twelve-foot-wide slice you might take out of a levee, says Scott Brandenberg, Ph.D., A.M.ASCE, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at UCLA and also a member of the re- search team. To facilitate seismic testing, a stur- dy timber frame was embedded in the topmost 3 ft of the levee. An eccen- tric mass shaker from the facilities at UCLA used in the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation was bolted to the frame. The shaker uses two counterrotating masses to cause acceleration. Instru- mentation was included as part of the test levee to enable the researchers to evaluate the mechanisms of deforma- tion during the procedure. To this end, accelerometers were inserted into the embankment and in the peat beneath it to measure ground motion. Piezom- eters were included to measure pore pressure, and slope inclinometers and settlement markers were used to evalu- ate deformation. Conducted on August 29, the seismic testing involved slowly ramping up the operation of the shaker from fairly low to signicantly higher levels of acceleration. Ultimately, the strongest shaking was consistent with a fairly rare event that would generate large ground motions in the delta, Brandenberg says. During the test, the sensors recorded ground mo- tions as high as 0.5g. Thats a pretty siz- able ground motion, Brandenberg says. Despite the intense shaking, a large failure of the test levee did not occur, although the levee did experience sig- nicant transient deformation, Stewart reports. During the shaking, the move- ment of the levee was pretty impres- sive, he says. It was on par with what you might expect with the design earth- quake. However, signicant permanent deformation did not occur. Although the fact that the test le- vee did not fail is good news, the re- sults must be viewed in the context of certain boundary conditions that probably contributed to the levees fa- vorable performance, Stewart says. For example, the test embankment, in con- trast to actual levees in the delta, was not impounding water. Therefore, it received no static lateral force from wa- ter; the only lateral forces were those generated by the shaker. What is more, the water table beneath the test levee is lower than normal groundwater lev- els below actual levees. As a result, the soil immediately beneath the test le- vee was relatively strong and stiff. By contrast, the water table below an ac- tual levee typically extends up through the levees foundation and sometimes into the embankment itself, resulting in softer material beneath a levee. In fact, the results of the test could well have been different had softer material been present under the levee, Stewart acknowledges. Even with these conditions, the test was still quite useful, Stewart says. It just means we have to be extremely care- ful about making sweeping conclusions regarding the safety of delta levees, he says, particularly until additional analy- sis of the data can be carried out. The fact that [the test levee] didnt fail doesnt mean that the delta levees are out of the woods yet. Its encouraging that it didnt fail, Stewart says. If the test levee had ex- perienced massive deformation during the relatively favorable boundary condi- tions, that would not be good news at all, he says. During the test, the researchers re- covered data from approximately 120 sensors, and they will evaluate these data to better understand the mechan- ical behavior of the soil under the dy- namic conditions. Its the data that will provide the most powerful insights, Stewart says. To complement their tests in the eld, the researchers intend to conduct labora- tory tests on peat and to examine case his- tories of the seismic performance of levees founded on peat as well as on other mate- rials. Although the Sacramento and San Joaquin delta might be the best known location for levees built on peat, other locations, including sites in Washing- ton State and Japan, also have levees of this type. The results of the investiga- tion are therefore expected to offer ben- ets to levee managers outside the del- ta, Stewart says. JAY LANDERS H I S T O R I C P R E S E RVAT I O N Air Bags and Stainless Steel Anchors and Mesh Help Preserve Egyptian Pyramid A N EFFORT TO PRESERVE and protect the oldest pyra- mid in Egypt involves the use of air bags and stainless steel anchors and mesh to secure the ancient struc- tures burial chamber and prevent any additional seismically induced col- lapse. Located in the Saqqara (Sakka- ra) burial complexthe necropolis of the ancient city of Memphisroughly 30 km south of Cairo, the 4,700-year- old Step Pyramid of Djoser is consid- ered by Egypts Supreme Council of Antiquities to be the earliest example of large-scale stone construction in that country. Its name derives from its ter- raced prole, and it has been damaged by earthquakes throughout its history, most recently in 1992. Believed to have been designed by an ofcial named Imhotep, the pharaoh Djosers chancellor and chief architect, the pyramid was constructed in stages during Egypts Third Dynasty and ulti- mately reached a height of 60 m above the surrounding plateau. The structure contains 330,400 m of stone and clay. It originally featured a limestone outer casing, but that has since disappeared, explains Peter James, the managing di- rector of Cintec International, Ltd., an international structural engineering rm based in the United Kingdom in the Welsh city of Newport. Since 1997 Cintec has helped restore several other pharaonic and Islamic monuments in Egypt, and in 2006 the Supreme Coun- cil of Antiquities selected it to shore up the roof of the Step Pyramids crum- bling burial chamber. The 1.8 million (U.S.