Location
New York, New York
Date
15 Apr 2004, 1:00pm - 2:45pm
Abstract
The McClusky Canal, located in central North Dakota, crosses the divide between the Hudson Bay and Gulf of Mexico drainages. The 74 mile (120 km) long canal has a maximum cut depth of approximately 115 feet (35.1 m) and an average cut depth of 40 ft (12.2 m). Slope failures in deep cuts of high plasticity clay have occurred sporadically since its construction in the 1970s. In addition, a large number of deep failures occurred during construction and recently. The slope failures are examples of the classic problems of construction slope instability and progressive failure. This paper chronicles half a century of geotechnical engineering related to the McClusky Canal beginning with feasibility design investigation in the mid 1950s. It includes discussion of stability methods, stability investigations, and remediation efforts of the 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 2000.
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Meeting Name
5th Conference of the International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering
Publisher
University of Missouri--Rolla
Document Version
Final Version
Rights
© 2004 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
Gemperline, Mark C., "An Unstable Deep Canal Cut in Fat Clay – A Case History of Slope Failures on the McClusky Canal, North Dakota" (2004). International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering. 12.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/icchge/5icchge/session02/12
An Unstable Deep Canal Cut in Fat Clay – A Case History of Slope Failures on the McClusky Canal, North Dakota
New York, New York
The McClusky Canal, located in central North Dakota, crosses the divide between the Hudson Bay and Gulf of Mexico drainages. The 74 mile (120 km) long canal has a maximum cut depth of approximately 115 feet (35.1 m) and an average cut depth of 40 ft (12.2 m). Slope failures in deep cuts of high plasticity clay have occurred sporadically since its construction in the 1970s. In addition, a large number of deep failures occurred during construction and recently. The slope failures are examples of the classic problems of construction slope instability and progressive failure. This paper chronicles half a century of geotechnical engineering related to the McClusky Canal beginning with feasibility design investigation in the mid 1950s. It includes discussion of stability methods, stability investigations, and remediation efforts of the 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 2000.
