An extensive Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is used to determine the efficiency in reducing the carbon footprint of a graving dock. Firstly by identifying the hotspots in a base design, and then by comparing the various design alternatives. The focus is on reducing the amount of reinforced concrete used in the design of the dock floor by adding fibres to the concrete mixture and on prevention of having to dispose of in-flowing sediment after every docking procedure. Other evaluation methods such as a Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) that compares the economic viability and a Multi Criteria Analysis that combines the results of the LCA and CBA and assesses the design alternatives on other criteria such as ease of operation and maintenance are used to determine the optimal dock configuration for Damen Shipyard and Conversion B.V. in Harlingen.

This research investigated how traditional foundations of buildings can become circular and thus contribute to a circular economy. The current linear take-make-dispose economy results in waste, exhaustion of finite natural resources and environmental degradation. A circular economy is one way to cope with these trends. This type of economy is based on closed material cycles, renewable energy and system thinking. For the building industry, recycling of materials and reuse of products are most relevant. Reuse of products is preferred because it requires less material and energy than recycling. Reuse is facilitated by flexibility. Forms of flexibility are versatility, changeability and expandability. For building foundations, versatility and changeability are distinguished. Expandability should be incorporated in both. Within the circular economy, many design methods have been developed. The tools Design for Disassembly and Design for Adaptability help to design buildings for changeability and versatility, respectively. Corresponding assessment methods have been developed. An easy-to-use method suitable for the assessment of building foundations was sought and found: Alba Concept. Four foundation variants were defined by combining deep and shallow foundations with versatility and changeability. Based on the soil condition, loads, future scenario, function and desired level of flexibility, the foundation type can be determined. Hereafter, a design guideline can be followed, considering material, dimension, load bearing capacity, connection and transportation. One should strive for longevity, standardization and uniformity at the material, element and system levels, respectively. Because the assessment method of Alba Concepts focuses on changeability and buildings in general, it was modified. This method focuses on circular foundations in particular and values changeable and versatile designs. To determine whether the theoretical concept of circular foundations leads to foundations that are more circular than the traditional ones, two case studies were conducted. The considered buildings required a deep and shallow foundation. For both projects, a changeable and versatile foundation was designed. All foundations were assessed by the Alba Concepts’ method and the alternative method. Independent of the assessment method, the traditional foundations have a low level of circularity. Because Alba Concepts focuses on changeability, the versatile and changeable foundations obtained a low and high score, respectively. Based on the alternative method, all circular foundations obtained a high level of circularity. Finally, the structural similarities, differences, challenges, preconditions and feasibility are discussed. A versatile foundation appeared to be similar to a traditional one. Differences and challenges arise in case of changeable foundations. For example, the standards of dimensions and connections must be determined. Despite the disassembly, the strength, stiffness and stability must be maintained. Also, the reusability of foundation piles can be improved. More generally, finding a balance between uniformity and freedom of form is both important and challenging. Circular foundations require precise documentation of characteristics and availability. Altogether, the traditional foundation can be more circular with some achievable changes. Regardless of the building, adding a certain degree of circular value to the foundation is always possible but requires willingness and innovative thinking. This cultural change is not simple, but it will be beneficial.

To fight increasing traffic in city centres, tunnelling can be used to move traffic under the surface of the busy city. However, to prevent damage to the surrounding buildings, the settlements induced by the tunnelling should be kept to a minimum. This thesis researches the influence of the TBM tail void and its grouting process on the settlements. To do so, the monitoring and TBM data from the North/South line in Amsterdam is used. The data of the settlements, grout pressures and grout volumes is searched for locations with sudden changes. For these locations, the development of the settlements as a function of the TBM movement is compared to find out if the changes in settlements are caused by the tail void. This turns out to be the case for half of the researched locations. Furthermore, the changes of the grout pressuresmeasured in the tail void, and the volume injected grout volume are compared for these locations. An increase in injected grout volume shows to decrease the settlements induced by the tail void, while the pressure does not show a correlation with the settlements. Because only one sensor was used for the pressuremeasurements, the grout pressures are then compared for all sensors in the tail void. Again, no correlation is found between the grout pressures and the settlements. A side step in the research shows the development of the grout pressures in the tail void. During the boring process the grout pressures fluctuate. During the boring and forward movement of the TBM the tail void is injected with grout and the grout pressures in the tail void increase. During the ring building phase, this grouting stops and the grout pressures start to dissipate. The amount of dissipation is influenced by the permeability of the surrounding soil. With the help of DIANA FEM software, the influence of the tail void on the total settlements is investigated. The calculations show that a different grouting behaviour caused a change of only 4mmin total settlements. Concluding, as long as the pressures in the tail void stay above the soil pressure the tail void can be filled with grout. The injected grout volume will fill the tail void, preventing the soil from moving into the tail void and with that minimising the settlements at the surface.

