Prof. Meei-Ling Lin

Prof. Meei-Ling Lin

Dr. Lin is a Professor at Department of Civil Engineering, National Taiwan University. She received her Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering from University of Texas, Austin, USA, in 1987. Dr. Lin has been a member of the General Committee of the Southeast Asia Geotechnical Society since 2007. She serves as a committee member of the Jointed Technical Committee 1 (JTC1 on Landslide) of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, the International Association for Engineering Geology and the Environment, the International Society for Rock Mechanics, and the International Geo-textile Society. She also serves as a committee member of Technical Committee 303 (TC-303 on Flood) and Asian Technical Committee-1 (ATC-1 on Climate Change) of ISSMGE.

Prof. Lin’s research interests and experiences include: potential analysis and simulation and behaviors of debris flow and slope stability, seismic slope behavior and stability, dynamic soil behaviors associated with soil liquefaction and ground responses analysis, mapping and micro-zonation of related debris flow, seismic slope stability potential, and seismic ground response. She lead a group to initiate a drafted Code for the Engineered Slope for the Ministry of Transportation and Communication, Executive Yuan, Taiwan. She has been invited as a Keynote speaker of international conferences, a special lecture speaker of International Landslide Symposiums and a panel reporter by ISSMG Conferences, and recently delivered an Opening Keynote for the Fourth Italian Workshop on Landslides.

SPECIAL FEATURE STORY ON “Recent Diaphragm Wall Technologies and Future Challenges”
By Hosoi Takeshi and Matsushita Shinya

Dr. Hosoi Takeshi

Dr. Hosoi Takeshi

Dr. Hosoi Takeshi is a Technical Advisor at WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff, Singapore. He received his PhD with research focused on “Bearing Capacity of Diaphragm Wall Foundation and various Issues during its Construction” from Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan in the year 1993.

Dr. Hosoi has more than 50 years of experience in design and construction of underground structures, tunnelling, bridge foundations and marine works. He is an international expert in diaphragm wall, barrette and bored pile foundation, shield tunnelling, NATM tunnelling, and other complex geotechnical works.

He is a Professional Engineer (PE) in Japan Since 1983, Fellowship of Japanese Society of Civil Engineer and International Member of Japanese Geotechnical Society. He coordinated the Asian Ocean Seminar sponsored by Japanese Ministry of Port and Harbour for 10 years. He was also a national member in “E-Defence Project” in Japan.

He served as a General Manager of Technical Research & Earthquake Technology Research Institute for 8 years and General Manager of Design Department of Nishimatsu Construction Co. Ltd. for 7 years.

Mr. Matsushita Shinya

Mr. Matsushita Shinya

Mr. Matsushita Shinya has been a Chief Engineer of Matsushita M&C Lab Co. Ltd. Since 2013. He was graduated from Nagoya University (Department of Science) in 1972 and joined Matsushita M&C Lab Co. Ltd.in 1972. He served as CEO of Matsushita M&C Lab. Co. Ltd. from 2003-2013. He is a Member of Japanese Geotechnical Society. He has been involved in a lot of big diaphragm wall projects in Japan for more than 40yers. In 1982 he was engaged in the experimental diaphragm wall construction for practical use of high DS polymer slurry and in 1984 he was joined the diaphragm wall construction project for Nagoya Subway 6 Line to lead successful adoption of polymer slurry. He was involved in Diaphragm Wall Foundation of Aomori Bay Bridge in 1988 and also in 1991 Diaphragm Wall Shaft at Kawasaki Artificial Island for Trans Tokyo Bay Highway Road. From 1992 to 1994 he was invited by the Grand Hi-Lai Hotel project and the Tuntex project（the Tuntex & Chien Tai Tower）at Kaohsiung, Taiwan as a consultant of Polymer slurry. From 2001 to 2006 he took part in the Water Cut-off Wall Project at Kansai International Airport for stabilizing land settlement as a chief engineer for quality control of slurry. In 2008 he engaged in the Wall Foundation , “Knuckle Wall ” Project of Tokyo Sky Tree as a chief engineer for quality control of polymer slurry.

