Search Documents

By Jose Caicedo, Elmar Buhl

Polyurethane based ground injections are most frequently used to stabilize shallow foundations that have under- gone settlement due to soil shrinkage, softening of the ground by water (e.g., heavy rainfall or defective sewer pipes), or planning errors regarding the bearing capacity. The expansive reaction of the injected polyurethane, together with the counter-pressure of the foundation, results in a ground improvement of the soil layers underneath the foundation. When more material is injected, a releveling of settled shallow foundations or concrete slabs is possible. Due to more frequent reuse of existing buildings in urban areas, we have seen an increase in requests regarding the reuse of the existing foundations under increased loads. Sometimes the load increase can be accommodated by the existing foun- dations without any modifications, but it is often the case that the new load exceeds the bearing capacity of the old foundation. In this case, there are several options to strengthen the foundation. Most commonly, sectional underpinning and retrofitting micro- piles along the foundation are used to increase the bearing capacity. An alternative option is the strengthening of the ground under the existing foundations to increase the bearing capacity and to minimize settlement due to the new load. In the last few years Uretek, a provider of polyurethane based ground injections, has frequently applied these injections to successfully perform the necessary ground improvement in the context of building reuse or the addition of new stories to buildings. This article will present a case study of a residential building in Hamburg, Germany, where an additional story was planned and the bearing capacity of the existing shallow foundations was not sufficient for the new load. In this case expanding geopolymer injections were used to gain the necessary bearing capacity and the effect was monitored by an in-situ load test. A second case study will briefly illustrate an experimental project where ground injections were used to increase the skin friction of a micropile foundation at a parking garage in Munich before the addition of three new stories.

Mar 1, 2025

By Andrew Evans

As healthcare facilities evolve to meet the needs of expanding urban popu- lations, the demand for sophisticated excavation support and deep foundation solutions becomes increasingly critical. One such project is the new campus for Children's Medical Center in Dallas - an ambitious expansion set to serve the region for decades to come. At the core of this high-profile project is Oscar Orduno, a Dallas-based specialty contractor. This project, like many at the intersection of healthcare infrastructure and urban development, brings unique geotech- nical challenges. Texas. The expansion includes new clinical buildings, research facilities and a network of support structures - all of which rely on robust and technically sound below-grade construction. The specialty contractor joined the project to deliver an excavation support solution, ensuring that the develop- ment's deep foundations and per- manent basement wall would meet all performance requirements. Given the urban context of the site, as well as being adjacent to ongoing hospital operations, and the substantial depth of excavation, the scope demanded a high level of coordination, technical capability and adaptability. At the center of the site is a perma- nent basement wall, reaching depths of nearly 70 ft (21 m) below street level. The wall's design had to account for immediate earth retention during ex- cavation as well as the long-term structural needs of the new hospital complex. The total project scope con- sists of several new towers, across 33 acres (13 ha) and increasing the total hospital footprint by more than 2 mil- lion sq ft (185,800 sq m). These chal- lenges were met through an integrated system of soldier piles and tieback anchors, engineered and installed to stringent standards.

Sep 1, 2025

By Abdul Amir Alhelu

The Cardinal Hill slope movement repair was an urgent project, and a high priority, time-sensitive project for the Louisville Water Company. Cardinal Hill is a critical water distribution facility that serves a majority of Jefferson and Bullitt Counties, and parts of Hardin and Nelson County, Kentucky. On March 14, 2019, the Louisville Water Company issued a certificate of emergency based on evidence of impending slope failure, which could cause a catastrophic break in a 60 in (1.5 m) diameter transmission line and loss of a 30 million gal (114 million L) reservoir. The reservoir would fail due to the pipe failure. The subsurface conditions generally consisted of a stiff silty clay extending to about 27 ft (8 m) below the shoulder of the road, where a weathered siltstone was encountered. The siltstone was about 3 ft (1 m) thick and underlain by shale. The earth auger sampling tools encountered refusal material (shale) at about 30 ft (9 m) deep. The boring was extended about 5 ft (1.5 m) into competent shale using a roller bit. Two borings were drilled on the slope on the south side of the fence in the neighbor's yard, encountering refusal material at 11 ft (3 m) near the driveway and at 4.5 ft (1.3 m) on the upper plateau.

