Geo-Congress 2020
The Fully Softened Shear Strength of Lake Agassiz Clays
Publication: Geo-Congress 2020: Engineering, Monitoring, and Management of Geotechnical Infrastructure (GSP 316)
ABSTRACT
This paper presents a review of the factors impacting the stability of riverbanks slopes along the Red River of the North which involve Lake Agassiz clays. In particular, the impact of the presence of fissures and micro-fissures and the role of fully softened shear strength in slope stability is discussed. The paper also presents and discusses the results of laboratory testing on disturbed and undisturbed Brenna Formation clay and its relevance to instability. It was found that at the field scale the fully softened shear strength can be a representative lower bound of the strength of the sliding mass not subjected to prior shearing.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this chapter.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The support provided by the Innovation Committee of Barr Engineering Co. is gratefully acknowledged. The careful performance of the laboratory testing by Soil Engineering Testing of Bloomington, Minnesota, is greatly appreciated. The City of Fargo provided access to the site to collect the block samples and perform the in-situ testing, and this assistance is appreciated. Mrs. Teresa Kes who helped in the preparation of this manuscript and figures is appreciated.
REFERENCES
Barr. (2008). “Geotechnical Design Report, Rose Coulee Pump Station, Fargo, North Dakota.” Report prepared for Moore Engineering, Inc.
Barr. (2011). “Oslo Flood Protection System Upgrades.” Report prepared for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers / City of Oslo. December 2011.
Brunner, P., Cook, G.P. and Simmons, C.T. (2011). “Disconnected surface water and groundwater: from theory to practice.” Groundwater Journal, Vol. 49, No. 4, pp. 460–467.
Chandler, R.J. and Apted, J.P. (1988). “The effect of weathering on the strength of London Clay.” Q.J. Eng. Geol., 21, 59–68.
Contreras, I.A., Greenwood, J.D., and Grosser, A.T. (2012). “The Shear Strength of lake Agassiz Clays and its Role in Slope Stability.” Proceedings of the 60thAnnual Geotechnical Engineering Conference, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota:129-147.
Contreras, I.A. and Solseng, P.B. (2006). “Slope stability in Lake Agassiz Clays.” In Proceedings of the 54thAnnual Geotechnical Engineering Conference, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota: 79–93.
Dasenbrock, D.D. (2010). “Automated landslide instrumentation programs on US Route 2 in Crookston, MN.” Proceedings of 58thAnnual Geotechnical Conference, University of Minnesota. Feb. 2010. pp. 165–185.
Harris, K.L., Moran, S.R., and Clayton, L. (1974). “Late quaternary stratigraphic nomenclature, Red River Valley, North Dakota and Minnesota.” North Dakota Geological Survey Miscellaneous Series 52:47 p.
Hill, Hibbert, and Rutledge. (undated). “Earth Movements in the Red River Valley of the North: unpublished manuscript presented at Sessions of the American Society of Civil Engineers.” 11p., 10 Figs.
Kayyal, M. K. and Wright, S. G. (1991). “Investigation of Long-Term Strength Properties of Paris and Beaumont Clays in Earth Embankments,” Research Report 1195-2F, Center for Transportation Research, The University of Texas at Austin, November 1991, 125p.
Mesri, G. and Shahien, M. (2003). “Residual shear strength in first-time slope failures. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, Vol. 129, No. 1, January 2003, pp. 12–31.
Petley, D.J. (1984). “Shear strength of over-consolidated fissured clay.” Proc., 4thInt. Symp. on Landslides, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2, 167–172.
Rominger, J.F. and Rutledge, P.C. (1952). “Use of Soil Mechanics Data in the Correlation and Interpretation of Lake Agassiz Sediments.” The Journal of Geology, Vol. 60, p. 160-180.
Rydeen, W.D., Behling, C. and Riddick, A.G. (2005). Personal communication.
Skempton, A.W. (1970). “First time slides in overconsolidated clays.” Geotechnique, 20, 320–324.
Skempton, A.W. (1977). “Slope stability of cuttings in Brown London clay.” Proc., 9thInt. Conf. on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, 3, 261–270.
Shannon and Wilson. (1999). “Geotechnical Summary Report.” Grand Forks Flood Control Studies, Grand Forks North Dakota, September, 1999.
Thorleifson, L.H. (1996). Review of Lake Agassiz history. In “Sedimentology, Geomorphology, and History of the Central Lake Agassiz Basin” (J.T. Teller, L.H. Thorleifson, G. Matile, and W.C. Brisbin, Eds.), pp. 55–84, Geological Association of Canada Field Trip Guidebook for GAC/MAC Joint Annual Meeting.
United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). (1998). Draft – General Reevaluation Report and Environmental Impact Statement, East Grand Forks, ND and East Grand Forks, MN. St. Paul District, United States Army Corps of Engineers.
United States Army Corps of Engineers. (2000). Design Documentation Report, Geology and Geotechnical Engineering Appendix, Alignment Refinement, Flood Control, Red River of the North, Grand Forks, ND and East Grand Forks, MN, St. Paul District, United States Army Corps of Engineers.
Wright, S. G., Zornberg, J. G., and Aguettant, J. E. (2007). “The Fully Softened Shear Strength of High Plasticity Clays.” Research Report 5202-3, Center for Transportation Research, The University of Texas at Austin, February 2007, 118p.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Geo-Congress 2020: Engineering, Monitoring, and Management of Geotechnical Infrastructure (GSP 316)
Pages: 186 - 199
Editors: James P. Hambleton, Ph.D., Northwestern University, Roman Makhnenko, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Aaron S. Budge, Ph.D., Minnesota State University, Mankato
ISBN (Online): 978-0-7844-8279-7
Copyright
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Feb 21, 2020
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Bodies of water (by type)
- Clays
- Geomechanics
- Geotechnical engineering
- Lakes
- Material mechanics
- Material properties
- Materials engineering
- River bank stabilization
- River engineering
- Rivers and streams
- Shear strength
- Slope stability
- Slopes
- Soft soils
- Soil dynamics
- Soil mechanics
- Soil properties
- Soil stabilization
- Soil strength
- Soils (by type)
- Strength of materials
- Water and water resources
- Water management
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.