EARTHWORK SPECIFICATION

FILL MATERIAL

Fill material shall consist of naturally occurring or processed material, or inert

construction and demolition material, which at the time of deposition is capable of
being compacted in accordance with the specified requirements to form stable areas
of fill.
Fill material shall not contain any of the following:
(a) Material susceptible to volume change, including marine mud, soil with a liquid
limit exceeding 65% or a plasticity index exceeding 35%, swelling clays and
collapsible soils,
(b) Peat, vegetation, timber, organic, soluble or perishable material,
(c) Dangerous or toxic material or material susceptible to combustion, and
(d) Metal, rubber, plastic or synthetic material.
Special fill material shall consist of material which has a liquid limit not exceeding
45%, a plasticity index not exceeding 20% and a coefficient of uniformity exceeding
50.
Granular fill material shall consist of clean, hard and durable material including
recycled aggregates, rock and concrete.
Rock fill material shall consist of pieces of concrete or hard and durable rock of which
the maximum size shall not be greater than three times the minimum dimension of
individual pieces and in the opinion of the Engineer not more than 30% by mass is
discoloured or shows evidence of decomposition.
The soluble sulphate content of fill material placed within 500 mm of concrete, cement
bound material or cementitious material shall not exceed 1.9 grams of sulphate,
expressed as SO3, per litre.

EXCAVATION
DISPOSAL OF EXCAVATING MATERIAL
(1)The Contractor shall take measures to sort and separate excavated material on site
for use in the permanent works as required in the environmental protection measures
unless otherwise stated in the Contract. Excavated material, which in the opinion of
the Engineer cannot be selected, processed or mixed in a practical manner to make it
suitable for use in the permanent works, as fill material shall be disposed of by the
Contractor unless otherwise stated in the Contract.
(2) Excavated material that is surplus to the requirements of the permanent work shall
be disposed of by the Contractor unless otherwise stated in the Contract. The
Contractor shall, unless otherwise stated in the Contract, take all practical measures
to sort and separate the surplus material according to its nature before disposal as
required in the environmental protection measures and dispose of the material off-site
using the Trip-ticket System.

USE OF EXCAVATED MATERIAL

(1) Excavated material required for use in the permanent work which is capable of
being selected, processed and mixed to make it suitable for use as fill material shall
not be used for any other purposes unless permitted by the Engineer.
(2) Excavated material that is required for use in the permanent work as fill material
and which the Engineer permits to be removed from the Site or used for other
purposes shall be replaced by an equivalent material approved by the Engineer. The
replacement material shall have the same volume after compaction as the material
replaced.

OBSTRUCTION IN EXCAVATION
(1) The Contractor shall inform the Engineer without delay of the nature and location
of any unforeseen obstruction encountered during excavation.
(2) Boulders that intersect the earthworks final surface or formation shall be dealt with
as excavation proceeds by methods agreed by the Engineer. Boulders shall not be left
protruding unless permitted by the Engineer.

EXCAVATION
(1) Temporary supports or other methods shall be used to maintain excavations in a
stable condition and to prevent settlement of structures or utilities due to excavation or
dewatering.
(2) Construction plant or other vehicles shall not be operated or parked adjacent to
excavations and earthworks material or other materials shall not be placed adjacent to
excavations unless this has been allowed for in the design of the Temporary Works
for the support of the excavation.

EXCAVATION ADJACENT TO STRUCTURES AND UTILITIES

(1) Excavations shall be carried out by hand adjacent to utilities that are known,
proven or suspected to exist.
(2) Unless otherwise permitted by the Engineer excavations next to structures shall be
carried out by hand.

COMPACTION OF FILL MATERIAL

(1) Fill material in areas of fill shall be compacted in layers to a stable condition as
soon as practicable after deposition and in a manner appropriate to the location and to
the material to be compacted.
(2) The permission of the Engineer shall be obtained before the next layer is
deposited on each layer of compacted fill material.
3) fill material shall be compacted to obtain a relative compaction of at least
95% throughout unless otherwise stated in the Contract.

MOISTURE CONTENT OF FILL MATERIAL

Fill material other than rock fill material and material shall be at optimum moisture
content during compaction. The tolerance on the optimum moisture content
percentage shall be ±3%, provided that the fill material is still capable of being
compacted in accordance with the specified requirements to form stable areas of fill.
All necessary measures shall be taken to achieve and maintain the specified moisture
content.

COMPACTION OF FILL MATERIAL ADJACENT TO STRUCTURES AND

UTILITIES
(1) Fill material shall be compacted in such a manner that structures or utilities are not
disturbed or damaged.
(2) Fill material around water, sewage and drainage pipes, which are constructed as
part of the permanent work, shall be compacted by hand-rammers or manually
operated power equipment. Fill material within 300 mm above the top of sewage and
drainage pipes shall be compacted to obtain a relative compaction of at least 85%
throughout.

COMPACTION OF ROCK FILL MATERIAL

(1) Every layer of rock fill material shall be compacted by at least eight passes of a
vibrating roller or by other equivalent compaction method approved by the Engineer.
The final surface of rock fill material shall be compacted by at least two additional
passes of a vibrating roller or by other equivalent compaction method approved by the
Engineer.
(2) Vibratory rollers used for the compaction of rock fill material shall have a static
load per 100 mm width of roll of at least 2 kN for layers with a compacted thickness
not exceeding 500 mm and at least 4 kN for layers with a compacted thickness
exceeding 500 mm.

