Ground Improvement: September // October 2016

20 Ground Improvement 32 3 0 years of 48 G round stabilization for 72 T he Rise of UAVs
– Coming Full Circle Launched Soil Nails Underground Construction in Geotechnics
SEPTEMBER // OCTOBER 2016
Ground
Improvement
Proudly published by the Geo-Institute of ASCE

geoPier is ground imProvement®
Delivering cost-effective, reliable, engineered foundation systems
Providing Customized solutions for all soil tyPes
send us your ProjeCt data Geopier’s goal is to bring you advanced, innovative ground
Let our geotechnical engineers customize a solution that meets your improvement technology in a way that is easy to use every day.
needs. Submit your project details to receive a feasibility assessment Geopier Rammed Aggregate Pier® and rigid inclusion products
and cost estimate at geopier.com/feasibilityrequest enable you to:
• Improve variable fill soils in place
• Replace deep foundations
For more information call 800-371-7470, • Control settlement
e-mail info@geopier.com or visit geopier.com. • Increase soil bearing capacities
©2016 Geopier Foundation Company, Inc. The Geopier® technology and brand names are protected under U.S. patents and trademarks listed at www.geopier.com/patents and other trademark applications and
patents pending. Other foreign patents, patent applications, trademark registrations, and trademark applications also exist.
September // October 2016
Features
32
The Evolution of Launched Soil Nails 64
Extreme Makeover: Interchange
A 30-year retrospective. Gets Ground Improvement Facelift
By Colby Barrett and Graeme Quickfall How innovative use of rigid inclusions allowed for
rapid construction of a large highway interchange in
the Garden State.
40
A History of Deep Vibratory Methods
By Gillian M. Williams, Sarah Ramp, Sonia S. Swift, Justin
for Ground Improvement
Labrozzi, Michael P. Walker, and Frederic Masse
A cost-effective foundation solution for 80+ years.
By Jeffrey R. Hill, Allen L. Sehn, and Mark Koelling
72
What’s New in Geo? The Rise
48
Ground Improvement for of UAVs Signals a New Era in
Underground Construction Geotechnics
Big data in geotechnics is coming from above.
The good, the bad, and the ugly.
By Dimitrios Zekkos, William Greenwood, John
By Paul C. Schmall
Manousakis, and Jerome Lynch
56
A Sinking Feeling in Happy Valley ON THE COVER
Construction of a vibro-replacement, stone
Limited mobility grouting arrests movement of
column ground improvement program for a
emergency room. new restaurant along the San Diego Bayfront.
By Shad E. Hoover and Whitney E. Greenawalt The ground improvement was used to mitigate
liquefaction and lateral spread potential. With
the views of the San Diego skyline across the
bay, this site is considered prime real estate for
a restaurant that will take advantage of the view.
(Photo courtesy Hayward Baker, Inc.)
CONNECT WITH US
www.asce.org/geo twitter.com/GeoInstitute facebook.com/GeoInstitute LinkedInGeo GeoInstituteASCE
2 GEOSTRATA SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016

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EDITORIAL BOARD
j J ames L. Withiam, PhD, PE, D.GE, M.ASCE, D’Appolonia
jlwithiam@dappolonia.com
j J . Tanner Blackburn, PhD, PE, M.ASCE, Hayward Baker
jtblackburn@haywardbaker.com
j J eff Dunn, PhD, PE, D.GE, GE, M.ASCE, Arup
September // October 2016 jeff.dunn@arup.com
j K en Fishman, PhD, PE, M.ASCE, McMahon & Mann
Consulting Engineers
Departments
kfishman@mmce.net
jB
rian Hubel, PE, GE, M.ASCE, Black & Veatch Corp.
hubelb@bv.com
8
From the President
jM
ichael P. McGuire, PhD, PE, M.ASCE, Lafayette College
By Kord Wissmann mcguirem@lafayette.edu
j P eter G. Nicholson, PhD, PE, D.GE, F.ASCE,
10
From the Editorial Board Nicholson Geotechnical
By Peter G. Nicholson peter.hawaii@gmail.com
jM
ary C. Nodine, PE, M.ASCE, GEI Consultants, Inc.
12
Board of Governors Update mnodine@geiconsultants.com
jW
illiam K. Petersen, PE, M.ASCE, Schnabel Engineering
wpetersen@schnabel-eng.com
14
Technical Activities Update
jM
ark Seel, PE, PG, M.ASCE, Langan
mseel@langan.com
16
COREBITS PEOPLE
jC
hris Woods, PE, D.GE, M.ASCE, Densification, Inc.
chris@densification.com
20
As I See It: Ground Improvement –
Coming Full Circle 2 0 1 5-1 6 G-I B O A R D O F
GOVERNORS
By Vernon R. Schaefer
j K ord Wissmann, PhD, PE, D.GE, M.ASCE – President
jG
arry H. Gregory, PhD, PE, D.GE, M.ASCE –
24
Lessons Learned from GeoLegends: Vice President
Thomas D. O’Rourke j Y oussef M. A. Hashash, PhD, PE, F.ASCE – Treasurer
By Suguang (Sean) Xiao, Hai (Thomas) Lin, and Hanna
j A llen Cadden, PE, D.GE, F.ASCE – Past President
Moussa Jabbour
j J ames G. Collin, PhD, PE, D.GE, F.ASCE
j P atrick J. Fox, PhD, PE, D.GE, M.ASCE
78
The GeoCurmudgeon: The Call
jB
eth A. Gross, PhD, PE, D.GE, F.ASCE
By John P. Bachner
j K ancheepuram N. Gunalan, PhD, PE, D.GE, F.ASCE
82
Look Who’s a D.GE jB
rad Keelor – Secretary (non-voting)
An interview with Robert W. Thompson G E O S T R ATA S TA F F

j S tefan Jaeger – Publisher
84
COREBITS INDUSTRY jD
ianne Vance, CAE – Director of Advertising
dvance@asce.org
85
COREBITS EVERYTHING G-I j K ristie C. Kehoe – Content Coordinator
j Helen Cook – Content Editor
86
COREBITS CHAPTERS j E lizabeth Cuscino – Content Editor
j S ean Richardson – Production Manager
87
COREBITS CALENDAR
ADVERTISING SALES MANAGERS
87
What’s Coming in November/ jB
rooke King, Kelli Nilsson, McCall Mohanna
December 2016 GEOSTRATA G E O S T R ATA D E S I G N
j T HOR Design Studio, www.thor.design
88
GeoPoem: Ground Improvement
By Mary C. Nodine
GEOSTRATA is a forum for the free expression and interchange
of ideas. The opinions and positions stated within are those of
the authors, and not necessarily those of GEOSTRATA, the
Geo-Institute, or the American Society of Civil Engineers
(ASCE). GEOSTRATA—ISSN 1529-2975—is published
bi-monthly by ASCE, 1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Reston, VA
20191-4400 and is a free ASCE/Geo-Institute membership
benefit, not available by subscription. ADDRESS CHANGES:
GEOSTRATA is published by the Geo-Institute ASCE/G-I members should e-mail memrec@asce.org, or click
on “My Profile” at asce.org. Copyright © 2016 by the American
and the American Society of Civil Engineers. Society of Civil Engineers. All rights reserved. Materials may
not be reproduced or translated without written permission
from ASCE. Periodicals postage paid at Herndon, VA, and at
additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address
changes to GEOSTRATA, 1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Reston, VA
20191-4400.
4 GEOSTRATA SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016 ISSUE NO. 5 • VOLUME 20

Geopier is Ground improvement®
Delivering cost-effective, reliable, engineered foundation systems
providinG Customized solutions for all soil types
send us your projeCt data Geopier’s goal is to bring you advanced, innovative ground
Let our geotechnical engineers customize a solution that meets your improvement technology in a way that is easy to use every day.
needs. Submit your project details to receive a feasibility assessment Geopier Rammed Aggregate Pier® and rigid inclusion products
and cost estimate at geopier.com/feasibilityrequest enable you to:
• Improve variable fill soils in place
• Replace deep foundations
For more information call 800-371-7470, • Control settlement
e-mail info@geopier.com or visit geopier.com. • Increase soil bearing capacities
©2016 Geopier Foundation Company, Inc. The Geopier® technology and brand names are protected under U.S. patents and trademarks listed at www.geopier.com/patents and other trademark applications and
patents pending. Other foreign patents, patent applications, trademark registrations, and trademark applications also exist.
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By visualizing ground conditions
Thames. Transport for London (TfL) are planning
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project risk and project costs during
construction.
The proposed Silvertown Tunnel will ease the
Simon Miles
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Technical Authority for Geotechnical
Data Management
existing crossings. Atkins developed the project’s
ATKINS preliminary design.
keynetix.com/publications
From the President
What Dreams
May Come
W
hen I was a little boy, I dreamed about growing up to do
great things — climbing mountains, hitting home runs,
conquering uncharted territories… being a hero. Maybe
we are all a bit like that when we are little.
Growing up, I put my silly hopes aside, went off to college, and, somehow, with great luck,
discovered geotechnical engineering. And perhaps like you, I fell in love with the earth and
its mechanics. I discovered a whole new world of geo-heroes that I idolized and wished to be
like — Mitchell, Handy, Duncan, O’Rourke, Seed, Clough, Wright… the list goes on and on.
But I learned quickly that I would never be what they were: those early pioneers and masters
of the geo-universe. My hopes and dreams of achieving great things diminished.
KORD WISSMANN With time, I have learned that truly great things in life and profession are not achieved by
solely the works of geniuses, but more often by the result of the collective labor of groups of
collaborative, “normal” people, each pulling the wagon along toward a common goal. Even
in this age of exploding technology, it is people that are important, each and every one in
their own way a geo-hero to me.
I believe that never before in the history of our profession have we been beset by more
powerful headwinds — nor greater opportunities:
oo Our practitioners have never before experienced such commoditization; pressures that
threaten to reduce our great profession to a shadow of what it once was.
oo Our academics have never before experienced such competition for research funding; with
institutional output measured by external funding and peer-reviewed papers, leaving little
time for contemplation and sometimes even teaching.
oo We remain a non-diverse industry, ill-positioned to take advantage of the strengths and
talents offered by many people.
oo Yet our infrastructure, so poorly funded recently, will require major upgrades in ways
that will be fundamentally different than in the past as our populations experience a new
urban migration.
oo We have climate change (when have we not, geologically speaking?) that brings new chal-
lenges as we seek to adapt to revised weather patterns, water supplies, and sea changes.
oo And we are on the cusp of a metamorphosis into digital mapping, imagery, data amalga-
mation, and probability-based predictions that will completely change the way we deliver
our value to our clients and customers.

I believe
that to achieve
our unrealized
potential, our
profession has
never before had a
greater need for robust
interactions between
the groups that comprise
our profession – academia and
practitioners alike. We can no longer
work without each other. I am proud to
report to you some of the accomplishments from
our colleagues within the G-I:
oo We now have 41 local Chapters formed to bring the great Come and walk with today’s Terzaghis; spend some of your
value of the G-I directly to those of us who implement it in great energies with wonderful people who remain in love
the field. with the earth’s mysterious mechanics and who are making
oo With much thanks to the Technical Coordination Council, a difference. Lastly, as I think about our profession, I look
our technical committees are now pivoting toward packag- back over the path that we have come, and I wish to thank
ing our state-of-the-emerging practice in a way that is easily you all, my friends, and colleagues, for providing me with the
brought to our practitioners at regional conferences. honor and privilege of serving as your G-I president this past
oo We sponsor more than 40 students each year to attend our year. You have given me a return beyond measure. On the
GeoCongress. eve of my last president’s letter, I ask that you please join me
oo We have reached an accord with the SEI to support each in welcoming the new G-I President Dr. Garry Gregory, who
other in areas of licensure conflicts. will start his term in mid-October. I look forward to his wise
oo We have achieved collaborative agreements with many indus- counsel, and I wish you all the best as you go forth toward
try affiliates (GBA, DFI, ADSC, and SME) to seamlessly bring your spectacular future.
value directly to you, and we are working with the FHWA to
create an evaluation group to vet geo developments.
oo Our flagship, GEOSTRATA, has never before provided you
with so much connectivity to your profession.
Kord Wissmann, PhD, PE, D.GE, M.ASCE
A great profession requires the coordinated efforts of Geo-Institute President
great people, and that’s where you come in. We need you. kwissmann@geopier.com
www.geoinstitute.org 9
From the Editorial Board
While GEOSTRATA has published several articles over

the years discussing soil and ground improvement
methods, there has never been an issue solely dedicated
to the theme of Ground Improvement. Over the past
few decades, many advancements have been made in
PETER G. NICHOLSON
techniques to solve difficult geotechnical situations using
soil and ground improvement methods, so we are pleased
to showcase a few of them here. While some of these
techniques have been used for several decades, even
those historically important methods have undergone
significant improvements and have been used in innovative
ways to solve myriad geotechnical site problems.
Vern Schaefer provides an overview in his “As advantages of launched soil nails over their more
I See It” commentary, with an informative look traditionally installed cousins. The ability for
back at the evolution of soil improvement and very rapid installation and superior results has
how it has now become accepted as mainstream made this improvement method a valuable tool
in geotechnical engineering. A few of the articles for emergency repairs, as well as a cost-effective
in this issue describe historical perspectives of permanent solution, particularly for difficult to
tried and true methods. access, slide-prone slopes and embankments.
An article by Jeff Hill, Allen Sehn, and An article by Paul Schmall discusses a wide
Mark Koelling provides an 80-year history range of problems associated with underground
of deep vibratory methods. They outline the construction and how a number of different soil
development and advancements of various improvement techniques may be employed for
“vibro-systems” through noticeable projects various situations. Soil improvement methods
around the world. The authors also discuss he discusses include various forms of grouting,
some of the technical aspects of using vibratory drainage and dewatering techniques, deep mix-
methods, including improvements by densifica- ing, and another one of my favorite, intriguing
tion, reinforcement and drainage, and the wide methods — ground freezing.
range of projects to which these methods can Shad Hoover and Whitney Greenawalt
and have been applied. Then Colby Barrett and have written an article about hospital building
Graeme Quickfall offer a 30-year retrospective of construction that took place in a sensitive
the evolution of launched soil nails. I personally karstic geological environment. The case study
became intrigued with the history of this tech- describes how low-mobility grouting, along with
nology through the research for my own textbook detailed geophysical surveys, provided a final
about ground improvement. The authors discuss solution to arrest subsidence of the hospital. The
the origins of launched nail equipment, and the teamwork and coordination between the various

engineers resulted in a successful solu-
tion through this thoughtful and careful Welcome New Editorial Board Members
ground improvement application. With this issue, we welcome two individuals to the
Of course, there are many more GEOSTRATA Editorial Board. Mark Seel, PE, PG, M.ASCE,
ground improvement methods, is a vice president with Langan in Parsippany, NJ. He has
applications, and articles that could be more than 27 years of experience in geotechnical and
included in an issue about this topic. geological engineering, and environmental remediation.
These are just a sample of what is going His engineering expertise includes: assessment and miti-
on with soil improvement methods and gation of geologic hazards involving slopes, mines, and
technologies from a current viewpoint. karst; foundation design for high-rise and mixed-use
In this issue’s “What’s New in Geo?” building developments, transportation structures, power substations and
contribution, Dimitrios Zekkos, William gas compression facilities; and HDD and microtunnel design analysis.
Greenwood, John Manousakis, and
Jerome Lynch describe the increasing Mary C. Nodine, PE, M.ASCE, is a project manager with GEI
use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Consultants, Inc., in Woburn, MA. Mary has more than 10
or “drones,” for surveying or assessing years of experience in geotechnical and geo-structural engi-
unreachable or unsafe sites. These neering. Her project work includes design of earth retention
aircraft can be equipped with myriad systems, ground improvement and deep foundations, sta-
cameras and sensors that can detect bility and settlement analysis, and dam remediation design.
and document a wide range of critically Mary has also been GEOSTRATA’s GeoPoet since 2008.
useful data. This technology has
enabled rapid “visual” assessments after
disasters, and can even provide virtual
3-D views of inaccessible sites.
This issue’s GeoLegend is 2016
Terzaghi Lecturer Tom O'Rourke.
WHY does a LANDSLIDE
Authors Suguang Xiao, Thomas Lin, and continue to slide?
Hanna Moussa Jabbour share some of
what they learned from interviewing • AFTER SLIDING BEGINS,
O’Rourke, including his insight that the dilatant contribution
combining geology with structural to friction is gone.
and solid mechanics is the essence • DILATANT SHEARING
of geotechnical engineering. In his reduces density of soil
GeoCurmudgeon column “The Call,” in the shear zone, and
also…
John Bachner describes two GBA case
histories about two firms’ effective • SUCKS IN WATER, so
responses to a client’s call when recently It can be very stressful. the soil is permanently
weakened.
completed projects began experiencing
• Equilibrium then can
problems. And in her poem, “Ground come or go depending
Improvement,” Mary Nodine encour- on the weather.
ages us to commit to fully adopting
the ever-growing variety of ground THE BOREHOLE SHEAR TEST
improvement options — a message fully …measures critical ’ and c’ in the shear zone, where duplicate sampling for
aligned with this issue’s theme. lab tests may be difficult or impossible.
We hope you enjoy the selection of THE BOREHOLE SHEAR TEST generates drained, multiple-point failure
articles we’ve assembled for the issue, envelopes in less than an hour, as radial consolidation incrementally moves
and look forward to receiving your the shear surface outward into undisturbed soil.
comments about them. The data can relate the FS to past and future positions of the gwt, and are
needed to design a safe and economical repair -- if it is not too late.
This message was prepared by Editorial
Board Member PETER G. NICHOLSON, Handy Geotechnical Instruments, Inc.
PhD, PE, D.GE, F.ASCE. Peter can be
www.handygeotech.com
reached at peter.hawaii@gmail.com.
Board of Governors Update
Fall is the time for the changing of the guard. On October 1, the reviewing the design and construction for the new Bay Bridge
G-I presidency will transition from Kord Wissmann to Garry in San Francisco. Dr. Gilbert has been awarded the Norman
Gregory, and we will add a new BoG member, Robert (Bob) Medal from the American Society of Civil Engineers and an
B. Gilbert, PhD, PE, D.GE, M.ASCE. While Kord will move to Outstanding Civilian Service Medal from the U.S. Army Corps
the past president position, our current past president, Allen of Engineers.
Cadden, will be leaving the BoG, but will remain actively Also, the BoG held its summer meeting in Denver on July
involved in G-I activities. 14-15, 2016. The event focused on developing the G-I’s annual
Our newest member, Bob Gilbert, is the Brunswick- operating plan (AOP) for 2017. Board members then attended
Abernathy Professor of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental the bi-annual G-I Chapter Summit meeting from July 15-16.
Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. He joined the Other Summit participants included G-I Chapter leaders and
faculty in 1993 after having practiced with Golder Associates representatives of the G-I’s Local Involvement Committee
Inc. as a geotechnical engineer from 1988 to 1993. His technical (LIC), the Regional Conference Committee (RCC), the Technical
focus is the assessment, evaluation, and management of Coordination Council (TCC), various technical committees, the
risk for civil engineering systems. Recent activities include Geoprofessional Business Association (GBA), and the Federal
analyzing the performance of offshore platforms and pipelines Highway Administration (FHWA). A primary purpose of the
in Gulf of Mexico hurricanes; managing flooding risks for Chapter Summit meeting was to strengthen the G-I’s strategy to
levees in Texas, California, Washington, and Louisiana; and bring more high-quality technical content to our chapters.
G-I Board of Governors

Kord Wissmann Garry H. Gregory Youssef M.A. Hashash,
PhD, PE, D.GE, M.ASCE PhD, PE, D.GE, M.ASCE PhD, PE, F.ASCE
President Vice President Treasurer
kwissmann@geopier.com ggregory@gregeo.com hashash@illinois.edu
Committees: International
Committees: Organizational Members, Committees: Codes & Standards, GeoCongress Activities, ISSMGE Fund
Regional Conferences Organizing, Nominations & Elections Other Activities: ASCE Publication Access, GBA
Other Activities: Committee Summit Meeting, Other Activities: AGP Collaboration, Strategic Crystal Ball, Revenue Streams, SEI Licensure for
GBA Collaboration Planning Designated Structures
Allen Cadden James G. Collin Patrick J. Fox

PE, D.GE, F.ASCE PhD, PE, D.GE, F.ASCE PhD, D.GE, PE, F.ASCE
Past President jim@thecollingroup.com pjfox@engr.psu.edu
acadden@schnabel-eng.com
Committees: Past Presidents Committees: Local Involvement Committees: Continuing Education, Outreach
Other Activities: ADSC & SME Collaboration, Other Activities: DFI and FHWA Collaboration & Engagement, Student Participation, Technical
DIGGS, GeoGala Publications
Other Activities: Member Survey, USUCGER
Collaboration
Beth A. Gross Kancheepuram N. Gunalan

PhD, PE, D.GE, F.ASCE (a.k.a. “Guna”)
bgross@geosyntec.com PhD, PE, D.GE, F.ASCE
k.n.gunalan@aecom.com
Committees: Awards, GEOSTRATA, Technical Committees Committees: Geo-Legislative