A series of finite element simulations via PLAXIS were carried out to investigate the effects of micro- tunnelling on nearby pile foundations. A numerical model concerning the large diameter tunnel boring machine was first established based on identical properties of the centrifuge experiment executed by Loganathan et al. (2000). Results from numerical simulation were validated by measured data from the centrifuge test. After the validation of the numerical modelling method, the model was adjusted to match the case of micro-tunnel and a new model regarding the micro-tunnelling procedure was generated based on geotechnical conditions of the North/South Metro Line Amsterdam. The Hardening Soil constitutive model was chosen for all soil layers. In the model, the condition of single bored pile with working load was activated in the greenfield condition before the simulation of micro- tunnel. Advancement procedure of the micro-tunnel was simulated, and pile responses were collected under the plane strain condition. Based on the study of the model, two load transfer mechanisms of piles during tunnel-pile interaction process were identified. Impact of tunnel advancement on adjacent piles was also interpreted. A set of parametric studies were implemented to study changes of pile settlement and bearing capacity with increasing volume loss. An influence zone around the micro- tunnel respecting the potential of pile critical movements was established. Although the lack of field data makes the validation of results hard, comparison with analytical prediction and measured data from the centrifuge test shows good agreements for soil movements and pile responses. The results of this research remain to be validated by field data but it can provide insights into the problem of the impact of micro-tunnelling on piles.

Energy piles are getting more attention for their sustainable and economic potential. The fluid pipes are integrated in the foundation piles, which makes it cost-attractive, but also relatively new to the Dutch geotechnical industry. By lowering the temperature limit of the anti-freeze fluid in the pipes the heat extraction and thereby also the necessary pile length can be optimized. However, the resulting thermal loads might influence the structural function and are therefore a main obstruction for the industry. Within this thesis three aspects of freezing-thawing of an axially compressed end-bearing energy pile are evaluated: (i) frost resistance of concrete, (ii) thermal analysis and (iii) geotechnical analysis. The objective is to work towards a conclusion on the degradation effects of freezing-thawing processes along the edge of an end-bearing energy pile and come up with practical advice for the design. The behaviour of the concrete is evaluated by literature, wherein the concrete thermal conductivity and mixture are key elements. For the thermal analysis a pile group simulation and a detailed single pile analysis is performed in Comsol Multiphysics. The soil stratigraphy is simplified and based on the Western part of the Netherlands. The input originates from the heat-cool demand of a single household related to the monthly gas usage in the Netherlands. Typical heat extraction for this specific case, i.e. long-term average amount of 7 W/m, for 7 years did not result in freezing temperatures at the edge of the most critical piles. Freezing occurred after an increased heat extraction until 10 W/m. Furthermore, the influence of daily cycles in the single pile analysis damped by the thermal resistance of the concrete pile. The geotechnical analysis is assessed in an axisymmetric model in Plaxis with and without a fully-coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) module. The first set of analyses with THM examines the influence of expansion and contraction of materials including phase changes, but without changes in soil mechanical and physical properties. Two situations are considered that are different in terms of the position of their neutral plane and negative shaft resistance. The resulting settlements can be distinguished as initial structural load and settlements due to thermal seasonal cycles, which fluctuate between 1 mm. A ratcheting behaviour was observed and resulted in a settlement of 12 and 3 mm over 5 years. However, the volumetric strain accumulation around the pile indicates unrealistic results in the THM module and conclude that the simulation of freezing-thawing cycles has to be done in a more advanced constitutive model which can capture freezing-thawing behaviour of soils. Within the second set of analyses the impact of the soil strength and stiffness due to a freezing-thawing cycle was investigated for the two situations to determine their effect on the pile behaviour in terms of load-displacement and shear distribution. The results indicate that effective cohesion is most influencing the pile behaviour and it indicates that no need exist to change the design approach of end-bearing piles as long as the potential negative shaft resistance along the pile over all layers above the bearing layer is included in the design calculation and considered fully mobilized.

