Karl Terzaghi: From Theory to Practice in Geotechnical Filter Design
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 134, Issue 3
Abstract
In a period of just over 10 years, Karl Terzaghi proved the idea of a weighted filter in simple laboratory tests while on faculty at the American Robert College in Turkey, patented the concept, developed empirical rules for the grain size distribution of filter through specialist consulting advice on relatively small weirs in Europe, and firmly established those rules as a basis for engineering practice on the Bou-Hanifia Dam in North Africa. The Terzaghi filter criteria are commonly attributed to experience gained on that latter project. However, an evaluation of unpublished letter reports, contract documents, and correspondence suggests the evolution of those criteria for soil retention and permeability occurred during his earlier collaboration with the Austrian consulting company of J. Pfletschinger & Co. This new insight appears to be confirmed by the uncovering of a draft patent claim, prepared in the name of Josef Pfletschinger, which sets out the precise details of those filter criteria and whose existence was acknowledged in contract documents for Bou-Hanifia.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The preparation of this paper is based upon extensive reference to unpublished project reports, technical documents, and personal correspondence held in the Terzaghi Library of the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute at Oslo in Norway, and to journal holdings of the British Library at London. In particular, the writer wishes to thank the NGI librarian Mrs. W. Enersen for sharing her outstanding knowledge of the Terzaghi collection, which continues to grow with ongoing donations of additional material. Some of those uncatalogued materials proved of great significance to the research for this paper. The writer also wishes to recognize the assistance of Dr. Siegfried Steimer, Dr. Markus Weiler, Mrs. Carolla von Hahn, and Ms. Pascale Rousé with translation of works published in German and French, and Mr. John Rowcliffe for his research assistance. Figs. 1, 2, 5–7, 8(a), and 10 are reproduced from original holdings of the Terzaghi Library, with permission of the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute. The study was undertaken with support of a 14th Terzaghi Fellowship from the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, and the writer is indebted to Dr. Suzanne Lacasse, Director of NGI, for her sponsorship of the work.
References
Bertram, G. E. (1940). “An experimental investigation of protective filters.” Graduate School of Engineering, Harvard Univ., Cambridge, Mass., Soil Mechanics Series, No. 7.
Casagrande, A. (1960). “Karl Terzaghi—His life and achievements.” Theory to practice in soil mechanics, L. Bjerrum, A. Casagrande, R. B. Peck, and A. W. Skempton, eds., Wiley, New York, 3–21.
de Boer, R. (2005). The engineer and the scandal—A piece of science history, Springer, Berlin.
Drouhin, M. (1936). “On the contribution of permeability and seepage studies to the control of underground erosion at the Bou-Hanifia dam (in French).” Trans. 2nd Int. Congress on Large Dams, Washington, D.C., Vol. 4, Annex 1, 29–53.
Goodman, R. E. (1999). Karl Terzaghi—The engineer as artist, ASCE Press, Reston, Va.
Laufer, A. (1927). “Piping and its remediation (in German).” Die Wasserwirtschaft, 20(24), 560–566.
Laufer, A. (1929). “Specialist construction details for the Hallein installation (in German).” Die Wasserwirtschaft, 22(16), 307–312.
Ott, J.-C. (1946). “Construction of the Bou-Hanifia dam, Algeria (in French).” Special edition of the Societe du Bulletin Technique de la Suisse Romande, taken from Bulletin Technique de la Suisse Romande, Feb. 5 & 9, 1944, 22 p.
Pfletschinger, J. (1929). “The Hallein hydropower installation for control of the river Salzach (in German).” Die Wasserwirtschaft, 22(16), 291–299.
Pfletschinger, J. (uncatalogued). “Method to protect erodible foundation soils against the mechanical attack of seepage water with the aid of a filter (in German).” Patent claim, undated. Terzaghi Library, Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, Oslo, Norway.
Rodio, G. (uncatalogued). Draft contract between the Rodio company and Karl von Terzaghi, undated (in German). Terzaghi Library, Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, Oslo, Norway.
Rodio, G., Bernatzik, W., and Daxelhofer, J.-P. (1937). “Internal erosion (in French).” Bulletin No. 5, Centre d’Etudes et de Recherche Geotechniques, Paris.
Rouse, H., and Ince, S. (1957). History of hydraulics, Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research, The State University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.
Soeser, M. (1929). “On the construction operations of H. Rella & Co. for the dam (in German).” Die Wasserwirtschaft, 22(16), 299–307.
Soydemir, C. (1970). “Terzaghi’s period in Turkey (1916–1925).” Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, Internal Rep. No. 5002, Oslo, Norway.
Terzaghi, K. (1922). “Failure of dam foundations by piping and means for preventing it (in German).” Die Wasserkraft, Zeitschrift fur die gesamte Wasserwirtschaft, 17(24), 445–449.
Terzaghi, K. (1925a). Earthwork mechanics on the basis of groundphysics (Erdbaumechanik, in German), Franz Deuticke, Leipzig, Germany.
Terzaghi, K. (1925b). “Modern concepts concerning foundation engineering.” J. Boston Soc. Civ. Eng., 12(10), 1–43.
Terzaghi, K. (1926a). “Curriculum vitae—Selected topics.” Hand-written draft, Terzaghi Library, Oslo, Norway.
Terzaghi, K. (1926b). “On the underground conditions existing at the site of the proposed Granville storage dam for the water supply system of Westfield, Mass.” Rep. of 17 August 1926 to Messrs. Fay, Spofford and Thorndike, Consulting Engineers.
Terzaghi, K. (1929). “Effect of minor geologic details on the safety of dams.” Technical publication 215, American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, 31–44.
Terzaghi, K. (1933). “The standard testing of soil for rolled earth dams (in German).” Proc., 1st Int. Congress on Large Dams, Stockholm, Sweden, Question 2a, Rapport No. 18, 1–35.
Terzaghi, K. (1935). “Discussion of ‘Uplift and seepage under dams on sand,’ by L.F. Harza.” Trans. Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 100, 1391–1395.
Terzaghi, K. (1939). “Soil mechanics—A new chapter in engineering science.” J. Inst. of Civ. Eng. (UK), 12(7), 106–141.
Terzaghi, K. (1943). Theoretical soil mechanics, Wiley, New York.
Terzaghi, K., and Peck, R. B. (1948). Soil mechanics in engineering practice, Wiley, New York.
Times Books. (2004). Complete history of the world, 6th Ed., R. Overy, Ed. Harper Collins, London.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 134 • Issue 3 • March 2008
Pages: 267 - 276
Copyright
© 2008 ASCE.
History
Received: Aug 25, 2006
Accepted: Feb 2, 2007
Published online: Mar 1, 2008
Published in print: Mar 2008
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.