Other Activities: ASTM Collaboration, GBA Crystal Ball, Specialty Other Activities: Digital Media/Website
Conferences
Brad Keelor Robert B. Gilbert

Secretary and G-I Director PhD, PE, D.GE, M.ASCE
bkeelor@asce.org bob_gilbert@mail.utexas.edu
Manages the day-to-day activities of the G-I (new BoG member as of October 1, 2016)

Geotechnical and Structural Instrumentation
■■ Bridges ■■ Foundations ■■ Mines ■■Tunnels
■■ Dams ■■ Geogrids ■■ Piles ■■ Waste Repositories

■■ Embankments ■■ Groundwater ■■ Pipelines ■■ Wind Turbines
■■ Excavations ■■ Landfills ■■ Slope Stability
■■ Strain Gages ■■ Piezometers ■■ Load Cells ■■ Readouts

■■ Crackmeters ■■ Pressure Transducers ■■ Concrete Stress Cells ■■ Terminal Boxes
■■ Jointmeters ■■ Weir Monitors ■■ B/H Deformation Gages ■■ Dataloggers

■■ Strandmeters ■■ Settlement Sensors ■■ Stressmeters ■■ Multiplexers
■■ Convergence Meters ■■ Pressure Cells ■■ Inclinometers ■■ Wireless Networks
■■ Extensometers ■■ DeAerators ■■ Tiltmeters ■■ Software
■■ Temperature Gages ■■ Pendulum Readouts ■■ Custom Designs
■■ Cables
GEOKON, INCORPORATED | Lebanon, NH • USA | phone: 1 • 603 • 448 • 1562

GEOKON is an ISO 9001:2008 registered company www.geokon.com
Technical Activities Update
The Earthquake every five years. Approximately 200 took place at the Los Angeles County
Engineering and Soil abstracts have been received, and a Department of Public Works in
Dynamics Committee great turnout is anticipated. Alhambra, CA, on May 23-24, 2016. A
(EESD), chaired by The 37th annual short course second meeting is planned for the
Adrian Rodriguez- “Grouting Fundamentals and Current Geo-Chicago specialty conference. The
Marek, PhD, Practice” had excellent student project report is scheduled to be com-
A.M.ASCE, has devel- participation, with 80 percent of the pleted before the end of September 2016.
oped a Pilot Speakers Bureau with funds instructors being members of the
received from the Geo-Institute (G-I). Grouting Committee. This year the The Underground
The objective of the Speakers Bureau is course was held for the first time at the Engineering and
to disseminate state-of-the-art knowl- University of Austin, TX. Construction
edge to local practitioners, as well as to The Committee has been Committee, led by
raise the awareness of seismic hazards. making significant progress on its Elizabeth Dwyre, PE,
National experts in earthquake engi- revision of the Jet Grouting Guidelines D.GE, M.ASCE, is col-
neering travel to local G-I or ASCE Specifications, Compaction Grouting laborating with the
chapters and civil engineering confer- Manual, and its educational outreach Underground Construction Association
ences to give seminars. For example, on grouting. of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy &
Prof. Russell Green has spoken about Exploration (UCA of SME) to promote
seismicity in Mid-Atlantic states at a The Sustainability in careers in underground construction
G-I chapter meeting in Maryland and Geotechnical and engineering to civil and geotechni-
led a half-day seminar about liquefac- Engineering cal engineering students. Joint funding is
tion for the G-I chapter in Hawaii. In Committee, chaired in place for two inter-related educational
addition, Prof. Ron Andrus delivered a by Jeffrey R. Keaton, initiatives: a tunneling project tour pro-
talk to the Los Angeles G-I Chapter on PhD, PE, D.GE, PG, gram to attract and sustain student
liquefaction resistance of aged soils. ENV SP, F.ASCE, is interest in the underground construc-
The Speakers Bureau has been very working on a special project to “pro- tion profession, and a university
successful thus far, and local chapters mote understanding of the Envision® speakers program, designed to bring
have welcomed the initiative of the Rating System for geotechnical engi- project case histories to university
EESD committee. Additional talks are neers.” The project task force members students.
already scheduled for the coming are Barbara Luke (UNLV), Bhaskar In 2016, tours are being offered of
months. The next scheduled event will Chittoori (Boise State University), the Central Subway Project Chinatown
be a talk by Prof. Ellen Rathje at the San Guney Colgun (Virginia Tech), Jeff Station in San Francisco, and the White
Diego G-I Chapter meeting on Keaton (Amec Foster Wheeler), Ranjiv River Tunnel and Lower Pogues Run
September 28, 2016. Gupta (Geosyntec), Rossana D’Antonio Tunnel project in Indianapolis, IN.
(Los Angeles County Department of ASCE Geo-Institute Graduate Student
The Grouting Public Works), and William Man (Los Organizations, ASCE Student Chapters,
Committee, chaired Angeles County Department of Public and UCA Student Chapters are encour-
by Paolo Gazzarini, Works). The objective of this project is aged to apply at students.geoinstitute.org/
P.Eng., M.ASCE, has to systematically sift through each of student-tunnel-tour-program-application.
been busy organizing the 55 Envision credits to identify con- Underground industry professionals
the specialty confer- nections for geotechnical engineering, interested in participating in this speak-
ence “Grouting 2017” and then contact a few agencies and ers program are invited to contact Liza
(the 5th International Grouting consulting companies to get real-world Dwyre, Chair, G-I Technical Committee
Conference). It will take place in Hawaii examples of sustainability being imple- on Underground Engineering &
July 9-12, 2017, and will then be held mented. The first meeting of this team Construction, at dwyre@pbworld.com.

Technical Committees
COMMITTEE COMMITTEE CHAIR EMAIL ADDRESS
Computational Geotechnics José E. Andrade, PhD, M.ASCE jandrade@caltech.edu
Deep Foundations Luis O. Garcia, PE, M.ASCE logarcia@geocim.com
Earth Retaining Structures Dimitrios Konstantakos, PE, M.ASCE dimitrios@deepexcavation.com
Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics Adrian Rodriguez-Marek, PhD, A.M.ASCE adrianrm@vt.edu
Embankments, Dams, and Slopes J. Erik Loehr, PhD, PE, M.ASCE eloehr@missouri.edu
Engineering Geology and Site Characterization Xiong “Bill” Yu, PhD, PE, M.ASCE xxy21@case.edu
Geoenvironmental Engineering Dimitrios Zekkos, PhD, PE, M.ASCE zekkos@umich.edu
Geophysical Engineering Nenad Gucunski, PhD, A.M.ASCE gucunski@rci.rutgers.edu
Geosynthetics Jorge G. Zornberg, PhD, PE, M.ASCE zornberg@mail.utexas.edu
Geotechnics of Soil Erosion Ming Xiao, PhD, PE, M.ASCE mxiao@engr.psu.edu
Grouting Paolo Gazzarrini, P.Eng, M.ASCE paolo@paologaz.com
Pavements Charles W. Schwartz, PhD, M.ASCE schwartz@umd.edu
Risk Assessment and Management D. Vaughn Griffiths, PhD, PE, D.GE, F.ASCE d.v.griffiths@mines.edu
Rock Mechanics M. Ronald Yeung, PhD, PE, M.ASCE mryeung@cpp.edu
Shallow Foundations Daniel J. Rich, PhD, PE, D.GE, F.ASCE danjrich@yahoo.com
Soil Improvement Kyle M. Rollins, PhD, M.ASCE rollinsk@et.byu.edu
Soil Properties and Modeling T. Matthew Evans, PhD, A.M.ASCE matt.evans@oregonstate.edu
Sustainability in Geotechnical Engineering Jeffrey R. Keaton, PhD, PE, D.GE, PG, ENV SP, F.ASCE jeff.keaton@amec.com
Underground Engineering and Construction Elizabeth Dwyre, PE, D.GE, M.ASCE dwyre@pbworld.com
Unsaturated Soils Laureano R. Hoyos, PhD, PE, M.ASCE hoyos@uta.edu
COREBITS PEOPLE
Fernandez Receives Kapp Award profession in a number of ways throughout his career. His
ASCE has honored Gabriel Fernandez, accomplishments include an innovative solution to mitigate
PhD, M.ASCE, with the 2016 Martin S. problems at a tailings dam site in northern Peru, as well as
Kapp Foundation Engineering Award for contributions to the design and construction of pressure
his outstanding innovative contributions tunnels, gas, and oil storage on underground salt cavities. He
to the design of underground structures. has also worked extensively developing practical approaches
The Martin S. Kapp Foundation to assessing the movements and stability around large solution
Engineering Award recognizes contribu- mined salt caverns and is considered a top expert for his
tions to design or construction of specific expertise related to seismic evaluation of dams, tunnels
foundations, earthworks, retaining struc- and pipelines, and pressure tunnels.
tures, or underground construction. Emphasis is placed on Some of Fernandez’s most renowned work is demonstrated
constructed works in which serious difficulties were overcome through his innovative practices for landslide stabilization.
or substantial economies were achieved. For example, he was able to stabilize a landslide by using the
Fernandez has helped advance the civil engineering diversion tunnels of the La Yesca Dam in Mexico as shear keys.
Cutoff Walls
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2016-08-03_Geostrata_halfPage_October.indd 1 8/3/16 1:14 PM

McCartney Awarded Huber Prize McCartney’s work has opened up the possibility for using civil
ASCE has named John S. McCartney, PhD, engineering infrastructure (foundations, retaining walls, tunnels,
PE, M.ASCE, as one of five winners of the etc.) as geothermal heat resources while still serving their original
2016 Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering purpose. This permits more efficient use of materials and reduces
Research Prize. This Prize is awarded to the installation costs of geothermal heat exchangers.
Society members for notable achievements His research projects involved constructing two of the first
in research related to civil engineering, with full-scale energy pile installations in the U.S. and one of the first
preference given to younger members. It in the world that included long-term thermal and mechanical
will be presented at the Society’s 2016 performance monitoring. His centrifuge-scale and laboratory-
Annual Convention in Portland, OR. scale physical modeling tests have provided insight into the
McCartney is being recognized for contributing to the different mechanisms of thermo-mechanical soil-structure
understanding of the thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of interaction and the role of couple heat transfer and water flow
soils and associated effects on geothermal heat exchange and in the performance of geothermal heat exchangers.
thermal energy storage in civil engineering applications. McCartney is an associate professor at the Jacobs School
Photo courtesy of nascarhall.com.
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of Engineering, University of California, San Diego. He received Lecture Series Named for Koerner
ASCE’s Arthur Casagrande Professional Development Medal in The Geosynthetic Materials Association
2013 and the J. James R. Croes Medal in 2012. (GMA) has announced a biennial award
and lecture series named for Robert M.
Koerner, PhD, PE, D.GE, NAE,
Dist.M.ASCE, founding director and now
j PLEASE SUBMIT
director emeritus of the Geosynthetic
company news and career achievements to
Institute.
GEOSTRATA via geostrata@asce.org.
The inaugural award recipient will
deliver the first Koerner Lecture at
IN MEMORIAM Harold William Olsen August 12, 1931 – April 14, 2016
Harold W. (Hal) Olsen, PhD, Sc.D., offshore Atlantic continental slope. He was a great leader and
M.ASCE, was born in Casper, WY, on inspiration to me, as well as to many others.”
COREBITS PEOPLE August 12, 1931. The youngest of four Hal was a mentor to many in our profession. A long-time
siblings, he attended Casper schools colleague, Chuck Shackelford (Colorado State University),
and received his S.B., S.M., and Sc.D. in fondly expressed “…how much I appreciate his working with
civil engineering at the Massachusetts me, as he was my first external collaborator. Our initial project
Institute of Technology. While in grad- together has resulted in the development of a long-term
uate school, he spent a year as a research program into semipermeable membrane behavior
Fulbright scholar at the University of that is still flourishing today, some 16+ years later.” Mike Malusis
Naples, Italy. Upon graduation, he joined the U.S. Geological (Bucknell University), a former student, commented, “Hal was a
Survey (USGS) as a research civil engineer, and had a long and terrific scholar and a better person, and he had a tremendous
successful career with the USGS in Washington, DC, Palo Alto, influence on me and my work. I still recall, in relatively vivid
CA, and Denver, CO. At the USGS, Hal made pioneering detail, many of the research meetings that I had with Hal
advancements in coupled flow phenomena in clay and flow when I was a PhD student. He could discuss the nuances of
pump methods for hydrologic property measurements. After coupled flow phenomena and clay membrane behavior with
retirement in 1994, he joined the faculty at the Colorado School remarkable insight and clarity, and always with a gleam in his
of Mines as a research professor, where he was responsible for eye and a faint smile that revealed to me just how much he
several funded research projects from the EPA, NSF, and NASA. enjoyed learning and teaching others. His passion, curiosity,
He and his wife moved to Steamboat Springs, CO, in 1995. He and meticulous approach to research were infectious. I count
died peacefully at the Doak Walker House on April 14, 2016, myself as extremely fortunate to have worked with, and learned
after a long battle with Parkinson’s. He is survived by his wife, from, Hal.”
Charlotte Jensen, a daughter, two sons, and two stepsons. Hal was involved with many professional societies related
Hal was a talented, kind, and generous man, and his to geotechnical engineering, such as the TRB, ASTM, and
professional career was marked by his lifetime outstanding and the ASCE Geo-Institute. Mo Gabr (North Carolina State
seminal technical contributions, professional mentorship, and University), editor-in-chief of the Journal of Geotechnical
leadership. His graduate school colleague, Jim Mitchell (Virginia and Geoenvironmental Engineering, commented, “Hal led by
Tech), commented, “I have many fond memories of the days example. His legacy was not only his leadership in the technical
when Hal and I were graduate students together at MIT, and realm, but also his kind manner and interest in helping and
have the greatest admiration and appreciation of his pioneering mentoring the younger generation. He was inspiring, and I'm
research contributions to our understanding and formulation grateful for the help and guidance I received from him.”
of permeability and coupled flows.” Paul Mayne (Georgia Tech)
wrote, “I learned a boatload of geotechnical engineering from (Portions of this obituary appeared in Steamboat Today and
Hal, particularly regarding soil behavior, when we tested clay were edited by former colleagues and students Ning Lu and Bill
and silt sediments for a large lab testing program along the Likos. Photograph courtesy of Ning Lu.)

Geotechnical Frontiers 2017, to be
held in Orlando, FL, from March 12-15.
Subsequent awards will be presented at
the biennial Geosynthetics Conference,
organized by the Industrial Fabrics
Association International (IFAI).
“We are excited about the Dr. Robert
Koerner Award and Lecture Series,” said
GMA Executive Council Chairman Keith
Gardner. “It is very special to have one of
the fathers of our industry lend his name Earth Retention
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to the next level.” Foundation Support
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series is indeed the capstone of my
career,” Koerner said. “I am honored and Design/Build
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all involved for this honor and express my
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The GMA Executive Council will select
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oo Has had a measurable impact on the by the Foundation Testing Experts
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hammers through June 2016
energy measurements,
The recipient will also give three as recommended
additional one-hour lectures during the by ASTM D-4633.
two-year award period as part of the new
Koerner Lecture Series, with expenses to
be paid by GMA.
Dr. Koerner has authored or co-
authored approximately 700 papers on
geosynthetics and geotechnical topics in
journals and at national and international
conferences.
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As I See It
Ground Improvement –
Coming Full Circle
By Vernon R. Schaefer, PhD, PE, M.ASCE
Ground improvement has been a part of geotechnical engineering and geoconstruction

activities since the evolution of modern soil mechanics in the early 1900s. But as a 1978
report by the ASCE Committee on Placement and Improvement of Soils states, soil
improvement methods have been used much longer than today’s engineers might imagine:
Soil, nature’s most abundant construction material, has been used by man for his
engineering works since prior to the beginnings of recorded history. Virtually all
construction is done on, in, or with soil, but not always are the natural soil conditions
adequate to accomplish the work at hand. The basic concepts of soil improvement
— densification, cementation, reinforcement, drainage, drying, and heating — were
developed hundreds or thousands of years ago and remain unchanged today.

The ancients used soil for burial The basic concepts of soil improvement —
mounds, religious structures, dwellings,
roadways, and military emplacements.
In the previous century, our forebears,
densification, cementation, reinforcement,
quite understandably, built mostly in
areas with good ground conditions, and drainage, drying, and heating — were
have used many such sites. As today’s
populations have continued to expand,
there has been a corresponding need for
developed hundreds or thousands of years
infrastructure, so modern-day engineers
find ourselves increasingly building on ago and remain unchanged today.
more challenging sites that may have soft
or loose, saturated, and/or problematic
soils that can be expansive, collapsible,
contaminated, or organic. the project to a more suitable site or by accommodate poor/marginal ground
When these conditions are encoun- using a deep foundation oo Modify (improve) the existing soils,
tered, our remedial options include: oo Remove and replace the unsuitable soils either in-place or by removing, treating,
oo Bypass the poor ground by relocating oo Design the planned structure to and/or replacing the existing soils
As I See It
Through the years, a variety of terms have been used make their efforts more efficient and cost-effective. The
to describe how we might modify or “fix” the ground: soil contractor-led developments often meant that the techniques
stabilization, soil improvement, ground improvement, and were experience-based and sometimes proprietary. Thus
ground treatment are perhaps the most common. While the commercial and technological innovations by contractors’
main purpose is ground improvement, ground treatment is the technologies have almost always preceded research studies of
actual process that we go through. Ground modification is the fundamental performance and the development of engineer-
result of that process. ing guidelines.
Today’s modern ground improvement and geoconstruction Exciting advances in column-supported embankments,
technologies make it possible to improve marginal sites and soil-mixing techniques, grouting, reinforced soil technologies,
unsuitable in-situ soils to meet demanding project require- slope stabilization methods, and many other applications are
ments. In fact, ”fixing” poor ground conditions to make them occurring and pushing the profession forward. A key issue
better suited for a project’s needs is often the economically facing these advancements is the conservative and skeptical
preferred solution. nature of owners and engineers, who ask, ”Who has used it?”
While earthwork construction has occurred for centuries, There’s often reluctance to be the first or an early adopter of
the development and evolution of machines has greatly new technologies. More case histories of lessons learned and
increased construction efficiency and allowed significant successful implementation of these technologies will help to
improvements in the quality and quantity of work undertaken. increase their use.
Drainage methods to improve poor ground conditions, and With new technologies also come questions about
compaction and densification of soils to improve engineering performance monitoring and acceptance criteria. Movement
properties, were among the earliest forms of ”engineered” towards performance rather than method specifications
ground improvement. In recent decades, with our continuing opens the door to competing technologies to meet specific
use and expansion of improvement techniques and drastic settlement or similar performance requirements. We only
improvement in equipment and technology, ground improve- need to look at how relatively new technologies such as
ment has come of age and reached a high level of acceptance mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls and soil nail walls
within the geotechnical community. Indeed, the functions have revolutionized earth retention design and construction
of ground improvement encompass nearly all that we do as to understand the great opportunities available and progress
geotechnical engineers. that can occur. Improvements in heavy equipment, tooling,
Today, there are many drivers for using ground modifica- and computer-based data acquisition and control systems
tion. They include: (1) the increasing need to use marginal have greatly expanded use of soil-mixing techniques, grouting
sites for new construction purposes; (2) the need to expand methods, and shallow and deep densification methods. The
current infrastructure; (3) designing to mitigate risk of failure new field of biogeotechnics is burgeoning and seemingly
or potential poor performance; (4) designing for longevity ready to make a large impact on our profession.
and asset management; and (5) accelerating construction to As population growth accelerates, the need to construct
minimize delays to users and the public. on poor sites will become imperative. This demand, and all
From the geotechnical design engineer's perspective, of the developments in ground modification techniques and
ground modification means changing relevant engineering technologies, makes it an exciting time to be a geotechnical
properties (e.g., increasing soil shear strength, reducing engineer involved in this field. Many of our recent devel-
soil compressibility, and reducing soil permeability) — or opments are mimicking nature through reinforcement or
transferring load to more competent support layers. From cementation, thus bringing us full circle from our earliest uses
the contractor’s perspective, ground modification may of soils. Learning from nature and applying its lessons will
mean reducing construction time and/or construction allow us to advance and develop better solutions to our vexing
costs. Both points of view are valid reasons to consider the soil challenges.
use of ground modification techniques, and they are often
mutually inclusive. j VERNON R. SCHAEFER, PhD, PE, M.ASCE, is a professor of civil
Many of the current ground modification techniques engineering at Iowa State University. He was chair of the Geo-
originated in Europe and the Far East, and were subsequently Institute’s Soil Improvement Committee from 2002 to 2008 and led
brought to the U.S. Contractors often led the development of development of the GeoTechTools geo-construction information and
the techniques as they wrestled with poor ground conditions technology selection guidance system from 2007 to 2012. He can be
and made improvements in equipment and methods to reached at vern@iastate.edu.