Jan 1, 2025

By J. David Frost, Anna Frost, Morgan NeSmith, Boyeong Yoon

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is recognized globally as a testament to resilience in that it has been leaning from early in its 800-year existence and yet is not considered a failure from many, if any, perspectives. If one asks the question, "Could foundation-based architecture have prevented it from leaning from the outset?" then one has to first ask "What is foundation-based architecture?" If you are intrigued by these questions, read on. The word architecture is inherently associated with the portion of a structure that is visible above ground. This is both an omission and a missed opportunity to recognize that the foundation of a structure can contribute as much, if not more, to the realization of a structure. As our planet faces significant growing challenges due to natural hazards such as sea level rise, elevated temperature events, increased precipitation events and more severe wind events, the importance of considering the architecture of a foundation system is likely to become even more critical when the con- sequences of natural hazards such as drought, wildfires, landslides, debris flows, floods, glacial lake outflows and tsunamis, among others, are mani- fested. The above ground physical and societal aspects of infrastructure and the increased demand for below- ground space will require creative problem-solving solutions and con- siderable foresight. Foundation-based architecture will unquestionably play a critical role in helping society adapt to and survive natural hazard stressors that are at best ill-defined and often poorly understood.

Nov 1, 2025

By David Graham

Dedicated by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1940, Chickamauga Lock and Dam is located just upstream of Chattanooga, Tennessee, at Tennessee River Mile 471. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) owns the structure, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Nashville District, operates and maintains the navigation lock. Constructed under the direction of the TVA as part of the New Deal, Chicka- mauga Lock and Dam serves the TVA's mandates of flood control, improved navigation and hydroelectric power generation along the Tennessee River and its tributaries. Chickamauga is one of the busiest navigation locks in the country, handling nearly 10 million tons of freight each year. As a critical link in the transportation of goods, particularly bulk commodities like coal, grain and chemicals, its efficiency directly im- pacts the economy. The Chickamauga Lock was designed by the USACE and was based on the design of Guntersville Dam downstream. The Chickamauga Lock is 60 ft (18 m) wide by 360 ft (110m) long. However, the dam was designed to allow a larger 110 by 600 ft (34 by 183 m) lock to be added if needed in the future. That future is now, and the USACE is leading a project to construct a new, larger lock to increase the flow of river freight and address structural issues. Extensive concrete surface cracking was observed soon after the lock and dam was completed in 1940. The cracking is a result of alkali-silica reaction (ASR) and alkali-carbonate reaction (ACR), which cause the concrete to expand. The existing lock suffers from structural deficiencies resulting from ASC and ACR concrete expansion, making a new lock that much more critical. The overall cost of the lock replace- ment project is estimated at $954 million with operational completion estimated in 2028 and final completion estimated in 2031. As part of the project, C.J. Mahan Construction Company was awarded a $61 million contract to con- struct the upstream approach walls that will guide vessels into the new lock. The approach walls were planned to be sup- ported on 28 drilled shafts of 6.5 ft (2 m) diameter. The contract also included a nonproduction technique shaft with a bidirectional load test. The baseline design included four piers, each sup- ported on four drilled shafts, and two nose piers, each supported on six drilled shafts. The drilled shafts included 6 ft (1.8 m) diameter rock sockets ranging in length from 25-45 ft (8-14 m).

May 1, 2025

By Joel Moskowitz, George J. Tamaro

Collaboration, cooperation and - borrowing a phrase from hockey - "changes on the fly" are all aspects that came to mind in the construction of the 30 Hudson Street tower. A former industrial site on the west shore of the Hudson River, offering spectacular views of lower Manhattan, was chosen for the location of this office tower. Available information indicated the presence of multiple existing founda- tions, miscellaneous and potentially contaminated fill, and rock-filled timber bulkheads. The subsurface profile consisted of fill over river bottom organic silt, compact sand and rock at depths varying from 30-55 ft (9-17 m). Existing boring data, some of which dated back as early as 1902, did not include sampling details, nor were precise sampling locations easily. determined. Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engi- neers attended early design discussions with the owner and the rest of the design team and provided foundation alternatives for the following three schemes: . • . No basement with multiple parking levels above grade A shallow basement, still requiring above grade parking A deep basement for all parking, with the most notable functional aspect of keeping the lobby level at grade Due to the presence of known obstruc- tions, a deep seam of decomposed rock, possible contaminants and the neces- sity for deep foundations into rock (for no or shallow basement), the deep basement scheme with a perimeter diaphragm (slurry) wall was selected as the preferred alternative. Although it had a higher installation cost, it pro- vided the owner with many benefits such as below-grade parking, building the lobby at the ground floor level, removal of contaminated soil and the potential for future expansion within the diaphragm wall. The contractor, in consultation with our team, chose to pre-trench the perimeter wall alignment to a depth of about 10 ft (3 m) with a low strength concrete slurry mix, which aided in the removal of obstructions and pro- vided a permanent wall that wouldn't have major intrusions into the site owing to the volume of the removed obstructions.