HISTORICAL NOTE ON “Expriences of Geotechnical Development in Japan and Future Directions”
By Masami Fukuoka

Professor Masami Fukuoka

Prof. Masami Fukuoka

Prof. Fukuoka was born on 12 March 1917 in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. He studied Civil Engineering at the University of Tokyo, and in 1940 he entered the profession fully, taking up a post as a civil engineer for Japan’s Public Works Research Institute (PWRI) of the Ministry of Internal Affair. During the Second World War, he served in the Japanese military.

He returned to PWRI after the war ended, and his engineering acumen was immediately needed. Japan experienced a series of severe earthquakes and floods, which further complicated the damage the country had suffered to its infrastructure during the war. It was one of the most difficult times in the history of Japan, he said to me when I was young. As a civil engineer, in particularly, as a geotechnical engineer, he worked to restore Japan’s infrastructures from the effects of war and natural disasters. His strength of leadership was an especially important contribution to the design and construction of a great number of important infrastructures; and his work improved projects across a broad range of sectors, including those dealing landslides, road building and pavements, slope stability, flood control, river and coastal dyke engineering, ground investigation and soil test, earth pressure and retaining walls, rock-fill and earth-fill dams, ground subsidence, foundations of long-span bridges, earthquake geotechnical engineering and, eventually, geosynthetic engineering. The breadth of his work was extraordinary, considering how difficult it is to become a specialist in even one of these areas today. After rising to serve as PWRI’s director, he retired in 1970 and entered academia and became a full professor of Civil Engineering of the University of Tokyo, where I was studying as doctoral candidate. In 1977, Prof. Fukuoka transitioned to a professorship at Tokyo University of Science where he remained until his retirement in 1986. As his career progressed; he contributed greatly to multiple professional organizations. He helped establish the Japanese Geotechnical Society (JGS) in 1949 and served as President from 1976 – 1997. He was integral to Tokyo playing host to the 9thInternational Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, then served as President of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering (now ISSMGE) from 1977-1981.During this period, while at Tokyo University of Science, he started the research on geosynthetic-reinforced soil retaining walls and geomembrane lining at the bottom of reservoirs.

PREFACE

This Issue contains thirteen excellent papers as the country issue from Chinese Taipei Geotechnical Society (CTGS). It is an example of contributions from leading private sectors in Taiwan and also academics.

The first paper by Lee et al deals with the topic of rock tunnelling applied to steady water resources supply in Taiwan, challenges and examples. The authors deal with increasing soil erosion and slope collapse in some catchment area in Taiwan in the past decade. Also, increased sedimentation rates of the reservoirs reducing the effective capacity, and severely affecting the steady water supply. Multiple measures have been proposed for stabilizing the water supply. Tunnelling in the catchment area, even close to a dam, represents serious environmental and engineering risks. The authors present two cases of rock tunnelling as applied to steady water resources supply. Challenges and some distinctive issues, such as the presence of a high-temperature ground, a combustible gas emission ground, and potential instability of rock wedges caused by large underground excavation, are discussed. The authors then present countermeasures with a clever design of an elephant-trunk intake pipe to release turbid water. State-of-the-art tunnelling through rock and some innovative tunnelling technologies are utilized in these two cases.

The second paper by Chiu et al deals with the interesting topic of the state-of-the-art of tunnel maintenance in Taiwan and challenges to sustainable development. Tunnel construction in Taiwan started as early as the late nineteenth century; within the last 125 years, tunnel maintenance in Taiwan went through several stages. In early years engineers dealt with tunnel excavation. Now tunnel inspections, repairs and reinforcement were performed only when serious damages were observed. As the number of damaged tunnels increased, investigations revealed that the degradation of tunnels in Taiwan is inevitable and usually occurred in an exceptionally shot period. Frequent earthquakes, a high ground water level and poorly cemented rock masses provide an environment for such degradation. To adapt more effectively to the environment, tunnel maintenance looked at the entire life cycle of a tunnel. Thus the diagnostic methods have demonstrated to be useful in enhancing the sustainable operation of tunnels.