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Lessons Learned from GeoLegends
Thomas D. O’Rourke,
PhD, Dist.M.ASCE, NAE
By Suguang (Sean) Xiao, EIT, S.M.ASCE, Hai (Thomas) Lin, EIT, S.M.ASCE,
and Hanna Moussa Jabbour, S.M.ASCE
Editor’s Note: Due to space limitations, we are only able to print

a condensed version of this interview in GEOSTRATA. To view the
full piece, go online to geostrata.geoinstitute.org/whats-new.
P
rofessor Thomas D. O’Rourke has worked in geotech-
nical engineering for more than 40 years. He earned
his BS in civil engineering at Cornell University in
1970 and his PhD in civil engineering at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1975. He currently holds
the Thomas R. Briggs Professorship in Engineering at
Cornell University. Some of his most extraordinary work
involves geotechnical and earthquake engineering for large,
geographically distributed systems, such as water supplies,
energy delivery networks, and transportation facilities.
O'Rourke has taught approximately 10 courses at both the
undergraduate and graduate levels, including planning and
engineering for critical infrastructure, retaining structures
and slopes, foundation engineering, introduction to geo-
technical engineering, rock engineering, geoenvironmental
engineering, and geotechnical engineering design project.
He received the Daniel Lazar '29 Excellence in Teaching
Award (1998) and the Kenneth A. Goldman '71 Excellence in
Teaching Award (2003) from Cornell University.
O’Rourke was a geotechnical and/or lifeline expert in
many post-earthquake reconnaissance missions, such as
the Ecuador (1987), Armenia (1988), Loma Prieta, CA (1989),
Kobe, Japan (1995), and Kocaeli, Turkey (1999) earthquakes.
He has assisted with the recovery of Christchurch, New
O’Rourke signs the membership book during his induc- Zealand, after the Canterbury Earthquake Sequence
tion ceremony for the Royal Academy of Engineering. (2010-2011), and chaired the international peer reviews
(Photo courtesy of the Royal Academy of Engineering.) of the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment
guidelines for foundations and foundation improvements

Examining the damaged Granada Trunk Line after the 1994 Northridge earthquake in the San Fernando Valley in California.
for residential buildings, Earthquake through numerous awards and We were concerned primarily about
Commission (EQC) evaluation of honors. Select awards include the the effects of the ground movement on
liquefaction land damage and shallow ASCE Charles Martin Duke Lifeline the National Portrait Gallery, which was
ground improvement fields trials, and Earthquake Engineering, Stephen located about 5 ft from the edge of the
increased liquefaction vulnerability D. Bechtel Pipeline Engineering, excavation. However, there were also
assessment for review by the New and Ralph B. Peck awards, as well as many pipelines in the road north of
Zealand High Court. He was a member the LeVal Lund Award for Practicing the excavation that were not receiving
of the National Academies Committee Lifeline Risk Reduction. He received attention. I was interested in how they
on New Orleans Regional Hurricane the 2016 Earthquake Engineering might be deforming. So, when we set up
Protection Projects to evaluate the per- Research Institute (EERI) George our settlement survey, we put settlement
formance of the hurricane protection W. Housner Medal. He was the 2008 points on the Gallery buildings north of
system (HPS) of New Orleans following Rankine Lecturer and 2016 Karl the excavation, and on the street surface
Hurricane Katrina. Professor O’Rourke Terzaghi Lecturer. He is a member of over underlying pipelines. Many times,
led a team to determine the effects of the National Academy of Engineering when you have a deep excavation or a
the World Trade Center Disaster (9/11) (1993), an International Fellow of the tunnel, it affects the pipelines before it
on the New York City water supply, Royal Academy of Engineering (2014), a affects the buildings. At that time, peo-
electric power, telecommunication, Distinguished Member of ASCE (2014), ple were principally concerned about
and underground transportation a Fellow of the American Association the effects of differential settlement on
networks. for the Advancement of Science (2001), buildings. I was concerned about the
O’Rourke authored or co-authored and an Honorary Member of EERI effects of differential settlement and
more than 370 publications on (2013). lateral displacement on buildings, both
geotechnical engineering, underground of which were caused by the excavation.
construction technology, geographi- Q: When did you discover the I also questioned what the ground
cally distributed systems, earthquake research need of soil-pipeline movement was doing to the pipelines.
engineering, impact of extreme events interaction? So I started looking at the behavior of
on civil infrastructure, and infra- I started working on soil-pipe different types of pipeline in response
structure rehabilitation. Since 1995, interaction during my PhD work on the to ground deformation. Eventually I
he has delivered 155 invited lectures, Washington DC Metro. I was working began studying how pipeline systems
keynotes, and conference presentations on instrumenting the excavation for responded to ground deformations and
worldwide. the Gallery Place Station. Some ground to earthquake effects, and started to
O’Rourke’s outstanding contri- movements occurred during the numerically simulate these effects on
butions have been well recognized excavation phase of the construction. entire systems.
Q: What’s the difference between the

effects of earthquakes on tunnels
and pipelines?
A circular tunnel is a large cylinder, The application of probabilistic
and the most meaningful deformation
caused by interaction with seismic waves
is cross-sectional distortion. Tunnel lin- concepts in modern engineering
ers are thin relative to their diameter, and
their primary response in an earthquake
is racking into an oval shape from shear has been enormously successful in
wave propagation. This type of deforma-
tion results in circumferential bending
stresses. A pipeline has a much smaller protecting critical infrastructure.
diameter, and its main response is in the
longitudinal direction with respect to
seismic waves. Therefore, pipelines tend
to deform as beams or beam columns
that experience primarily tension and
compression due to interaction with Q: What did you learn as a student people aren’t as well prepared in geol-
seismic waves. Some pipelines have the that most directly influenced your ogy as they should be. Understanding
diameters of little tunnels. For example, success? the geologic origins of soil and rock,
transmission and trunk lines supplying Combining geology with structural stratigraphy and structure, and
water to Los Angeles may have relatively and solid mechanics is the essence of stress history provides an invaluable
large diameters on the order of 10 ft. geotechnical engineering. Too often, framework for evaluating engineering
properties and characterizing site
conditions. Understanding the basics
of geohydrology is likewise important
and essential for underground flow
characterization, effective stress
assessment, control of water during
construction, and stabilization of
slopes and excavations.
Q: Based on the Hurricane Katrina

investigations, what did geotechni-
cal engineers do well, and where do
they need to improve?
Expanding on the lessons from
Hurricane Katrina, geotechnical engi-
neers have made major contributions
to the recently constructed Hurricane
and Storm Risk Reduction System in
New Orleans that has substantially
improved protection against storm
surge and flooding with state-of-the-art
facilities, such as the Inner Harbor
Navigational Canal-Lake Bourne Surge
Barrier. Hurricane Katrina, however,
raises many important questions at
many different levels, some of which
From l to r: Suguang (Sean) Xiao, Hanna Moussa Jabbour, Prof. O’Rourke, and are still unresolved. In addition to
Hai (Thomas) Lin at Cornell. geotechnical problems of subsidence,
erosion, site characterization, and

O’Rourke stands on ground deformed by liquefaction near the Nishinomiya-ko Bridge after the 1995 Kobe earthquake in Japan.
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HPS loading and failure mechanisms, that a similar concept could be applied is too big to fail, just like some banks
Hurricane Katrina reveals issues on a to natural disasters. Within recent are too big to fail. Examples include
larger scale. The sustainability of New years, we have witnessed the 2004 the hurricane protection system
Orleans is part of broader problem Sumatra-Andaman and 2011 Tohoku (HPS) in New Orleans and nuclear
associated with the sustainability of the earthquakes and tsunamis, 2010 Maule power facilities in Japan. Clearly, the
25000 km2 Mississippi Deltaic Plain. earthquake, 2010-11 Canterbury 565-km-long HPS and 54 nuclear
Earthquake Sequence, Hurricanes reactors in Japan are infrastructure
Q: Please talk briefly about the Katrina and Sandy, and Typhoon that are too big to fail. Perhaps we had
concept of “new normal” for natural Haiyan. Three of these earthquakes are to experience such failure to learn
disasters? among the largest six ever recorded. that we cannot afford to repeat the
I took the phrase “new normal” from The severity and far-ranging conse- lessons. The failure of the Fukushima
language used after the 2008-2009 quences of these extreme events have Daiichi Power Plant from the tsunami
financial crisis. A well-known financial established in effect a new normal for after the Tohoku earthquake not only
advisor, Mohamed El-Erian, coined natural disasters. It’s imperative that toppled nuclear power in Japan, but
the phrase to illustrate that the world we develop sound planning policies had worldwide consequences in the
of finance has been normalized by and design concepts to better prepare disavowal of nuclear power in Germany
elevated levels of risk that we never for mega disasters. Instead of being and Switzerland. Had the Tokyo
knew existed until the banks almost rare events, mega disasters are likely Electric Power Company realized that
collapsed. The financial crisis and its to be experienced several times in the a tsunami would overtop its flood pro-
normalizing effects was perhaps the coming decade. tection system and inundate the diesel
most effective lesson ever learned in Another feature of the “new normal” generators in its turbine buildings, the
public risk perception, and I thought concept is that some infrastructure company would surely have moved
the diesel generators to an elevated
location above the flood waters.
Recognizing that some infrastructure is
too big to fail, work is now being done
to evaluate the consequences of a San
Andreas Fault rupture cutting off the
water supply to southern California as
part of the resilience plan adopted by
Los Angeles.
The application of probabilistic
concepts in modern engineering
has been enormously successful in
protecting critical infrastructure.
Nevertheless, when one gets into the
tail of a probability curve, one is not
sure how rare a very low probability
event really is. In addition to designing
for low probability events in terms of
long recurrence intervals, it would be
advantageous also to perform a sanity
check on the critical infrastructure by
asking, “What would happen if the rare
event is exceeded?” If such queries were
professionally sanctioned and required,
such an audit would have led to moving
the diesel generators at Fukushima to
a higher elevation as a low-cost action
against losing infrastructure that’s
too big to fail. We need protocols for
such audits on our most sensitive and
critical infrastructure.

Q: Could you talk about some lifeline
systems you have worked on?
Examples of lifeline systems include
water supplies, electrical power,
telecommunication, gas and liquid fuel,
waste water conveyance and treatment,
and transportation. The importance
of geotechnical engineering on lifeline
performance is illustrated by the 1906
San Francisco earthquake. When
firemen turned on the hydrants after the
earthquake, there was no water because
soil liquefaction had caused water sup-
ply pipelines to break up. Approximately
490 city blocks burned to the ground, an
additional 32 blocks were severely dam-
aged, and 28,000 buildings destroyed,
making this event the greatest single fire At the Transportation Test Center in Pueblo, CO, O’Rourke discusses auger
loss in U.S. history. Pipelines damaged boring and jacking an instrumented pipeline under the railroad tracks to
by ground failure deprived firefighters of evaluate its response to repetitive train loading.
water, leading to massive building losses
from fire.
After that earthquake, the Auxiliary
Water Supply System (AWSS), a water
distribution network exclusively for fire
protection, was constructed. Cornell Shaft Quantitative
University researchers modeling the
AWSS collaborated with engineers at
Inspection Device (SQUID)*
EQC led by Dr. Charles Scawthorn, who
modeled fire initiation and spreading.
Measures thickness of soft
The results of the coupled water supply
and fire simulations were presented material or debris layer at
to the San Francisco mayor and other bottom of borehole.
city officials, and a bond measure was
passed in 1987 for $46 million with Measures soil or rock
89 percent voter approval to provide resistance at shaft toe.
funding for rehabilitation of the AWSS
and other fire-related infrastructure. A Simple attachment to any
Portable Water Supply System (PWSS) drill stem or Kelly bar.
was developed, consisting of special
vehicles, called hose tenders, carrying
about 1.5 km of 125-mm-diameter
hoses and above-ground hydrants. The
fire that erupted in the Marina district
of San Francisco after the 1989 Loma
Prieta earthquake was suppressed by
Displacement x Pressure
the PWSS. The water supply modeling
performed at Cornell correctly predicted
*patent pending
liquefaction and loss of water in the
existing underground pipelines, and was
a key factor in developing the successful info@pile.com
alternate fire protection measures in +1 216-831-6131 www.pile.com/SQUID
San Francisco.
Q: If you had to pick just a couple of Q: Who has been the most influential and friend, Ed Cording. I learned a lot
your published papers, which do you person in your career? from Ralph Peck’s classes, but mostly I
consider the most notable? Two people: David Henkel and Ralph learned a lot from the way he conducted
The 2009 Rankine Lecture on the Peck. David Henkel was a well-known himself and the way he worked with
geotechnics of large geographically geotechnical engineer and a professor at people. He helped me understand
distributed systems and the paper I Cornell for many years. He co-authored the interaction among construction,
coauthored with Wayne Clough on with Alan Bishop a classic book on triax- geology, and mechanics.
ground movements caused by deep ial testing. He developed one of the first
excavations and their influence on models to show how ocean storm waves Q: What advice would you like to
adjacent buildings: generate submarine landslides, which share with young geotechnical
oo “Geohazards and large, geographically is fundamental for the design and con- engineers?
distributed systems. Rankine Lecture.” struction of offshore oil infrastructure. Choose your career because you funda-
Géotechnique (2010). Ralph Peck was an inspirational teacher mentally enjoy what you are doing. Work
oo “Construction-induced movements of and mentor, and a member of my PhD because you are inspired by what you
in-situ walls.” GSP No. 25 (1990). thesis committee, chaired by my advisor do. Find a mentor who is experienced,
and who you can work with and learn
from. Learning through the experience
of another person is a great way to
expand your capabilities and enhance
your contributions to engineering.
j SUGUANG (SEAN) XIAO, EIT, S.M.ASCE,

is a PhD student in the Department of Civil
and Environmental Engineering at Lehigh
University. His research focuses on thermal
mechanical behaviors of geothermal energy
piles. He is an active member of the G-I
Graduate Student Organization at Lehigh
University, where he serves as the represen-
tative to the G-I Graduate Student Leadership
Committee. He can be contacted at
sux211@lehigh.edu.
j HAI (THOMAS) LIN, EIT, S.M.ASCE, is

a PhD student in the Department of Civil
and Environmental Engineering at Lehigh
University who is researching microbial
modification of soil for ground improvement.
He is an active member of the G-I Graduate
Student Organization at Lehigh University. He
can be contacted at hal310@lehigh.edu.
j HANNA MOUSSA JABBOUR, S.M.ASCE,

is a master’s student in the Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering at
Lehigh University. His research focuses on
finite element modelling of the installation
effect of controlled modulus columns on
O’Rourke with a homeowner during the reconstruction of his house on surrounding soil. He is an active member of
Shotwell St. after the 1989 Loma Prieta (northern CA) earthquake. the G-I Graduate Student Organization at
Lehigh University and can be contacted at
ham413@lehigh.edu.

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SEPT/OCT GROUND
2016 IMPROVEMENT
THE EVOLUTION
OF LAUNCHED
SOIL NAILS
A 30-Year Retrospective
By Colby Barrett, JD, PE, M.ASCE,
and Graeme Quickfall
Fiberglass launched soil nails used for bluff stabilization in Northern California.

L
aunched soil nails are a unique
remedial technology in the
geotechnical construction
toolbox. These 20-ft-long,
1.5-in.-diameter nails are installed
in a single shot using a compressed
air “cannon” at velocities of up to
250 miles/hour, and at rates
approaching 250 nails/day. The nails
reinforce an unstable or potentially
unstable soil mass by transferring
the nail’s tensile and shear capacity
into the sliding soil. However, at least
as interesting as the tool itself, is
the story behind the development of
launched soil nail technology over the
past 30 years.
This story is not just one of technological innovation, advance-
ment, and refinement of a specific piece of construction equipment.
It stands as a testament of the innovative, bold, and resourceful char-
acter of engineers and practitioners in the geotechnical construction
industry. It’s also an insight into how engineers from three continents
— often working independently — responded to challenges as
diverse as national tragedy, shrinking infrastructure budgets, and the
challenges posed by geohazards across the globe, to create a powerful
new tool that continues to be refined, updated, and improved to the
present day.
Impetus and Early Development (1966-1989)

On Friday, October 21, 1966, after several days of rain, more than
150,000 cy of waste spoils from a local coal mine liquefied and surged
toward Aberfan, Wales, burying much of the village, including the
Pantglas Junior School, in up to 30 ft of soil and spoil debris, killing
116 children and 28 adults. Soon afterward, the concept of soil nailing
started to emerge in Europe and beyond, and engineers began to
investigate how nails could be installed most efficiently. Groups from
the U.K., Germany, and France independently developed installation
methods that included driving, drilling, driving with simultaneous jet
grouting, and even chemical explosive actuated firing systems. One
group, which included Bernard Myles, an engineer from the defense
industry, and the Industry Center at Cardiff University in Wales, devel-
oped the first version of the “soil nail launcher” that is still used today.
Riparian landslide repair using pressure-grouted launched soil nails for Western Federal Lands Highway Department.
Stories from those early days are colorful, full of intrigue Myles had sought — a completed sale of the launched soil nail
and details about classified technology. They even include technology to American owner-operators. State and federal
unconfirmed rumors that Gerald Bull, the artillery engineer agencies could not justify the purchase of a very expensive
best known for positing that large guns could be used to piece of equipment to repair just the 10-15 applicable sites
launch satellites into space and who assisted Saddam Hussein likely to need it each year in their regions, and the researchers
with his “Babylon Supergun” project, had a hand in the early were unable to entice a private contractor to purchase the
development of the technology as well. Rumors aside, it’s true technology to cover a larger, and therefore commercially
that Myles’ group based its invention on declassified British viable, geographic area. After the demonstration, the launcher
military technology originally developed to propel chemical and Myles returned to the U.K.
weapons munitions using compressed air. They likely saw the
benefits of a technology that could rapidly and economically Rapid Fire in North America and Australasia
install many soil nails to stabilize a slope, especially in areas (2001- Present)
prone to conditions like those that precipitated the 1966 This story could have ended there. But in 2000, Bob Barrett,
Aberfan disaster. By 1989, Myles had formed Soil Nailing a former Colorado DOT geologist and an original member of
Limited in the United Kingdom and began the first successful the USFS project team, and his business partner, Al Ruckman,
application of air-launched nails for rail, highway, and com- contacted Myles about buying the launcher technology. The
mercial clients in the U.K. timing couldn’t have been better. The technology had been
purchased by a European conglomerate, but was shelved
The First Shots in North America (1992-1994) because they thought it would disrupt their other soil
At the 1989 Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual stabilization business lines, and perhaps even compete with
Meeting in Washington, DC, a chance meeting between Myles them. After a series of mergers and acquisitions, the launcher
and John Steward, then the Pacific Northwest geotechnical technology was mothballed in a warehouse in England. After
engineer for the U.S. Forest Service, led to a joint USFS/FHWA stretching their personal credit and borrowing to their limits,
demonstration project of the launcher technology using soil promising U.K. officials to only use the cannons for “non-
nails to repair landslides at eight sites in four western states military” applications, and convincing U.S. customs officers
and three western U.S. Forest Service (USFS) regions in the that importing 150-caliber guns from overseas immediately
early 1990s. The nails used at the time were galvanized, solid after 9/11 was a good idea, Barrett and Ruckman were finally
steel bars. The cannon was mounted on a tracked excavator. able to begin business in North America.
The project produced a video, a report, design methodology, The cannon units weigh over 6,000 lbs and are typically
and an application guide. But the project did not produce what mounted on a tracked excavator that has been converted

to carry a specialized compressor unit rather than a rear supports for retaining walls. Launched soil nails have been
counterweight. The units may also be suspended from a crane used in a variety of soil and slope conditions, especially in
or mounted on a long-reach excavator for greater range. Initial mountainous areas, where rugged terrain limits construction
firings used 1.5-in.-diameter, 20-ft–long, galvanized solid options. They are primarily fired into sand, silt, clay, and even
steel bars. These solid bars were both costly and heavy, so in soils with some cobbles or boulders. Launched nails are not
early 2002, galvanized steel tubes were introduced. Research suitable for sites with large/frequent boulders or very hard,
conducted at project sites confirmed that the lighter tubes shallow bedrock, in very stiff clays, or in areas where failure
could be advanced up to 12 in. farther into similar soils than surfaces exceed 17 ft deep. Launched soil nails have also been
the heavier solid bars. The tubes could also be perforated to act specified on sensitive riparian projects where drill cuttings/
as drains, or later pressure grouted to improve bond strength, grout spoils and excavations often associated with traditional
corrosion protection, and capacity. The typical launched soil drilled and grouted soil nails would not meet environmental
nail soon became a three-step process: mandates.
1. A perforated, galvanized outer tube would be launched to
full depth at pressures between 800-4,500 psi. Project Applications
2. The hollow tube would be pressure grouted with neat Launched soil nails have been used on many notable projects
cement grout. and are credited with saving I-75 in Northern Tennessee from
3. A #6 epoxy-coated inner bar would be inserted before the total collapse in 2005 and again in 2012 due to their speed of
grout set. installation and ability to provide immediate structural con-
tribution. In 2005, the use of launched soil nails for temporary
Fiberglass outer tubes have also been installed in corrosive embankment shoring prevented slope failure during excava-
soil environments, and many projects have been completed tion for the emergency installation of a rock buttress. Because
where pressure-grouted, launched soil nails were installed in the nails are effective seconds after installation, with no delay
combination with ungrouted, perforated launched drains. required for grout set, shoring of the slope could be conducted
As of 2016, tens of thousands of launched soil nails and at the same rate as the slope excavation advanced without
drains have been installed in the U.S., Canada, U.K., New compromising worker safety. A few miles down the road in
Zealand, and Australia. Primary applications have been to 2012, large cracks had developed in the southbound lanes as
stabilize shallow landslides, although the technology has been part of a large, active landslide. Within hours, both southbound
used to stabilize failing sheet/H-pile walls, for temporary lanes had failed and cracks were progressing into the north-
shoring, for pipeline stabilization, and as micropile foundation bound lanes. Emergency stabilization work commenced, and
Launched soil nail shoring to support a roadway in Northland, New Zealand. (Photo courtesy Hiway Geotechnical Ltd.)
The group that developed the first version of the “soil nail launcher”
based its invention on declassified British military technology originally
developed to propel chemical weapons munitions using compressed air.
within 48 hours, over 250 launched soil nails were installed into environmentally sensitive tropical and high-rainfall regions.
the northbound lane and pressure grouted, which prevented Several other launched soil nail/vegetated face retaining wall
scarp regression of the large landslide. With traffic on the projects have been completed on roads within Australian trop-
northbound lanes safely restored, the southbound lanes could ical wetlands national parks and also in New Zealand’s national
be stabilized with post-tensioned strand anchors and then parks, often using native plantings to blend in with the natural
reconstructed using a large rock buttress. bush and surroundings.
Launched soil nail technology has been used in New
Zealand since 2006, primarily on the subtropical North Island, Installation Theory and Corrosion Protection
which features steep terrain and numerous landslides. In 2009, The compressed air cannon induces tensile stresses in each
launched soil nail technology was introduced to Australia, tube as it penetrates the ground. This tension counteracts the
starting in the far North region of Queensland, near Cairns. On compressive stresses induced by the displaced soil and thereby
sites where roadway width had been lost, launched nails were prevents nail buckling. The single impulse, high-installation
combined with geosynthetically confined soil retaining walls velocity creates a shock wave at the nail tip, which displaces
with aesthetically pleasing and erosion-resistant vegetated the adjacent soil as the nail penetrates. It’s important to note
facing. This combination proved to be particularly effective in that during the majority of the nail’s flight into the soil, the
Completed launched soil nail geosynthetically confined soil wall in Cairns, Australia (l) immediately after wall construc-
tion, and (r) vegetated-face 18 months later. (Photo courtesy Hiway Geotechnical Ltd.)

