Location
Arlington, Virginia
Date
14 Aug 2008, 2:15pm - 4:00pm
Abstract
The underground facilities in loess in Bulgaria have a long history. The loess represents one of the best studied geological formations, its stratigraphic and engineering geological properties being well explored. It is characterized by a thick aeration zone, reaching up to 80-100 m. After the depth of 3-4 m from the surface, low humidity and constant temperature (15-160) are maintained in it. The composition of sandy and silty loess, is dominated by quartz, while the clayey fraction contains high amount of Са2+, which determines the relatively low hydrophilicity. Moreover, loess is easily excavated, keeps vertical slopes and unsupported arches. Loess with natural water content possesses satisfactory strength and bearing capacity. The main disadvantage is its collapsibility, which can be overcome. The paper considers the experience of exploitation of different underground facilities and the damages observed in it. Under the circumstances of the emerging shortage of inexpensive energy, it might be useful to carry out more detailed geotechnical and geotechnological investigations for the wider utilization of loess for underground construction.
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Meeting Name
6th Conference of the International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering
Publisher
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Document Version
Final Version
Rights
© 2008 Missouri University of Science and Technology, 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
Evstatiev, Dimcho and Evlogiev, Yordan, "Underground Facilities in Loess" (2008). International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering. 47.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/icchge/6icchge/session07/47
Underground Facilities in Loess
Arlington, Virginia
The underground facilities in loess in Bulgaria have a long history. The loess represents one of the best studied geological formations, its stratigraphic and engineering geological properties being well explored. It is characterized by a thick aeration zone, reaching up to 80-100 m. After the depth of 3-4 m from the surface, low humidity and constant temperature (15-160) are maintained in it. The composition of sandy and silty loess, is dominated by quartz, while the clayey fraction contains high amount of Са2+, which determines the relatively low hydrophilicity. Moreover, loess is easily excavated, keeps vertical slopes and unsupported arches. Loess with natural water content possesses satisfactory strength and bearing capacity. The main disadvantage is its collapsibility, which can be overcome. The paper considers the experience of exploitation of different underground facilities and the damages observed in it. Under the circumstances of the emerging shortage of inexpensive energy, it might be useful to carry out more detailed geotechnical and geotechnological investigations for the wider utilization of loess for underground construction.
