Abstract
Prior to the huge reclamation work for constructing Kobe Airport, the sea-wall structure resting on a 30m-thick soft Holocene clay layer in the 16m-deep sea was constructed at stages over the period of three years. Regarding the design of short-term stability of the sea-wall structure, the ratio of undrained shear strength of the normally-consolidated seabed clay to in-situ yield stress was estimated to take the value of 0.35 in order to satisfy the factor of safety in excess of 1.3. This design strength in the clay foundation was checked with the unconfined compression strength of the fresh clay samples retrieved from boreholes during the construction. In this paper, the short-term stability of the embankment in this well-documented case history was re-evaluated after-the-event with the results of comprehensive series of constant-volume direct shear box tests in which the effects of strength anisotropy as well as the shearing rate on undrained shear strength were both examined. Discussion is made how to estimate the short-term stability of the embankment by considering the effects of strength anisotropy and shearing speed on undrained shear strength and how it is linked with the current design method in Japan in which a half of the undrained compression from unconfined compression test is employed.
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Shibuya, S., Jung, M., Chae, J. et al. Evaluation of short-term stability for sea-wall structure at Kobe Airport. KSCE J Civ Eng 12, 155–163 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-008-0155-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-008-0155-4