UNDRAINED BEHAVIOR OF EMBANKMENTS ON NEW LISKEARD VARVED CLAY

The performance, including a failure, of two embankments in New Liskeard, Canada is analyzed. The underlying 150 ft. (45.8 m.) of medium to soft varved clay is studied with respect to stability, undrained deformations and excess pore pressure distribution. Total stress stability analyses were performed with undrained strengths based on measured and corrected field vane strengths, the average UC and UU strength and SHANSEP strength parameters with and without anisotropy. Effective stress analyses using pore pressures predicted from finite element analyses showed that either the effective stress strength parameters were much lower than those measured in the laboratory or the predicted pore pressures at failure were much too low. Undrained deformations and excess pore pressures at end of construction were predicted with the finite element program FEECON.

• Corporate Authors:

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  Construction Facilities Division
  Cambridge, MA  United States  02139

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal

  2500 Avenue Marie-Guyard
  Montreal, Quebec  Canada 

  Ontario Ministry of Transportation & Communic, Can

  Geotechnical Product Process Improvement Section
  Downsview, ONo M3M 1J8,   Canada 
• Authors:
  • Lacasse, S M
  • Ladd, C C
  • Barsvary, A K
• Publication Date: 1975-6

Media Info

• Pagination: 59 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Clay soils; Deformation; Effective stress; Embankments; Failure; Field tests; Finite element method; Highways; Mechanical stability; Permeability; Pore pressure; Soil stabilization; Stresses; Structural settlement; Undrained strength; Varved clays
• Old TRIS Terms: Embankment stability; Settlement structural; Undrained properties
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00133107
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: MIT-CE-R75-45, FHWA/RD-76-S0445
• Files: NTIS, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Jun 23 1976 12:00AM