An interesting contribution by Wang et al dealt with rock tunnel –shaft intersection in projects in Taiwan. The construction of an intersection between a shaft and a rock tunnel is a three-dimensional problem, and requires more complex excavation and support methods than those used in conventional two-dimensional tunnel construction. The paper considered examples of rock tunnelling in Taiwan, and the construction of intersections between shafts and tunnels. Data are collected from case histories first, and the excavation sequences are classified. Then challenges as encountered to secure construction of the intersections of shafts and tunnels are examined, including the significant scale effects of rock masses on excavations; difficulties in controlling rock deformation near the intersections, and groundwater ingress are also discussed. Strategies and countermeasures as applied to overcome these difficulties in recent projects, and their effectiveness is investigated. Finally, the state-of-the-art design and construction of intersections between shafts and tunnels in Taiwan are presented.

The fourth paper by Hsiao et al dealt with the influence of peak strength degradation in assessing the stability of tunnels in hard rocks. Tunnelling depths are increasing rapidly in Taiwan. The effect of brittle failure on hard rock tunnelling is, however, rarely studied. In this paper, a study is carried out on the importance of the post-peak behaviour using Hoek-Brown failure criterion is investigated; through strength loss experimental studies , a relationship between strength loss parameter and confining stress is established. Subsequently, a numerical analysis model (so-called strength degradation model), is proposed and applied to predict the impact of the post-peak strength degradation on an actual tunnel. The analysis showed that the effect of the post-peak strength degradation on deformation during excavation is becoming more and more pronounced with increasing depth of tunnels. Severe deformation due to the excavation may endanger the tunnel stability during construction in deep overburden. Thus the strength degradation beyond brittle failure shall play an exceptionally important role in the stability of deep tunnelling.

The fifth paper by Hwang et al is on the deep excavations in Taipei Basin and the performance of diaphragm walls. Since movements of diaphragm walls are reduced by the presence of existing underground structures in the vicinity of excavation, comparison of the observed wall deflections with the results obtained by using two-dimensional analyses may lead to erroneous conclusions. Similarly, additions to diaphragm walls, such as buttresses, station entrances, ventilation shafts, etc., will also tend to reduce wall deflections. Thus the authors recommend to compare the results of two-dimensional analyses with the upper envelopes, designated as “reference envelope”, of a family of wall deflection paths of the same geometry of excavation and the same characteristics of the retaining system. Inclinometer readings obtained at Shandao Temple Station of the Bannan Line of Taipei Metro were studied to establish the relationship between wall deflections and depth of excavations. The results are verified by numerical analyses using PLAXIS computer software. Reference envelopes were then developed for estimating maximum wall deflections; and charts were established for correcting inclinometer readings to account for the movement at diaphragm wall toes. The authors found that the width of excavation has significant influence on wall deflections and toe movements. Additionally, the consolidation of the Songshan Formation due to the drawdown of groundwater in the Jingmei Formation reduced the movements of diaphragm wall toes.

In an interesting paper Yang et al studied the hydraulic characteristics of the Jingmei Formation and the Dewatering of Deep Excavations in Taipei Basin. Geotechnical Engineers in Taipei are well aware that the Jingmei Formation is a unique geological feature of the Taipei Basin. It is highly permeable and a water-rich stratum responsible for many failures in underground constructions. The piezometric heads in the Jingmei Formation had to be lowered by pumping for the deep excavations to be carried out safely. The authors thus discuss the hydraulic characteristics of the Jingmei Formation and the experience gained in large scale dewatering schemes. Attempts have been made to establish the relationship between the progression of tides in the river and the fluctuation of the piezometric levels in this Formation. The authors found that, the transmissivity and storage coefficient deduced from the observed groundwater drawdown are affected not only by the pumping rate, but also the duration of pumping; thus the rates required tend to be overestimated as based on the results of pumping tests.

Forensic studies have now become an important field in geotechnical engineering. The seventh paper by Lee et al is on the forensic investigation of a subway tunnel failure during construction. In this paper, the forensic evidences and investigation of a subway tunnel construction failure occurred in Kaohsiung, Taiwan is presented. The studied construction failure occurred during a cross-passage excavation of a shield tunnel construction work of the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit System, and resulted in severe tunnel collapse and extensive ground failure that even reached to ground surface 30m above the tunnel depth. Valuable photo images obtained during and post event, as well as results of special geophysical testing methods were presented and compared to verify aspects of the proposed failure scenario. Information presented in this paper would be helpful to improve engineers’ knowledge for preventing similar construction risks.