Launched soil nails used to prevent the regression of a large landslide in northern Tennessee (2012). Note the launcher at the top of
the photo for scale. (Photo courtesy Tennessee DOT.)
main frictional resistance occurs at the nail tip (not along its ignored. To understand this difference in design assumption, it
length) due to the elastic over-deformation of the soil induced is important to understand that unlike traditional drilled and
by the rapid impulse. grouted soil nails, launched soil nails have a much higher shear
To demonstrate this phenomena, paper stickers were capacity to axial capacity ratio. Shear capacities of up to 20
placed on the outside of nails that were launched into a gravel percent or more of axial pullout capacity have been observed
pile, then later carefully exhumed. The stickers remained in launched soil nails (compared with typical values well below
unabraded even after traveling up to 17 ft into the gravel. This 5 percent for traditional drilled and grouted nails). Because of
phenomena also explains the higher-than-expected bond this difference, the shear component of a launched soil nail is
strengths seen in launched soil nails versus driven soil nails. not ignored as it would be in traditional drilled and grouted
Like driven nails, the soil displaced by the nail densified (thus soil nail design. The ultimate shear resistance of the nail is not
creating higher normal stresses along the nail shaft), but unlike controlled by the shear strength of the nail material, but by the
driven nails, launched soil nails create minimal disturbance ultimate bearing capacity of the soil in a localized area near the
to the surrounding soil because of the rapidity of the single active failure surface. This localized bearing failure develops
impulse. Consequently, launched soil nail unit bond strengths over a short section of the nail on either side of the failure
always exceed those of driven nails, and often exceed those of plane, typically 3 ft or less. Typical shear resistance values
conventional drilled soil nails using open-hole drilling tech- range from 300-1,200 lbf.
niques. Launched soil nail bond stresses also tend to increase Although the USFS/FHWA manual provides a detailed
over time, with studies showing up to 30 percent increases over discussion of the equations and mechanisms behind launched
a 3-year period. Experts theorize that the mechanism for this soil nail capacity, the manual models shallow landslides and
time-dependent bond strength increase is due to excess pore embankment failures as a planar sliding wedge, ultimately pre-
water dissipation and soil/nail cohesion increase over time. senting simplified charts to determine nail spacing for various
slopes. These charts, however, do not allow for non-uniform
Launched Soil Nail Design slopes, water tables, or slopes with non-uniform materials.
Launched soil nail design methodology is outlined in the Between 1994 and 2013, if designers wished to model a slope
joint USFS/FHWA Application Guide for Launched Soil Nails, that did not fit neatly into the charts, they were forced to
and relies on the theory that launched soil nails resist soil employ a more tedious design method using nail input param-
movement by acting in both tension and shear. In a drilled and eters from the USFS/FHWA manual. In 2013, the programmers
grouted nail, by contrast, nail shear contributions are typically who developed FHWA’s SNAP (Soil Nail Analysis Program) and
LSNAP screenshot for a multi-tiered launched soil nail slope stabilization.
SNAP-2 created the free program LSNAP (Launched Soil Nail From foundation supports for solar farms to gas vents for
Analysis Program). This software allows designers to quickly landfills, new non-slope stabilization ideas for the technology
perform calculations that previously required many hours. In may serve to be quite viable in the future. Perhaps the most
addition, designs can be produced using either ASD or LRFD interesting application developed in the last few years is for
formats, with both static and dynamic loading, and with highly permafrost preservation. Engineers in the Yukon are currently
complex soil geometries. investigating whether hollow, launched steel tubes can be
Launched soil nails have also been mentioned in other installed vertically into or around roadways overlying per-
federal design documents. In the 2003 version of Geotechnical mafrost to stabilize melting northern roads. In the winter, air
Engineering Circular (GEC) No. 7 – Soil Nail Walls, FHWA currents would transmit heat from the soil to the atmosphere,
noted that launched soil nails were “bare bars” that were solidly freezing, and therefore stabilizing, the permafrost.
“only used for temporary nails” and that the method was “not In the summer, the currents naturally shut off, preventing
currently used in FHWA projects.” Twelve years and many convection-based energy transfer. From slope stabilization to
federally-funded, permanent launched soil nail projects natural radiators, there’s seemingly no end to the possibilities
later, the 2015 rewrite of GEC #7 eliminated the “temporary” that innovative engineers may find when utilizing launched
restriction and noted that the “technique is applicable to soil nail technology.
landslide repairs, and to roadway and embankment widening.”
Perhaps the most accurate federal guidance on the technology j COLBY BARRETT, JD, PE, M.ASCE, is a former USMC scout/sniper
since the publication of the USFS/FHWA manual in 1994 can platoon commander who didn’t want to stop playing with heavy guns
be found at geotechtools.org (see “GeoTech Tools – Your Ground after leaving the service. He now leads GeoStabilization International in
Modification Website” in the November/December 2015 issue its war on shallow landslides and other geohazards. He can be reached
of GEOSTRATA, pp. 38-42, 44). The GeoTech Tools website con- at colby@gsi.us.
tains case studies, cost data, and other useful information on
launched soil nails and myriad other innovative, geotechnical GRAEME QUICKFALL is the divisional director of Canada for
construction technologies, and notes that the advantages of GeoStabilization International. He has a 10-year association with
launched soil nails “include rapid construction, easy moni- launched nailing in Australasia and wide experience with other
toring and testing, construction with limited headroom and innovative aspects of civil and geotechnical engineering. He can be
right-of-way, and ability to withstand large deformations.” reached at graeme@gsican.ca.
New Applications and the Future

Because of their speed of installation, technical character-
istics, and relative cost compared to drilled soil nails, novel
applications for launched soil nails continue to be developed.

Wall Section Moment
Section Width Height Thickness Pile Weight Modulus of Inertia
in in in lb/ft lb/ft2 in3/ft in4/ft
NZ 19 27.56 16.14 0.375 55 23.95 35.08 283.1

NZ 20 27.56 16.16 0.394 57 24.82 36.24 292.8
NZ 21 27.56 16.20 0.433 61 26.56 38.69 313.4
NZ 26 27.56 17.32 0.500 71 30.92 48.50 419.9
NZ 28 27.56 17.38 0.560 78 33.96 52.62 457.4
As a premier steel foundation supplier now offering NZ sheets in addition to our

extensive product line, Skyline Steel is the ideal partner for your next project.
Visit www.skylinesteel.com/nz or call 888.450.4330.
© 2016 Skyline Steel, LLC. Skyline Steel is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nucor Corporation, the largest producer of steel in the United States.
SEPT/OCT GROUND
2016 IMPROVEMENT
A History of Deep
Vibratory Methods for
Ground Improvement
Congress Hall in Nuremberg, Germany — an early example of a project that used the vibrator for sand compaction.

A Cost-Effective Foundation Solution for 80+ Years
By Jeffrey R. Hill, PE, M.ASCE, Allen L. Sehn, PhD, PE, M.ASCE,
and Mark Koelling, PE, M.ASCE
D
eep vibratory ground improvement The Deep Vibratory Ground
methods, collectively referred to as Improvement Process
vibro systems, have been utilized by The deep vibratory process achieves ground
the construction community in one improvement primarily through two mechanisms:
form or another for the past 80 years. Development densification (Vibro Compaction) and reinforcement
of the equipment, techniques, and applications (Vibro Replacement).
have evolved and become a cost-effective ground Vibro Compaction is a ground improvement
improvement technology. technique that densifies clean, cohesionless granular
soils by means of a downhole horizontal vibrator,
or vibroflot. The word “horizontal” refers to the
vibrator’s amplitude being in the horizontal plane,
which is a major component in achieving densi-
fication of granular soils. The vibrator is typically
suspended from a crane and lowered vertically into
Figure 1. Schematic
of typical depth
vibrator. (Courtesy
of Keller archives.)
fills the void created as the vibrator is lifted several

feet. The vibrator is then lowered into the stone to
displace and densify it. This process is repeated
until a dense Stone Column is constructed to the
ground surface.
The dry bottom-feed process is similar, except
that no water jets are used, and the stone is fed to
the vibrator tip through a feed pipe attached to the
vibrator. A typical crane-hung, dry bottom-feed
system is shown on the right side of Figure 2.
Predrilling of dense strata at the column location
may be required for the vibrator to penetrate to the
design depth. Both methods of construction create
a high modulus Stone Column that reinforces
the soil under its own weight. The vibratory action and the the treatment zone. The ground improvement
main components of a vibrator are illustrated in Figure 1. process also uses the same horizontal vibrator as with Vibro
Penetration is usually aided by water jets integrated into the Compaction, so the process also densifies granular soils
vibrator assembly. After reaching the bottom of the treatment surrounding the column.
zone, the soils are densified in lifts as the probe is extracted. Like Vibro Compaction, Vibro Replacement Stone
During Vibro Compaction, clean sand backfill is typically Columns have been used to increase bearing capacity and
added at the ground surface to compensate for the reduction decrease settlement. They can also mitigate liquefaction
in soil volume resulting from the densification process. The potential for all types of planned structures, including build-
vibratory energy temporarily reduces the inter-granular forces ings, embankments, dams, tanks, and towers. The suitable
between soil particles, allowing them to move into a denser ranges of soil grain-size distributions for the various vibro
configuration, typically achieving a relative density of 70 to methods are illustrated in Figure 3.
85 percent. The treated soils have increased density, friction
angle, and stiffness. Compaction can be achieved above and Early Years of Development
below the water table. The earliest use of the depth-style vibrator to densify sand
Vibro Compaction permits the use of economical spread can be traced back to the Johann Keller Company (Keller)
footings with design-bearing pressures in the range of in the 1930s (Figure 4). Keller, founded in Germany in 1860,
5 to 10 ksf. Densification also reduces the expected static initially focused on installing foundations and water wells.
and seismic settlements, as well as increases the factor of Sergey Steuermann and Wilhelm Degen, of Keller, invented
safety against liquefaction. The required treatment depth is the downhole vibrator and the vibroflotation process, securing
typically in the range of 15 to 50 ft, but depths as great as the original patents for the electric-motor-driven vibroflots
150 ft have been achieved. in 1933 and 1936. The process and equipment were initially
Vibro Replacement is a ground improvement technique intended to be a novel method for concrete densification.
that constructs dense aggregate columns (Stone Columns) by However, as with many inventions, there was limited applica-
means of a downhole vibrator, to reinforce any soil type and tion for the initial plan, and the inventors quickly realized that
to densify granular soils. Vibro Replacement Stone Columns the equipment could also be used to densify soils. The basic
are constructed with either the wet top-feed process, or the elements of the tool and method, developed over 80 years ago,
dry bottom-feed process. In the wet top-feed process, the remain essentially the same today.
vibrator penetrates to the design depth by a combination Early use of the vibrator included Congress Hall in
of the device’s self-weight, its vibration energy, and water Nuremberg, Germany (1936), where sand was compacted
jets located near the tip of the vibrator. During the Vibro to a depth of approximately 62 ft. On this project, the new
Replacement process, stone (crushed stone or recycled Keller Vibratory Compaction method was compared to a
concrete) is introduced at the ground surface into the annular modified Franki pile, which was invented in the early 1900s by
space around the vibrator created by the jetting water. The Edgard Frankigouhl, a Belgian engineer. The “Franki” method
stone falls through the annular space to the vibrator tip and requires driving rough graded concrete out the tip of a casing,

Figure 2. Stone
Column installation to
100 ft for LNG Tank,
both wet top-feed
(left) and dry bottom-
feed. (Courtesy of
Hayward Baker Inc.)
resulting in a cast-in-place concrete pile with an expanded technology across the country by forming the Vibroflotation
base. Subsequently in 1939, a comprehensive compaction Company (VFC). VFC completed the first commercial
trial was carried out to a depth of approximately 62 ft for the application of Vibro Compaction in the U.S. in 1948 for three
foundation of the Great Hall in Berlin, Germany. As Vibro rotary kilns at an industrial site in Cape May, NJ. The method
Compaction historians have noted, the method proved to gained wide recognition in the early 1950s, after the Bureau of
be highly successful from its beginnings up to the pre-WWII Reclamation reported vibroflotation experiments at Enders
period and afterward. But despite some very successful early Dam, and particularly after Elio D’Appolonia published his
projects, there was still not widespread acceptance of the article “Loose Sands – Their Compaction by Vibroflotation.”
technique for many years. In 1956, Keller extended ground improvement by depth
During the post-WWII years, the use of Vibro Compaction vibrators with the utilization of coarse stone backfill. Keller
increased in Germany. The process began to be used in the also made key modifications to the original densification
U.S. in the late 1940s, when Steuermann received a U.S. vibrators to increase productivity and reliability. The stone
patent for the system. Steuermann partnered with Rust backfill resulted in reinforcement of cohesive soils (silts/
Engineering, a Pittsburgh, PA-based design and construction clays) that cannot be densified. Until the advent of stone
company that was completing complex projects across the reinforcement, cohesive soils could not be considered for
county. Rust and Steuermann collaborated to introduce vibro treatment using the depth vibrators. Initially, the stone
Figure 3. Treatment of
different soil types with
vibro systems. (Courtesy
of Hayward Baker Inc.)
beneath the world’s largest drydock to reduce settlement.
oo Cargill Grain Silos – Seattle, WA (1969). Initially, the existing
soil was excavated and replaced with clean sand. Vibro
Compaction was then performed to a depth of 28 ft to
increase the bearing capacity to 8 ksf beneath the large silo
complex. The grain complex, shown in Figure 5, is still used
today.
oo Waste Water Treatment Plant – Santa Barbara, CA (1974).
Approximately 235,000 lineal ft of Vibro Replacement Stone
Columns were installed to a depth of 45 ft beneath the plant
structures. The primary geotechnical requirement was to
reduce seismic settlement. This project was the first large-
scale use of Stone Columns in North America.
oo S teel Creek Dam – Aiken, SC (1986). This was the first use
of the dry bottom-feed method in North America. Stone
Columns were installed to a depth of 50 ft beneath a
proposed dam to reduce seismic settlement and improve
slope stability.
The equipment and process reached Canada in the late

1970s and early 1980s, with several notable projects in British
Columbia for heavy industry and the transportation ministry.
These included:
oo Vibro Test Program – Vancouver, BC Airport (1976).
Installation comparisons were made for ground improve-
Figure 4. Circa 1936 vibroflot and ancillary equipment. (Cour- ment with Stone Columns and driven piles.
tesy of Keller archives.)
oo Tilbury Cement Plant – Richmond, BC (1979). Vibro
Replacement Stone Columns were installed to a depth of
backfill could only be placed from the ground surface into an 40 ft beneath planned heavy plant loads to reduce static
open hole. This prevented the use of Stone Columns in soils and seismic settlements.
that were prone to collapse. Later developments using the oo Liquefied Natural Gas Tank Retrofit – Richmond, BC (1981).
jetting of water have allowed for stone placement at depth – a In a seismic retrofit, Vibro Replacement Stone Columns
method which has come to be known as Vibro Replacement were installed to a depth of 80 ft to surround an existing
Stone Columns. LNG tank (founded on 40-ft-deep timber piles) to provide
In the 1980s, Keller advanced stone backfill delivery with increased seismic lateral support to the piles.
the dry bottom-feed system, utilizing compressed air and a oo Alex Fraser Bridge – New Westminster, BC (1983 to 1985).
tremie tube connected to the vibrator. The dry bottom-feed During several phases of bridge pier construction across
system was first used in the U.S. by Keller for installation of Annacis Island, Vibro Replacement Stone Columns
Stone Columns to a depth of approximately 50 ft at the Steel were installed to a depth of 50 ft at each planned pier
Creek Dam in Aiken, SC, in 1986. This system places and foundation location to surround steel H-piles and provide
compacts the stone backfill with relatively greater displace- increased seismic lateral support.
ment of the surrounding soil; thus it came to be known as
Vibro Displacement Stone Columns. The two Stone Column Design and Planning Guidelines
methodologies remain today: the wet top-feed process and During the same time frame, the U.S. Federal Highway
the dry bottom-feed process. Administration (FHWA) began to accept the vibro system
process when it was recommended by a former geotechnical
Early Project Applications engineering program manager, Jerry DiMaggio. Soon
Increased exposure of vibro systems in the U.S., along with thereafter, several state DOT’s began to accept and use
their increased familiarity to engineers, allowed for several the process. The first U.S. guideline document, compiled
early notable projects to be constructed by VFC and Keller, by Barksdale and Bachus, was published in 1983, FHWA/
including: RD-83/026, Design and Construction of Stone Columns –
oo Naval Station Dry Dock – Bremerton, WA (1960). Vibro Volume 1. This guideline document remains relevant today
Compaction was performed to densify dredged sand fill for Stone Columns.

