Location
San Diego, California
Presentation Date
27 May 2010, 4:30 pm - 6:20 pm
Abstract
Strong earthquakes have the potential to produce liquefaction of saturated and loose soils or to produce shear strength loss on sensitive clays, which may produce embankment failure with uncontrolled release of the reservoir. Earthfill Dam 101 has been classified as a high risk dam and this study attempts to determine the extent of the risk. It retains a 60,000 acre-feet reservoir with population downstream of the embankment. The analysis of the earthquake through a bracketed accelerogram provides insight into how the embankment will respond to the seismic loading and to the soils properties. In the case study, the peak response accelerations, the frequency content and the soil properties were the dominant factors in predicting the embankment deformation, foundation liquefaction and the potential cracking. Several methods were used to investigate the site conditions and the results were compared indicating good correlations and helping to define property ranges. The analysis of liquefaction and strength loss potential included two basic concepts that involve soil behavior: “sandy like” and “clay like”. The analysis of the SPT samples identified the proper soil behavior during the seismic loading. Determinations of residual strengths of layers of concern were performed in-situ with the vane borer and hollow-stem augers. Finally, conclusions determining the level of risk and recommendations for future activity are made based on the results.
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Meeting Name
5th International Conference on Recent Advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics
Publisher
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Document Version
Final Version
Rights
© 2010 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
Torres, Roger L., "Ground Motions and Liquefaction Potential" (2010). International Conferences on Recent Advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics. 23.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/icrageesd/05icrageesd/session04/23
Included in
Ground Motions and Liquefaction Potential
San Diego, California
Strong earthquakes have the potential to produce liquefaction of saturated and loose soils or to produce shear strength loss on sensitive clays, which may produce embankment failure with uncontrolled release of the reservoir. Earthfill Dam 101 has been classified as a high risk dam and this study attempts to determine the extent of the risk. It retains a 60,000 acre-feet reservoir with population downstream of the embankment. The analysis of the earthquake through a bracketed accelerogram provides insight into how the embankment will respond to the seismic loading and to the soils properties. In the case study, the peak response accelerations, the frequency content and the soil properties were the dominant factors in predicting the embankment deformation, foundation liquefaction and the potential cracking. Several methods were used to investigate the site conditions and the results were compared indicating good correlations and helping to define property ranges. The analysis of liquefaction and strength loss potential included two basic concepts that involve soil behavior: “sandy like” and “clay like”. The analysis of the SPT samples identified the proper soil behavior during the seismic loading. Determinations of residual strengths of layers of concern were performed in-situ with the vane borer and hollow-stem augers. Finally, conclusions determining the level of risk and recommendations for future activity are made based on the results.
