Unconservative Outcomes from Conservative Soil Properties Used in Waterfront Applications

In light of the inherent variability and soft nature of soil deposits in the marine environment, it is common geotechnical engineering practice to use conservative soil property values for analysis and design recommendations. The shear strength and modulus values often recommended are generally smaller than best estimate or mean values. The connotation that lower bound values are conservative can be related to the use of limit-equilibrium analyses for stability applications involving foundations, earth retention systems, and slopes. Current use of numerical models for performance-based design at ports has demonstrated, however, that the assumption that lower bound soil properties yield conservative results is not always accurate. This paper presents two examples in which lower values of strength and/or modulus resulted in unconservative estimates of performance for the design of port waterfront structures.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/9780784408346
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Civil Engineers

  Coasts, Oceans, Ports and Rivers Institute, 1801 Alexander Bell Drive
  Reston, VA  United States  20191-4400
• Authors:
  • McCullough, Nason J
  • Esterhuizen, Jacob J
  • Dickenson, Stephen E
• Conference:
  • The Eleventh Triannual International Conference: Ports 2007, 30 Years of Sharing Ideas...1977-2007
  • Location: San Diego CA, United States
  • Date: 2007-3-25 to 2007-3-28
• Publication Date: 2007

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: CD-ROM
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: 8p
• Monograph Title: Ports 2007: 30 Years of Sharing Ideas...1977-2007

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Design; Geotechnical engineering; Modulus; Ports; Shear strength; Waterfront structures
• Uncontrolled Terms: Marine environment; Soil properties
• Subject Areas: Design; Geotechnology; Marine Transportation; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01077398
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 9780784408346
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 5 2007 2:28PM