Typhoon Morakot brought tremendous rainfall of a hundred-year recurrence period in Taiwan. The paper by Chou et al concentrates on the effects as encountered by roads and houses in the middle and southern part of Taiwan; from landslides, debris flows, and floods. Erosion of road foundations, sliding of slopes, and collapse of bridges has paralysed the road system. Using Alishan Route 18 as an example, this paper discusses different causes, types, and renovation methods of slope disasters for future reference.

The paper by Lee et al also deals with the forecast of shallow landslides pertinent to Taiwan in a study which combines rainfall parameters and landslide susceptibility. Catastrophic landslides and debris slides triggered by typhoons such as Typhoon Morakot (2009) have occurred more frequently in the recent years, and caused many casualties and much economic loss in Taiwan. For the purpose of reducing the damage and preventing loss of life resulting from geological hazards, this study collects multiple period landslide inventories which contain the information of occurrence time, location, magnitude, rainfall intensity, and accumulated rainfall to establish the rainfall threshold for shallow landslides on a regional scale. The concept of a hazard matrix which combines the magnitude (landslide ratio of slope units) and the possibility of occurrence (historical disaster records) are investigated to set up the early warning thresholds. Accordingly, the critical rainfall thresholds were built up based on the R24 (24 hours cumulated rainfall) and I₃ (3-hour mean rainfall intensity) of historical records. The model developed can predict the possible sediment hazard on the hillslope 2~9 hours before occurrence of landslides. The web based GIS helped to have early-warning systems to display the real-time rainfall data and the warning signal immediately for disaster prevention through increasing the response time.

Chang et al made dynamic analyses for performance based seismic design of geotechnical structures with examples in deep foundation. Performance-Based Seismic design (PBSD) of geotechnical engineering structures can be evaluated by a number of methods taking into account the uncertainties of the designed influence factors. Despite the fact that the seismic force is known to be a significant factor, the static and/or pseudo static analyses seem to be commonly adopted in design practice. The paper by Chang et al briefly discusses alternate approaches with the emphasis on dynamic analysis. Examples are given with the assessments of two deep foundations located in Taiwan. Dynamic analysis is rather important to the seismic design problems since it can monitor the details of time-dependent structural responses incorporating both peak ground acceleration and duration of the earthquake. Other than the 3D finite element analysis, the simplified solution from 1D wave equation analysis can be very effective and convenient for PBSD analysis on deep foundation.

The eleventh paper in this CTGS Issue is on the time dependent dynamic characteristics during soil liquefaction in saturated sand. Chen et al, conducted model pile tests to quantify the relation between soil stiffness and excess pore water pressure during liquefaction, the test data of a series of shaking table tests on model pile in saturated sand using a large biaxial laminar shear box conducted at the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering were analysed. The pile tip was fixed at the bottom of the shear box to simulate the condition of a pile foundation embedded in a firm stratum. The pile head was mounted with steel disks to simulate the superstructure. In addition, strain gauges and mini-accelerometers were placed on the pile surface to obtain the response of the pile under shaking. Therefore, the model pile can be considered as a sensor to evaluate the changes of dynamic characteristics of soil-pile system during the shaking by using the time-frequency analysis and system identification technique. The results showed that the stiffness of the soil would increase with the dissipation of pore water pressure and the recovery of soil stiffness is directly related to the effective stress ratio of soil specimen.

The interesting paper by Shi et al present geological investigation and sliding mitigation in Jiufen Area in Taiwan. Jiufen’s orographic and geological characteristics together with frequent typhoons and heavy rain make it potentially vulnerable to landslides. The landslide problems can be disastrous not only to the 2,300 local residents, but also to the constant flow of tourists visiting the town. After the site investigations, it is concluded that both of the colluvium and groundwater are the most important geological factors to the slope stability problems. According to the long-term groundwater level monitoring result, it varied from 8m to 12m during the period of typhoon and heavy rainfall. And the displacement induced by the groundwater level rising was found. Four underground flow lines were located based on the resistivity image profiling and self-potential investigation. Then five water collection wells were planned to construct according to the locations of underground flow lines. The level lowered down about 15m after the wells completed and the slope became stable. It is suggested that the depth of colluvium in Jiufen area needs to be investigated in more detail.