The basic elements of the downhole vibrator and the vibroflotation
process, developed over 80 years ago, remain essentially the same today.
The methods, as developed, have typically been used in The vibrators, in their initial development and current use
the 25- to 50-ft depth range. However, many projects have in North America, have been mostly driven by electric motors.
been performed in North America utilizing columns at both The motor, housed in approximately the bottom 10 ft of the
lesser and greater depths. Recently, short Stone Columns have probe, drives eccentric weights mounted on a shaft in the
come to be recognized in the U.S. market as “Aggregate Piers.” lower section. The spinning of these weights creates the hor-
Treatment depths for Aggregate Piers are typically in the range izontal vibrations of the probe. Amplitudes of approximately
of 10-20 ft, whereas depths in excess of 100 ft can be achieved 0.5-0.75 in. are generated at frequencies of 15-60 Hz. This
by both the Vibro Compaction and Stone Column methods. horizontal vibration provides for maximum densification, as
In North America, Vibro Compaction has been performed to well as maximum compaction of the stone backfill placement
depths up to 150 ft, and Stone Columns have been installed with displacement into the surrounding soils. To a lesser
to depths of up to 125 ft by both the wet top-feed and the dry extent, hydraulically-driven vibrators are also used.
bottom-feed methods. Greater treatment depths are feasible, Backfill for the Vibro Compaction process utilizes either
2016 CPT_half page OUTLINES.pdf 1 7/29/2016 12:21:04 PM
given appropriate soil conditions and project requirements. on-site sands, where the surface grade is cut down, or import
CM
MY
CY
CMY
Now providing service

to California through CPT Inc.
of the various mechanisms of vibro ground
improvement (densification, reinforcement, and
drainage), can be in the order of 25-75 percent,
depending on soil type, loads, earthquake
magnitude, etc. Vibro ground improvement
can typically be used to achieve allowable soil
bearing capacities in the range of 4-8 ksf;
however, 10-15 ksf has been used with maximum
densification by Stone Column installation.
Project Applications
Since ground improvement by vibro techniques
was introduced into North America over
65 years ago, both Vibro Compaction and
Stone Columns have addressed geotechnical
requirements for housing and commercial
buildings, industrial plants, highway and rail
embankments, bridge abutments, dams, and
port facilities (the latter sometimes being
constructed offshore).
From its novel inception more than 80 years
ago, the depth vibrator has remained a valuable
and cost-effective ground improvement tool in
Figure 5. Cargill Grain Facility in Seattle, WA. (Photo courtesy of Vibroflotation
Company archives.)
the construction industry. Development and
advancement of equipment and vibro design
methods have continued to give engineers and
sand. Particle size for Stone Column backfill material is contractors a viable ground improvement method. The
typically 1-3 in. for the wet top-feed method, and typically database of published papers, both for design and project
0.5-1.5 in. for the dry bottom-feed method. case histories, is ever increasing and available through agency,
Using vibrators can improve the soil profile in three ways: academic, contractor, and conference archives. The method’s
densification, reinforcement, and drainage. These improved, continued acceptance and use, with a consistent, increasing
post-treatment soil parameters can be used to provide number of successfully completed projects, has made vibro
increased allowable soil bearing capacity, reduced static and systems a mature and necessary technique in the ground
seismic settlement, increased slope stability performance, improvement industry. The widespread acceptance of vibro
and mitigation of seismic lateral spreading. systems has also paved the way for other ground improve-
The soils that are the most suitable for densification by ment techniques.
Vibro Compaction are relatively clean sands and gravels
with less than about 15 percent fines content and with no j JEFFREY R. HILL, PE, M.ASCE, is the director of business develop-
more than approximately 2 percent clay. For soils finer than ment for Hayward Baker in Hanover, MD. Jeff has worked for Hayward
this, the potential for significant densification is reduced, Baker for nearly 17 years and has become an avid photographer of
and therefore reinforcement becomes the primary ground the company’s work, as well as his three sons. He can be reached at
improvement mechanism. Stone volumes for treatment, jrhill@haywardbaker.com.
expressed as area replacement ratios, typically range between
about 10-30 percent, with center-to-center column spacing of j ALLEN L. SEHN, PhD, PE, M.ASCE, is senior vice president –
6-10 ft. Densification by Vibro Compaction using grid spacing engineering for Hayward Baker in Hanover, MD. Allen joined the
of 12-14 ft has been used in very clean sands with the most company in 2003 after 13 years in academia doing teaching and
powerful vibrators. research in civil and geotechnical engineering. He can be reached
Over the decades, design advancements have progressed at alsehn@haywardbaker.com.
for static and seismic conditions. Seminal work for Stone
Column seismic design was published by Baez and Martin j MARK KOELLING, PE, M.ASCE, is a project manager for
in 1994, and in 1995 by Priebe. Naturally, current research Hayward Baker in Seattle, WA. Mark has worked with Keller
continues to refine previous research and design assumptions. and Hayward Baker for more than 30 years. He can be reached
Settlement reduction resulting from the combined influence at makoelling@haywardbaker.com.

Figure 1. Jet grouting in urban areas is often performed immediately alongside pre-existing
structures, and here it is taking place alongside an active subway line that runs beneath this street
in lower Manhattan. Jet grouting is best performed with a mast extension so that the columns can
be pulled in one smooth, continuous motion. (Photo courtesy of Moretrench.)
SEPT/OCT GROUND
2016 IMPROVEMENT

GROUND IMPROVEMENT
FOR UNDERGROUND
CONSTRUCTION
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
By Paul C. Schmall, PhD, PE, D.GE, F.ASCE
U
nderground construction is Stiffening the Ground
“special” because the work may The physical constraints associated with urban construction
be performed at great depths and often prevent installation of relatively robust excavation
support systems (e.g., secant piles and slurry walls). In those
under high groundwater pressures.
cases, ground improvement may stiffen the ground, which will,
All too often, it seems to take place in in turn, minimize excavation-induced relaxation. Then less
urban areas where there is limited surface robust shoring systems can be implemented.
access, but a seemingly unlimited number Permeation grouting is an option where the soils are
coarse and clean enough to allow for the penetration of
of infrastructure features and structures.
microfine cement or chemical grouts such as sodium silicate.
Murphy’s Law of Geotechnical Engineering Practitioners must manage grout loss through existing nooks
tells us that most of those structures will and crannies when grouting alongside existing structures;
be very sensitive, and built on shallow targeted pre-grouting may be required.
Compaction grouting, or “low mobility” grouting methods,
foundations that are vulnerable to the
can quickly deliver appreciable grout volumes to stabilize
adverse effects of construction. It’s in these a structure when unanticipated movement occurs during
locations that engineers and contractors excavation, as opposed to permeation grouting, which is
find themselves learning the hard lessons typically performed prior to excavation. Compaction grouting
has been successfully performed in Manhattan alongside
of working underground: the ground will
100+-year–old, multi-story brick buildings where the drilling of
relax with deep excavation, and ground loss new, deep foundations or utility work adjacent to the structure
or instability will occur due to the presence has resulted in building movement. However, a liability of the
of groundwater. There are many good sit- method is that it can exert significant concentrated forces to
existing structures.
uations where ground improvement will be
Compensation grouting involves the finesse of widespread,
well suited to address a concern, some bad more evenly distributed, low-volume, pin-pointed, repeated
situations where ground conditions may be fracture grouting injections through sleeve-port pipes
unexpected or ground improvement may performed concurrently with an excavation or immediately
upon movement of a structure. This method is typically used
be insufficient, and downright ugly events
to protect a sensitive structure when there is no direct access to
when the bad isn’t recognized and blow-ins the structure itself. In practice, there is uncertainty associated
and catastrophic ground loss occurs. with controlling the movement of a structure that cannot be
touched. The characteristics of the ground, the weight of the underpinning must be extended below the water table. In the
structure, and the rheology of the grout are just a few of the context of deep excavations, jet grouting may be used as the
variables that determine the efficiency and effectiveness of primary means of groundwater control and support of exca-
the grouting. All compensation grouting is thus done observa- vation, but is more commonly used to close gaps in perimeter
tionally. Where there is direct access to a structure, a proactive, cut-off walls where utilities cannot be relocated. Or, it might be
positive geo-structural method of controlling movement, such used to create a manmade bottom seal for a watertight exca-
as micropiles, may be more desirable. vation. Jet grouted closures are also common where dissimilar
Jet grouting is a very versatile ground improvement tool types of cut-off walls meet.
that is applicable over a wide range of soils (Figure 1). Jet grout
underpinning of a structure may be considered a positive Controlling Groundwater
structural support alternative if the foundation is accessible. A Ground improvement is a different animal altogether when it’s
number of aspects of jet grout underpinning are advantageous, relied upon to control groundwater. The phrase “groundwater
including the ability to put it in place without below-grade control,” first of all, is very nondescript. It can mean “to modify
excavation work. This is particularly beneficial when the the undesirable behavior of saturated ground.” From a con-
tractor’s perspective, it is the difference between
“wet” and “dry” ground (the dry condition being
Figure 2. (a) Saturated fly ash exhibits a uniquely difficult instability that is ground minus “free” water). An extreme example of
a purely non-cohesive material with almost spherical particles. The ash is
this point is the case of fly ash. New federal regula-
sluiced into holding ponds so it is loose, wet, and runny. (b) Dewatered fly
ash will exhibit apparent cohesion and can be cut vertically or nearly vertical. tions currently mandate the draining and closure
(Photo courtesy of Moretrench.) of all the nation’s power producers’ fly ash ponds,
which has made this a very hot topic. Fly ash,
(a) which typically consists of about 80 percent silt
size and spherical particles, has historically been
a problematic, uncontrollably runny, and easily
neglected waste product (Figure 2a). It’s usually
handled by primitive rim-ditching and sumping
methods, although pre-drainage dewatering
with wells and wellpoints works amazingly well.
Regardless of the dewatering method selected, the
transformation is astounding: the runny material,
when drained, can be cut vertically or near verti-
cally (Figure 2b). When the “free” water is drained
from the ash, it transitions from a soup to a very
nice, soil-like material with apparent cohesion
and “stand-up time.” The transition occurs where
the pore water pressure goes from positive to
negative, and the water acts more like a glue than a
(b) lubricant. To illustrate these positive effects, think
of a sand castle at the beach, which is built with
moist sand rather than dry sand. In the same way, a
50,000-lb excavator can track out onto a drained fly
ash pond without sinking.
A real-life example of apparent cohesion with
drainage of fine-grained soil can be seen in the
rebuilding of lower Manhattan over the last 15
years. The rapidly dilatant silt, locally known as
“bull’s liver,” is a soil similar to fly ash in grain size
distribution and completely lacking plasticity. It
must be drained to be workable at all. The World
Trade Center “bathtub” excavation and the adjoin-
ing Dey Street Connector were two sites that were
completely encompassed by cut-off walls, but still
required pre-drainage dewatering to excavate and

Figure 3. The scale of the 2009 collapse of a six-story archive building and two neighboring apartment buildings in Cologne, Ger-
many, is evidence of the powerfully destructive effects of soil erosion with groundwater flow. (Photo courtesy of TunnelTalk.)
track equipment on the site. It should be noted that many con- groundwater. In general, though, the risks associated with
tractors fall victim to thinking that pre-drainage dewatering is conventional dewatering are relatively low and do not end in
not necessary when the soils are of low permeability. The most catastrophic failures.
difficult ground is a fine, non-cohesive silt like a Manhattan
bull’s liver. Groundwater Cutoff
The most complex and probably the most frequently assumed
Running Ground intent of “groundwater control” is to eliminate the flow
A slightly more complex meaning of “groundwater control” of groundwater with a positive cut-off that also provides
is to prevent the erosion of soil due to flowing groundwater. structural support of an excavation. This may be accomplished
Everyone who has dug a hole at the beach knows “running” with conventional vertical cut-offs such as steel sheeting,
ground. The different behaviors of wet ground have been best slurry walls, secant piles, or with ground improvement such
defined by those who suffer from it the most — the soft ground as jet grouting, soil mixing, and, to a lesser extent, permeation
tunnelers. Renowned tunneling expert Ron Heuer, in his 1987 grouting.
paper “Anticipated Behavior of Silty Sands in Tunneling,” set Construction of groundwater barriers has been a topic of
the language for the different wet ground conditions based on high priority in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Sandy.
his intense participation in the construction of deep tunnels, Levees have been stressed to the point of failure. From those
including the Washington Metro system in the 1970s. Thanks events, lessons have been learned that point to the need for
to Ron, tunnelers understand the distinction between firm, increased groundwater barrier robustness.
raveling, cohesive running, and running ground. Running The deep mixing method (DMM) has been used for
ground, like digging a hole at the beach, is certainly a situation groundwater barrier construction, but more appropriately for
to be feared in underground construction. The relevant ground improved embankment support and bearing capacity. DMM’s
improvement technique may simply be pre-drainage dewater- distant relative, cutter soil mixing (CSM), which is more of a
ing: the installation of wells, wellpoints, or ejectors to remove ground displacement method, has enjoyed sole success among
the “free” water from the soil. other ground improvement methods in the coralline limestone
An example of the potential impacts of running ground of Miami for water cut-off as well as excavation support. For
would be the 2009 collapse of several buildings in Cologne, years, geotechnical contractors had attempted to improve
Germany (Figure 3). The cause of the horrific disaster, which the weak rock there with grouting methods, achieving limited
claimed two lives, has been attributed to a lack of passive success. Up until several years ago, below-grade parking in
resistance at the toe of a slurry wall, which occurred when Miami was nonexistent — and for good reason.
uncontrolled (unfiltered) open pumping from inside a deep As this article is being written, a frozen barrier with an
shaft inadvertently resulted in erosion of ground due to flowing enormous 5,000-ft-long perimeter and a depth of
Figure 4. Very permeable karst rock in Columbus, OH, was grouted for deep shafts and connector tunnels. Sizable grout-filled karst
features are visible in the heading. (Photo courtesy of Moretrench.)
100 ft is being activated around the failed nuclear reactors the cost is warranted, but in many cases it is based upon
at Fukushima, Japan. The barrier is being used to create a unfounded fears or perceptions. The perimeter vertical cut-off
perfectly continuous cutoff through myriad underground is typically more conventional geo-structural work. Extending
subsurface obstructions, with only small volumes of spoils the vertical walls down to a naturally occurring bathtub bot-
generated. Closing the barrier may be challenging due to tom is the best approach, provided a natural bottom exists and
size, the complex ground and thermal conditions, and the the limits of applicability of vertical cut-off methods to reach it
up-gradient groundwater build-up that will occur as the frozen are not stretched.
wall gradually closes. An incredible amount of engineering will Where no naturally occurring, low-permeability cut-off
likely be needed to resolve those challenges. stratum exists below subgrade, a bottom plug can be con-
Groundwater recharge should be considered where structed, either shallow (at-subgrade) or deep (a blanket well
excessive drawdown is an issue and where a cut-off would below subgrade). There are advantages and risks associated
traditionally be used. Before the connection between ground- with each approach. The shallow, at-subgrade bottom seal
water treatment and efficient recharging was understood, must be perfect. A deeper blanket can accommodate some
the process had been avoided because it required significant leakage, but the depth of the seal demands significant quality
maintenance. In close proximity to a national historic control rigor. A manmade bottom seal will typically be
structure, groundwater leakage into the excavation of a new, constructed with jet or permeation grout. A jet grout bottom
deep building under construction resulted in lowering of the seal for a deep excavation is one of the riskiest things that a
groundwater beneath the structure, which was built with a geotechnical contractor can do because of the complexities of
thick mat foundation sitting on compressible soils. When the the work and no tolerance for error.
groundwater lowering was recognized in site piezometers, When rock is the impermeable bottom for a bathtub excava-
recharge wells were installed between the excavation and the tion, sometimes it must be improved as well. All of the East Side
structure, and water levels were rapidly returned to normal. Access and 63rd Street Connection bathtub excavations in New
Treated water was used, and the system never required York City required grouting of the top 10-15 ft of rock beneath
maintenance. the perimeter slurry walls. It is somewhat counterintuitive,
but grouting of rock is most effective when the rock is wide
The “Bathtub” Excavation open. The recent OARS tunneling project to control combined
When it’s problematic to lower the groundwater table, very sewer overflows in Columbus, OH, required slurry grouting
often the groundwater control approach is the “bathtub” in very permeable karst rock for 180-ft-deep tunnel access
excavation: perimeter vertical cut-off walls and a naturally shafts (Figure 4). The end result was essentially dry shafts.
occurring or man-made impermeable bottom. In some cases, Grouting rock with infilled fractures and fissures can be an

Figure 5. Post-failure conditions following collapse of jet-grouted soil canopy during construction of a tunnel at the Powisle Metro
Station in Warsaw, Poland. An imperfection in the jet-grouted canopy caused significant ground loss. Note the buried equipment in
the right side of the photo. (Photo courtesy of Metro Polska.)
issue, particularly if the rock will be exposed in the excavation the water table and the groundwater pressures are high, a
and water flow may flush the rock clean. Jet grouting has been fist-sized defect may reveal itself with a vengeance. This is
used successfully (and as a last resort) in rock to replace sand when things get ugly. The vast majority of catastrophic ground
infilling in widely open features. failures with deep excavations can be traced back to one of
three things: 1) a design flaw in the support of excavation
When Things Get Ugly (usually in developing countries, where standards of practice
Where the bathtub approach is adopted, it must be executed are less rigorous), 2) a quality control issue in the construction
flawlessly or significant and sometimes catastrophic blow-ins of the support of excavation/groundwater cut-off, or 3) where
may occur. The recipe for a blow-in is high groundwater pres- unanticipated ground conditions resulted in groundwater
sure + potentially unstable soils + a small defect in a cut-off. inflow. The first two situations are manageable, but it’s an
Usually, there is no conclusive way to control the situation or unfortunate reality that ground uncertainty will always
pinpoint the leak. The effectiveness of the bathtub system as a accompany underground construction.
whole is difficult to verify. Field verification prior to excavation Ground freezing may be warranted when uncertainties
is very important, but often highly uncertain. If there are in ground conditions could result in groundwater control
windows, they are quite difficult to find. failure or when confidence runs low about a particular cut-off
The big concern is the potential for erosion of soil with technique. It is often considered the last resort because it is
flowing groundwater. When the excavations extend well below typically not the cheapest, but it is the most assured. A tunnel
access shaft in Buenos Aries was frozen after 14 months of It’s All About the Right Match
failed ground improvement attempts, including dewatering, Underground construction will often rely upon ground
permeation grouting, and jet grouting. improvement for stiffening the ground and providing
Another example of problems encountered during con- groundwater control. Some techniques can do both and
struction is the Powisle Station on the Warsaw (Poland) Metro under a wide range of conditions. Matching the appropriate
project. A differing ground condition and an imperfection in technique to the actual conditions is very important for stiff-
a jet-grouted canopy over a NATM tunnel resulted in a rapid ening the ground, but absolutely imperative when providing
inflow of almost 300,000 ft3 of non-cohesive silts (Figure 5). groundwater control in certain soils. Experience has shown us
An immense nitrogen freeze had to be performed to make up that ugly situations with deep excavations are almost always
time. In fact, catastrophic failures usually end up being frozen traced back to groundwater — the bad actor in underground
because the process is very effective in disturbed ground. construction. The lubricating effects of groundwater and the
Complex and difficult ground conditions lend themselves potential to erode soil with groundwater pressure will expose
to ground freezing as well. For example, freezing was consid- any bad situation and make it ugly. Understanding when there
ered the only viable option for sequential excavation mining is potential for a bad situation, selecting the right technique,
(SEM) of the East Side Access project’s Northern Boulevard and implementing it well makes all the difference.
Crossing in New York City (see the May/June 2014 issue of
GEOSTRATA, pp. 28-32). Here, complications included difficult j PAUL C. SCHMALL, PhD, PE, D.GE, F.ASCE, is vice president
ground, high groundwater with limited drawdown permitted, and chief engineer at Moretrench in Rockaway, NJ, where he has
a moratorium on surface access, and an active subway box worked with grouting, ground freezing, and dewatering for 29
immediately above the proposed tunnel crown. Carefully years. He is also a past recipient of the Wallace Hayward Baker
controlled horizontal ground freezing extending to bedrock Award for innovation in ground improvement. He can be reached at
created a canopy above the tunnel crown to provide a stable, pschmall@moretrench.com.
watertight excavation for problem-free mining (Figure 6).
Figure 6. The newly completed Northern Boulevard tunnel in New York City lies beneath an arch of frozen ground. Ice over the
horizontal freeze pipes can be seen around the outside of the tunnel. (Photo courtesy of Moretrench.)

One Dalton - Boston, MA
SELA 22 - New Orleans, LA
First St. Tunnel - Washington, DC.
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cutoff walls
secant piles
caissons
jet grouting Ground engineering. It’s always challenging, at times
deep mixing extremely difficult. At TREVIICOS, we can count on
soil improvement
technology and people who know how to work safely
and collaborate as a team. Our successfully completed
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SEPT/OCT GROUND
2016 IMPROVEMENT
A Sinking Feeling
in Happy Valley
Limited Mobility Grouting Arrests
Movement of Emergency Room
By Shad E. Hoover, PhD, PE, M.ASCE, and Whitney E. Greenawalt, PE, M.ASCE

S
hortly after construction began on a new emergency room addition
at the Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College, PA (a.k.a.
“Happy Valley”), the existing structure and new construction began
to show signs of distress. Floor slabs were cracking to the point of
causing tripping hazards to employees and patients, and doors were not
functioning properly. The building’s façade was separating from the structure,
and survey data revealed that the newly constructed spread column footings
were 2-3 in. lower than originally constructed just a few months prior.
As can happen with any complicated diagnosis, the first theory explored
was that the distress had something to do with the northeast region’s mod-
erate seismic event (M ≈ 5.8) on August 23, 2011. The structural distress also
happened to coincide with Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee events
in late August and early September of the same year. Rainfall data in State
College for August and September indicated above average rainfall amounts
of 1.91 and 3.52 in., respectively.
An investigation quickly focused on the stormwater management adja-
cent to and within the new construction zone (Figure 1). A local fire company
was called to the scene, and several thousand gallons of water were poured
on the upper parking lot area. The water contained a green dye to attempt
to track the flow after it entered the suspect inlet, but it was quickly revealed
that the inlet was not functional, and the lime green water began to flow
toward the subsidence area. A test pit was excavated adjacent to one of the
footings in the subsidence zone, and a classic erosion channel was revealed,
indicative of the region’s challenging karst geology (Figure 2).
Emergency Response and Investigation

The first order of business was to assess the risk to the hospital’s staff and
patients. The construction manager coordinated with hospital staff and the
project’s geotechnical, structural, and civil engineering team. The structural
engineer immediately inspected the structural elements of the existing build-
ing and new construction. The civil engineer began a comprehensive survey
to determine the zone of subsidence and developed a monitoring program to
assess the rate of movement. The geotechnical engineer directed subsurface
explorations and laid the plans for remediation.
The team’s first recommendation was to repair the inoperable inlet and
return the site’s stormwater system to functionality. This was a critical path
forward for the project, given the extremely damaging effects of concentrated
water flows in this sensitive geologic environment. Sinkholes are a common
occurrence in Happy Valley, and, unfortunately, they tend to show them-
selves during construction, when the overburden soils are most vulnerable
to erosion into the soluble and cavernous limestone and dolostone bedrock
formations that prevail within this region.
The structural assessment did not produce any compelling evidence to
suggest that the superstructure had experienced damage requiring imme-
diate structural repair. The civil engineer performed a standard elevation
survey throughout the new construction area, and a manometer was used
to map the subsidence in the existing emergency room area. Most of the
distress to both the existing emergency room and new construction was
cosmetic; the greatest risk was from tripping hazards due to the cracked floor
slab. The cracks were temporarily repaired to reduce this risk. The survey
and manometer results revealed that the subsidence zone was larger than
originally identified by visual inspection,
and access to this zone with geotechni-
cal drilling equipment was limited.
A geophysical exploration company
was added to the team and recom-
mended the use of a microgravity survey.
Microgravity was selected as the most
applicable geophysical method to image
the subsurface for density contrasts
that would best indicate the presence of
subsurface anomalies. The microgravity
testing was conducted in two phases.
Phase I was conducted immediately
prior to the test boring work and stabi-
lization efforts. Phase II was conducted
after stabilization efforts were coming to
a close.
Figure 1. Map of Mount Nittany Medical Center, August 2012. (Image courtesy
Google Earth Pro.) Phase I consisted of 195 differential
microgravity measurements that were
collected during mid-January, 2011. The
results showed areas of low gravitational
response, indicative of anomalies
associated with voids or cavities that
corresponded with the zone of greatest
subsidence within the new construction
area. The survey also showed an abrupt
increase in gravitational response
toward the existing emergency room
EROSION CHANNEL area. These data highlighted the signif-
IDENTIFIED ADJACENT TO icant geologic differentiation typical
NEWLY CONSTRUCTED within karst areas.
COLUMN
Five borings were then drilled within
the new construction area. The borings
revealed an extremely irregular bedrock
surface profile, with the top of rock
varying between 15 and 45 ft below
the site within a horizontal distance
of approximately 25 ft. Moisture
contents in excess of the liquid limit
in the residuum indicated a highly
mobile condition. Split-barrel sampling
produced N70 values consistently below
5 blows/ft within 20 ft of the bedrock
surface. The quality of the dolostone of
the Nittany Formation was very poor,
with rock core recovery values rarely
exceeding 50 percent and non-existent
to single-digit Rock Quality Designation
(RQD) values. Voids and soil seams were
a common occurrence in the bedrock,
which gives the overburden a perfect
Figure 2. Test pit within subsidence zone of existing construction area. avenue of escape, should it be mobilized
(Photo courtesy of CMT Laboratories, Inc.) with excessive water migration.