$2.8 million) project is now near- ing completion but has been plagued by challenges ranging from additional rockfalls within the chamber to the cha- os arising from Egypts recent political changes, notes James. The burial chamber is an open space roughly 8 m square in plan and approx- imately 29 m tall. At the bottom of the chamber is the pharaohs enormous [1 8]
C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 1 Civil Engineering N E WS sarcophagus. The mummied body of Djoser disappeared long ago, and any valuables that were in the tomb were removed by robbers who entered the site in antiquity. Located mostly below grade, the burial chamber can be ac- cessed through a stone passage that is one of the original tunnels and is roughly 36 m long. It is referred to as the high tunnel because it enters the chamber near the top of the space, explains James. The chamber can also be reached through a network of other original tunnels be- neath the sarcophagus as well as through tunnels dug by the robbers. Although the burial chamber originally featured a at timber roof, a design that was not repeated in subsequent pyramids, James says, the roof beams deected and col- lapsed over time. The roof is now a jum- ble of jagged rocks wedged tightly to- gether that form a concave dome roughly 3 m in height. Various attempts to repair the structure, primarily with more tim- ber supports, were made in the past, but there are no exact records of what was done or when, James notes. In the 1992 earthquake, however, the chamber suf- fered further damage, and as much as 200 metric tons of loose stone and rubble, to- gether with the supporting timber props, fell from the roof onto the sarcophagus. At that point the chamber was deemed by the Supreme Council of Antiquities C I N T E C ,
A L L N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 1 C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g [1 9] The 4,700-year-old Step Pyramid of Djoserso named because of its ter- raced prolewas damaged over the centuries by repeated earthquakes, most recently in 1992. Located in the Saqqara (Sakkara) burial complex roughly 30 km south of Cairo, the struc- ture is considered the oldest pyra- mid in Egypt. At a maximum of 8 psi, each air bag, left, can support 3 met- ric tons of stone. Thin blocks of high- density, semirigid foam carefully cut and shaped to t around the hanging stones were used atop the air bags. Over the centuries the burial cham- bers at timber roof deected and collapsed. The chamber was closed to the public after an earthquake in 1992 caused as much as 200 metric tons of loose stone and rubble, as well as the supporting timber props, to fall from the roof onto the sarcophagus. to be too dangerous for visitors and was closed except for occasional inspections by council personnel, James says. When the current repair project be- gan, Egyptian engineers inspected and strengthened the supports for the sar- cophagus itself as well as for the tunnels beneath the tomb, installing stainless steel pins to anchor the stonework where necessary. Work crews removed the de- bris from atop the sarcophagus, carrying the material out in small loads through the narrow, lower tunnels. Archaeologists from the Supreme Council of Antiquities carefully monitored this work, inspect- ing each rock as it was removed to deter- mine its possible historical signicance; the council also monitored all subsequent efforts by Cintec, James notes. All electric power for lights and equipment within the chamber was supplied via cables that ran through the tunnels to outside generators; even the air inside the chamber was carefully controlled for humidity by equipment on the outside, James adds. To perform the work on the chamber roof, Acrow Misr, a Cairo-based metal- lic scaffolding and framework designer and manufacturer, erected a steel scaffold- ing system that spans the space contain- ing the sarcophagus. The scaffolding was erected in such a way that no loads were imposed on the sarcophagus or the tun- nels beneath it. Next, a work platform was raised to the underside of the cham- ber roof, and Cintec constructed a sec- ond level for this scaffolding. This small- er mezzanine section, in the center of the main scaffolding, made it possible for Cintecs team to access the upper portions of the