares or 8% of its total land area;Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam and the Philippines[1] currently The United Soil Classification System (USC) classified peat and muck as highly organic soils[2]. Generally soils containing more than 20% organic matters are termed organic soils but, the definition of peat differs between soil science and engineering definition. In soil science terminology, peat is a soil with organic content>35%. However, in engineering terminology peat is a soil with organic content >75%[3]. The Department of Agriculture in peninsular Malaysia separates organic clay, muck and peat by the 484 percentage Loss on Ignition (LOI). The criteria being; organic clay, muck and peat are soils with LOI 22 – 35 % , 35 – 65 % and >65% respectively[4]. Peat depth is another classification of peat, where soil withpeat depth of 3.0 m is classified as shallow, moderate, deep and very deep peat respectively[5]. Peat soil is by nature complex and variable and its properties are difficult to classify with precision. Peat is a problematic soil with many adverse physical and mechanical properties such as: soil surface subsidence, high water-table, loose soil structure, and contain high volume of underground woodydebris. The surface subsidence had been reported to occur at a substantial rate of about 10 cm/yr in the first eight years after clearing[6]. Earlier studies conducted by Ooi[7], Ismail[8] and Andriesse[9] revealed that peat load bearing capacity was very low and was apparently influenced by the water table and the presence of subsurface woody debris. A recent study done by Mohammad and...