EVALUATION OF SHALE EMBANKMENT CONSTRUCTION CRITERIA. EXPERIMENTAL FEATURE. FINAL REPORT

A 1.5 mile section of the Coos Bay - Roseburg Highway in Oregon was reconstructed in 1983. The project was located in an area where degradable fine-grained siltstone and sandstone would be encountered in the through cuts. After the construction of the adjacent Slater-Mystic Creek section in 1974, it was recognized that significant settlement and stability problems were developing as a result of the use of these degradable rocks in the construction of embankments. The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) completed a demonstration study described herein to evaluate the use of these materials for embankments and riprap revetment at nine structures. The study concluded that use of visual classification, aided by slake-durability testing, was reliable in the selection of rock-like materials for use in slope revetments. Where rock was determined to be nondurable, it was physically broken down and placed and compacted as soil. The performance of the embankments in the five years following construction has been very good and no appreciable settlement is evident. The rock placed as revetment has performed as anticipated, with about 25% of the material degrading. This is attributable to limitations in sorting the durable and nondurable material during excavation. As a result of this demonstration study, ODOT has implemented a practical and effective embankment specification for selection and treatment of degradable rock materials in highway construction.

• Corporate Authors:

  Oregon Department of Transportation

  140 Transportation Building
  Salem, OR  United States  97310

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Machan, G
  • Szymoniak, T
  • Siel, B
• Publication Date: 1989-11

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 24 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Durability; Embankments; Performance evaluations; Revetments; Riprap; Sandstones; Siltstones; Specifications
• Old TRIS Terms: Visual classifications
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; Marine Transportation; I43: Rock Mechanics;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00496590
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: OR 83-02
• Files: TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Aug 31 1990 12:00AM