The landscape drives the geotechnical engineering in Indiana. Glacial movement dominates the majority of the geological history. Made up of gray till, the Tipton Till Plain resides in Northern most Indiana. Coming to a more central position, kettle holes and lakes dot the land. Southern Indiana is still recognized for its limestone quarries.

UD researchers study climate change impacts on soils at military installations

Source: The Ground Underfoot - Civil and Environmental Engineering UD researchers study climate change impacts on soils at military installations We walk over it, drive over it and build on it. Yet, it is probably safe to say, most of us rarely think about the ground beneath our feet. Underneath the grass, concrete, asphalt and other materials in our built environment, however, soil provides structure and stability for what lies above. The United States military wants to understand the role that climate impacts, such as flooding, storm surge or sea level rise, will have on soils at its coastal military bases and facilities, which are critical to national security. Soil conditions can affect the integrity of the ground underpinning buildings, roads, bridges and more. For example, if a soil’s pH were to rise significantly, due to increased salt content-containing ions such as sodium from storm surge, it could create saline conditions that could hamper the ground’s ability to support this necessary infrastructure. Understanding these threats will enable faster and more accurate routing and maneuverability for U.S. forces. The Delaware Environmental Institute (DENIN) is collaborating with the Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Louisiana State University to understand how vulnerable military installations along coasts may be affected by soil changes due to sea level rise and coastal flooding. DENIN has received $3.79 million in first- and second-year funding from the U.S. Department of Defense to start this work, and is eligible for an additional $3.82 million in continued funding over the following two years. Led by DENIN Director Don Sparks, Unidel S. Hallock du Pont Chair of Soil and Environmental Chemistry in UD’s Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, the UD effort includes interdisciplinary collaboration with Yan Jin, Edward F. and Elizabeth Goodman Rosenberg Professor [...]

Parameters Variation Model Customization and Sensitivity Analyses

Source: Parameters Variation: Model Customization and Sensitivity Analyses Parameters Variation Model Customization and Sensitivity Analyses A well-known engineering challenge in the framework of finite element (FE) analysis-based design is the large number of input factors involved in geotechnical computational models. There is always a significant amount of uncertainties associated with the properties of geomaterials, being naturally highly heterogeneous materials. In the context of model calibration and validation, conducting a sensitivity analysis is very important. This can determine the key factors which govern the system and efficiently characterize the geotechnical variability for any considered design problem.   Powerful mechanisms for the consideration of parameter variation are also very interesting for speeding up FE model creation and automating results in post-processing. These are also quite useful in reducing model definition for specific types of engineering problems (excavation wall of a specific type under simple ground conditions, simple tunnel shape in uniform rock mass, etc.) to a limited number of parameters that can be inputted in a text file or Microsoft Excel spreadsheet without expert knowledge of the PLAXIS user interface and different modeling techniques and FE know-how. The sensitivity analysis and parameter variation tool in PLAXIS A sensitivity analysis determines how different values of an independent variable affect a particular dependent variable under a given set of assumptions. In other words, sensitivity analyses study how various sources of uncertainty in a mathematical model contribute to the model's overall uncertainty. The Sensitivity Analysis and Parameter Variation tool (see Figure 1) can be used to evaluate the influence of model parameters on calculation results for any particular PLAXIS FE model: The Select Parameters tab sheet will first provide information about all the parameters that can be changed to perform the sensitivity analysis. Available parameters include most model parameters of the data sets for soil and [...]

A Climate Change-Induced Disaster in Denali National Park

Source: A Climate Change-Induced Disaster in Denali National Park | Time The Times has recently showcased an article on the current rockslide situation in Denali National Park. The effects of climate change have been dramatic with the current melting of the permafrost. The National Parks Service has recently upped through gravel removal of the Pretty Rocks Landslide in an effort to keep up as the rapidly thawing permafrost picks up pace. Alaska is right now recognized as the country’s fastest-warming state. The landslide hit unprecedented speed 4 weeks ago causing the team to close the back half of the park weeks earlier than anticipated. This only signals bad news as reservations are canceled in the short term and the long term implications are yet unknown. “This is the canary in the coal mine for infrastructure disruption in Alaska,” says the Camp Denali lodge owner Simon Hamm. “If things continue on the path they’re on, it’s not going to just be Pretty Rock—it’s going to be half of the Alaskan highway system.” Rapid deterioration Denali National Park is one of the U.S.’s largest national parks at 6 million acres, and sits about four hours north of Anchorage. While the entrance to the park is certainly beautiful, many people prefer to hop on buses to access the park’s marquee attractions deep down its single 92-mile road: views of Mt. Denali (formerly Mt. McKinley), the highest peak in North America at 20,000 feet; the gleaming Wonder Lake; rolling mountainsides that contain an abundance of wildlife, including grizzly bears, moose, caribou and bighorn sheep. About halfway along the road lies the Pretty Rocks Landslide, a slowly sliding section of earth that acts more like a glacier than a rockfall. Since the 1960s, permafrost deep below the earth’s surface has thawed, causing the soil and [...]

Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring Consumption Market Size to Witness Huge Growth by 2027 | By Top Leading Vendors – Keller, Fugro, Nova Metrix, Geokon, Geocomp, Sisgeo, Cowi – The Daily Chronicle

Source: Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring Consumption Market Size to Witness Huge Growth by 2027 | By Top Leading Vendors – Keller, Fugro, Nova Metrix, Geokon, Geocomp, Sisgeo, Cowi – The Daily Chronicle

Screening for Soil Contamination Levels with CPT

Expanding from geotechnical Cone Penetration Test (CPT) into other services is a great way to grow your business. Evaluating subsurface soil contamination provides many business opportunities and a way to differentiate yourself from other CPT service providers – allowing you to protect your business, while expanding into new regions and adding clients. In many instances, the existence of environmental contaminations in an area is known, but the question that needs to be answered is, “where is it”? In other posts, we explain how CPT works, and how it can be used to characterize the strata underground hundreds of feet deep, depending upon the actual subsurface conditions, the equipment being used etc., In addition to identifying soil types by layer and depth, geo-technical CPT testing also helps to establish groundwater levels and potential migration pathways. This makes it useful for identifying where contamination may migrate or be confined. Establishing a depth profile of the contamination underground and how the ‘plume’ is located and migrated, or where it is likely to expand in the future is vital to establishing a cleanup or remediation plan. Once contamination has been shown to be likely, our discrete soil and ground water sampling equipment delivers physical samples for confirmation. Once CPT became well-established and proven as a geo-technical evaluation tool, it was natural to try and see what other types of testing could be accomplished using the same tools. In addition to mapping groundwater conditions with in-situ pore pressure transducers, CPT tools that sense the direct presence of various types of hydrocarbons and other volatile organic compounds at depth are now available. A variety of cone sensors can be used to test for specific types of contamination. Multiple CPT equipment modules can be configured with multiple sensors, including soil moisture resistivity, video, radiation and sensing for [...]

Presenting CPT Data to Owners & Engineers: an Important Role of CPT

If you are considering entering the CPT business from, let’s say, operating a well-drilling business, you’ll want to prepare yourself for a few adjustments. Depending upon the type of business you are used to running or being a part of, you’ll find that the customer interactions may be different. CPT testing is all about gathering data from field tests and quickly turning that into useful information for the site owner, an engineer, construction company, government agency etc. This blog is an introduction to the basics of CPT reporting. We’ll start with what we’re trying to measure, then we’ll discuss how a CPT system, and in particular the probe, gathers specific types of useful data. Then we’ll, look at some ways that this data is interpreted to make useful information for your customer to make decisions. In real life, you’ll want to use a software application that quickly and efficiently does this interpretation for you. However, Vertek CPT believes in training it’s customer partners from the ground up (so to speak) so that you are comfortable and confident in every conversation you’ll have. What are we trying to measure? CPT is the quickest and most cost-effective way to map out what the soil conditions are under your feet. If you imagine being able to look at the ground ‘from the side’, you’d see layers something like this: For people responsible for building highways through hilly territory, or building a heavy structure, it’s important to know what’s underground before they begin planning. This is where CPT comes in. CPT lets you draw a picture of what’s underground for folks who need it. How Does a CPT Probe Gather Useful Types of Data? So let’s start with the Cone, the ‘C’ in CPT. If you look at the picture below, you can imagine [...]

Why Are There So Many Kinds of CPT Rigs?