This research addresses the complex challenge of mitigating uplift within a water-retaining system, specifically focusing on the Valmeer Energy Storage Lake (ESL), an integral part of the DELTA21 project. The need for rapid emptying of the ESL during storm surges, often within a tight 12-hour window, has raised concerns about potential seabed uplift and associated volume loss. The central objective of this research is to ensure the stability and integrity of the ESL under these drawdown conditions, particularly by investigating how the soil at the lake’s bottom can achieve equilibrium. This study explores the Delta21 plan and the energy storage lake concept. Subsequently, it investigates the geological characterisation of the ESL site, providing data for subsequent analyses. Furthermore, a possible solution for using anchor piles is proposed; for that, a review of the Eurocode is done to understand the mechanisms of anchor piles and anchor pile groups. This research study employs Finite Element Method (FEM) calculations to assess bottom stability, both with and without incorporating anchor piles. Throughout the research, a combination of hand calculations and Finite Element Method (FEM) analysis was employed to understand the subject matter comprehensively. The optimal centre-to-centre distance of 1.2m emerged as the key to effectively preventing uplift. The study also explores the interchangeability of volume elements and embedded piles within the FEM analysis, highlighting their comparable functionality. Furthermore, an investigation into complete collapse scenarios suggests that tension piles ́ contribution to soil stability might be closely related to their weight rather than their spacing. Nevertheless, the spacing implementation presents challenges, emphasising the necessity for innovative solutions. Additional soil investigations are recommended to understand the impermeable layer's exact location further. With its potential for uplift due to backpressure, this impermeable layer adds complexity to the interaction between soil layers. Recognising the constraints of the research scope, it is evident that further field investigations and research endeavours are indispensable for a comprehensive understanding of the site conditions and the impermeable layer’s behaviour. In the final stages, the research concludes with a discussion and recommendations for the DELTA 21 plan specifically and presents the results obtained during this research.

Vibratory installation of piles and casings can be extremely economical, therefore the contractors prefer pile driving. When compared to impact pile driving, vibratory pile driving generates less noise but this installation method is still fraught with uncertainties (Rausche 2003). Environmental effects (such as ground vibrations) have negative impacts which could lead to damage and failure under special circumstances. The vibrations from the pile driving generate excess pore pressures and cause settles leading to failure in slopes. As part of the optimisation of mooring places for inland shipping and small coasters in Calandkanaal, the port of Rotterdam authority had a number of mooring places modified in the second half of 2016. A point of attention was the lack of analysis and a testing framework as there were uncertainties in excess pore pressure generation, an exposed area in the slope and slope stability. Based on these uncertainties, the work presented in this report tries to bridge this gap by answering the following research question: How can the existing knowledge on pile driving by means of vibratory installation be efficiently integrated into a 3D model which can practically estimate the factor of safety of the slope during vibratory installations? To answer the main research question, a few sub-questions were formed, which are as follows: • How can the vibratory parameters be integrated to model the slope stability? • What is the thickness of the highly degraded zone around the pile due to vibratory pile driving? • What are the limitations of the study? The proposed work uses the vibratory pile driving data to generate excess pore pressure data using an empirical pore pressure model given by Green & Mitchell (2004) referred here as the GMP pore pressure model. Along with the pore pressures by using an empirical attenuation relation, the extent of the liquefied zone was determined giving an idea about the area of the slope affected by pile driving. For slope stability, PLAXIS 3D is used along with its flow module. PLAXIS 3D gives an idea of the expected displacements in the geometry (slope) and the factor of safety. In a way to incorporate vibration effects, only the pore pressure are used as load inputs because of the difficulty of inducing pile driving vibrations in a static calculation. To add pore pressures into the geometry, a well was used with the infiltration function for the amount of time the pile was driven in the actual project. The volume input for the well infiltration is calculated in the same way as it was done in the actual project shown in the work of de Nijs (2019). PLAXIS 2D and D-geo stability software packages are also used in an attempt to make comparisons with the PLAXIS 3D model and validate the whole analysis.