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SUPPORTED BY
Materials Association
Subsurface Stabilization with
Limited Mobility Grouting
A Building Subsidence Report was
submitted to the hospital with the
recommendation for immediate stabi-
lization efforts using limited mobility
grouting (LMG). The project’s team of
engineers endorsed the recommenda-
tion, and the hospital quickly engaged
a geotechnical construction contractor,
experienced in LMG, to perform the
work.
A total of 16 primary injection
holes were chosen based on the test
boring, geophysical, and settlement
data gathered during the investigation.
Duplex drilling was specified so that the
casing would follow the down-the-hole
hammer to prevent hole collapse in
Figure 3. Drill rig within subsidence zone of existing construction area with Beaver
Stadium in background. (Photo courtesy of Alexander Building Construction.) the highly unstable ground. The holes
extended in depth until a minimum of
10 ft of solid bedrock was encountered,
which was verified utilizing a down-hole
camera. Grout refusal criteria took into
account pressure (400 psi max.), heave
(1/4 in. ground surface heave or any
detectable movement of the structure),
and grout take (100 ft3/2-ft stage). This
work had to be performed in tight
spaces within an existing construction
zone and adjacent to an active emer-
gency room. The contractor deployed
a low-clearance specialty drill rig with
adjustable tracks to allow for access to
tight areas (Figure 3).
Primary hole depths ranged between
30 and 105 ft below ground surface,
revealing the craggy condition of the
dolostone. Grouting operations got off
to a rocky start due to the high sand
PRIMARY HOLE
content of the grout delivered to the
SECONDARY HOLE site. The original mix design had a
TERTIARY HOLE water:cement ratio of 0.53 and included
QUATERNARY HOLE 2,334 lbs/cy of well-graded, coarse to
medium (PennDOT Type A) sand. The
GROUT TAKE < 5 FT3/FT
adjusted mix had a water:cement ratio
5 FT3/FT < GROUT TAKE < 10 FT3/FT
of 0.38 and 2,210 lbs/cy of Type A sand.
10 FT3/FT < GROUT TAKE
The adjusted mix design proved to have
Lower Gravity Higher Gravity the proper rheological properties for this
application.
Grout-take data quickly identified
Figure 4. Microgravity contour image with grout injection data. (Image courtesy of the highly variable nature of the
THG Geophysics, Ltd.) stabilization efforts. One 105-ft primary

LOW
GRAVITATIONAL
RESPONSE
Initial Survey IDENTIFIED
DURING PHASE I
(September 2011) MAPPING
Partial Map
Detail Survey
(January 2012)
GROUT INJECTION
SIGNATURES FROM
PRIMARY, SECONDARY
& TERTIARY GROUTING
Notes Legend
Gravity points surveyed
by Sweetland Engineering Gravity Record
NAD 83, State Plane PA North
Figure 5. 3D microgravity images prior to ground improvement and following tertiary grouting phase. (Image courtesy of THG
Geophysics, Ltd.)
hole accepted 206 ft3 of grout, while an emergency room entrance. Figure 4 were completed, 28 quaternary LMG
adjacent 101-ft hole, less than 10 ft away, shows the 2-D gravitational contour holes were added to the stabilization
accepted a healthy 1,820 ft3. The average mapping, along with the grout hole program. Hole depths ranged between
grout take for the primary injection locations. The lowest gravitational 41 and 134 ft, and grout-take volumes
phase was 7.18 ft3/ft. The data from the response was recorded in the vicinity continued to be impressive, but fell to an
drilling and grouting of the primary of the newly constructed column M-6, average of 6.34 ft3/ft.
injection holes was utilized to specify which is also the area that accepted the A final review by the project team
nine secondary holes within the existing largest amount of grout. took into consideration the structural
construction area. Drilling depths 3-D gravitational contour mapping response to the stormwater control
within the secondary injection phase of the Phase I and Phase II areas was and LMG stabilization efforts and
ranged between 54 and 105 ft, and grout also performed. Figure 5 shows the decided that additional grouting was
takes averaged 7.29 ft3/ft. Subsequently, broad range 3-D mapping performed not necessary. A total of 1,123 cy of grout
seven tertiary holes were added in the in September of 2011 and the focused was injected during the stabilization
same general area, with depths ranging mapping of January 2012. Note that the efforts. Repairs were performed on
between 53 and 100 ft and grout-take 3-D Phase II mapping was able to show the portions of the new construction
volume averages dropping to 6.71 ft3/ft. the peaks associated with the grouting that had experienced subsidence, and
efforts. construction of a conventional shallow
Reassessment and a Final Path The settlement readings before spread footing foundation system
Ahead and immediately after the primary, throughout the renovated portion of the
Upon completion of the tertiary secondary, and tertiary grouting phases former emergency room area continued
grouting, the geophysical surveyor was is shown on Figure 6. This information as planned.
asked to return to the site to complete shows that the combination of the newly
the Phase II microgravity survey, repaired stormwater management sys- Keys to Success and Lessons
which consisted of 130 differential tem and subsurface grouting operations Learned
microgravity measurements. The Phase were able to successfully arrest the Teamwork and a careful response to
II survey focused on the zone of greatest movement of the structure. the problem sum up the approach to
subsidence within the new construction After planned demolition operations tackling this potentially catastrophic
area and just outside of the existing within the existing emergency room incident. The project team placed the
Figure 6. New construction column settlement data during and after ground improvement.
safety of the hospital’s patients and drilling and grouting methodology had meet the growing needs of the residents
staff first and foremost. Open commu- to be precise and effective. Specifically, of Happy Valley. The team assembled
nication of the issues was critical for open-hole drilling was not permitted for the emergency room expansion
cooperation throughout the investiga- because of the extremely poor quality of continues to work together on new and
tion and repair processes. Even though the dolostone bedrock, meaning there exciting projects at the hospital. The
initial forensic conjecture pointed to could be no time wasted in dealing with lessons learned during the challenges
seismic activity as the potential cause collapsed holes and lost casing. The of 2011 and 2012 continue to shape the
for the sudden subsidence, the project grout mix was also a critical element to approach of the team in this sensitive
team’s experienced members refocused the success of the stabilization efforts. karst environment.
on the above-average rainfall during The grout had to be thick enough to
this period, realizing how water infiltra- prevent hydro-fracturing of the very j SHAD E. HOOVER, PhD, PE, M.ASCE, is a
tion can dramatically alter the stability unstable residual soils, but also mobile principal at CMT Laboratories, Inc., where
of ground in a karstic environment. enough to be pumped through 100+ ft he is responsible for geotechnical and
The hospital’s engineering department of casing. geo-structural operations and specializes in
quickly coordinated the stormwater Finally, a focused effort was required geotechnical forensics and expert witness
simulation test that revealed the during grouting operations to prevent services. He can be reached at shoover@
faulty stormwater inlet. The test potentially serious structural distress cmtlabsinc.com.
boring and geophysical investigations and life-threatening risks to patients and
corroborated the theory of excessive hospital staff. This risk was minimized j WHITNEY E. GREENAWALT, PE, M.ASCE, is
stormwater infiltration into the by using multiple laser survey points on a project engineer at CMT Laboratories, Inc.,
construction zone. the ground surface adjacent to the grout where she is responsible for geotechnical
It was extremely important for the injection hole and on points outside and engineering and project management and
team to understand the risks of using inside of the existing emergency room. specializes in geo-instrumentation services.
LMG in such a sensitive environment. Since the project concluded in 2013, She can be reached at wgreenawalt@
Time was obviously critical, and the the hospital has continued to expand to cmtlabsinc.com.

The Geo-‐Institute Chapter of the Colorado Section of the
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the Rocky Mountain
Section of the Association of Environmental & Engineering
Geologists (AEG), and the Colorado Association of Geotechnical SPONSORSHIP &
Engineers (CAGE) have hosted the Rocky Mountain Geo-‐Conference REGISTRATION
since 1984. This conference focuses on geotechnical projects in
Colorado and the Rocky Mountain Region, and is a one-‐day
opportunity for geo-‐professionals to share experiences and state-‐of-‐ Sponsor $400
the practice with their colleagues. Papers will be published by ASCE
as a Geotechnical Practice Publication (GPP) and distributed at the Exhibitor $750
conference.
Break Sponsor $700

Lunch Sponsor $900

Registration: $150

Students: $50

2016 Paper Topics include
• Dams and levees
• Landslides and rockfall
• Debris flows
• Tunnels EVENT
• Mechanically stabilized earth retaining walls INFORMATION
• Slurry piers
• Compaction grouting Rocky Mountain
• Post-‐fire ground treatment Geo-‐Conference
• Permeable pavements November 4, 2016
• Osterberg cell testing Marriott Denver
Sponsorship and Registration West Hotel
For questions related to conference registration, exhibits, and/or Golden, CO
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If you have questions with regards to the conference, please contact
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Registration forms are due by October 28, 2016.

SEPT/OCT GROUND
2016 IMPROVEMENT
EXTREME
MAKEOVER:
INTERCHANGE GETS
GROUND IMPROVEMENT
FACELIFT
How Innovative Use of Rigid Inclusions Allowed for Rapid
Construction of a Large Highway Interchange in the Garden State
By Gillian M. Williams, PE, A.M.ASCE, Sarah Ramp, A.M.ASCE, Sonia S. Swift, PE, A.M.ASCE,
Justin Labrozzi, PE, A.M.ASCE, Michael P. Walker, PE, M.ASCE, and Frederic Masse, Aff.ASCE

(Photo courtesy of Will Haasz, Menard Group USA.)
A
s part of the massive, $159.9 million Interchange 14A Improvement Project in
the cities of Bayonne and Jersey City, NJ, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority
(NJTA) is realigning 12 ramps and roadways and constructing four new bridges
to improve the existing interchange. With higher-capacity toll booths and ramps
connecting I-78 directly to adjacent roadways and streets, the NJTA aims to
upgrade waterfront and port access for heavy truck traffic while simultaneously decreasing
congestion and increasing safety on local city streets. According to the Turnpike Authority,
about 50,000 vehicles, including 6,000 trucks, typically use the interchange each weekday.
These numbers are only expected to rise as the Ports of New York and New Jersey (already
the largest on the U.S. East Coast) continue to grow with expansion of the local Global
Container Terminal, related to upgrades being made on the Panama Canal. Turnpike work
began in early 2015 and is scheduled for completion sometime in 2018.
Figure 1. Aerial site plan with ground improvement zones. (Courtesy of Menard Group USA.)
The Makeover improvement using rigid inclusions, also with deep, uncontrolled fills coupled
The proposed interchange geometry is called “concrete columns,” was specified with soft, compressible soils, rigid inclu-
complicated; the overall footprint has in the contract documents for five of sions can replace ground improvement
been condensed by constraints such the six zones. An aerial site plan of these programs that might include dynamic
as existing high-traffic roadway align- zones is shown in Figure 1. Other ground compaction for densification of the
ments and right-of-ways. Construction improvements specified and designed granular fills, surcharge programs to
of the four new bridges requires by the geotechnical engineer included consolidate the fine-grained compress-
embankment approaches comprised lightweight aggregate fill and surcharges ible soils, and multi-stage construction
of up to 34 ft of new embankment fill with consolidation periods, but these of MSE walls.
above existing grades. In some areas, other ground improvements were speci- Controlled Modulus Column (CMC)
mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) fied for shallow embankments only. rigid inclusions are installed with a
walls are required for construction The specialty ground improvement reverse flight auger that displaces soil
of the tall embankments. Due to the subcontractor implemented a design- laterally, resulting in densification of
presence of soft soils consisting of build solution of rigid inclusions (RI) loose granular soils. As the auger is
peat and organic clay up to 30 ft thick, and prefabricated vertical wick drains extracted, a stabilized column is devel-
the project geotechnical engineer (wicks) to complete over 95 percent of oped by pressure grouting. Eliminating
estimated total settlement of the the 575,000 total sf ground improvement drill spoils translates to cost savings
unimproved soil to be up to 8 ft, which area in less than one year. associated with collecting and removing
is under the long-term loads. spoils, especially at environmentally
The project was initially divided Why Rely on RIs? contaminated sites. Figure 2 shows a
into six different zones for design A rigid inclusion ground improvement typical drill rig for installing RIs.
and construction based on soil strata system for support of embankments can Loads are transferred to the RIs
similarities and construction access be efficient in terms of cost and schedule through a load transfer platform (LTP),
considerations. Design-build ground compared to other methods. For sites typically consisting of dense, graded

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Figure 2. Rigid inclusion installation photograph. (Courtesy of Menard Group USA.)
along the roadways to minimize the

potential for differential settlements.
This design process resulted in 12- to
18-in.-diameter RIs arranged in grids
with effective spacings ranging from 5 to
9 ft. Design depths extended as deep as
70 ft through existing granular fill, where
encountered, and through soft, organic
soils into the bearing layer. Fewer 3D
finite element models were performed,
due to the considerably greater compu-
tational effort they require compared to
2D. Two- and three-dimensional FEM
outputs from Plaxis are shown in Figures
4 and 5. The results of the finite element
models provided axial, shear, and flexural
forces in the rigid inclusions. Structural
aggregate. The LTP is a high-friction global stability of the MSE wall/embank- design of the RIs using the guidelines
angle separation layer at the top of the ment and ground improvement system. in the International Building Code and
RIs that allows for arching of the load RI diameter and spacing were ACI 318 for unreinforced concrete was
into the inclusions. The composite most sensitive to the depth, thickness, performed to develop a specification
column/soil matrix is designed to compressibility, and stress history of the for minimum RI grout strengths, which
share the load based on the quality of organic strata, as well as loading due ranged from 3,000 to 4,000 psi.
the soil matrix and its load-carrying to proposed fills. After analyzing the Global stability of the embankments
capacity. The RIs are embedded into available borings and laboratory test was analyzed for both circular and block
a stiff bearing layer, which, for this data, the RI design team developed soil surfaces using the software Slope/W.
project, consisted of medium dense to strength properties that were generally The RIs were modeled as unreinforced
dense glacial till. Figure 3 compares the consistent with the geotechnical engi- piles with nominal shear resistance
load-sharing behavior for piles and RIs. neer’s recommendations. For improved in the global stability analyses. Both
Note that while piles are designed to soil settlement estimates and structural the weight of the embankment fill and
take 100 percent of the load by trans- design of the rigid inclusions, the finite the load-sharing between the rigid
ferring the load to the underlying strata element method (FEM) software Plaxis inclusions and the surrounding soil
through friction and/or end-bearing, was used to perform two-dimensional were considered in the stability analyses.
RIs share load with the surrounding (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) anal- Drained and undrained conditions were
soils. Piles typically require a much yses. Various 2D finite element models evaluated to confirm that the factors
denser bearing layer than RIs. were performed at changing conditions of safety against failure were adequate
Ground Improvement Design

The design team tackling the Figure 3. Pile versus rigid inclusion load interaction. (Courtesy of Menard Group USA.)
Interchange 14A RI ground improvement
used various RI details and correspond-
ing design methods because the ground
improvement limits extended across a
wide range of soil strength and loading
conditions.
Project design criteria were limited
during construction and post-con-
struction (10-year analysis period)
settlements up to 3.5 and 1.0 in., respec-
tively, with less than 1.0 in. differential
over 100 ft. The wall designer evaluated
the internal stability of the MSE walls,
but the RI design team checked the

throughout construction and in the
permanent condition.
A Winning Combination of
Wicks and RIs
Proposed ramps from the turnpike and
Port Jersey Blvd. to Route 440, shown
as Zone 3A on Figure 1, presented the
greatest design challenges of the project.
A previous drainage basin — complete
with cattails — resembled a swamp at
the start of the contract. Soft, organic
clay was encountered at the ground
surface and extended approximately
25 ft deep. In this area, alternatives such
as a wick and surcharge program alone
would have stalled the construction
schedule by years. With proposed
embankments up to 34 ft, lightweight Figure 4. 2D axisymmetric finite element model settlement output.
(Courtesy GEI Consultants, Inc.)
aggregate fill was not constructible.
Initially during design, the long-term
settlement criteria could not be achieved remaining in place after rigid inclusion and support under the proposed
with RIs alone, even with large-diameter installation. Therefore, wherever embankments. Across the project site,
RIs at the tightest constructible grid possible, wick drains were installed on it was necessary to protect existing
spacing. The load wasn’t able to transfer a split spacing between the planned RI utilities, such as combined-sewer lines
from the LTP into the column without locations. Calculations were made to up to 42 in. in diameter and active gas
causing substantial settlement at the top estimate the magnitude of settlement lines up to 14 in. in diameter, from
of the soft, organic clay present at the due to consolidation that would occur overloading under future embankments.
ground surface. during the MSE wall/embankment Underground concrete slabs supported
The design team then explored a construction to final grade. In areas with by RIs were designed to span over
wick and surcharge program prior to the combination of RIs and wicks, the RI existing utilities. The slabs were
rigid inclusion installation. For projects design team required settlement moni- poured directly onto void forms so
with thick organic or clay soil deposits, toring during embankment construction. that minimal, controlled settlements
especially if located close to the ground Settlements during construction will of RI-supported slabs would not cause
surface, wick and surcharge programs be analyzed before roadway paving to loading onto the utilities.
can be used in conjunction with rigid confirm that the remaining settlement Proposed utilities with inverts above
inclusions to improve performance will meet the project’s long-term perfor- the top of the LTP, such as shallow
and meet strict settlement criteria. mance requirements. roadway drainage and electrical, were
The wicks and small surcharge allowed In the Zone 3A area with soft, globally supported with the rest of the
for some initial consolidation in the surficial, organic clay, a high-strength column-supported embankment and
organic clay and thereby improved soil geotextile was needed to meet the should settle at approximately the same
shear strength. project’s factor of safety requirements rate as the roadway pavement. New
Using Plaxis, models were made of for global stability. The undrained shear utilities with proposed elevations below
the construction staging, including the strength of this organic clay was esti- grade (also below the top of the LTP)
surcharge period for partial consolida- mated to be 300 psf. The geotextile was presented additional design challenges;
tion before and after the installation of placed in the LTP and had a long-term without direct RI support, they would
RIs and placement of the fill to the final design tensile strength of 20,000 lb/ft. settle over time as the soft, organic
roadway pavement height. The FEM clays consolidate. One noteworthy new
analyses enabled the RI design team to Existing and Proposed Utilities utility requiring direct, localized RI and
consider the improved RI performance Straddling two major municipalities LTP support at Interchange 14A was a
due to wicks and surcharge. amid a major industrial port, the 66-in., combined-sewer drainage utility,
The presence of wicks reduced the interchange project had no shortage of with an invert 14 ft below grade. The
long-term settlement of the roadway by sensitive utilities requiring protection rigid inclusions were not placed directly
Figure 5. 3D finite element model settlement output. (Courtesy GEI Consultants, Inc.)
beneath the pipe, but rather offset designed and implemented by the aspects of the project, resulting in a
transversely from the pipe to avoid any specialty ground improvement team to mutual benefit to the owner, contractor,
stress concentrations or uneven support meet stringent, long-term performance and ultimate end-user.
of the pipe, should field conditions not criteria without compromising cost or
match design conditions. The allowable, schedule performance. To meet the con- j GILLIAN M. WILLIAMS, PE, A.M.ASCE, is a
long-term settlement of the new utilities struction schedule for the Interchange project manager at GEI Consultants, Inc.
was generally less than 1 in. total, 14A project, effective and efficient in Portland, ME. She can be reached at
whereas total settlement of adjacent ground improvement techniques were gwilliams@geiconsultants.com.
embankments up to 3.5 in. total was utilized, including traditional RIs,
allowed. Columns supporting proposed combinations of wicks and RIs, RI pro- j SARAH RAMP, A.M.ASCE, is a design
utilities were generally provided at the tection of both existing and proposed engineer at Menard Group USA in Carnegie,
same spacings as those of the surround- utilities, and an LTP with high-strength PA. She can be reached at sramp@
ing embankment. geotextile for the stability of a tall wall menardgroupusa.com.
The performance criteria for utilities built on a swamp. Over 95 percent of
and for embankments are different, the RI scope was implemented within j SONIA SORABELLA SWIFT, PE, A.M.ASCE,
so it was important to consider differ- one year, so embankment construction is a project manager at GEI Consultants, Inc.
ential settlement between the existing could continue rapidly to help meet in Woburn, MA. She can be reached at
utilities and adjacent, RI-supported the aggressive construction schedule sswift@geiconsultants.com.
embankments. Because the utilities necessitated by local commercial and
often intersected regions with residential traffic demands. While the j JUSTIN LABROZZI, PE, A.M.ASCE, is the
varying diameters and spacings of RIs, ground improvement measures imple- risk and contract manager for Menard Group
additional rows of RIs at transitional mented on this project have been used USA in Carnegie, PA. He can be reached at
spacings were used between the utili- on many projects individually, it was the jlabrozzi@menardgroupusa.com.
ties and embankment support areas to combination of these techniques that
minimize differential settlement. led to schedule and cost savings. This j MICHAEL P. WALKER, PE, M.ASCE, is vice
project also demonstrated how technol- president and geo-structural project manager
Putting it All Together ogies that are effective individually can at GEI Consultants, Inc. in Woburn, MA. He can
Thanks to the NJTA’s performance be even more effective when combined. be reached at mwalker@geiconsultants.com.
specification for design-build RI Without an open-minded owner like the
ground improvement for support of a NJTA, such innovation could not have j FREDERIC MASSE, AFF.ASCE, is president
complex turnpike interchange project occurred. The flexibility and versatility of Menard Group USA in Carnegie, PA. He can
on unsuitable bearing soils, a variety of this design-build approach allowed be reached at fmasse@menardgroupusa.com.
of ground improvement methods were for the optimization of several key