Finally the last paper thirteenth in this Issue is by Shu et al on the interpretation and analysis of potential fluidised landslide slope. Fluidized landslide, also called hillslope-type debris flow, often occurs on the village side hillslope in the mountain area during extreme weather condition. Fluidized landslide induces more severe damages than the shallow landslide; however its recognition model is still lacked. In this research a recognition model of the potential fluidized landslide slope was developed using 80 cases occurred in the Kaoping River basin, southern Taiwan. 30 fluidized landslides and 30 shallow landslides are employed for the model development and another 10 events of each landslide are applied for verification. Results show that the recognition model composed of 8 discriminant factors including geomorphology factors, hydrology factors and potential landslide factor predicated by SHALSTAB model provides accuracy rate of 85% of the verification events. Thus the model can be of practical use for fluidized landslide interpretation. The model can be used to identify the potential dangerous slope areas and effectively assist the disaster prevention and early warning of villages in mountain area.

The editor of this CTGS Issue is very pleased to be able to present the geotechnical activities in Taiwan through these thirteen contributions and hope that the material would be beneficial to Geotechnical Engineers in SE Asia and elsewhere.

Meei Ling Lin

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Thirteen excellent contributions are contained in this Country Issue of the Chinese Taipei Geotechnical Society (CTGS) as edited by Prof. Meei Ling Lin. All contributions are by authors from Taiwan and Prof. Meei Ling Lin must be congratulated for her excellent task. In the Preface Prof Lin have described in great detail the contributions from the authors. It is a pleasure to note that successful country issues are now completed by the Thai Geotechnical Society, The Vietnamese Society and now the Chinese Taipei Society. The contributions from Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia will also be released soon. Also, last but not least from Indonesia.

This issue also contains a special feature story on “Recent Diaphragm Wall Technologies and Future Challenges” by Hosoi Takeshi and Matsushita Shinya; a historical note on “Experiences of Geotechnical Development in Japan and Future Directions” by Masami Fukuoka and an “Obituary of Masami Fukuoka” by Fumio Tatsuoka. The passing away of Prof Masami Fukuoka on 27 January 2016 is a great loss to the engineering communities.

K. Y. Yong
N . Phienwej
T. A. Ooi
A. S. Balasubramaniam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

June 2016: CHINESE TAIPEI SPECIAL ISSUE
Editor: Professor Meei-Ling Lin

Dr. Phung Duc Long

Dr. Phung Duc Long

Dr. Phung is President of the Vietnamese Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (VSSMGE). He received his Ph.D. degree at the Geotechnical Department, Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1993. He has worked at the Institute for Building Science & Technology (IBST) in Hanoi, Vietnam from 1975 to 1988; at the Swedish Geotechnical Institute (SGI) in Linköping, Sweden from 1988 to 1994; at Chalmers University of Technology from 1989 to 1993, at Skanska Sweden as Technical Manager from 1994 to 2002; at WSP Asia in Hong Kong as Associate Director from 2002-2003; at WSP Vietnam in Hanoi as General Director from 2003-2011; and at Long GeoDesign as Director since 2011.

Dr. Phung has 40 years of international experience. His expertise areas are: deep foundations and piled raft foundations for high-rise buildings, temporary and permanent support for deep excavations, tunneling, soil improvement, underpinning, pile dynamics, and numerical analysis of soil-structure interaction problems. He has worked with projects in many countries, as Sweden, Norway, Denmark, USA, England, Russia, Germany, India, Hong Kong, China and Vietnam, etc. Some of his highlight projects are: Uni-Storebrand Headquarter in Oslo with steel-core piles into rock; SL-10 South Link in Stockholm with sheet pile wall for deep cut & cover tunnel in soft clay; Fredriksberg Metro Station in Copenhagen, the world largest drilled-pile wall for deep excavation; soil stabilization with lime-cement columns for Highway I15, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Öresund Link between Sweden and Denmark; Årsta Bridge in Stockholm with pile foundations and sheet pile walls in deep water and soft clay; the peer-review of piled foundation for the ICC Tower, 118 floors, 490m high in Hong Kong, the No. 4 tallest high-rise in the world, and the Sailing Tower in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He is the author and co-author of more than 100 technical papers and books in English, Swedish and Vietnamese for different national, regional and international seminars, conferences, and technical journals. He is the chief editor of a number of publications, as the proceeding of the international conferences Geotec Hanoi 2011, and Geotec Hanoi 2013.

