Retesting of Liquefaction and Nonliquefaction Case Histories from the 1976 Tangshan Earthquake
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 137, Issue 4
Abstract
A field investigation was performed to retest liquefaction and nonliquefaction sites from the 1976 Tangshan earthquake in China. These sites were carefully investigated in 1978 and 1979 by using standard penetration test (SPT) and cone penetration test (CPT) equipment; however, the CPT measurements are obsolete because of the now nonstandard cone that was used at the time. In 2007, a modern cone was mobilized to retest 18 selected sites that are particularly important because of the intense ground shaking they sustained despite their high fines content and/or because the site did not liquefy. Of the sites reinvestigated and carefully reprocessed, 13 were considered accurate representative case histories. Two of the sites that were originally investigated for liquefaction have been reinvestigated for cyclic failure of fine-grained soil and removed from consideration for liquefaction triggering. The most important outcome of these field investigations was the collection of more accurate data for three nonliquefaction sites that experienced intense ground shaking. Data for these three case histories is now included in an area of the liquefaction triggering database that was poorly populated and will help constrain the upper bound of future liquefaction triggering curves.
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Acknowledgments
This research was a collaborative effort between researchers in the United States and researchers in China. The research was directed by Robb Moss (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) with assistance from Robert Kayen (USGS). Southeast University in Nanjing, China, provided the ground support with a fully staffed CPT rig, lab support for analyzing soil samples, and analytical support in the data reduction. Collaborators from Southeast University included Professor Liu, Professor Tong, Professor Du, and Guojun Cai. The China Earthquake Agency (CEA) in conjunction with Institute Engineering Mechanics (IEM) in Harbin provided logistical support and assistance in locating and obtaining access to the sites. Collaborators from CEA-IEM included Professor Yuan, Professor Tow, Cao Zhengzhong, Dr. Shi Lijing, and several student researchers. This research was truly a collaborative effort and would not have been successful without the contribution from every member of the team.
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under SGER Grant No. NSF0633886. Funding in China was provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Grant No. NSFC40702047 and the Jiangsu Transportation Research Foundation Grant No. UNSPECIFIED8821006021. The writers are thankful for the funding and the opportunity to pursue this research. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 137 • Issue 4 • April 2011
Pages: 334 - 343
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 7, 2009
Accepted: Jun 27, 2010
Published online: Jun 29, 2010
Published in print: Apr 1, 2011
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