Evaluation of soil flexibility of the reclaimed area in Penang using the non-destructive method

Abstract

Rapid development in urban area needs solutions to address scarcity of land for the development and infrastructure. Land reclamation has played an important role in the process of urban development in Malaysia especially in Penang area. However, the land reclamation usually comes along with challenges such as instability of the reclaimed platform and soil liquefaction. Furthermore, the assumption of fixed-base structure in the current building design practice is realistic only when the structure is founded on soil class B (rock). The main objective of this study was to investigate the soil classification and liquefaction potential of the reclaimed land and to study the effect of soil flexibility on low- and medium-rise structure in terms of structure drift. In this study, two areas in Penang have been used as a case study, namely Seri Tanjung Pinang (STP) and Bandar Sri Pinang (BSP). The multichannel analysis of surface wave (MASW) method was implemented to investigate the soil classification and the soil liquefaction for the two case study areas. In addition, the pushover analysis was performed in order to study the effect of soil flexibility on low- and medium-rise structures in terms of drift. Based on the shear wave velocity (Vs30) from MASW, the STP and BSP can be categorized as soil class D (stiff soil) and E (soft soil), respectively. Results also showed that the STP area has no threat to the liquefaction potential compared with BSP area. In terms of drift, it is clearly shown that the difference of flexible-base structures at STP and BSP is 6 and 19 %, respectively, and are larger than fixed-base structure.