Settlements of Highway Embankments on Soft Lacustrine Deposits

by Loren R. Anderson, (M.ASCE), Utah State Univ, Logan, United States,
Casan L. Sampaco, Utah State Univ, Logan, United States,
Syed H. Gilani, Utah State Univ, Logan, United States,
Edward Keane, Utah State Univ, Logan, United States,
Loren Rausher, Utah State Univ, Logan, United States,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Vertical and Horizontal Deformations of Foundations and Embankments

Abstract:

This paper presents the settlement study that was conducted in conjunction with the major freeway expansion project planned through Salt Lake City in which existing embankments will be expanded along the alignment and at interchanges. Settlement data from field monitoring programs of three instrumented embankment sections were used to assess the most suitable model for predicting magnitude and rate of settlement of the soft lacustrine clay deposits in the Salt Lake Valley. It seems that the disparity between the observed and predicted settlements is not because of the inability to predict settlement magnitudes but on the gross underestimation of the settlement rates. The idea of properly accounting for the soil macrofabric, especially in the case of thinly interbedded lacustrine sediments, in determining the length of the longest drainage path during consolidation may shed some light in the proper estimate of the settlement rates.

Subject Headings: Soil settlement | Consolidated soils | Soil-structure interaction | Soft soils | Highways and roads | Clays | Structural settlement | Utah | United States

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