Jan 1, 2004

By Adam Hacker

In early 1937, the Ohio River elevated to its highest levels leading to devastating flooding in Louisville, Kentucky. Today, that historical flood, also known as the Great Flood of 1937, is still the flood of record for the area. In an effort to re- duce flooding risk to the population, the Flood Control Act of 1937 was passed to strengthen Louisville's re- silience against future flooding. This triggered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to construct the Louisville Metro Levee System, which comprises 26.1 mi (42 km) of concrete floodwalls and earthen levees with 16 flood pump stations. One of those flood pump stations was the Paddy's Run Flood Pump Station, which was built in the 1950s, in the western portion of Louisville. That flood pump station was located at an existing stormwater outfall that conveys the stormwater from the western metro- politan area under the levee to the Ohio River. The stormwater flows through the outfall by gravity when the Ohio River is not elevated. When the river is elevated, the flood pump station becomes active after a flood gate at the end of the outfall closes. This is necessary because with- out the flood gate, the Ohio River would backflow into the outfall causing inland flooding. When the flood pump station is active, the stormwater gets pumped over the levee embankment through discharge pipes into the Ohio River. Stormwater can collect in a ponding area and backup during intense rainfall events when the inflow to the flood pump station exceeds the capacity. Recently, Louisville and Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD), which now operates and main- tains the levee system, determined the need to upgrade the existing Paddy's Run Flood Pump Station's capacity to reduce the risk of interior flooding. MSD determined the new flood pump station would need to increase existing capacity from 875 million to 1,900 million gal (4 to 8.6 billion L) a day to account for a 2035 projected storm event, which is a 10-year, 24-hour storm event of 5.0 in (127 mm) in 24 hours. Due to the age and complications associated with up- grading the existing pump station, a new pump station was selected as the preferred approach. In 2021, MSD

Nov 1, 2025

By Frank DiSalvo

As the natural disaster potential escalates and urban coastlines throughout the U.S. continue to bear the brunt of its effects, cities like New York; Jersey City, New Jersey, and Hoboken, New Jersey, are responding with the only effective strategy available: building smarter, stronger and more resilient infrastructure. Nowhere is this more evident than in the vast network of flood protection projects currently transforming the shoreline of the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area. Geotechnical contractor American Pile & Foundation has five major resiliency projects underway, stretching from Hoboken's rail yard to the eastern and western shores of Lower Manhattan. Each of these projects presents unique engineering and construction challenges, particularly given the heavily urbanized, historic and often fragile nature of the terrain. From executing technical foundation work through centuries-old manmade fill to operating adjacent to critical transit infrastructure, these projects demand technical expertise, innovation, con- struction know how and collaboration to help redefine the way the construc- tion industry approaches resiliency. Let's go on a tour throughout the harbor and get a closer look at each site and its unique challenges.

Nov 1, 2025

By Allison Digregorio, Muhammad Ali Naeem, Sam Yao, Joshua Core, Simpson Gumpertz

The Potrero Power Station makes up approximately 1,000 ft (304.8 m) of shoreline on the east side of the San Francisco Peninsula between Pier 70 to the north and 23rd Street to the south. Beginning as early as the 1870s, the site has been home to numerous industrial activities and has not been open to the public in many years. The industrial activities ranged from sugar refining to power generation and gas manufacturing. The Potrero Power Station Project is rehabilitating the waterfront and pro- viding a mixed-use development and public waterfront to reopen the area to the public while also providing robust protection against sea level rise and seismic-induced instability. When transforming such a sizeable post- industrial area, creative design solutions were tailored to each location to increase the grade and stabilize the slope. The solutions implemented ranged from ground improvements to retaining walls.

Nov 1, 2025

By Ed Amos

The morning fog rolled off the Pacific Ocean as engineers surveyed a 27,000 sq ft (2,500 sq m) contaminated slope in Davenport, California. What lay before them represented one of the most challenging environmental remediation projects in recent memory - a steep hillside poisoned by decades of cement production, threatening to leach toxic materials into one of the state's most pristine coastal environments. This case study from a former Cemex cement plant site demonstrates how innovative drilling and soil stabilization techniques can address complex en- vironmental challenges while protecting sensitive ecosystems. The project's success offers valuable insights for engi- neers, contractors and environmental professionals facing similar contam- inated site challenges.