As you look through our website, you'll see that there are a number of different types of CPT Rigs. As you can imagine, they each have their purpose, or 'application'. In order to understand why different types of CPT Rigs exist, it's helpful to remember how CPT works in the first place. Cone Penetration Testing The goal of Cone Penetration Testing is to drive a hardened cone vertically into the the ground and to keep it moving at a specific rate of progress. The force that it takes to maintain the cone moving downward at a defined rate is an indicator of how hard the soil is at a given depth. The friction the cone sleeve encounters along the way gives us an indication of the make up of the soil. Deciding Between CPT Rigs As you can imagine, as the cone progresses further downward and encounters different types of soils, sands, clays and rocks it can take a substantial amount of pressure to keep it moving! One of the first factors that influences the design of CPT Rigs is the maximum amount of pressure that will be required to perform a specific test, to a specific depth in a given geological area. As much as 20 tons of downward force may be required to perform a broad enough range of tests to make a given rig viable for a market. For every ton of downward pressure on the test cone through the rod system, you have to have a reaction force equal to this to keep the Rig from lifting up. This means that either the Rig has to be heavier than the maximum push force, plus a safety margin, or it needs to be anchored down in some way as to reliably resist the upward force generated by [...]

Why Are There So Many Kinds of CPT Rigs?

As you look through our website, you'll see that there are a number of different types of CPT Rigs. As you can imagine, they each have their purpose, or 'application'. In order to understand why different types of CPT Rigs exist, it's helpful to remember how CPT works in the first place. The goal of Cone Penetration Testing is to drive a hardened cone vertically into the the ground and to keep it moving at a specific rate of progress. The force that it takes to maintain the cone moving downward at a defined rate is an indicator of how hard the soil is at a given depth. The friction the cone sleeve encounters along the way gives us an indication of the make up of the soil. As you can imagine, as the cone progresses further downward and encounters different types of soils, sands, clays and rocks it can take a substantial amount of pressure to keep it moving! One of the first factors that influences the design of CPT Rigs is the maximum amount of pressure that will be required to perform a specific test, to a specific depth in a given geological area. As much as 20 tons of downward force may be required to perform a broad enough range of tests to make a given rig viable for a market. For every ton of downward pressure on the test cone through the rod system, you have to have a reaction force equal to this to keep the Rig from lifting up. This means that either the Rig has to be heavier than the maximum push force, plus a safety margin, or it needs to be anchored down in some way as to reliably resist the upward force generated by the test (or 'sounding'). Depending upon the [...]

Using a Compaction Test to Determine Site Safety Standards

Compaction is an engineering term used to describe the ability of a soil type to be treated with mechanical energy and compressed such that air voids are removed. With individual grains compressed to remove air voids, it becomes more difficult for the soil being compressed to 'settle' further on its own. The strength of the soil in loads other than compression can be increased because the individual particles within the soil become interlocked and friction can become a more important function of the soil behavior. Compacted soil, because air spaces between the particles are reduced has lower hydraulic conductivity (passes water less easily under a given pressure). Why do a Compaction Test? Compaction can be important when high loads such as building foundations may cause a soil to settle over time causing shifting or even collapse. It can be valuable for soil that you want to retain in place, such as along an embankment or behind a retaining wall to be compacted. The compaction process, by increasing the friction in the compacted soil helps to maintain against horizontal slippage which can either result in a landslide off from an embankment or in higher pressure behind a retaining wall, causing it to bow outwards. Because compaction lowers hydraulic conductivity, it can be useful, or even essential in the functioning of earthen dams, drainage ditches and levees. A measurement of compaction is the change in density, or weight per unit volume increase after the soil in question is compacted. That's why sometimes 'compaction' is also called 'densification'. This is actually not a correct designation as 'densification' actually includes both 'compaction' which is described above as well as 'consolidation'. Consolidation involves fluid flow out of the soil being densified, such as when you are treating clay heavy soils. Water is squeezed out from [...]

A Short Introduction into CPT and the ASTM Standards

If you have been thinking about expanding into the Cone Penetration Testing business but still need some more information to feel confident with your decision; or need further details to bring to your employer, you have come to the right place. This post is an introduction to the basics of CPT and how it correlates with the ASTM Standards to meet your needs and better serve your business. If this is the first time you have really considered entering the CPT business; CPT is the use of a hardened cone shape that is pushed into the ground to substantial depths for the process of collecting immediate onsite data. CPT has proven to be an inexpensive option that not only is safe and efficient but delivers accurate data at a faster rate. Not only is CPT an effective and inexpensive option for your drilling assignments, but it also meets the ASTM Standards, ensuring that it meets the standard of excellence (safe, quality, etc). CPT Data & ASTM Standards "ASTM International, formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), is a globally recognized leader in the development and delivery of international voluntary consensus standards. Today, some 12,000 ASTM standards are used around the world to improve product quality, enhance safety, facilitate market access and trade, and build consumer confidence" [ASTM]. To take a deeper dive into the value of ASTM Standards, take a look at this video: [/fusion_youtube]

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