COMPACTION OF GENERAL FILL MATERIAL WITH A LARGE PORTION OF

COARSE MATERIAL
(1) For general fill material of which less than 90% passes a 20 mm BS test sieve, it is
difficult to determine of the moisture content and maximum dry density. This type of
material shall be compacted to the requirements.
(2) Each horizontal layer of general fill material shall be spread and levelled with a
thickness not less than1.5 times of the maximum size of the general fill material and
not exceeding the maximum depth of compacted layer. If there is a presence of over-
sized coarse material in the general fill, the over-sized coarse material shall be
removed or broken down to sizes acceptable to the Engineer. Each layer shall be
systematically compacted by a vibratory roller with the stipulated minimum number of
passes corresponding to the minimum static load per 100 mm width of the roller.
(3) The number of passes of the roller shall only be counted when the roller is
travelled on the material to be compacted at a speed of not more than 2 km per hour
with full vibration. Plant other than a vibratory roller carrying out material spreading or
providing some preliminary compaction, to assist the use of heavier plant, shall be
disregarded in counting the number of passes.
(4) Variation from the method or the use of plant different from that specified will be
permitted only if the Contractor demonstrates at site trials that equivalent compaction
is achieved by the alternative method or plant. The procedure to be adopted for these
site trials shall be agreed with and approved by the Engineer.
(5) Without prejudice to the provision of the Conditions of Contract and in order that
the Engineer may take proper provision for the supervision of compaction in the
permanent work, the Contractor shall, not less than 24 hours before he proposes to
carry out compaction processes, apply in writing to the Engineer for permission to do
so.
(6) When materials of widely divergent grading are used in embankments and fill
areas, they shall be spread and compacted in separate clearly defined areas.
(7) If more than one class of material is being used in such a way that in the opinion of
the Engineer, it is not practicable to define the areas in which each class occurs,
compaction plant shall be operated as if only the material that requires the greatest
compaction effort is being compacted.

COMPLETION OF EARTHWORK SURFACES

COMPLETION OF EARTHWORK FINAL SURFACES
(1) For general fill material of which less than 90% passes a 20 mm BS test sieve, it is
difficult to determine of the moisture content and maximum dry density. This type of
material shall be compacted to the requirements
(2) Each horizontal layer of general fill material shall be spread and leveled with a
thickness not less than1.5 times of the maximum size of the general fill material and
not exceeding the maximum depth of compacted layer. If there is a presence of over-
sized coarse material in the general fill, the over-sized coarse material shall be
removed or broken down to sizes acceptable to the Engineer. Each layer shall be
systematically compacted by a vibratory roller with the stipulated minimum number of
passes corresponding to the minimum static load per 100 mm width of the roller.
(3) The number of passes of the roller shall only be counted when the roller is
travelled on the material to be compacted at a speed of not more than 2 km per hour
with full vibration. Plant other than a vibratory roller carrying out material spreading or
providing some preliminary compaction, to assist the use of heavier plant, shall be
disregarded in counting the number of passes.
(4) Variation from the method or the use of plant different from that specified will be
permitted only if the Contractor demonstrates at site trials that equivalent compaction
is achieved by the alternative method or plant. The procedure to be adopted for these
site trials shall be agreed with and approved by the Engineer.
(5) Without prejudice to the provision of the Conditions of Contract and in order that
the Engineer may take proper provision for the supervision of compaction in the
permanent work, the Contractor shall, not less than 24 hours before he proposes to
carry out compaction processes, apply in writing to the Engineer for permission to do
so.
(6) When materials of widely divergent grading are used in embankments and fill
areas, they shall be spread and compacted in separate clearly defined areas.
(7) If more than one class of material is being used in such a way that in the opinion of
the Engineer, it is not practicable to define the areas in which each class occurs,
compaction plant shall be operated as if only the material that requires the greatest
compaction effort is being compacted.

COMPLETION OF FORMATIONS
Formations above structures or utilities shall be completed after construction of the
structure or utility.
(2) Except in excavations in rock and in areas of fill formed of rock fill material or fill
material, formations shall be compacted to obtain a relative compaction of at least
98% to a depth of 200 mm below the formation.
(3) Unless otherwise permitted by the Engineer, proof rolling shall be carried out on
formations. The formation shall be rolled in the presence of the Engineer by at least
two passes of a non-vibrating rubber tyred roller.
The roller shall have a static load per 100 mm width of roll of at least 4 kN and shall
travel at a speed not exceeding 2 km/h. Any defect in the formation which is revealed
during proof rolling by deformation of the formation which in the opinion of the
Engineer is excessive shall be made good as instructed by the Engineer.
(4) After all other formation work and testing have been completed and damage
caused by testing reinstated, formations for pavements shall be rolled with one pass
of a smooth steel-wheeled non-vibrating roller. The roller shall have a load per 100mm
width of roll of at least 2 kN.
(5) Unless otherwise permitted by the Engineer, formation surfaces that will not be
immediately covered by the subsequent permanent works shall be protected by
methods agreed by the Engineer.

TOLERANCE
(1) Earthworks final surfaces and formations shall be within the tolerances of the
specified lines and levels stated in Table 6.3. The tolerances for formations do not
apply to pipes or preformed structures that require to be supported over their
complete length or area.
(2) In excavation, a positive tolerance refers to insufficient excavation and a negative
tolerance refers to excess excavation. In areas of fill, a positive tolerance refers to
excess fill material and a negative tolerance refers to insufficient fill material.