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What’s New in Geo?
THE RISE OF UAVS

SIGNALS A NEW ERA
IN GEOTECHNICS
Big Data in Geotechnics
Is Coming from Above
By Dimitrios Zekkos, PhD, PE, M.ASCE,
William Greenwood, S.M.ASCE, John Manousakis,
and Jerome Lynch, PhD, M.ASCE
DIMITRIOS ZEKKOS WILLIAM GREENWOOD
JOHN MANOUSAKIS JEROME LYNCH

A quadrotor UAV inspecting damaged area on
the island of Lefkada in Greece, following the
November 17, 2015, Mw 6.0 earthquake.
If you have been following the news, mapping, resource monitoring, be completely inaccessible or unsafe for
browsing the internet, or even gazing cinematography, and entertainment. people or vehicles. Robots have already
up in the sky, it is likely that you have Every day, more UAV technologies are been used for condition assessment
seen an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), becoming available in the market: UAVs studies in the Fukushima nuclear plant
also commonly known as Unmanned with integrated cameras, racing UAVs, in Japan, where they reached areas of
Aircraft System (UAS) or simply “drone.” as well as large and small fixed-wing or high radioactivity following the earth-
Although UAVs have existed for many multi-rotor UAVs. It is estimated that quake and associated tsunami disaster.
years, a rapidly growing market of small nearly one million UAVs were sold in last They have demonstrated usefulness at
UAV (defined by the Federal Aviation year’s holiday season alone! sites affected by natural disasters as well,
Administration (FAA) as weighing less such as for reconnaissance and mapping
than 25 kg) has recently emerged. UAVs Prepare for Change of affected areas, including collapsed
comprise a global, multi-billion dollar As the UAV market grows, the capa- buildings, damaged roads and bridges,
industry, and although the defense bilities of these devices are improving and landslides. Figure 1 shows UAV
sector currently makes up the majority dramatically. This is a rapidly evolving footage of landslides that were caused by
of the market in dollars, an increasingly technology that is bringing change to the November 17, 2015, Mw 6.5 Lefkada
significant segment is being deployed for many industries and scientific fields. It earthquake in Greece. These 200-m-high
civilian purposes, including surveillance, is thus not an exaggeration to predict landslides were completely inaccessible
that the era of UAVs to the public and scientists, but a UAV
will also cause a was able to collect footage just two days
dramatic change in after the earthquake. Additional footage
the field of geotech- collected five months after the earth-
nical engineering. quake in still inaccessible areas shows
In fact, those of us how the slide mass is being actively
who work with UAVs eroded by ocean wave action. Thus,
and have an under- UAVs can help to safely collect valuable,
standing of what perishable data soon after events occur.
UAVs can do, and Cost: The growth of the commercial
what they will likely small unmanned aerial vehicle (sUAV)
be able to do in the market is great news for our profession.
near future, expect A large market for this technology brings
that UAVs will be an costs down and makes the devices
indispensable tool affordable to conventional geotechnical
for conventional practice. The necessary basic hardware
geotechnical engi- equipment can be purchased for less
neering practice. than $5,000; although depending on the
There are many application, more expensive UAVs that
Figure 1. UAV-enabled reasons for this, but cost $50-100k or more may be needed. In
view of landslides fol- there are three that any case, these are very reasonable costs
lowing the 2015 Lefkada are key. for such a powerful tool!
earthquake: (top) 2 days Mobility and Big, Better Data: UAVs occupy a
and (bottom) 5 months Accessibility: Small truly unique place in the space-time
after the earthquake. UAVs are very domain of our field geo-characterization
The UAV was able to mobile; some of toolbox. Their role cannot be completely
collect footage of areas them can even replaced by satellites, which are limited
that were completely be carried in a to remote sensing from a significant
inaccessible otherwise. backpack. They can distance away from the target, or
The landslide geometries bypass obstacles ground-based stationary measure-
have changed during this on the ground and ments. UAVs with mounted sensors
period of time. aerially gain access can collect unprecedented amounts of
to areas that may high-resolution data and can cover large

Figure 2. 3D point cloud of failed bridge pier and collapsed bridge deck at site of
bridge scour. The point cloud density was 0.5 cm/pixel and the model error <1 cm.
areas. Because of their mobility, they UAV-enabled Vision Sensing overlapping images are used to create a
can be deployed quickly and collect data and Geotechnical Engineering 3D model of the target feature that can
at short time intervals if monitoring Of the variety of sensors that are being be subsequently used in analyses. Figure
an evolving process. The spatially mounted on UAVs, optical cameras are 2 shows a 3D point cloud of a bridge
distributed, high-quality data generated by far the most common. UAV-based that collapsed due to scour of one of its
by UAVs, such as picture/video, is cameras are already being employed piers. Because the bridge was unsafe
fundamentally ushering in the “Big Data in many fields of science, as well as in and inaccessible, UAV imagery was vital
Era” of geotechnical engineering. cinematography and by hobbyists. From to the creation of an accurate 3D model
a geotechnical engineering perspective, that was then analyzed to measure the
The Mobile Sensing Revolution the rise of UAVs as data acquisition horizontal displacement, settlement,
With the rise of UAVs, comes a rise platforms, paired with recent advances rotation, and tilt of the bridge pier from a
in portable sensing technology that in digital image processing, is destined distance. This 3D model has a resolution
can generate data we could barely to profoundly alter our methods and of about 0.5 cm/pixel and a relative
fathom more than a decade ago. practices in geotechnical engineering. model error that is less than 1 cm.
Numerous sensors, including light In its simplest application, still Another example is the case of a
detection and ranging (LIDAR), photos or high-definition video are used dam that failed due to underseepage,
high-definition optical cameras, to perform a visual, largely qualitative as shown in Figure 3. When a section of
as well as thermal, near-infrared, inspection or condition assessment of the dam failed, the impounded water
infrared, and hyperspectral cameras, a target feature by taking advantage of began to empty out, abruptly generating
have already been mounted on UAVs the UAV’s ability to fly over obstacles a 5-m-high wave. This rapid water
and are being used for a variety of and inspect a target from different evacuation resulted in a secondary
applications. In addition, sensors that perspectives. Although satellites typi- rapid drawdown slope failure that was
are used in geophysical applications cally collect data in plan view only, the also mapped and can be seen in the
are being mounted on, or deployed UAV can capture footage also in side right side of the figure. Once a 3D point
by, UAVs, including magnetic sensors, or oblique views, thereby providing a cloud is created, one can easily generate
micro-gravity sensors, and even seismic better assessment of the target. When cross-sections to evaluate the before (if
sensors. While geotechnical instrumen- necessary, the UAV can also zoom-in and available) and after system geometries
tation has transitioned from wired to inspect certain features of the target that to quantitatively define failure. The SfM
wireless monitoring technology over may be difficult to discern from a larger technique can also be used to create
the past decade, current sensing para- standoff distance. orthorectified imagery, commonly
digms are based on stationary sensor UAVs can also be used to generate known as orthophotos, that can be used
deployments. In contrast, UAVs enable orthorectified imagery and, more impor- to measure distances. An example is
mobility in sensing. UAVs can carry tantly, three-dimensional (3D) point shown in Figure 4, which illustrates a
or deploy portable sensors that can clouds of a target. This is achieved using map of the dam site and the downstream
collect field performance data, in many Structure-from-Motion (SfM), which is a area affected by the rapid release of the
cases remotely, and allow us to collect range imaging technique, and essentially impoundment. Through high-resolution
spatially-distributed, time-sensitive a digital implementation of photogram- imagery obtained from an aerial drone,
data from a distance. metry principles. In SfM, a series of a scaled map of the 1-km-long area
Figure 3. 3D point cloud of two failures
at dam site. The left is a failure due to
underseepage that resulted in a cata-
strophic evacuation of the impounded
water. To the right, a subsequent rapid
drawdown failure that occurred when the
water level in the impoundment dropped.

was created to measure any needed UAV operator and owner. Current regu-
dimensions. lations in the U.S. present challenges to
Digital image processing can also be widespread use of UAVs in geotechnical
used to generate additional insights from practice. This is not the case in countries
the mapped area. For example, auto- such as Europe, South America, and
matic feature recognition schemes can elsewhere, where executing flights with
be used to identify target features (e.g., UAVs is much easier. The FAA recognizes
cracks) and measure their size. Through that UAVs are a powerful tool that have
repeated surveys and change detection major positive implications in science,
computation schemes, one can identify emergency response, safety, and
the evolution of progressively moving mobility, and is continuously revising its
features, e.g., moving landslides. Digital procedures to facilitate safe and lawful
imagery can also be used to characterize use of the technology within the national
landslides or rock masses. An example airspace. Legally, a UAV cannot fly for
is shown in Figure 5 for a rock slide that commercial purposes without explicit
occurred during the 2015 earthquake in authorization by the FAA, a situation that
Gorkha, Nepal. The imagery collected greatly affects our ability to effectively
allowed not only the characterization of use this technology. A certificate of
the geometry of the rock slide, but also authorization, air worthiness certificate,
the geomechanical characteristics of the registration of UAV, and a fully-licensed
rock structure. Although the examples pilot are among the current federal
shown highlight some of the interesting requirements; and there are additional
applications of UAV-based digital geographic and application restrictions.
imagery in geotechnics, with advances The Section 333 Exemption that was
in digital image analysis, we can only introduced by the FAA in the last few
expect to be able to do more in the years allows commercial operation
future with UAV-generated data. of sUAVs with fewer requirements
within certain parameters, but the
Current Barriers for UAV process is still difficult. The new set
Technology in Geotechnics of regulations, Part 107 of the Federal
Aviation Regulations that became
Regulations effective in August 2016, are expected to
By far the most serious barrier of this give a considerable boost to commercial
technology today is the regulatory applications of the technology, as they
framework. Should an sUAV drop from essentially simplify the process of flying
the sky, it could hit and severely injure with a UAS. A remote pilot certificate
or even kill a person. In addition, the with a small UAS rating will be required Figure 4. Orthophoto of original water
mobility of the UAVs, when misused, impoundment area, failed dam, and
to be allowed to pilot a UAS.
flooded area downstream of the failure
can have an impact on people’s privacy. location. The water travelled about 1 km
Thus, flying a UAV should not be taken Battery Life and Weather Conditions downstream before reaching a natural
lightly due to liability exposures for the Beyond regulations, battery capacity is gulley and stream.

(a) (b) (c)
Figure 5. Characterization of a 75-m-high co-seismic rock slide in Nepal during the 2015 Gorkha earthquake. (a) 3D rock mass
characterization; (b) cross-section through slide; (c) geomechanical characterization of rock mass.
another weakness. Currently, multi-rotor When fully autonomous, UAVs will be educational background in modern
platforms can achieve a flight duration capable of making all decisions related sensing technologies can provide new
of up to 20-25 minutes, whereas fixed- to flight path and data collection fre- avenues for site characterization. While
wing UAVs can fly for nearly an hour. quency. Significant progress is currently many sensing technology options were
Depending on the sensors mounted and being made in data analysis, computing, previously difficult to implement in
the total weight of the UAV platform, and advances in machine learning that the field due to limitations with access
flight duration can be significantly will improve the automation capabilities and line-of-sight, the rise of UAVs and,
reduced. Drones are also vulnerable to of the UAVs in the not-too-distant future. more broadly, automated platforms
weather and environmental conditions. and robotics, is creating new and truly
Safe flying may not be possible in Preparing for the UAV exciting opportunities to implement
high wind or rain, and many UAVs are Revolution them in our profession!
sensitive to heat and moisture. In the January/February 2016 issue
of GEOSTRATA, Prof. Ellen Rathje DIMITRIOS ZEKKOS, PhD, PE, M.ASCE, is
UAVs Beyond Data Acquisition provided recommendations to prepare an associate professor in the Department of
Platforms for the “remote sensing revolution.” She Civil and Environmental Engineering at the
We are collectively still at the very highlighted the need to understand the University of Michigan. His research focus
beginning of leveraging the capabilities technology used for remote sensing as is on the use of robotics for geotechnical
of UAVs. As our profession embraces well as the training necessary to handle systems. He can be reached at zekkos@
increased use of this technology, UAVs data processing, geomatics, and even geoengineer.org.
will continue to evolve and mature. the fundamentals of surveying. These
Present uses of UAVs are restricted to comments and recommendations are WILLIAM GREENWOOD, S.M.ASCE, is a
data acquisition; however, UAVs have valid when it comes to the use of UAVs PhD student in the Department of Civil and
extremely powerful on-board micropro- as well. Environmental Engineering at the University
cessors that can potentially analyze data When the civil engineering of Michigan. His focus is on UAVs for post-
in-flight and make decisions on the basis curriculum in the U.S. abandoned the earthquake reconnaissance. He can be
of the acquired data. instruction of surveying fundamentals, reached at wwgreen@umich.edu.
The opportunities that arise with the ability of trained civil engineers to
such advances are dramatic. During a understand 3D geometries and spatial JOHN MANOUSAKIS is a self-employed,
natural disaster, for example, UAVs can data diminished. Training in these consultant, surveying, and geomatics engineer
be deployed to survey large affected fields is a necessity to handle UAV data. based in Athens, Greece. His focus is on
areas, collect data, and apply semi-auto- In addition, geotechnical engineers UAV-based mapping. He can be reached at
matic or automatic feature recognition need to train in sensing fundamentals, jmanous78@gmail.com.
schemes to identify “hotspot” sites of data acquisition, and data analysis.
interest (e.g., flood zones, landslides, or Geotechnical site characterization JEROME LYNCH, PhD, M.ASCE, is a professor
liquefaction sites). Using this informa- courses commonly focus on the use in the Department of Civil and Environmental
tion, UAVs can then make a decision to of currently established technologies Engineering at the University of Michigan.
approach closer and collect better data (e.g., SPT, CPT, drilling and sampling, His expertise is in sensing for infrastructure
or command other UAVs with the best- various penetrometers, and geophysics) engineering. He can be reached at jerlynch@
suited sensors to survey the target area. for site characterization. A strong umich.edu.
The GeoCurmudgeon
The Call
By John P. Bachner
Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are condemned to repeating
mistakes of the past. So true. And insofar as geoprofessional history and
mistakes are concerned, nothing is as valuable as the Geoprofessional
Business Association’s (GBA) collection of more than 100 case histories
of projects gone wrong. (Go to https://www.geoprofessional.org/asset/
pubs/catalog/index.html#102 for details.) For example, how would you
respond when you get “the call”; you know, the one that comes in from
a client representative about a year after you’ve completed your service
and the project involved is experiencing problems. They’re stemming from
subsurface issues, the client representative says, and maybe you could look
into it. You’d better do so, in most cases, because you don’t want a
claim to deal with. What’s the best approach? Two GBA case
histories – nos. 39 and 93 – may be instructive in that regard,
especially when the clients involved are important to the firm.

GBA Case History 39 relates the story How would you respond when you
of a GBA-member firm that a long-term
developer/builder client retained to
conduct a geotechnical-engineering get “the call”; you know, the one that
study for a proposed 21,600-sf retail
furniture store. The member firm’s comes in from a client representative
subsurface exploration showed
that the site was underlain by weak,
compressible peat. Given an abbreviated
about a year after you’ve completed
construction schedule, the member
firm recommended use of 62 12-in.- and your service and the project involved is
16-in.-diameter auger-cast piles to
support the building and floor slab. The
client accepted the recommendation
experiencing problems.
and retained the member firm to
observe pile installation.
About one year later, the client
advised the member that as much as
8.5 in. of differential settlement had
been measured on at least 10 of the
pilings. One of the firm’s principals
immediately responded in writing, the pile caps. At other piles, reinforcing has made the firm its “go-to” geotechni-
expressing concern and advising that steel extended through several inches cal engineer.
the firm was initiating a comprehensive, of fill over the tops of the piles and into GBA Case History 93 involves a prom-
self-funded study to identify causes of the pile caps. As the underlying weak, inent commercial-property developer
the problem and remedial measures. The compressible peat layer consolidated, that retained a GBA-member firm to
member firm then established an inter- the fill between the piles and pile caps conduct geotechnical services needed
nal task account and began its study, settled, causing the floor slab to settle for a five-city-block cluster of high-
inspecting the structure and reviewing in a severe, irregular manner. profile, mixed-use, high-rise buildings
settlement-behavior records and The member firm followed designed to transform an abandoned
pile-capacity analyses that the firm had suggestions provided by its profes- industrial district into a lively neighbor-
performed a year before. The firm’s work sional-liability insurer, and, ultimately, hood and destination-shopping area.
also included nighttime coring through the constructor-in-charge’s surety The member firm’s CEO – who had a
the structure’s floor above the piles and, accepted full liability, with the client strong relationship with the developer’s
later, tunneling beneath the building to insisting that the member firm had to CEO – served as the company’s project
examine connections between pile caps be paid for its forensic study. (The fee manager. He designed a comprehensive
and tops of piles. involved was far larger than the fee for exploration program that the firm
The investigation revealed that the original geotechnical study, but executed without incident.
several piles were not connected likely far smaller than what the firm The shoring constructor hired for
properly to the pile caps, and some would have paid in litigation had it not the project worked on a design-build
were not connected at all. Some of the performed the forensic research.) While basis, retaining its own engineer who
piles’ reinforcing steel had been bent the client was not delighted in general, designed a tie-back, soldier-pile earth
such that only fill existed between the it was delighted with the member firm’s retention system. The developer retained
tops of the piles and the bottoms of professional response and, since then, the GBA-member firm to review the
shoring system’s design and observe the design’s execution.
Installation of the soldier piles took about five months. The
piles were terminated at the top of the very dense gravel
formation underlying the project site.
During completion of the excavation, three soldier piles In essence, an evolving dispute
plunged downward between 12 and 18 in. and rotated about
12 in. toward the basement excavation. The following day, forces geoprofessionals to
representatives of the developer, the shoring constructor,
the constructor-in-charge, and the GBA-member firm met
to discuss the situation. The member firm’s CEO warned that
think in terms of "pay me now
movement of the soldier piles could increase stresses in the
anchors, creating an unquantifiable risk of complete shoring or pay me later." Later can be a
failure. The shoring constructor’s representative discounted
that notion, but was sure to mention that changed conditions
were involved, so all remedial work would comprise an extra.
lot more expensive.
Then came the following week, when the entire north wall of
shoring plunged downward and rotated into the basement
excavation, rupturing an 8-in., high-pressure water line,
blowing out more than 30 ft of lagging, and flooding the base-
ment excavation. Earth movement and tension cracks were
damaging streets, sidewalks, and adjacent buildings, some
of which were historic. Over the next three weeks, more than
700 ft of shoring settled between 12 and 18 in. and rotated
into the excavation by more than 12 in. The GBA-member
firm’s CEO feared that the shoring’s rotation had distorted shoring constructor installed additional tie-back anchors
the alignment of the tie-back anchors and possibly increased and micropiles under all of the failed soldier piles. The con-
the load on them. The constructor proposed installation of structor-in-charge absorbed the cost of construction delays
micropiles adjacent to the failed solder piles to prevent fur- and redesign of the basement walls. The developer’s project
ther settlement of the shoring system, as well as installation insurance covered the cost to repair damaged buildings and
of another row of tie-back anchors to limit rotation of the infrastructure. And the developer insisted that the construc-
shoring system. tor-in-charge reimburse the GBA-member firm for the cost of
Remediation costs quickly climbed to more than $3 its investigation.
million. Fearing the worst, the member firm’s CEO decided While, certainly, it’s easier for larger, more financially
to invest in an independent investigation, putting in more secure firms to undertake studies that they may not be paid
than $100,000 of the firm’s money to do so. The investigation for, doing so may be even more important for smaller firms,
revealed that failure occurred when H-sections plunged given the far larger costs that disputes can engender. One
through 25-psi lean-mix backfill at the tips of the piles. Where of the costliest of these is the loss of a potential client for
soldier piles had not failed, the lean-mix backfill exhibited life, something that, in these two cases, the GBA-member
strengths of 800 psi and more. Clearly, two markedly different firms prevented. In essence, an evolving dispute forces geo
concrete mixes were supplied to the project during backfilling professionals to think in terms of “pay me now or pay
of the soldier piles. me later.” Later can be a lot more expensive.
The member firm’s CEO interviewed a representative of the
concrete supplier and learned that the shoring constructor j JOHN P. BACHNER is an independent consultant who served
directed the supplier to deliver a weak mix that included no fly as the Geoprofessional Business Association’s (GBA’s) executive
ash and had a more-than double water-to-cement ratio. The vice president from 1973 through 2015. GBA is a not-for-profit
member firm’s CEO also reviewed the paperwork, discovering association that develops programs, services, and materials to
that the soldier piles that failed were installed on days when help its member firms and their clients confront risk and optimize
the weaker mix was delivered to the construction site. performance. GBA-Member Firms provide geotechnical, geologic,
With guidance from its professional-liability insurer, the environmental, construction-materials engineering and testing
member firm’s CEO presented his findings to the design (CoMET), and related professional services (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
and construction team, concluding that the shoring failure Geoprofessions). GBA invites geoprofessional constructors, educa-
was caused by the shoring constructor’s decision to delete tors, and government officials to become involved. Contact GBA at
fly ash from the concrete mix. Over the following weeks, the info@geoprofessional.org.

