Engineering Commons^™

Accelerated Consolidation Of Soft Clays Using Wick Drains, J. R. Davie, M. R. Lewis, L. W. Young Jr.

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

Construction of the New Istana for the Sultan of Brunei required that fill slopes up to 85 feet high be placed on very soft compressible floodplain soils. Wick drains installed in the soft sediments accelerated their consolidation and reduced long-term settlements. The consolidation also produced a strength increase in the soft soils that allowed the fill to be constructed without danger of a major base slip failure. Instrumentation installed in the floodplain soils provided data on excess porepressures built up during the fill placement, and on the resulting settlements. The measured porepressures and settlements were in good agreement with the …

Advances In The Construction And Design Of Jet Grouting Methods In South America, Giorgio Guatteri, Joseph L. Kauschinger, Antonio C. Doria, Edward B. Perry

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

This paper presents a brief historical development of the two most popular jet grouting methods used in South America, namely, the chemical churning pile method (CCP) and jumbo jet grouting. Advantages and limitations of each procedure are cited. A brief discussion follows covering the history of CCP jet grouting in South America. Field trials performed to improve the design methodology and construction of CCP and jumbo jet grouted columns are presented. Finally, three case histories are presented to illustrate the use of jumbo jet grouting where limited head room exists, jet grouting in close proximity to pile supported structures, formation …

Designing Geotextile Support For Submarine Power Cables, K. Y. C. Chung

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

Six 36 cm diameter submarine pipe-cables were buried in a 1.2 km long, fabric-lined trench in the soft river mud under 17 m average water head across the Hudson River about 4.8 km north of the Newburgh Bridge, New York. This paper describes the design considerations based on geotechnical point of view of using geotextile to support submarine power cables.

Geogrid Reinforced Soil Retaining Wall On Compressible Soils, R. L. Curtis, V. E. Chouery-Curtis, D. A. Miller

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

A geogrid reinforced soil wall with a wrap-around facing system was successfully constructed on soft, compressible alluvial and residual soils. An originally designed 20-foot (6.1 m) high, reinforced concrete cantilever retaining wall was not constructed because of the expected settlements induced by the wall and backfill. The geogrid reinforced wall was utilized because of its ability to withstand the estimated settlement and because it was considered less expensive than providing deep foundation support of a cantilever wall. This paper discusses the design, construction, and performance of the geogrid reinforced wall.

Geotechnical Studies Of Foundation Of A Tilted Tank At Parikshatgarh, India, G. C. Nayak, B. Singh, P. K. Jain

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

An overhead tank of 200 KL capacity and 9 m staging was constructed in year 1975 at the ancient historical site at Parikshatgarh, Meerut, India. The depth of foundation is 1.6 m and inner and outer diameters of annular raft is 6.8 m and 10.3 respectively. In year 1978, the overhead tank was observed to be tilted. Detailed geotechnical studies have been conducted in 1987 to find out the causes of tilting of the tank and tilts have been measured every month for last one year. It is interesting to note that in spite of severe tilt of 4.3 cm/meter …

Impact Of Tunneling On Two Brick-Bearing-Wall Structures, Marco D. Boscardin

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

The responses or a pair or brick-bearing-wall structures to nearby construction or twin, shield driven 21-ft-diameter tunnels in soil are examined. Horizontal and vertical ground displacements are summarized and discussed, as well as, horizontal and vertical displacements, tilting, distortion, and damage sustained by the structures. Transient features or the developing settlement trough and effects on building response are also examined and discussed.

Long Term Building Performance Over An Injected Subgrade, Ronald F. Reed, Paul Wright

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

Several foundation designs and stabilization methods are used with varying degrees of success to cope with the problem of expansive clays. Many of these methods are very expensive, therefore alternate technology that is both cost and performance effective has been developed. This paper presents a case history with pre- and post- stabilization test data for a 4-building project where pressure injection of lime and water was used to preswell weathered clay-shale to a depth of 10 feet. Use of pressure injection technology economically reduced post construction movements to 0.5 inches to 1.8 inches over a 7 year monitoring period. Movements …

Recent Examples Of Cut And Fill Reinforcement On A41-Highway In France, Trân Vô Nhiêm

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

At EVIRES PASS, between ANNECY and MONT BLANC in FRANCE, subsoil is made up of unstable clayey natural versants and marly bedrock affected by previous or current slidings. The problems encountered during the new A41-Highway construction were aggravated by the proximity of Road and Railway located on top of the same versant. The final Design consisted of succession of cuts and embankments with special soil reinforcement techniques to improve stability. So two existing unstable Railway embankments were promptly consolidated by "soil nailing" with driven steel dowel-piles which were either anchored or not. Two other high cuts in marls and sandstones …

Analysis Of Accidents In Construction And Maintenance Work Zones, Jerry G. Pigman, Kenneth R. Agent

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

This report includes documentation of the two following phases of the study : 1) analysis of statewide accidents for the period 1983 through 1986 in which "road under construction" was listed as a contributing factor; and 2) analysis of accident data and traffic control devices used at 20 case study locations. At the case study locations, accident data were analyzed for a three-year period before construction and compared to the period during construction.

