Location
Chicago, Illinois
Date
01 May 2013, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Abstract
Liquefaction assessments of gravels and soils that contain a large gravel fraction are difficult. Undisturbed (intact) sampling of these soils is problematic and laboratory testing carried out on reconstituted samples or on frozen samples obtained from the field is time consuming, expensive, and interpretation of the results requires considerable judgment. Because of these and other issues, for a remote site in British Columbia, Canada (aka “Study Site”), it was decided to carry out the liquefaction potential assessment using existing published relationships and case history data on similar soils. This case history describes the approach utilized, including material mechanical properties, measured shear wave velocities and insitu density data obtained from shallow test pits excavated across the study site. Comparisons to published data on similar soils are discussed. To assess the liquefaction potential of the gravels, normalized shear wave velocity data were related to void ratio. The void ratio was then related to the CRR using published relationships on a similar gravelly soil tested in the laboratory. The liquefaction potential was assessed in the conventional manner comparing the cyclic resistance ratio (after appropriate consideration of correction factors used in laboratory cyclic testing) to the seismic demand (CSR). The approach described in the case history generalizes the methodology for application to other gravel deposits at other sites.
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Meeting Name
7th Conference of the International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering
Publisher
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Document Version
Final Version
Rights
© 2013 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
Lewis, Michael R.; Arango, Ignacio; and Stokoe, Kenneth H. II, "Liquefaction Resistance of Gravelly Soils" (2013). International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering. 30.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/icchge/7icchge/session01/30
Liquefaction Resistance of Gravelly Soils
Chicago, Illinois
Liquefaction assessments of gravels and soils that contain a large gravel fraction are difficult. Undisturbed (intact) sampling of these soils is problematic and laboratory testing carried out on reconstituted samples or on frozen samples obtained from the field is time consuming, expensive, and interpretation of the results requires considerable judgment. Because of these and other issues, for a remote site in British Columbia, Canada (aka “Study Site”), it was decided to carry out the liquefaction potential assessment using existing published relationships and case history data on similar soils. This case history describes the approach utilized, including material mechanical properties, measured shear wave velocities and insitu density data obtained from shallow test pits excavated across the study site. Comparisons to published data on similar soils are discussed. To assess the liquefaction potential of the gravels, normalized shear wave velocity data were related to void ratio. The void ratio was then related to the CRR using published relationships on a similar gravelly soil tested in the laboratory. The liquefaction potential was assessed in the conventional manner comparing the cyclic resistance ratio (after appropriate consideration of correction factors used in laboratory cyclic testing) to the seismic demand (CSR). The approach described in the case history generalizes the methodology for application to other gravel deposits at other sites.