FAILURES IN LIMESTONES IN HUMID SUBTROPICS-CLOSURE

A closure on the discussion of the authors' paper is presented. Previous studies have diagnosed the landslide in Miocine clay in the Florida panhandle as a flow slide in an incompletly indurated sediment, similar to very sensitive Leda clays of the St. Lawrence Valley. The discussor arguges that although the failure is similar, the Hawthorne Formation underlying the site of the failure is made up of complex calcareous formations of soft sandy limestones and stiff clays. The upper part is non-calcareous soil ranging from a sandy clay to a clayey sand. Therefore, the discussor states that previous characterization of the slide in either loose sand or sensitive clay is not reasonable. The discussor agrees with other successful application of shallow foundations supported directly on porous Miami Dolite. However, it is noted that one should not rely on the integrity of Oolite crust without considering either the material beneath the crust or the weakness in the crust. An additional discussion of the structural settlement of a building in Florida is presented. The discussor concludes that both successes and failures must be carefully considered by the geotechnical engineer in evolving a safe economical design. Blind rules are inadequate; a realistic analysis must be made of the actual site conditions. Lastly, in any evaluation of soil bearing, the underlying strata must be considered as well as the material on which the foundation rests.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/3519342
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Refer to ASCE Proceeding Paper 11521 by G F Sowers, August 1975.
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Civil Engineers

  345 East 47th Street
  New York, NY  United States  10017-2398
• Discussers:
  • Sowers, G F
• Publication Date: 1977-7

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: p. 807-813
• Serial:
  • Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
  • Volume: 103
  • Issue Number: GT7
  • Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers
  • ISSN: 1090-0241
  • Serial URL: http://ojps.aip.org/gto

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Calcareous soils; Clay; Failure; Foundations; Geotechnical engineering; Ground settlement; Limestone; Sand; Sediments; Soil tests
• Uncontrolled Terms: Site investigation
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00165912
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: ASCE 13054
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 12 1978 12:00AM