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Look Who’s a D.GE
Robert W. Thompson,
PE, D.GE, F.ASCE
Robert Thompson is a senior consul- What class did you enjoy the most
tant at CTL/Thompson Inc. in Denver, while in school?
CO. A graduate of Oklahoma State A six-week summer surveying camp
University, he earned his bachelor’s near Buena Vista, CO; we had to map 40
degree in 1962 and his master’s in 1965. acres and lay out a road in a mountain
Currently, he works only on special location.
assignments for CTL/Thompson and
coaches younger engineers about What was your favorite project?
technical issues. His practice focuses My firm was involved with design and
primarily on partially saturated soils. quality assurance during construction
Thompson’s professional experience of Denver International Airport — a
includes many technical papers and completely new airport on a site
presentations on expansive and col- selected because of noise issues. The
lapsing soils. He has given considerable near-surface soils were expansive, and
effort to analysis and solutions for slope design of the pavements was heavily
problems and retained excavations. He influenced by potential expansion.
helped found and served as the first
president of the Colorado Association What item did you always want to
of Geotechnical Engineers and was have?
ROBERT W. THOMPSON
president of ASFE from 2003-2004. An early 1950's J 2 Allard, primarily
He was very active in ASCE education designed for racing, but street legal.
efforts as an ABET evaluator for about I currently own a 1963 356 B Porsche
20 years and served on the Committee (restored and runs up to 90 mph) and
on Curricula & Accreditation (CC&A). a 2004 40th Anniversary 911 Porsche
He was also a founding board member coupe (approximately 13,000 miles). I
of the Academy of Geo-Professionals need more garage space!
(AGP). He is still active in tennis and
ski racing. At this point in his career, What’s your favorite song and artist?
Thompson is able to enjoy a relaxed “Together Again,” by Emmy Lou Harris
schedule, travel, and his grandchildren.
Where did you spend most of your
childhood, and what was it like for
you to grow up there?
My father was a career military
officer. I lived in many different places,

including Hawaii and Germany. I went to perform truly good professional ser-
to ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades in vices. They become much better clients
high school at Wurzburg, Nurnberg, when they have serious problems with
and Frankfurt, Germany. The schools a project.
were run by the U.S. government for
military and diplomatic dependents. Do you have a message about
We were sent from Germany to Cedar specialty certification that you’d
City, UT, where my father was in like for professional engineers to be
charge of all Army Reserve units south aware of?
of Provo. This was a major cultural Speciality certification is widespread
change, as many of my classmates had within the medical field. We need to
not been out of Utah. actively promote the idea of requiring
more comprehensive skills to be The
When did you realize that you certified. This should result in clients
wanted to study civil engineering? selecting an engineer with proper skill
What were the key factors in your
decision to become a civil engineer?
rather than low bid. profession
I started as a mining engineering As an original AGP board member,
student and then worked underground
between my sophomore and junior
why did you want to get involved
with helping create board certifica-
as a whole
years. I decided to change majors and tion for geotechnical engineers?
became very interested in structural
engineering. I worked for two years
I believe in the concept. I have spent
many years giving my time to efforts
provides
in structural design before graduate that advance either professionalism or
school, where I focused on geotechni-
cal engineering.
education of civil engineers.
wonderful
You’ve poured a lot of blood, sweat,
How do you feel about the state of and tears into helping launch AGP –
civil engineering and the profession do you like what you see? service to the
as it is today? NO. ASCE needs to spend some money
The profession as a whole provides and advertise our profession on TV,
wonderful service to the public. similar to what I see from AIA. public.
Unfortunately, the public really does
not know who or what the civil engi- What are some of your personal
neering profession provides. hobbies and interests?
I enjoy cars. I compete in Masters-level
What do you personally feel are the ski races and USTA tennis leagues. This
biggest challenges on the horizon keeps me healthy.
for the profession?
The continual pressure to provide For the complete interview, please visit
services based on low-cost bids. The geoprofessionals.org.
low-bid mentality is king. Most people
cannot tell the difference between a
cheap bid and the services necessary
COREBITS INDUSTRY
AGI Releases Geoscience Handbook:

AGI Data Sheets, Fifth Edition
The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is pleased to announce the release of the Geoscience
Handbook: AGI Data Sheets, Fifth Edition. Featuring the contributions of more than 240 worldwide experts
in their respective fields, this new, expanded edition is over 470 full-color pages. Three years of work went
into the Handbook to broaden its scope across the disciplines. With more than 170 complete new data
sheets, and full revisions of prior data sheets, over 85 percent of the content is either new or revised for
the fifth edition. The Geoscience Handbook is the quick reference tool for key metrics and concepts, a
guide to cornerstone papers and recent developments, as well as a resource for short tutorials on topics
that may not be familiar to all geoscientists.
The new edition is now available directly from AGI at americangeosciences.org/handbook. The Geo-
Institute is a member society of the AGI, and Geo-Institute members are eligible for the member society
discount. The book is also available on Amazon.com.
GSI Awards Fellowship Money Free Drilled Shaft

The Geosythentic Institute (GSI) has made its fellowship award selections for the 2016- Foundations
17 academic year. The program recognizes and supports outstanding students from Construction
around the world studying geosynthetics and awards $5,000 per recipient. This year’s Video Available
program includes candidates pursuing a master’s degree, as well as a doctoral degree. Pieresearch, a
The nine recipients are shown in the chart to the right. manufacturer of
concrete accessories
RECIPIENT INSTITUTION TOPIC for the construction
George Mason Clogging evaluation of drainage geotextiles using industry, has created a
Aiyoub Abbaspour University recycled concrete aggregate 16-minute video covering a wide range
of drilled shaft foundation installation
Middle East Technical Interaction of marginal fills and geogrids
Anil Ekici University for walls and slopes methods. The free video is an excellent
tool for sharing the latest in drilled shaft
Soil column tests to evaluate
Jun Guo Univ. of Kansas construction techniques with colleagues,
wicking geotextiles to remove water
clients, students, and anyone who might
Montana State benefit from learning more about drilled
Henry Haselton Biaxial response of geosynthetics
University
shaft construction. Simply go to the
Behnoud Kermani Penn State University Geotextile separation preventing particle home page for pieresearch.com and click
movement into pavements due to cyclic loading
on the large green icon in the upper right
MSE walls subjected to vehicle impact on corner. Clicking the icon will take you to
Layal Maddah Texas A & M roadside barrier systems instructions for either watching the video
in your browser or downloading it to
Composite behavior of geosynthetic
Amr Morsy Univ. of Texas reinforced structures your computer.
Co-extruded EVOH geomembrane covers to

Mehmet Yilmaz Univ. of Wisconsin avoid landfill gas emissions
Univ.of California, Behavior of GRS abutments with bridge

Yewei Zheng San Diego superstructure under seismic loading
For further information on the program, contact Jamie Koerner at the Geosynthetic
Institute, jrkoerner@verizon.net.

COREBITS EVERYTHING G-I
Diane Swecker a master’s degree in civil engineering with a Students, when is your expected date of
Joins Geo- concentration in construction management. graduation? ASCE members, have you
Institute Staff thought about joining ISSMGE?
Diane Swecker Does GEOSTRATA know where You can quickly take care of all of this
recently joined you are? by signing in to your member account at
the G-I as senior Help your next issue of GEOSTRATA find geoinstitute.org — look for the “Sign In” link
technical manager. you: make sure that your mailing address at the top right. You can also call Member
As the technical is current and that your member dues are Services at 1-800-548-2723 or 703-295-
liaison to technical, paid for 2017. This is especially important 6300, or email member@asce.org.
chapter, board, and editorial board com- if you’ve recently moved or changed jobs.
mittees, she will be working with regional This is a good time to make sure that the
j PLEASE SUBMIT
and allied groups on collaborative geo- rest of your member record is up-to-date.
company news and career
technical activities. She will also facilitate Do we have your current email address? Do
achievements to GEOSTRATA
the development of manuals of practice, we have your correct credentials? Did you
via geostrata@asce.org.
technical briefs, short courses, workshops, graduate this year, or earn your PE license?
webinars and seminars; manage, develop,
and enhance geotechnical guidance doc-
uments and standards; help develop a GML
(XML-based) geospatial standard schema
for the transfer of geotechnical and geo-
New from
environmental data — Data Interchange
for Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Grounded!
Specialists (DIGGS); and contribute to Amazing Classroom Demonstrations in Soil
GEOSTRATA.
Mechanics
As a civil engineer, Swecker began her
career with Stone and Webster Engineering David J. Elton, Ph.D., P.E.
in New Jersey, providing technical design
and field support on structural and ASCE Press
geotechnical work. She then moved to the
Washington DC area, where she worked for
David Elton presents 35 serious but
entertaining experiments that teach
the Naval Facilities Engineering Command
the fundamentals of soil mechanics
as a project manager in charge of military to budding scientists and engineering
construction projects. Continuing as a students in an exciting and novel way.
project manager at the Department of In this sequel to the popular Soils
Defense Education Activity, she led a team Magic, Elton has assembled a wealth of
in the planning, design, and construction of
fascinating new experiments to illustrate
the dynamics of how soils behave and how they can be manipulated.
shore side education facilities. She contin-
ued her project and program management
at 1FORCE, a defense contractor, and then 2015 | 204 pp. | List $50 / ASCE Member $37.50
with McMullan International, where she Soft Cover: 41392 | ISBN 978-0-7844-1392-0
E-book: 47905 | ISBN 978-0-7844-7905-6
served as a project and program manager
on healthcare, schools, infrastructure, and
American Society of Civil Engineers
energy-related projects.
1801 Alexander Bell Dr. Reston, Virginia 20191
Swecker graduated from the Stevens
1-800-548-ASCE | 703-295-6300 (int’l)
Institute of Technology, where she earned
www.asce.org/publications
a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and
COREBITS CHAPTERS
Geo-Structures Confluence combination or overlap of geotechnical

The St. Louis Chapters of the Geo- and structural engineering on projects.
Institute (G-I) and Structural Engineers The two tracks in the afternoon include
Institute (SEI), and the Structural a session focused on geotechnical engi-
Engineers Association of Kansas and neering and geo-environmental topics,
Missouri (SEAKM), are now accepting and a session focused on structural
abstracts for the first annual Geo- engineering topics. For questions about
Structures Confluence on November the conference, contact Nicholas Roth
4, 2016. Geo-Structures Confluence is at nicholas.roth@psiusa.com.
open to all and will be a multi-track,
full-day conference focusing on
soil-structure interaction featuring j PLEASE SUBMIT
technical topics and case histories. Chapter news to GEOSTRATA
The joint morning session will be via geostrata@asce.org.
focused on topics concerning the
SAVE THE DATE
GEO-RISK 2017
Geotechnical Risk from Theory to Practice
Denver, Colorado | June 4-6
6th International Symposium on Geotechnical Safety and Risk (ISGSR)
georiskconference.org

CONNECT WITH US
www.asce.org/geo twitter.com/GeoInstitute facebook.com/GeoInstitute LinkedInGeo GeoInstituteASCE
INDUSTRY CALENDAR
COMING IN NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016
3rd International Conference Grouting 2017: Deep Mixing

Earthquake
of Transportation Geotechnics and Diaphragm Walls
Geotechnics
September 4-7, 2016 July 9-12, 2017
Portugal Oahu, HI
As I See It: 50+ Years of
Geotechnical Earthquake 19th International Conference GeoMEast2017
Engineering – What Have We on Soil Mechanics and July 15-19, 2017
Learned? Geotechnical Engineering Sharm Elsheikh, Egypt
By I. M. Idriss September 17-22, 2016 geomeast2017.org
Seoul, Korea
3rd International Conference
“You Designed It for the Big
IACGE 2016 on Performance-Based Design
One, Right?”
October 12-13, 2016 in Geotechnical Engineering
By B. Tom Boardman
Beijing, China July 16-19, 2017
Vancouver, BC
Post-Earthquake Investigations Rocky Mountain
in Christchurch, NZ Geo-Conference 2016 PanAm-UNSAT 2017: Second
By Russell Green and Brady Cox November 4, 2016 Pan-American Conference on
Lakewood, CO Unsaturated Soils
September 10-13, 2017
Biogeotechnical Mitigation 47th Ohio River Valley Soils Dallas, TX
of Earthquake-Induced Soil Seminar (ORVSS XLVII)
Liquefaction November 17, 2016 IFCEE 2018
By Ed Kavazanjian and Jason DeJong Louisville, KY March 13-17, 2018
www.kgeg.org Lake Buena Vista, FL
Performance-Based
Earthquake Engineering Geotechnical Frontiers Geotechnical Earthquake
March 12-15, 2017 Engineering and Soil
By Steve Kramer and Menzer Pehlivan
Orlando, FL Dynamics V 2018
geotechnicalfrontiers.com June 10-13, 2018
Post-Earthquake Austin, TX
Reconnaissance Using Digital Geo-Risk 2017
Imagery June 4-7, 2017
By Ellen Rathje and Kevin Franke Denver, CO
Lessons Learned from

GeoLegends: Kenji Ishihara
By Christine Z. Beyzaei and For more seminar information:
Chris Markham asce.org/continuing-education/face-to-face-seminars
GeoPoem
By Mary C. Nodine
Ground Improvement
If you’re the type of geotech who tends to shy away MARY C. NODINE,
From installing anything but driven piles through soft clay, PE, M.ASCE, is a
Or excavating down to where blowcounts are thirty-three, geotechnical poet,
I’d guess that ground improvement is not your cup of tea.
a member of the
GEOSTRATA Editorial
But I will stick my neck out and suggest that you should try
Board, and a project
To look at these technologies with freshly-opened eyes.
They might save folks some time, and some money, this is clear... engineer with GEI
But making bad soil behave is so much fun to an engineer. Consultants, Inc. in
Woburn, MA. She can be
For instead of dodging poor-performing strata, you’re on their team! reached at mnodine@
Gathering data and assigning any lab tests that might seem geiconsultants.com.
Needed for a thorough understanding of behavior
So you can carefully select the proper ground improvement flavor.
If you’re concerned about compression of soft organic clay,

A surcharge program might be key to make it go away.
You can pore over consol tests, work out stress history,
Then choose a wick drain layout to get the settlement you need.
Perhaps, you find that you don’t have the luxury of time
For the soft clay to consolidate; well, it would be a crime
To not consider reinforcing with some stout rigid inclusions,
Bringing long-term settlement to an abrupt conclusion.
If you do, you get to figure out the column size and spacing
To properly share load with the soil you’re replacing.
It’s an intricate ordeal, for you must know intimately
Not only soil strength, but its compressibility.
Enough about the clay, you say? Your site is all loose sand?
What’s more, it’s in a seismic zone, the shakiest of land?
Don’t fear! For we can densify, and it will be a blast.
This may be the most dramatic of any ground improvement class.
You could drop a giant weight on site to close those voids with ease,
Or install vibro-stone columns, as many as you please,
But as you dig up correlations and you lay out your design,
I offer you my gravest warning: Beware of EXCESS FINES.
If I haven’t yet convinced you to commit to full adoption

Of the ever-growing multitude of ground improvement options,
I hope that you can see: They all have practical appeal,
But the engineering challenge they provide might seal the deal.
Photo courtesy of
GEI Consultants, Inc.

September // October 2016

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20 Ground Improvement 32 3 0 years of 48 G round stabilization for 72 T he Rise of UAVs

– Coming Full Circle Launched Soil Nails Underground Construction in Geotechnics

SEPTEMBER // OCTOBER 2016

Proudly published by the Geo-Institute of ASCE

Providing Customized solutions for all soil tyPes

www.asce.org/geo twitter.com/GeoInstitute facebook.com/GeoInstitute LinkedInGeo GeoInstituteASCE

2 GEOSTRATA SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016

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An interview with Robert W. Thompson G E O S T R ATA S TA F F

4 GEOSTRATA SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016 ISSUE NO. 5 • VOLUME 20

providinG Customized solutions for all soil types

There is a more efficient way to

sales@dataforensics.net www.dataforensics.net 678-406-0106

Combining geology investigation

The use of a fully integrated, HoleBASE SI and AutoCAD Civil 3D help

8 GEOSTRATA SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016

While GEOSTRATA has published several articles over

10 GEOSTRATA SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016

G-I Board of Governors

Allen Cadden James G. Collin Patrick J. Fox

Beth A. Gross Kancheepuram N. Gunalan

Committees: Awards, GEOSTRATA, Technical Committees Committees: Geo-Legislative

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12 GEOSTRATA SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016

■■ Dams ■■ Geogrids ■■ Piles ■■ Waste Repositories

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14 GEOSTRATA SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016

Computational Geotechnics José E. Andrade, PhD, M.ASCE jandrade@caltech.edu

Deep Foundations Luis O. Garcia, PE, M.ASCE logarcia@geocim.com

Earth Retaining Structures Dimitrios Konstantakos, PE, M.ASCE dimitrios@deepexcavation.com

Geoenvironmental Engineering Dimitrios Zekkos, PhD, PE, M.ASCE zekkos@umich.edu

Geophysical Engineering Nenad Gucunski, PhD, A.M.ASCE gucunski@rci.rutgers.edu

Geosynthetics Jorge G. Zornberg, PhD, PE, M.ASCE zornberg@mail.utexas.edu

Geotechnics of Soil Erosion Ming Xiao, PhD, PE, M.ASCE mxiao@engr.psu.edu

Grouting Paolo Gazzarrini, P.Eng, M.ASCE paolo@paologaz.com

Pavements Charles W. Schwartz, PhD, M.ASCE schwartz@umd.edu

Rock Mechanics M. Ronald Yeung, PhD, PE, M.ASCE mryeung@cpp.edu

Shallow Foundations Daniel J. Rich, PhD, PE, D.GE, F.ASCE danjrich@yahoo.com

Soil Improvement Kyle M. Rollins, PhD, M.ASCE rollinsk@et.byu.edu

Soil Properties and Modeling T. Matthew Evans, PhD, A.M.ASCE matt.evans@oregonstate.edu

Unsaturated Soils Laureano R. Hoyos, PhD, PE, M.ASCE hoyos@uta.edu

2016-08-03_Geostrata_halfPage_October.indd 1 8/3/16 1:14 PM

16 GEOSTRATA SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016

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Ground improvement has been a part of geotechnical engineering and geoconstruction

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20 Ground Improvement 32 3 0 years of 48 G round stabilization for 72 T he Rise of UAVs