CURRENT PROBLEMS AND NEW DIRECTIONS

IN GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL

ENGINEERING

James K. Mitchell

Launch of the Nottingham Centre for Geomechanics

University of Nottingham

September 26, 2002

To understand where we are and to
help predict where we are going, it
is useful to review where we have
been.
Charles Augustin Coulomb
Macquorn Rankine
 EVOLUTION
✦ Prior to 1940 - Karl Terzaghi

✦ After World War II:

Political and societal demands for:
New structures and facilities
Protection and enhancement of
environment
New resources
Mitigation of natural disaster risks
SOIL MECHANICS AND FOUNDATION
ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN 1949
 Scope of field limited mainly to:
 Soil Classification
 Capillarity and seepage
 Stress analysis by elasticity
 Consolidation and settlement analysis
 Shear strength
 Slope stability
 Lateral pressures
 Bearing capacity
 Shallow and deep foundations
 Emphasis largely on saturated clays and sands
DEVELOPMENTS FROM 1950 - 1960
 Slope stability
 Shear strength
 Soil structure, causes of clay sensitivity
 Compacted clay properties
 Pavement design
 Soil stabilization
 Transient loading
Slope Failure in
Sweden
Effect of
Disturbance
on a Quick
Clay
Undisturbed Quick Clay
from Drammen, Norway
Width = 20µ m
Heavy Rubber-Tired Roller
DEVELOPMENTS FROM 1960-1970
Pore pressure, effective stress analysis
 Physico-chemical phenomena
 Rock Mechanics
 Computer applications
 Finite element analyses
 Soil-structure interaction
 Soil dynamics
 Liquefaction
 Earth and rockfill dams
 Offshore, cold region, lunar projects

Malpasset Dam Failure
Port Allen Lock
Mobile Caisson for Arctic Exploration
Apollo 17 Landing Site
DEVELOPMENTS FROM 1970-1980
Constitutive modeling
In-situ testing
Expansive soils
Soil dynamics
Centrifuge testing
Partly saturated soils
Geotechnical earthquake engineering
Underground construction
Constitutive
Modeling
CPT Truck
Expansive Soil
Lower San Fernando Dam
Failure, 1971
Eisenhower Tunnel Construction, I-70
DEVELOPMENTS FROM 1980-1990
Risk and reliability
Groundwater and geohydrology
Geoenvironmental engineering
Geosynthetics
Earth reinforcement
Ground improvement
 Groundwater Contamination
Industrial wastes have been disposed in many ways
Placement of a Geomembrane
Reinforced Earth Wall, Valdez, Alaska
Deep
Dynamic
Compaction
DEVELOPMENTS FROM 1990-2000
Waste containment
Site remediation
Seismic risk mitigation
Land reclamation
Infrastructure
Geophysical applications
Geographic information systems
Rumpke MSW
Landfill Failure
12.5 ha

36 m headscarp

Max. waste depth

of 110 m

Toe moved 300 m

in 5 minutes

Pre-failure slope
of 2.6:1
Downstream Treatment at
Mormon Island Dam
I-15 / I-80 East / SR-201 Junction
(Artist's Rendition)

Salt Lake City

MOST SIGNIFICANT RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM
1950 – 2000 IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

1. Critical state soil mechanics

2. Small strain and non-linear stiffness
3. Effective stress triaxial testing
4. Numerical analysis
5. Centrifuge modeling
6. Effects of structure and fabric
7. Residual strength in OC soil
8. Partially saturated soils
9. Effective stress analysis of slopes and retaining
structures
10. Field measurements at the BRE
SITUATION AT THE BEGINNING
OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM
 SCOPE OF GEOTECHNOLOGY
 Geotechnical engineering
 Geology and engineering geology
 Geophysics
 Geochemistry
 Geohydrology
 Seismology
 Civil engineering
 Mining and mineral engineering
 Petroleum engineering
 Information science and technology
 PROJECTS AND PROBLEMS
 Foundations for structures of all types
 Transportation infrastructure (roads, airfields, rail,
ports and harbors, underground)
 Land reclamation
 Seismic safety – mitigation of seismic risk
 Resource recovery
 Energy
 Preservation and restoration of old structures
TOWER OF
PISA IN 1957
(Speaker’s green
automobile for scale)
PROJECTS AND PROBLEMS (cont.)
 Waste disposal and containment
 Site remediation and environmental
enhancement
 Soil and rock as construction materials
 Deep Ocean, Cold Regions, Space
 Natural hazard protection and risk
reduction (landslides, tornadoes, hurricanes,
tsunamis, expansive soils, floods)
 NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND MATERIALS
 Earth reinforcement
 Deep soil mixing
 Jet grouting
 Compaction grouting
 Geosynthetics
NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND MATERIALS
(Cont.)
 Micro-piles
 Micro-tunnels
 Geocomposites
 Geophysical methods
 INVASIVENESS OF MEASUREMENTS
INCREASING INVASIVENESS

