00819973

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/1755-12

http://scholar.google.com...+Lim&publication_year=2001

Many highway embankments experience problematic settlements. Compression of soil under the self-weight of the embankment generally occurs during construction, but postconstruction, wetting-induced collapse can result in more long-term settlement problems, depending on climate and movement of the wetting front. A study undertaken to examine settlement associated with unsaturated soil embankments included centrifuge modeling of compacted silt embankments, laboratory testing of the embankment soil, and data interpretation with the focus on settlement prediction. A silty soil was selected to facilitate the measurement of matric suction using tensiometers. Three model embankments were constructed and tested in the Army Corps of Engineers Centrifuge Research Center in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Embankments 20 m high were simulated using centrifugal acceleration of 165 g. Embankments were constructed to achieve a relative compaction of 90 or 95% based on standard effort and moisture content between 2 and 5% dry of the optimum moisture content. Instrumentation used during self-weight compression and wetting included linear variable differential transformers and pore-pressure transducers equipped with high-air-entry porous stones. Results demonstrate the importance of the as-compacted water content and dry unit weight on the potential for wetting-induced collapse settlement. Settlement caused by self-weight compression and that caused by wetting-induced collapse are clearly discernable in results of centrifuge tests, allowing for comparison to settlement predictions. Results are discussed in light of typical compaction specifications, oedometer-based predictions, and implications for the design of compacted embankments.

This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1755, Geology and Properties of Earth Materials 2001.

English

p. 111-118

2001

Transportation Research Record

0309072166

Figures (6) ; References (15) ; Tables (2)

Centrifuges; Collapse; Compacted soils; Embankments; Fills; Ground settlement; Laboratory tests; Moisture content; Oedometers; Pore pressure; Silts; Soil suction; Tensiometers; Transducers; Unsaturated soils; Wetting

Linear variable differential transformers; Self-weight compression

Geotechnology; Highways; I42: Soil Mechanics

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Nov 8 2001 12:00AM

• ADSORPTION AND DESORPTION CAPACITY OF TRICHLOROETHYLENE ON GLACIAL TILL WITH HIGH-PERCENT FINES
• AUTOMATED MEASUREMENT OF TOTAL SUCTION CHARACTERISTICS IN HIGH-SUCTION RANGE: APPLICATION TO ASSESSMENT OF SWELLING POTENTIAL
• DEVELOPMENT OF DATABASE FOR LOUISIANA HIGHWAY BRIDGE-SCOUR DATA
• ENVIRONMENTAL DETERIORATION MODEL FOR FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT DESIGN: AN ONTARIO EXAMPLE
• EVALUATING MOISTURE SENSORS AND MONITORING SEASONAL MOISTURE VARIATION IN LOW-VOLUME ROADS
• FORMAT FOR GEOTECHNICAL DATA EXCHANGE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
• GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM-BASED EVALUATION OF GEOTECHNICAL BOREHOLE LOG QUALITY
• IMPLEMENTATION OF MINIATURE CONE PENETROMETER IN ROADWAY DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
• INFLUENCE OF HIGHWAY RUNOFF CHEMISTRY, HYDROLOGY, AND RESIDENCE TIME ON NONEQUILIBRIUM PARTITIONING OF HEAVY METALS: IMPLICATIONS FOR TREATMENT AT THE HIGHWAY SHOULDER
• INTEGRATING SEISMIC AND DEFLECTION METHODS TO ESTIMATE PAVEMENT MODULI
• LONG-TERM STRENGTH AND DURABILITY OF HYDRATED FLY-ASH ROAD BASES
• PREDICTION OF WINTER ROUGHNESS BASED ON ANALYSIS OF SUBGRADE SOIL VARIABILITY
• PROTOTYPE TIRE-SHRED EMBANKMENT CONSTRUCTION
• QUALITY ASSESSMENT DURING ROAD FORMATION AND FOUNDATION CONSTRUCTION: USE OF FALLING-WEIGHT DEFLECTOMETER AND LIGHT DROP WEIGHT
• REAL-TIME EVALUATION OF SITE CHARACTERIZATION TO DIRECT AND CONCLUDE EXPLORATION
• SHEAR STRENGTH OF LARGE-SIZE SHREDDED SCRAP TIRES
• USER QUERY INTERFACE FOR THE DEEP-FOUNDATIONS LOAD-TEST DATABASE