Date
03 Jun 1988, 10:00 am - 5:30 pm
Abstract
A 1500-m long anchored bulkhead with a height of 20m exhibited a localized failure in the form of broken and overstressed anchors several months after construction. The wall had not yet been subjected to its full design loadings. The soil conditions in the failure area differ from those occurring along the rest of the quay wall by the presence of a very soft silt/clay layer, and during construction the wall had been strengthened in this area. Post-failure analysis of the anchored bulkhead indicated that the primary cause of the failure was overly optimistic design assumptions for the strength of the silt/clay layer and mobilization of passive pressure. The effects of certain construction methods employed and the settlement of the silt/clay were contributing factors in the failure. A relieving platform constructed one year after the failure was designed for the original undrained strength of the silt/clay, without taking into account the effects of soil consolidation and strength gains which had occurred.
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Meeting Name
2nd Conference of the International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering
Publisher
University of Missouri--Rolla
Document Version
Final Version
Rights
© 1988 University of Missouri--Rolla, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
File Type
text
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Grosch, Jonathan J. and Al-Yahyai, Khalifa S., "Anchored Bulkhead Failure on the Arabian Gulf" (1988). International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering. 6.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/icchge/2icchge/2icchge-session6/6
Anchored Bulkhead Failure on the Arabian Gulf
A 1500-m long anchored bulkhead with a height of 20m exhibited a localized failure in the form of broken and overstressed anchors several months after construction. The wall had not yet been subjected to its full design loadings. The soil conditions in the failure area differ from those occurring along the rest of the quay wall by the presence of a very soft silt/clay layer, and during construction the wall had been strengthened in this area. Post-failure analysis of the anchored bulkhead indicated that the primary cause of the failure was overly optimistic design assumptions for the strength of the silt/clay layer and mobilization of passive pressure. The effects of certain construction methods employed and the settlement of the silt/clay were contributing factors in the failure. A relieving platform constructed one year after the failure was designed for the original undrained strength of the silt/clay, without taking into account the effects of soil consolidation and strength gains which had occurred.