Sep 1, 2025

By Stephen Slomski, Benjamin White, Bradley Klausing

Integrity assessment of drilled shafts can be determined by considering information from many points in the construction process. Observation of the drilling and shaft installation can provide additional confidence in the foundation element. Material testing is commonplace and provides another quality assurance. This information should be considered and is critical to the final evaluation of shaft integrity. Integrity testing is an in-situ method that evaluates the shaft as constructed. Several testing methods, each with its own strengths and limitations, are available to evaluate the integrity of a shaft. This article discusses three types of tests, thermal integrity profiling, low-strain integrity testing and high-strain dynamic testing, and their results from drilled shafts installed to support two county road projects.

Jan 1, 2025

By Jason Reinhardt, Devon Switser, Nick Strater, Bob Stier, Joseph Reed

Originally constructed from 1828-1850, the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Canal was one of the first largescale civil works projects funded by the U.S. Government, with supplemental funds from Mary- land and Virginia. The canal's navi- gational system stretched along the Potomac River for 184.5 mi (296 km) from Washington, D.C., to Cumberland, Maryland. The C&O Canal's navigational system was primarily comprised of locally sourced materials such as stone, earth, timber, mortar and brick. The Paw Paw Tunnel was con- structed by the C&O Canal Company in lieu of building 6.7 mi (11 km) of canal along the Potomac River (referred to as the Paw Paw Bends). The tunnel is approximately 3,118 ft (950 m) long, 25 ft (8m) wide, lined with six million bricks, and included open cuts through the interbedded shale and siltstone on both sides of the approaches to the tunnel en- trances. The excavation passed through the Tunnel Hill Ridge and the Valley of Mill Run (a stream that still conveys water through the cut in the form of waterfalls). After the full section of canal through the project area was opened in 1850, it remained in commercial oper- ation for 74 years until 1924. Today, the Paw Paw Slope Stabiliza- tion Project is located in one of the most remote portions of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park, approximately 155 river miles (250 km) upstream of Washington, D.C., and under the management of the National Park Service. There is a rich history of rock fall and slope instability within the cut on the downstream approach to the tunnel. This is due to a combination of

Apr 1, 2025

By Andrew Lees

Where in-situ ground is too weak to support piling rigs and other mobile plants, a temporary platform of stronger granular material may be constructed to distribute plant loads safely to the underlying ground. A critical step in the construction of a safe working platform is its design. Essentially, the optimal thickness of the platform material needs to be determined such that it is large enough to distribute piling rig track pressures safely to the ground without bearing failure, but not so large that it becomes unnecessarily expensive and time-consuming to construct. Platform failure can take several geotechnical forms including punching shear failure through the platform into the underlying soil and a rotational slip failure. Any, or a combination, of these could lead to platform failure and a catastrophic toppling of a piling rig. Safe design of these temporary struc- tures requires a calculation method that can cover these failure modes in a reliable manner. The T-value calculation method considers multiple failure modes since it is derived from validated finite element analysis (FEA) that has no predetermined failure modes. Since its introduction in 2019, it has been applied to the design of hundreds of working platforms around the world. On its fifth birthday, the method's author provides a quick overview and advice on its use.

Jan 1, 2025

By Dimitrios Konstantakos

When writing this article almost 10 years ago about the future of the deep foundations industry, little did I have in mind that ChatGPT would be created. Nevertheless, the mere act of writing up the article created a spark within me to prep up for what was coming. So, we put together some form of natural language communication with our deep excava- tion software, and although cumber- some, we could voice command it. When ChatGPT came to being, this allowed us to create the first AI assistant for generating deep excavation models. In November, we are releasing the first AI system for predicting pile capacity, which was one of the items described in the original article.

