Tension Cracks in a Compacted Clay Embankment
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 143, Issue 7
Abstract
In a spirit of adventure, a boring was made and soil moisture contents measured along a tension crack near the crest of an earth embankment. Moisture contents increased linearly with depth and then sharply decreased at what is interpreted to be the bottom of the crack. Desiccation does not appear to have been a factor because of construction delays due to rains as the embankment still was under construction. It is hypothesized that the crack was created by quasi-elastic rebound of the recently compacted soil directed normal to the intersecting ground surfaces. A second increase in moisture content that appears to be linear with depth was discovered as the boring had been extended all of the way through to the bottom of the embankment. This change in moisture contents suggests a possible basal crack that can be attributed to differential settlement, and is assumed to connect to the upper crack as it was encountered in the same boring. Hydraulic connection may have been impaired by pinching action related to differential settlement but still could allow some water to go through. A comparison of the two mechanisms suggests that the upper crack probably formed first. A basal crack that remains open should be relevant for earth dams.
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Acknowledgments
The field investigation was discontinued after a slope failure and reconstruction of the embankment. Data are courtesy of Geotechnical Services, Inc., Des Moines, Iowa. The soil borings were conducted by the co-author, Zachary Thomas, and Dean Heldt. This study uses an observational method that has its roots in geology and was championed by Terzaghi. As Mark Twain (1874) observed, “There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact.”
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 143 • Issue 7 • July 2017
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 29, 2016
Accepted: Oct 25, 2016
Published online: Mar 3, 2017
Published in print: Jul 1, 2017
Discussion open until: Aug 3, 2017
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