Results from the statewide analysis indicate that even though the level of construction and maintenance activity is higher and traffic volumes have increased, there have not been …

Laboratory Evaluation Of Edge Drains, L. John Fleckenstein, David L. Allen

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

This report documents laboratory test results performed on four brands of highway edge drains. The four brands included in this study are Hydraway (by Monsanto), Akwadrain (by International Construction Equipment, Inc.), Advantage (by Advanced Drainage Systems), and PDS 40 (by Pro Drain Systems).

Wage Survey Of Road And Street Employees In Indiana Counties And Cities, Herpicc

Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) Publications

Wages, benefits and insurance plans for employee classifications common to road and street maintenance organizations are reported in this publication. The figures were obtained from a March 1988 questionnaire sent to all Indiana County Highway Departments and from the "Indiana Municipal Salaries, Wages and Fringe Benefits, 1988" published by the Indiana Association of Cities & Towns.

The information in this publication is intended to assist the local road and street agencies in developing the wage plans for next years budget by providing comparative information from other organizations in the state. Exact duties and responsibilities vary and are not reflected in …

Measurement And Simulation Of One-Dimensional Transient Three Phase Flow For Monotonic Liquid Drainage, R. J. Lenhard, J. Dane, J. C. Parker, Jagath J. Kaluarachchi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Simultaneous movement of oil, water, and air in a sandy porous medium was investigated experimentally under transient flow conditions and results were compared to numerical simulations employing a finite element multiphase flow code. The liquid hydrocarbon was Soltrol 170, a low-density branched alkane mixture. Liquid saturations were measured using a collinear dual-energy gamma radiation apparatus and liquid pressures were measured using hydrophilic (untreated) and hydrophobic (treated) ceramic tensiometers connected to pressure transducers. The experimental regime was selected to impose monotonically draining water and total liquid saturation paths to avoid hysteretic effects. Measured saturations and pressures are compared to values obtained …

Multiyear Drought Simulation With Periodic-Stochastic Hydrologic Processes, Lankeswara Hemal Wijayaratne

Dissertations

Previous studies on multiyear droughts are often limited to the analysis of historic annual flow series. A major problem in these studies is the unavailability of long historic flow records, on which to perform the analysis. To overcome this difficulty, the present study has used synthetically generated mean annual flow series to suppliment the historic flows. For the purpose of generating flows, a general methodology was developed to propose a mathematical model based on the harmonic and stochastic analyses of the historic flow series. The main objective was to derive a large population of multiyear drought events from the generated …

Sorption And Desorption Of Organic Compounds By Flyash, Kashinath Banerjee

Dissertations

A sorbent treatment process has been developed which uses flyash as sorbent in the treatment of highly toxic and hazardous chemicals; these include: Alcohols, Aldehydes, Ketones and Aromatics. Batch, as well as dynamic, studies were performed, in different phases, during the investigation. Single and multiple solute systems were examined separately. The samples were analyzed using a Flame Ionization Detector Gas Chromatograph.

The result of this study demonstrates that isolation/ immobilization of the organic pollutants is technologically feasible by adsorbing the contaminants onto flyash. The residual carbon content of the flyash plays a very significant role during the treatment process. The …

Estimation Of Modified Proctor Densities Based On Visual Identification, Ramesh Damodaram

Theses

Often in construction jobs requiring controlled compaction, there is a delay involved in testing the soil sample to be used as a structural fill. Here a rational approach has been adopted to get these values from 600 test data available. Using these data, appropriate relationships between grain sizes, maximum dry densities and optimum moisture content were developed. From these, two tables were derived to estimate the maximum dry density and optimum moisture content based on grain size distribution.

In a fill control job, if the borrow pit happens to change, the field personnel could obtain soil samples and send them …

Expert Systems Approach For Means Of Egress Analysis, Dimitrios N. Dontas

Theses

The use of Expert Systems has grown dramatically during the 1980's. Developed as a branch of Artificial intelligence, knowledge based Expert Systems were at first of academic interest only. With successful application of knowledge based Expert Systems to medical and other diagnostic problems, industrial and commercial use of this technique is also increasing significantly. As of 1986, fifty percent of the Fortune 500 companies are embarked in their own Expert Systems research.

