Search results for "Water pressure"
showing 10 items of 31 documents
The stabilization of a slope-viaduct system without closing traffic
2015
ABSTRACT A case history concerned with the stabilisation of a slope-viaduct system is reported. The two-carriageway viaduct was built 39 years ago on a rather gentle slope that did not show any sign of instability. In 2010 a landslide took place and damaged the viaduct. As the relocation of the motorway was deemed unpracticable, the alternative solution of stabilising the slope and repairing the viaduct was chosen. The owner asked to design remedial measures that did not require the closure of the viaduct. This was possible since the movements of the slided mass were slow and regular. The slope-viaduct system was stabilised by improving, firstly, the bearing conditions of the decks, then st…
Design and operation of a small and portable rainfall simulator for rugged terrain
1997
A rainfall simulator designed to perform experiments in rugged terrain is presented. The portability of the apparatus allows the researcher to work in remote areas and on steep slopes. Rainfall intensity and distribution within the plot (0.24 m2) and drop-size were measured under different water pressure. For the best simulated rainfall distribution (1.55 kg cm2 of water pressure and 55 mm h−1 of rain intensity) the drop velocity and the kinetic energy were measured.
Porewater pressure control on subglacial soft sediment remobilization and tunnel valley formation: A case study from the Alnif tunnel valley (Morocco)
2014
25 pages; International audience; In the eastern part of the Moroccan Anti-Atlas Mountains, the Alnif area exposes a buried Ordovician glacial tunnel valley (5 km wide, 180 m deep) cut into preglacial marine sediments. The preglacial sedimentary sequence, deposited in a marine environment, is characterized by a typical "layer-cake" configuration of permeable (sand) and impermeable (clays and early-cemented sandstones) layers. At the base of the tunnel valley, a discontinuous and fan-shaped glacial conglomeratic unit 10 to 15 m thick occurs, erosively deposited over preglacial marine sediments. The conglomeratic unit is composed of preglacial intraclasts embedded within a sandy matrix. Both …
Hydraulic Characterization of a Pervious Concrete for Deep Draining Trenches
2018
Reduction in pore water pressure is an useful strategy to improve the stability of slopes. Deep draining trenches can be used for this purpose. For the realization of deep trenches, the usual conventional construction techniques are not adequate and the use of adjacent vertical panels, built by means of the methods well-established for diaphragm walls, is necessary. However, unbonded materials (i.e., gravels) cannot be used, because the excavation of a panel adjacent to one already built will cause instability. For this scope a bonded material such as pervious concrete can be used. It must have high permeability; filtering capacity, in order to prevent internal erosion of the soil in which …
Volume change characteristics of fine-grained soils due to sequential thermo-mechanical stresses
2019
Know-how of volume change characteristics, VCC, of the fine-grained soils, exposed to thermal stresses, is essential for design of various thermo-active structures. These stresses are known to induce excess pore-water pressure, Δu θ , in the saturated state of such soils, which in turn affects their compression and shear strength characteristics. In this context, through several experimental studies, the effect of thermo-mechanical stress-path, the over-consolidation ratio (OCR) and degree of saturation on VCC (viz., thermally induced volumetric strain, ε vθ , compression and re-compression indices, c c and c r ) of the fine-grained soils has been demonstrated by earlier researchers. Howeve…
Pore water velocity and ionic strength effects on DOC release from peat-sand mixtures: Results from laboratory and field experiments
2017
Organic soils are the most important source of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in surface water. To date, most studies have focused on natural and re-wetted peatlands, but in Central Europe a large proportion of organic soils are drained and under agricultural use. Furthermore, measures such as deep ploughing or sand addition have been conducted to improve trafficability and have resulted in topsoil horizons consisting of a peat-sand mixture. Very little is known about DOC losses from such soils. Moreover, peat soils frequently feature both mobile zones, characterised by active water and solute transport, and immobile zones, which exchange solutes with the mobile zone by diffusion. Surprisin…
Does porewater or meltwater control tunnel valley genesis? Case studies from the Hirnantian of Morocco.
2015
18 pages; International audience; Several Ordovician tunnel valleys are exposed in the Moroccan Anti-Atlas Mountains, including the Alnif and the Foum Larjamme tunnel valleys, located 150 km away from each other. Sedimentological and deformational analyses of these two glacial troughs reveal that differing processes lead to their formations.The Alnif tunnel valley contains numerous deformation structures within sediments both below and above the main glacial erosion contact surface. Ball-structures and clastic dykes occur within preglacial sediments down to 35 m below glacial incisions while overlying glacial sediments contain fluted surfaces, clastic dykes, dewatering structures, folds and…
Advances in the Testing of the Hydro-mechanical Behaviour of Shales
2013
The paper presents some of the advanced experimental techniques and apparatuses that have been developed by the authors for testing the hydromechanical behaviour of shales. A methodology established for the analysis of the water retention behaviour in non-isochoric conditions is introduced; the method allows for the determination of the main drying and wetting paths in addition to the volume change response upon total suction variations. A high-pressure oedometric cell is then presented; the apparatus allows for the analysis of the transition from the pre-yield behaviour to the normally consolidated state. The analysis of the settlement versus time curves yields information on the permeabil…
Fluid escape structures in the north Sicily continental margin
2014
Abstract High resolution and multichannel seismic profiles coupled with multibeam echosounder (seafloor relief) data, acquired along the northern Sicily continental margin (southern Tyrrhenian Sea), document the occurrence of mound and pockmark features, revealing fluid escape processes. Along this margin, morphology of the high-gradient continental slope is irregular due to the presence of structural highs, slope failures and canyons, and is interrupted by flat areas at a mean depth of 1500 m. Seismostratigraphic analysis tools and methods were used to identify fluid escape structures and to work out a classification on the basis of their morpho-acoustic characteristics. The detailed 3D ba…
Hot water injection in relation to 1982-84 microseismic events at Campi Flegrei Caldera by thermo-hydro-mechanical simulation
2020
The repeated deformations and seismic unrests at Campi Flegrei caldera (southern Italy) have been identified due to a fluid injection source in volcano active area. We investigated the role of hot water injection in the seismic unrests of 1982-1984 with a view to gaining insights into the caldera’s dynamics, by applying coupled TOUGHREACT-FLAC3D simulator to our computational domain of 10 × 1 × 3 km with a single-phase steam isothermal (HM) and non-isothermal (THM) simulations comparison. The results indicated that the overlying caprock blocks the uprising hot water injection, leading to the building up of pore pressure and shear stress underneath over time. This process substantially modif…