chambers rock-jammed dome. The main scaffolding and the mezzanine section provided the bases from which Cintecs engineers installed a series of 11 custom-designed air bags, each roughly 1.5 m long and 1 m in diameter. Adapt- ed from a Cintec product known as the Waterwalla structure made of a tough synthetic fabric that can be lled with water to provide protection against ex- plosive blaststhe systems used in the Step Pyramid featured thin layers of poly- vinyl chloride and were lled with air rather than water. The thinner polyvinyl chloride fabric was easier to control dur- ing the ination process and thus could accommodate the tight and delicate tol- erances at the chamber roof, James notes. As he explains, it was essential to sup- port the dangerous hanging stones with- out applying any upward pressure that might unlock the stone jam and further release an avalanche. Air was preferable to water because of the weight that the water would have imposed on the scaffolding and chamber oor, to say nothing of the potentially di- sastrous consequences of a leak inside a space that has been bone dry for millen- nia. Like the Waterwall structures, the air bags are heavily reinforced internally with a special stitching system that helps them maintain shape and stability. Connected to a common manifold and pressurized either individually or in groups, as the site circumstances dictat- ed, the bags were gently inated, initial- ly at a low pressure of 1 psi, to form the shape and overall dimensions required, James says. The pressure in each bag was then gently increased to a maximum of 8 psi, at which point each bag could sup- port 3 metric tons of stone. The tops of the bags were adjusted to provide the op- timal support to the roofs jagged prole. Timber shims were used to support the undersides of the air bags, and thin blocks of high-density, semirigid foam were carefully cut and shaped to t around the hanging stones. These foam blocks were used atop the bags to ensure a gentle kiss with no compression between the bags and the surfaces of the stones, James notes. We just want to hold the stones where they are, he says. As the rst air bags were being in- stalled this summer, it became obvi- ous that additional support would be needed along the perimeter of the roof, James says. So a second set of air bags that were smaller and narrower also were designed; at press time, these pe- rimeter bags were being installed. Once all of the bags are in place, Cintec engineers will spend about a month or so using a lime grout to ll in gaps around the stones. Then, using a diamond drill, they will carefully cre- ate a series of 52 mm diameter holes at roughly 2 to 4 m intervals along the pe- rimeter of the roof and at varying angles in the stones. The drilling will be con- ducted under dry conditions, and a dust extraction system will be used through- out the process, James adds. Stainless steel anchors generally 2 to 4 m in length will then be installed in the drilled holes and secured with additional grout by means of a propri- etary Cintec process featuring a vacu- um tube that applies the grout under low pressures. This process is also de- signed to prevent any negative buildup of pressure that might prevent the an- chor from being properly installed. The anchors will create what is essentially a three-dimensional archlike support at the roof to stabilize the stones and pre- vent further collapses, James explains. A second series of holes that will have diameters of 32 mm will be drilled and lled with 750 mm long anchors. These smaller anchors will secure a stainless steel mesh tightly against the ceiling to prevent smaller stones from falling. The mesh will also be attached to the ends of the main anchors. A total of about 60 anchors will be used to secure the stones and mesh. Given the limited space and dangerous conditions within the burial chamber, the work crews will probably be able to install the anchors at a rate of only about one per day, James notes. Although the air bags will be removed when the proj- ect is completed, he explains that they will be repositioned as needed while the anchors and mesh are being installed. This will ensure that the roof remains supported throughout the process. Earlier this year, at least two more large stones fell from the chamber roof, James adds. Fortunately, no one was in- side the chamber at the time because work had been temporarily halted in the aftermath of the political crisis that led to the ouster of Egypts longtime president, Hosni Mubarak. Still, it was a reminder of why James describes the Step Pyramid work as probably the most incredible and dangerous job he has ever performed. When working on the air bags or the anchors from atop the scaffolding, he explains, you sit there with sixty meters of stone right above your head and you think, Lets hope theres no earthquake now or any move- ment of the stones, because a hard hat wont help! ROBERT L. REID [20]
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