Recent multistory structures built in the City of Adelaide, South Australia, have frequently been founded on rafts. The authors have measured settlements on three such structures, and on two of the three sufficient exploration and test data were available to permit a review of techniques used for settlement prediction. For two of the projects conventional surveying techniques were used; for the third a borehole extensometer technique developed in the United Kingdom was the primary technique. The extensometer approach was found to be superior from a number of standpoints, including accessibility during construction, convenience of measurement and accuracy of results. An alternative method is proposed for settlement prediction and is demonstrated to be simple, versatile and to give results similar to those obtained from currently used methods that are either more restrictive or more time consuming in their application.

Considerable judgment is required to estimate the overall three‐dimensional dynamic response of a dam in a narrow canyon from plane strain analyses of individual sections of the dam. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to present a comparison between the results of three‐dimensional and two‐dimensional dynamic analyses of two dams with different canyon geometries. From this comparison the conditions under which three‐dimensional behavior is of importance in the dynamic response of a dam are determined. Additionally, the applicability of two‐dimensional analyses for the determination of the dynamic behavior of dams in steep walled canyons is evaluated.

Ground movements generated by the excavation of trenches presents some risk of damage to buried services nearby. The effects of such excavation on adjacent buried pipes have been analyzed using a three‐dimensional finite element model having elastic material properties. The bending moments and displacements induced only in pipes running parallel to open, unsupported, rectangular trenches have been considered. The results show that small diameter pipes, such as those having diameters and longitudinal bending stiffnesses smaller than those for a 6 in. diameter cast iron pipe, closely follow the movements of the ground and that, for practical purposes, the moments induced in such pipes may be assumed to be directly proportional to their flexural rigidities and inversely proportional to the elastic modulus of the soil. These proportionalities break down for large diameter pipes which are less flexible and restrain the ground from moving freely. The ground movements and pipe‐strains predicted by the analysis have been found to be of the same order as those measured in several field tests.

Methods of checking the overall stability of anchored retaining walls are reviewed. Series of laboratory scale tests were carried out in which field construction of anchored rigid retaining walls was simulated. For each of four different anchor arrangements four methods which are used in practice to check overall stability, were used for the anchorage design. Considerable instrumen tation was incorporated in the test equipment so that wall and sand move ments, anchor forces and earth pressure acting on the wall could be monitored at all stages of the construction process. After completion of the excavation in front of the wall, the backfill was subjected to a uniform surcharge loading to increase stress levels above those used in design. All four design methods resulted in stable systems both at the end of construction and after backfill loading. However, wall movements when surcharge loading was applied to the backfill were considerable, and may not be acceptable in practice. Modifications to the design methods are suggested.

Current methods for estimating the long‐term settlement of shallow foundations on frozen soils are reviewed. It is found that, when the distortional creep is the main source of settlement, there are some potentially good methods for its prediction. Much less is known, however, on how to predict the long‐term settlement of shallow footings on relatively warm frozen soils, when both creep and consolidation act simultaneously. Other subjects considered in the paper are the selection of operational strength of frozen soils for the design, the ways of taking into account the effect of friction on their creep and strength, as well as the effects on the settlement of foundations of the depth of burial and the loading history. Finally, some areas of needed research are defined, with a special emphasis on the need for more long‐term performance observations on full‐scale footings in permafrost.

A method for estimating equivalent Standard Penetration Test (SPT) N‐values from Cone Penetration Test (CPT) data has been presented accounting for variations in soil grain size and SPT energy input. A discussion is given regarding the problems associated with the SPT and how these relate to SPT‐CPT correlations. A historical review of SPT‐CPT correlations is presented with additional recent data that include energy measurements during the SPT. An example is given to illustrate how the SPT data can be rationalized using energy corrections. Also, a chart is provided to estimate mean grain size from CPT data.

The construction on an instrumented trial embankment on soft clay is described. Field measurements of pore‐pressure and vertical and horizontal displacements were carried out and the results are discussed. Foundation strength was evaluated through vane tests, UU triaxial tests and SHANSEP method. Embankment failure occurred when its height was about 3 m. Stability analysis were carried out to evaluate methods of assessing soft foundation strength.

The analysis of dam failures allows considerations about their safety and can influence new design and inspection criteria. Historical data about dam failures are used to relate failure rate to age or decade of construction. These results are used to forecast the number of expected failures during 1980/90 and the risk of failure for a dam built during the eighties.

Geometric approximations necessary in the Simplified Bishop Method of Slices for slope stability analysis can lead to inadvertent errors. Depending on the method of computation of the slice area and base inclination angle, significant extraneous error may be introduced. Use of the exact slice area and straight line base angle results in consistently accurate estimates of the overturning and resisting moments and factor of safety. Convergence to an exact solution as a number of slices is increased is also demonstrated. Unconservative estimates of the factor of safety may be obtained using a trapezoidal area approximation together with a straight line slice base inclination angle, particularly for deep circles in cohesive soils using a limited number of slices.