Cement-Bentonite (CB) walls are low permeability vertical cut-off barriers that are mainly used to prevent groundwater flow and isolate contaminated areas. The hydraulic performance of the CB walls depends on the flow rate (discharge) through the wall. Therefore, the walls must achieve very low hydraulic conductivity. Poor in-situ hydraulic performance of these walls due to construction and post-construction defects may lead to surface settlements, groundwater contamination, and instability of the construction. This thesis investigates the range of in-situ hydraulic conductivity values of CB walls installed within the Netherlands. To achieve this, pump data for the various projects (Westerschelde Tunnel, A2 Motorway at Best, Motorway A4 Delft-Schiedam, Griftpark Utrecht, and Richard Hageman Akwadukt) were analyzed to determine the discharge through the walls. The in-situ hydraulic conductivity of the walls was calculated by Darcy’s law using groundwater level data and dimensions of the walls. The CB walls must be "keyed" into an underlying low permeable layer (aquitard), so that seepage of water through the aquitard is prevented. It was difficult to compute the in-situ hydraulic conductivity of the CB walls for Motorway A4 Delft-Schiedam and Griftpark Utrecht. The reason was that the walls in these projects were embedded in a permeable aquitard, which affected the total discharge value. The calculated in-situ hydraulic conductivity values were compared with the required hydraulic conductivity values and laboratory test results. In most of the cases, the in-situ hydraulic conductivity values of the walls were larger than the values acquired from the laboratory samples. The reason is that the estimation of the hydraulic conductivity of the CB walls from laboratory tests was based on small sample areas. This remains unreliable to evaluate the field performance of the CB walls. The average hydraulic conductivity of the CB walls at Richard Hageman Akwadukt was required to be less than or equal to 1·10-9 m/s. The calculated hydraulic conductivity values of the CB walls for the northern and southern polders were approximately 2.5·10-9 m/s and 2·10-8 m/s, respectively. This study also shows that the hydraulic performance of the CB walls is mainly affected by insufficient connections between the panels. Also, the impact of the defects on the discharge through the wall has been investigated by developing a threedimensional numerical groundwater flow model using MODFLOW. Simulations were performed for different types of defects, such as fully and partially penetrating windows, insufficient embedment, and connection between the panels of the CB walls. The results of the simulations indicated that fully penetrating windows have more impact on the discharge through the wall compared to partially penetrating windows. Partially penetrating windows with a hydraulic conductivity lower than 1·10-6 m/s are often insignificant. The size of a fully penetrating window also plays an important role. The difference in discharge (ΔQ) was calculated by subtracting the discharge through a perfect wall and imperfect wall (Qimperfect - Qperfect). The (ΔQ) through a CB wall with a window whose area is equal to 1 m2 can increase by a factor of 10 compared to a window whose area is equal to 0.1 m2. The location of the defects has no impact on the discharge through the wall. The simulations also show that the flow rate is unaffected by the embedment depth of the wall, but it must be ensured that the wall is in direct contact with the aquitard (low permeability soil layer). The vertical deviation of panels also affects the discharge through the wall. The MODFLOW results can be used to get an indication of the increase in discharge caused by various types of defects. From this, the possible defects for a particular project can be determined.

Vibratory installation of sheet piles is the most economic and suitable for the sandy soil because of its mechanism. However, the process induces excess pore pressure in saturated conditions leading to subsidence. This research focuses on the development of a tool-based solution to predict the excess pore pressure due to vibratory installation, which shall be verified by the postdiction of Kademuur Damrak measurements. This tool will help engineers quantify the impact of generated excess pore pressure on adjacent structures. The proposed work attempted to achieve its objective by answering the following main and sub research questions. How can the existing knowledge on generation and evolution of porewater pressure during vibratory installation be effectively integrated into a model/tool, which verified by the postdiction of Kademuur Damrak measurements, can practically estimate the porewater over-pressure during vibratory installations? • What are the parameters that influence the dissipation of the excess pore pressure? • How does the generation and dissipation of excess pore pressure vary in the liquefied zone from non-liquefied? • How can the vibration attenuation affect the generation of excess pore pressure in the sand? • What are the limitations and controlling parameters of this model or tool? The proposed work combines dynamic soil response and transient groundwater flow model to simulate the evolution of pore pressure due to vibratory loading. Based on the degree of modulus degradation due to the vibratory loading the soil, it is zoned into three. This is also termed as a multiscale computational framework. This allows for the formations liquefied and non-liquefied zone. The threshold acceleration of 0.1g - 0.3g must be available for the soil to liquefy [66]. The non- liquefied zone is fed by the groundwater flow from the liquefied zone. According to the Theis equation, head response due to constant pumping in an aquifer is influenced by the rate of discharge (V), storativity(S) and transmissivity(T), distance from the source. This inspired to model the driving of sheet pile with an analogous to the pumping of well. During the constant head loading due to the pumping, there is an increase in the head radially outward from the source. This resembles the phenomenon of pre-shearing in the field. The driving of the sheet pile was stimulated by the constant head loading. The application of time series analysis (PRIFICT method) [8] provides the first estimation of the pore pressure response from the first of three days of field piezometric data of Kademmur damrak. The semi-empirical model was formulated influenced by the head response of the slug test. The response of the time series analysis helped to calibrate the semi-empirical model. The relationship evolved between the physical and modelling parameters established that the hydraulic conductivity is the key parameter in both the generation and the dissipation of the excess pore pressure. The analysis of the field data establishes the conservative assumption of 1m for the width of the liquefaction zone. The analysis of accelerometer data from the Amsterdam noord zuid metro line tunnel helps to establish the dependency of liquefaction on acceleration amplitude. This bolstered the threshold acceleration for liquefaction to be 0.1 - 0.3g. The simple flow only Plaxis model helped to validate the proposed hypothesis. The hydraulic conductivity was established as the key parameter of the model. The integration of dynamic generation and transient groundwater flow model helped to analyse the evolution of excess pore pressure.

This master thesis aims to do a detailed conceptual design of a tunnel to connect the road A15 and A12, which will cross the Pannerdens canal ( represented by red color in figure 1.1) and a deep comparisonwith the bridge plan solution which has already been adopted by the government, which was named ViA15 project.