Earth Structures Engineering. Questo articolo non è disponibile.Earth Structures Engineering

Earth structures engineering involves the analysis, design and construction of structures, such as slopes and dams, that are composed mainly of earth materials, and this is a growth area in geotechnical engineering practice. This growth is due largely to increased involvement in designing various types of earth structures for the resources industries (slopes, impoundment structures, offshore islands, mine backfills), to the development of increas­ ingly large hydroelectric projects, to the need for more freshwater storage and diversion schemes, and to the need for transportation, communications and other facilities in areas where the natural earth materials are occasionally subject to mass instabilities. Although geotechnical engineering transects traditional disciplinary boundaries of civil, geological and mining engineering, the majority of geotechnical engineers are graduates from civil engineering schools. Here the geotechnical instruction has been concentrated on soil mechanics and foundation engineering because foundation engineering has traditionally been the major component of geotechnical practice. Geotechnical special­ ists, however, generally have acquired considerable formal or informal training beyond their first engineering degree, and an advanced degree with considerable cross-discipline course content is still considered an advantage for a young engineer entering a career in geotechnical engineering. Practical job experience is, of course, a necessary part of professional development but is readily interpreted and assimilated only if the required background training has been obtained.

1 Earth structures and air photo interpretation.- 1.1 Earth materials: soils and rock.- 1.2 Basic information sources.- 1.3 Air photo interpretation.- 1.4 Rock landforms.- 1.5 Glacial landforms.- 1.6 Lacustrine, marine and alluvial landforms.- 1.7 Eolian and residual landforms.- 1.8 Uses of air photos in earth structures engineering.- 1.9 Other remote sensing and probing techniques.- 1.10 Problems on air photo interpretation.- 2 Earth mechanics in earth structures engineering.- 2.1 Strength and deformation of earth materials.- 2.2 Ground water and earth structures.- 2.3 Settlement of earth structures.- 3 Embankments and tunnels.- 3.1 Embankments on soft ground.- 3.2 Soft-ground tunneling.- 3.3 Problems on bearing capacity and tunnels.- 4 Slope stability.- 4.1 Types of slope movements.- 4.2 Slope stability analyses.- 4.3 Design charts for slopes in homogeneous materials.- 4.4 Crest loadings, dynamic loadings, submergence and drawdown.- 4.5 Recommended design factors of safety and procedures.- 4.6 Construction considerations and remedial measures.- 4.7 Permanent retaining walls.- 4.8 Problems on slope stability.- 5 Earth dams.- 5.1 Types of earth dams.- 5.2 Dam design considerations.- 5.3 Foundation treatments and efficiencies.- 5.4 Dam settlements and distortion.- 5.5 Earthquake and rapid drawdown design.- 5.6 Some special considerations in construction of earth dams.- 5.7 Monitoring, performance and maintenance of earth dams.- 5.8 Mine-tailings dams and process-water impoundments.- 5.9 Problems on earth dams.- 6 Ground subsidence and mine backfill.- 6.1 Ground control using backfill.- 6.2 Cemented tailings backfill design.- 6.3 Use of uncemented tailings backfill.- 6.4 Subsidence and surface effects.- 6.5 Problems on mine backfill and subsidence.- Appendix: units and symbols.- References.- Answers to problems.