• Satellites, Aircraft• Remote sensing, photo

• Helicopter • Remote sensing, electromagnetic
magnetic
• Walk on ground • Magnetics, gravity, GPR,
conductivity
• Seismic, resistivity, sampling:
• Disturbance, < 1m
geochemical, biological, soil
• Penetrometers; boreholes and
• Disturbance, < 100 m samples, downhole
measurements, tomography
 APPLICATIONS OF NON-INVASIVE METHODS
 Characterization of subsurface for:
- waste disposal, containment, remediation
- infrastructure construction
 Locating:
- voids
- resources
- underground utilities
- buried land mines and unexploded ordnance
 Monitoring:
- ground movements
- infrastructure decay
 Archeological or forensic investigations
 Search and rescue
 NEW REALITIES OF ENGINEERING
PRACTICE AND CONSTRUCTION
 Public participation
 Regulatory and Legal issues
 Health and Safety
 Decision and risk analysis
 Design-Build replacing Design-Bid-Build
 Questionable benefit/cost
 Struggling economies
 Poorly defined goals
 PREDICTING THE FUTURE

“Predictions are very difficult –

especially about the future”
(Neils Bohr)
“Heavier than air flying machines are
impossible.”
(Lord Kelvin, 1895)
“I think there is a world market for
maybe five computers”
(Thomas Watson, Chairman of IBM, 1943)
“We don’t like their sound, and guitar
music is on the way out.”
(Decca Records rejection of the Beatles,
1962)

“640 K ought to be enough for

anybody”
(Bill Gates, 1981)
 SOME KNOWLEDGE NEEDS
 Liquefaction and predicting its consequences
 Evaluation of improved ground
 Prediction of deformations
 Dealing with Difficult Dirt
 Foundation Capacity
 Improved site characterization
 Constitutive models (always!)
PAPERS IN THE 2001 J.G.E.E., A.S.C.E.
(What people are working on)
 Piles and drilled piers 19
 Geotech EQ engrg and liquefaction 13
 Constitutive behavior, mechanics 7
 Ground improvement and stabilization 7
 Properties and behavior 6
 Micro-mechanics 5
 Contaminant transport 5
 Stability 5
 Geosynthetics 5
 Lateral Pressures, excavations 4
 Others 13
 NETWORK FOR EARTHQUAKE
ENGINEERING SIMULATION (NEES)
(Sponsored by the National Science Foundation)
A system of experimental
facilities linked by advanced
telecommunications that is
capable of real-time interactive
collaboration across the U.S.
 SOME NEW FRONTIERS
Micro-mechanics
Nano-technologies
Biological processes
“Seeing into the earth”
Smart materials
Self-monitoring and correcting
systems
 KEY QUESTIONS
What is soil?
How does it respond to different
stimuli?
Why does it respond this way?
How do we relate the answers to
these questions to the problem or
project at hand?
Fundamental Mechanical Properties

Volume change
Stress-strain
Strength
Hydraulic conductivity
(and their changes with time)
MOST IMPORTANT UNSOLVED PROBLEMS

 Commoditization of services
 Narrowing the gap between “state-of-practice”
and “state-of-knowledge” – rapid transfer of best
research results into practice
 Seismic behavior of earth structures
 Displacements of earth structures during and
after construction
MOST IMPORTANT UNSOLVED PROBLEMS
(Cont.)

Characterizing and designing for

materials falling between soil and rock
Time effects in disturbed ground
Improved site characterization
How to generalize and simplify the
discipline
RESEARCH WITH HIGH PAYOFF BY 2010

 Faster, less expensive, more reliable in-situ

testing
 Rapid methods of site
assessment/characterization/investigation
 Less expensive, easier to use high level analysis
methods
 New and better ground improvement technologies
RESEARCH WITH HIGH PAYOFF BY 2010
(Cont.)
How to apply GIS and the WWW to
maximize value of our collective
knowledge base
21st Century implementation of the
Observational Method – real time
integration of observations, test data,
analysis and design during construction
On this occasion of the launch of the new
Nottingham Centre for Geomechanics,
the challenges are many, the
opportunities to make a difference are
great, and I wish you all the best success
in your efforts to lead the way during
the exciting and unpredictable times
that lie ahead.