A variety of knowledge based Expert Systems has been developed for the Civil Engineering design and construction industries. The applications cover a wide range of subjects, including among …

Determination Of Project Duration For Resource Constrained Projects Without Using Resource Scheduling Procedure, Rabindra Nath Karmakar

Theses

The problem addressed in this thesis is that of determining the practicability of equating measures of network and resource characteristics to the early finish date of a project which is constrained by resources. The output of standard critical path calculations along with information on resource profiles that are easy to calculate can be of use in estimating resource constrained project duration.

Twenty two different equations ( developed by Hall) were used to find the estimated project finish dates. These results were compared to the schedule resulting from the application of the heuristic rule of minimum activity float. It is shown …

The Quantitative Determination Of Formaldehyde In Ambient Air (Analytical Method), Chitsan Lin

Theses

A procedure for coating in situ silica gel in prepacked cartridges with 2,4-dinitrophenylhvdrazine (DNPH) acidified with hydrochloric acid is described. The method was evaluated under practical field conditions in The Northern New Jersey-Staten Island Urban Air Toxics Project. The formaldehyde hydrazone formed is desorbed by acetonitrile and determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with UV det.ection. In this study, we have examined trap coaz)ng, trap efficiency, parallel ambient air and inaoor air sampLing, to find the best analysis method. Sampling traps aci:iifled .:ith hydrochloric acid perform better than those using percnicric acid or phosphoric acid. Trap sampling efficiency was significantly affected …

An Improved Method Of Gas Chromatographic Determination Of Trace Organic Vapors In Ambient Air Collected In Canisters, Yong-Jin Shen

Theses

An improved method for analysis and quantitation of volatile organic compounds in ambient air has been developed. Samples are collected in evacuated SUMMA polished stainless steel canisters using a sampling flow apparatus with a critical orifice as flowrate controller. Analysis of VOCs in the collected air is carried out by cryogenically concentrating the sample, then thermally transfering it onto the head of a capillary column in a gas chromatograph. The column effluent is measured by a parallel flame ionization detector (FID), and electron capture detector (ECD). The problems associating with quantitative transfer of the sample to the initial cryofocusing loop …

Sorptive And Geotechnical Characteristics Of Kaolinite, Chi-Yuan Shih

Theses

The sorption/desorption behavior of phenol and chlorobenzene as well as their influence on geotechnical characteristics of kaolinite were studied. The results reveal that the sorption process follows closely with the Freundlich adsorption isotherm whereas the sorption/desorption ratio depends upon the characteristics of organic compounds.

A series of geotechnical properties tests was also undertaken after achieving equilibrium at different concentrations of organic compounds. It was found that the parameters such as liquid limit, plastic limit, optimum moisture content, and dry density increase with an increasing-concentration of organic compounds.

The relationship between the geotechnical, properties and sorption behavior of soils provides the …

Softening Response Of Concrete In Direct Tension, Teresa Cintora

Theses

Due to the increased attention in nonlinear fracture mechanics and numerical methods of cementitious material, it has become necessary to have a reliable investigation of the post-peak softening response of concrete under direct uniaxial loading. But due to the brittleness of the material previous researchers have encountered great difficulty in obtaining complete data regarding the load-deformation behavior. This study uses a strain-controlled testing method and therefore the post-peak curve can be more easily obtained. Based on these results a unique formula for the normalized load vs. deformation curve has been proposed to be applied in fracture analysis applications.

Friedman's Model Of Calculating The Optimum Bid Price Using Dbase Iii Plus, Selim Uzel

Theses

The micro-computer program, BIDCALC presented in this thesis is offered as simple, practical, and proven approach to developing an effective data-based competitive bidding strategy. BIDCALC is written in dBASE III Plus programming language for MS-DOS based computers.

Main purpose of the program is to evaluate the optimum bid using the Friedman's model of Maximizing the Expected Profit. At the same time the program keeps track of necessary competitor and project information in data base files which are easily transferable to other software packages. The program is capable of generating a variety of reports in a matter of seconds.

BIDCALC is …

Sorption Characteristics And Their Effects On Geotechnical Properties Of Clay Soils, Arambawattage Mahendra Rodrigo

Theses

An experimental investigation on the sorption characteristics of clay soils with liquid organics (phenol, chlorophenol, nitrophenol and chlorobenzene) and their effects upon geotechnical properties was undertaken. The investigation consisted of two different phases, namely, (1) the sorption/ desorption study, including kinetic rate, equilibrium time, isotherm modeling, and (2) geotechnical properties due to clay/ liquid organic interactions. The results of kinetic rate study indicate that the equilibration time for the contaminants way dependent upon the hydrophobic or the hydrophelic nature of the chemical. For equilibrium adsorption models, the linear isotherm was found to be the best fit in predicting sorption capacities …

Study Of The Structure And Capacity Of Construction Industry In Pakistan, Tayyab A. Ansari

Theses

The construction industry is the second largest sector in Pakistan's economy after agriculture. It is a fragmented industry which includes very small and very large contracting groups. It includes professional groups such as architects, engineers, management personnel etc. Major part of this industry is dominated by material's suppliers, vendors etc.