Jan 1, 2015

By Matthew Conte

Overgrown vegetation. Little to no effective drainage. Three or four different construction methods over the years. Live loads from above. Property line to navigate. Buildings on either side. I drove by this site for years wondering when someone was going to have to deal with it. That day came, and it turned out to be us. This particular project had typical attributes: limited space and restrictive conditions. This retaining wall system supported the neighbor's parking lot above, roughly 14 ft (4 m) in elevation change. At a length of 92 ft (28 m), both ends of the wall abut an active building in the lower property. Only a small parking area of roughly 50 ft (15 m) in depth lies before the heavily traveled state route in Westport, Connecticut. Roughly two-thirds of the existing wall was tiered, and the other third was taller, with a concrete masonry unit (CMU) wall that appeared to be part of a former structure. The existing wall was failing and leaning over the parking spaces. The drainage system showed signs of failure, and the vegetation was clearly retaining moisture and frost was heaving the walls a little more each year. During the initial kick-off of the project, it was decided we would immediately shore up this taller portion of the existing wall. That shoring would stay in place through construction. With active tenants and neighbors, the property owner needed a solution that would allow businesses to stay open and limit any disturbance to the above property. Very little documentation existed showing the construction of the walls or the soil conditions. Above, the neighboring property had added a small retaining wall when its parking lot was constructed. Soil borings were found, but nothing showing details on that newer retaining wall. The borings indicated structural fill was compacted in lifts beneath the lot, but nothing indicating any geotechnical measures beneath the wall, at the property line. We were forced to design a new wall considering the 'worst case' conditions. This new wall also required construction methods that would allow all aspects of the surrounding area to remain intact.

May 1, 2025

By Yasir Husain, Deepankar Choudhury, Hamzah M. B. Al-Hashemi, Marwan Alzaylaie

An existing warehouse spanning 12,000 sq m (130,000 sq ft), located in Jazan City on the southwestern coast of the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia, was supported by a reinforced concrete slab- on-grade, while its steel columns stood on bored piles and pile caps. Completed approximately a decade ago, the structure developed severe cracking and floor deformation reaching up to 170 mm (7 in), as per recent site surveys. The deformation evolved without any progressive instrumentation or moni- toring in place, and thus, neither the onset nor the time- dependent behaviour of the issue could be precisely estab- lished. The warehouse remained operational throughout this period, and the owners, faced with ongoing challenges, decided to announce a public bid inviting contractors and con- sultants to propose a feasible rehabilitation solution, given the unique nature of the site and the ongoing operations. To begin with, the city of Jazan is not an easy geotechnical ground to conquer. The region is defined by complex and problematic ground conditions: collapsible loess soil, Sabkha deposits (salt flats), salt domes (which are highly deformable over time), organic expansive clays, flood-prone zones, extreme temperatures, aggressive environmental effects and moderate seismic activity. Salt domes are large underground formations of salt that have pushed upward through overlying layers of rock due to their lower density. Over time, they can deform and shift, causing ground instability at the surface. These structures are particularly problematic for foundations, as the salt can dissolve with water infiltration or move plastically under stress, leading to uneven settlement or sudden subsidence of built structures. Furthermore, the structure in question had to remain in service, limiting the options for rehabilitation due to spatial, operational and construction-related constraints.

Aug 1, 2025

By Bengt Fellenius

I remember the 1983 conference and this "DFI News" note with its summary of my lecture - and how I cringed on seeing the heading of the note, claiming that I had "released the wave equation." The WEAP (wave equation analysis of pile driving) had been "released" about a decade earlier by the founders of GRL Engineers and Pile Dynamics, George Goble and Frank Rausche, marking the beginning of their great contributions to the geotechnical engineering practice "the quantum leap." I appreciate the opportunity, now 40 years later, to correct the heading implication. Several typos in the note, then irritating, are now more amusing, such as, "dull complex" instead of "full" and "restriction" instead of "restrike." My lecture tried to introduce some of the then recently developed dynamic monitoring and analysis state of the practice: the WEAP and PDA/CAPWAP (Pile Driving Analyzer/CAse Pile Wave Analysis Program). The lecture and the notes should be read in the light of how they were operated in early years. The mainframe computer and input was by means of punch cards. The field testing using the PDA was by lugging the analyzer, a bulky tape recorder, an oscilloscope, and power-cable and gage-chord bundles to the site. If travel was by air, the analyzer sat on the seat next to the engineer. For assessing the pile in the field, the measurements were printed out on a paper roll. In the mid-1980s, a screen was added to the analyzer, it became digital, and data were stored and accessible electroni- cally also in the field. No more tape recorder and oscilloscope. At about the same time, the PC arrived and the WEAP became available for running on the office machine. Process was slow; while the PC ran a WEAP, it was time for a cigarette and a cup of coffee. To think through the input to the analysis, there- fore, became an important time-saving effort. Soon thereafter, the CAPWAP also became available for use on a PC. The first International Stress Wave Conference in Stockholm in 1980 (it continued every fourth year, thereafter) started the international acceptance of monitoring. At the third conference, in Ottawa in 1988, the number of indi- viduals outside of GRL performing CAPWAP analysis amounted to 17, with 14 from outside the U.S. Today, the high-strain dynamic monitoring is routine wherever piles are driven, and its use has been extended to testing non-driven piles. The wave equation and high-strain dynamic method, then and now, is for assessing pile-soil response in terms of pile capacity and hammer perfor- mance. Over the years since, it has been extended to low-strain integrity testing and current advancement of tech- nology has been incorporated. For example, the connection between pile gages is now wireless and the analyzer is a tablet. The pile monitoring data can be sent to the "cloud" and enable remote testing. The process is so fast that an automatic signal matching can be made in real time on every blow. At some sites, every pile is tested, thus, the method is used for continuous quality control of the hammer-pile-soil system.

