Lateral Extension of Compacted-Fill Slopes in Expansive Soils
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Volume 141, Issue 1
Abstract
Many compacted embankments are composed of expansive soils. Water from landscape irrigation, precipitation, and subsurface seepage can gradually infiltrate throughout the fill and cause both vertical movement and lateral expansion of the fill-slope zone. Lateral stretching from expansion can cause distress to surface improvements and structures built near the crest of the slope. Slope inclinometers installed within the slope near the crest would register lateral movement that is the result of the fill’s lateral expansion. This paper describes the mechanism of lateral extension of expansive fill embankments and presents examples of resulting distress features. A test procedure is described for measuring wetting-induced vertical and lateral strains on compacted specimens using triaxial equipment. The paper also recommends a procedure, the lateral fill extension (LFE) method, for calculating the amounts of heave or settlement and lateral movement as a function of the slope’s geometry, the soil’s vertical and lateral swell-collapse characteristics, the fill’s oversize fraction, and the degree of wetting. Limitations of the method and mitigation of the effects of LFE are briefly discussed.
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Acknowledgments
The laboratory tests for this paper were part of the research program on the performance of compacted fills at San Diego State University. Graduate student R. Akhondzadeh assisted the authors in performing the tests. The FE analysis was performed by J. Sweet, Ph.D. All fieldwork and observations were carried out by Stoney-Miller Consultants, Irvine, California, who also provided the field data, the soil for laboratory testing, and financial support for the tests and analyses under a research grant to San Diego State University Foundation. Additional support was provided by Group Delta Consultants, Irvine, California. These valuable contributions are gratefully acknowledged.
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Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 141 • Issue 1 • January 2015
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© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 25, 2013
Accepted: Aug 19, 2014
Published online: Sep 24, 2014
Published in print: Jan 1, 2015
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