In the light of the developments which have taken place particularly over the last ten years, the study has covered the capacity of the construction industry in terms of estimated output, availability of manpower, demand and production of building materials , financial problems, credit, quality of work, the role of …

A Field Perspective On Groundwater Contamination, John A. Cherry

Maine Collection

A Field Perspective on Groundwater Contamination

Geological Society of Maine Distinguished Lecturer John Cherry, University of Waterloo, Ontario, sponsored by the Department of Geosciences, University of Southern Maine, 19th May 1988.

Contents: Lecture 1 : Contaminant Migration Processes Illustrated by Field Experiments / Lecture 2 : Behavior of Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids, Illustrated by Lab Experiments and Conceptual Examples / Lecture 3 : Field Case Histories on Groundwater Contamination / Lecture 4 : Hydrogeological Concepts and Criteria for Waste Disposal / Waterloo Center for Groundwater Research Publications List

Evaluation Of Extruded Thermoplastics As Lane Delineation, Kenneth R. Agent, Jerry G. Pigman

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

This study involved an evaluation of large-scale installations of both hydrocarbon and alkyd extruded thermoplastics as lane delineation on sections of interstate highways having open-graded surfaces. The objective of the study was to evaluate the performance of thermoplastics as lane delineation and to compare the performance of hydrocarbon versus alkyd formulations.

Data were collected on a periodic basis over an 18-month period. Data collection consisted of daytime observations of the appearance and durability of the thermoplastic material along with reflectivity measurements using a portable retroreflectometer.

The evaluation revealed that both the hydrocarbon and alkyd extruded thermoplastic material maintained their appearance, …

Guide To Revenue Calculations: Local Option Highway User Tax 1988, Herpicc

Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) Publications

This guide is provided to explain the output generated by the computer programs and to suggest ways in which the results can be adapted to specific LOHUT proposals before a County Council. The 1988 LOHUT revenue projections are of special interest because of House Enrolled Act Number 1295. This act (IC 8-11-5) granted each county authority to bond for county roads or bridges, but only if a county has first adopted a LOHUT -- the excise surtax (IC 6-3.5-4) and wheel tax (IC 6-3.5-5).

HERPICC neither endorses nor opposes passage of a LOHUT. The revenue projections it provides are intended …

Bioavailable Phosphorus In The Bear River System, Utah, Kenneth Warren Barker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The bioavailable fraction of phosphorus (BAP) in the lower Bear River system waters was investigated. BAP plays a critical role as the limiting nutrient for algal production and eutrophication in proposed reservoirs in the Bear River system. The Bear River system has a hardness ranging between 180-240 mg/L as CaCO₃ which significantly affects BAP.

BAP estimation was done by a modified Selenastrum capricornutum Printz Algal Assay Bottle Test. The algal bioassay is considered the best estimator of BAP because no chemical tests or indicator parameters are available. Autoclaving and UV radiation were found to be unacceptable means for sterilization …

Evaluation Of Spatially-Distributed Snowpack Estimation Using Pattern Recognition, Cheng-Hua Leu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A procedure for spatially-distributed snowpack estimate is proposed and evaluated herein. This procedure is divided into two parts, off-line and on-line parts. The off-line procedure uses Fuzzy c-Varieties (FCV) algorithms to perform the watershed classification based on Landsat TM data and a digital elevation model and estimate influence coefficient for all pixels in the watershed. Through the concept of influence coefficient, a set of prototypical points can be selected and located. The on-line procedure estimates snowpack properties at these prototypical points and then transforms them to estimates of snowpack properties at any point in the watershed. To effectively evaluate this …

A Hydrological Characterization Of A Zero-Order Basin In Volcanic Hillslope Terrain, Neil A. Mock

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Hydrologists have displayed a renewed effort towards understanding the complexity of runoff generation and its association with basin structure. Basin structure is defined as the complex geomorphological, vegetation, and soil characteristics that make up and distinguish the physical nature of a drainage basin. Zero-order basins are an integral part of watershed structure because they furnish the capacity to store and transmit snowmelt and rainfall. By definition, zero-order basins are sub-basins which are depressions in the surf ace and shallow bedrock topography. This study involves a space time characterization of a zero-order basin in fractured media located in southwest Idaho.

The …