Jan 1, 2025

By Manny a. Fine

Manny Fine, who was once my boss and mentor, provides a sentient account of the perils of the specialist foundation subcontractor in a world of public sector design-build contracting. He opens by relating the comfort foundation specialists have with the private sector design-build model. A model that, he states, enjoys the freedom of innovation with what is believed to be a genuine interest and flexibility in concept, receptivity and contract in the private sector, which has led to public sector interest and dabbling in the design- build delivery method. Fine then describes a public sector arena for design-build fraught with difficulty for the specialist foundation subcontractor, which includes great effort for low return, contract restric- tions, narrow interpretation of alter- natives, and a low flexibility by the owner for alternative methods and risk assumption. His conclusion is that the design-build delivery method in the public sector results in duplication and wasted effort by the foundation specialist(s). He deems the evaluation process to be unsophisticated and lacking the ability to select the best proposal in terms of solution and or cost benefit and that the owner needs "to find ways to be more receptive to alternative or value engineered proposals." Now, 27 years later, we witness a well-established and flexible private sector design-build market driven by specialist foundation contractors and their partner consultants that has welcomed new technologies and driven innovation. Typically, there is more definition to the small- to medium-sized private projects (up to $15 million in value), whereas large design-build projects often see early contractor input and a team selected during the design process. The success of public sector design-build delivery has increased significantly since the time of Fine's commentary with many very suc- cessful applications and new 'models

Jan 1, 1998

By Fatemeh Pariafsai, Ali Doostvandi

To assess the stability of a soil slope considering uncertainty in soil characteristics (C, Φ), it is necessary to conduct repeated calculations to determine both the Factor of Safety (FS) and the Probability of Failure (PF). The absence of analytical solutions leads researchers to use surrogate approaches of probabilistic modeling. This study aims to assess the PF and FS of a saturated soil slope using one of the Machine Learning (ML) method subsets, the regression Least Squares Support Vector Machine (LS-SVM). The results are compared to those obtained from the Limit Equilibrium Method (LEM) to compare the accuracy of LS-SVM. According to the FS-PF plot, it is concluded that LS-SVM is a reliable tool for determining the stability of a multi-layered saturated soil slope, which significantly improves computational efficiency. Furthermore, since predicting FS and PF from field data requires fewer data points, it will result in significant time and cost savings. However, to avoid false predictions, limitations must be removed, for instance, each layer should be included in the analysis within its probabilistic distribution, so using this method is more efficacious in clay soils where there are values for cohesion, unlike sands (c=0). This helps training data to be prepared well and to prevent misprediction in local failures. In addition, training data are debated in terms of the percentage employed. Furthermore, showing the importance of dataset scattering is concluded that adopting data with uniform distributions plays a crucial role in preparing training data sets and consequently, in having a better prediction of the possible slope failures.

Oct 7, 2024

By Sarah Banks

"Here and there the grease and filth have caked solid, and the creek looks like a bed of lava; chickens walk about on it...and many times an unwary stranger has started to stroll across, and vanished temporarily." Upton Sinclair offers this revolting - yet accurate - description of the Chicago River in his book The Jungle, originally published in 1906. In the early 1900s, Chicago was a major industrial hub. The Chicago River was not only heavily used for transportation but also for the disposal of waste produced by the meatpacking industry, steel production, rail manufacturing and more. The South Fork of the river was the primary sewer for the Union Stock Yards. The meatpacking industry caused so much pollution, the river became known as Bubbly Creek. Chicago's older buildings were designed to be shut off from the river - no windows, certainly no homes or parks. A river view from an office or hotel was not something to brag about. It wasn't until the 1970s and the passage of the federal Clean Water Act that things began to change. The city now requires public access to the river in all parts and newer architectural designs ensure this is possible. Rather than sewage and industrial waste, the river now carries boat- loads of tourists and kayakers.

Oct 1, 2025