Bridge distress caused by approach embankment settlement

Surtees Bridge, which carries the A66(T) over the River Tees near Thornaby-on-Tees in the UK, has been showing signs of distress that predate its opening in 1981. Subsequent investigations have shown that the bridge distress is related to unexpectedly large settlement of the eastern approach embankment. Recent ground investigations prompted by a proposed widening of the river crossing have produced many new data on the alluvial deposits underlying the site, and explain why embankment settlement was so much larger than originally anticipated. Comparison of the geotechnical parameters obtained from the original and more recent ground investigations suggests that the original investigation significantly underestimated the thickness of an alluvial clay layer underlying the site, and that its coefficient of consolidation was overestimated. Settlement analyses using geotechnical data from the original ground investigations predict moderate embankment settlements occurring principally during construction. Settlement analyses based on all the available data predict far larger embankment settlements occurring over extended time periods. The latter analyses predict an embankment settlement similar to that observed and of sufficient magnitude to cause the observed lateral displacement of the bridge due to lateral loading of its piled foundation

Probabilistic modeling of one dimensional water movement and leaching from highway embankments containing secondary materials

Predictive methods for contaminant release from virgin and secondary road construction materials are important for evaluating potential long-term soil and groundwater contamination from highways. The objective of this research was to describe the field hydrology in a highway embankment and to investigate leaching under unsaturated conditions by use of a contaminant fate and transport model. The HYDRUS2D code was used to solve the Richards equation and the advection–dispersion equation with retardation. Water flow in a Minnesota highway embankment was successfully modeled in one dimension for several rain events after Bayesian calibration of the hydraulic parameters against water content data at a point 0.32 m from the surface of the embankment. The hypothetical leaching of Cadmium from coal fly ash was probabilistically simulated in a scenario where the top 0.50 m of the embankment was replaced by coal fly ash. Simulation results were compared to the percolation equation method where the solubility is multiplied by the liquid-to-solid ratio to estimate total release. If a low solubility value is used for Cadmium, the release estimates obtained using the percolation/equilibrium model are close to those predicted from HYDRUS2D simulations (10–4–10–2 mg Cd/kg ash). If high solubility is used, the percolation equation over predicts the actual release (0.1–1.0 mg Cd/kg ash). At the 90th percentile of uncertainty, the 10-year liquid-to-solid ratio for the coal fly ash embankment was 9.48 L/kg, and the fraction of precipitation that infiltrated the coal fly ash embankment was 92%. Probabilistic modeling with HYDRUS2D appears to be a promising realistic approach to predicting field hydrology and subsequent leaching in embankments

Effect of anisotropy and destructuration on behavior of Haarajoki test embankment

This paper investigates the influence of anisotropy and destructuration on the behavior of Haarajoki test embankment, which was built by the Finnish National Road Administration as a noise barrier in 1997 on a soft clay deposit. Half of the embankment is constructed on an area improved with prefabricated vertical drains, while the other half is constructed on the natural deposit without any ground improvement. The construction and consolidation of the embankment is analyzed with the finite-element method using three different constitutive models to represent the soft clay. Two recently proposed constitutive models, namely S-CLAY1 which accounts for initial and plastic strain induced anisotropy, and its extension, called S-CLAY1S which accounts, additionally, for interparticle bonding and degradation of bonds, were used in the analysis. For comparison, the problem is also analyzed with the isotropic modified cam clay model. The results of the numerical analyses are compared with the field measurements. The simulations reveal the influence that anisotropy and destructuration have on the behavior of an embankment on soft clay

Effect of material property in foundation during earthquake on the embankment

The dynamic analysis process started after any loss of embankment with associated huge damages like cracks during the earthquake. Literature review indicated that the maximum displacement during the earthquake is conducted to the crest and interface between the embankment with water reservoir, and foundations were cased. This paper evaluated the effect of material properties of the foundation for the two conditions so the result is related at the end of construction with supplying water. Numerical analyses of models were performed by finite element with plane strain method and ANSYS13 software. Earthquake recording as Nagan with 5.02 seconds and peak ground acceleration equal to is used. Results indicated that with a comparison of horizontal and vertical displacement, shear strain and shear stress so nonisotropic behavior of embankment especially in the up to part of the structure was obvious. It is required to consider an improvement of dynamic settlement with reinforcement structure in the future

Studi Pengaruh Tebal Tanah Lunak dan Geometri Timbunan terhadap Stabilitas Timbunan

The stability of embankment over soft soil is influenced by several factors such as subsoil and filling material properties, embankment geometry, ground water level and working load. This paper will present the analysis of influencing of soft soil thickness and embankment geometry to the stability of embankment. The analysis will be conducted using Slope/W by varying the thickness of soft soil and embankment geometry with certain embankment height and soft soil and fill material properties. The thickness of soft soil is varies in range of 2m to 15m, whereas the slope of embankment is varies in 4 condition i.e. 1:1 (vertical : horizontal), 1:1.5, 1:2, and 1:2.5, as well as the top width of embankment from 10m to 40m, with the output is factor of safety of embankment. The analysis result show the factor of safety is decreased when the top side of embankment is wider as well as when the slope of embankment is gentler. The analysis also show the influence of soft soil thickness to the embankment stability is limited to certain depth only that is in range of 7m to 10m, then the factor of safety remains constant

Observational Derivation of Einstein's``Law of the Constancy of the Velocity of Light in Vacuo"

On the basis of Galilean invariance and the Doppler formula, combined with an observational condition, it is shown that the constancy of the velocity of light {\it in vacuo} can be derived, together with time-dilatation and Lorentz contraction. It is not necessary to take the constancy as a postulate.Comment: 5 pages AIP-tex. Conference "Quantum Theory: Reconsideration of Foundations 3", Vaxjo Sweden, June 2005. To appear in AIP conference serie

Impact of Groundwater Flow on Permafrost Degradation and Transportation Infrastructure Stability

INE/AUTC 13.0

Behaviour of compacted silt used to construct flood embankment

This paper investigates the unsaturated mechanical behaviour of a fill material sampled from flood embankments located along the Bengawan Solo River in Indonesia. In order to gain a better understanding of this fill material, in situ tests were carried out alongside an extensive laboratory programme. Two different phenomena related to changes in moisture content of the embankment fill material are experimentally studied herein: (a) volumetric collapse and (b) variation in shear strength with suction. At low densities, similar to those found in situ, the material exhibited significant volumetric collapse behaviour. Triaxial tests carried out under saturated, suction-controlled and constant water content conditions indicate that the shear strength of the material increased with suction; in particular the effective angle of friction increased from 24.9 degrees under saturated conditions to 35.8 degrees under air-dried conditions