Prof. San-Shyan Lin

Prof. San-Shyan Lin

Dr. Lin is a Professor at Department of Harbor and River Engineering of National Taiwan Ocean University in Taiwan. He received his Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri USA in 1992. Dr. Lin was an engineer at Taiwan Area National Expressway Engineering Bureau from 1992 to 1994. Prof. Lin also served as TRB A2K03 Committee member on Foundations of Bridges and Other Structures between 1995 and 2004. He is also serving as committee member of TC-212 and ATC-1 of ISSMGE and as editorial board member of four major international journals in geotechnical engineering.

Prof. Lin’s research and practical experiences have been dealt with static and dynamic behaviour of deep foundations, ground improvement and effects of scouring on bridge foundations. In the past decades, he was involved in many research projects such as interpretation of pile load testing results due to axial, lateral, or combined loading; effect of soil liquefaction on performance of pile foundation in sand; seismic effect of pile foundations; performance of suction pile in sand or in clay; and effect of scouring on performance of pile and caisson foundations etc. Prof. Lin has published more than 110 peer-reviewed journal papers and conference papers. One of his published Journal papers dealing with cyclic lateral loading effect on permanent strain of deep foundation due to cyclic lateral loading has been cited more than 60 times in Google academic website by many international researchers working on wind turbine foundations.

PREFACE

This journal issue was edited and contributed from works in Vietnam by Vietnamese authors and other popular persons. Sixteen papers are contained in this issue. Dr. Phung Duc Long is the lead editor. His Vietnamese team included: Dr. Pham Van Long, Dr. Pham Huy Giao, Mr. Mai Trieu Quang, Dr. Nguyen Anh Minh, Dr. Vu Quang Hung, and Dr. Vu The Manh.

The construction field in Vietnam has been under a very fast development. More than ten years ago the first 30-storey tower appeared in Vietnam. Today, the height has reached to 70-80 floors. During the last decade many tall towers, long bridges, deep tunnels, large hydro-power dams, large airport and habours, etc have appeared in Vietnam. Thousands of kilometers of highway have been constructed. New metro projects have been started both in Hanoi anh Ho Chi Minh City. It is understandable why geotechnical engineering has recently developed very fast in Vietnam.

The issue’s major topics relate to piled raft foundations; piled foundations for storage tanks; pile group settlements; coastal and riverine erosion in the context of climate change; soil characterization for land subsidence evaluation for MRT projects; discrete modelling of excavation in fractured rock; settlement management for urban tunnels; evaluation of performance of diaphragm walls; study on clayey soils using piezocone; DEM simulations of medium dense sand in triaxial apparatus; characteristic of unsaturated soil of earth fill dams; ground improvement using soil-cement columns/deep mixing method; and ground improvement with preloading, and PVD and vacuum pressure.

Phung Duc Long (paper No.1) has made a detailed study on pile raft foundation in which the piles are used for reducing settlement, not for taking the total load from superstructure as in the conventional pile foundations. The results from his field model test, which strongly supports the concept of settlementreducers, are reviewed. Basing on the experiment, a simplified design method is proposed. In the paper, the method is used for the conceptual design of a large high-rise building complex. In combination with FEM, the simplified method gives a reliable tool for conceptual design of piled-raft foundations. PLAXIS 3D is used for modelling both the piled and un-piled foundations in the study.

Yasuhara et al, (paper No.2) describe climate change related disasters such as erosion along riverine and coastal areas of the Mekong Delta in the South Vietnam. Also, the red river delta in the north is expected to be exacerbated by land subsidence, sea-level rise (SLR), and magnified typhoons. Adaptation to severe erosion is expected to respond to regional circumstances and the demands of local residents. Based on the expectations outlined above, for soft adaptation, attempts were made to conduct perception surveys of local residents, in addition to field surveys of erosion at riverside and coastal areas using an un-crewed aerial vehicle (UAV). Furthermore, for hard adaptation, a proposal is made to conduct pilot field tests at the coast for reinforcing coastal dykes using the combined technique of locally available materials with cost-saving eco-geosynthetics in addition to application of ICT. This paper explains the possibility of smart adaptation combining soft and hard adaptation to reduce severe coastal and riverine erosion in the Vietnamese deltas.

Nguyen, H. M., Fellenius, B.H., Puppala, A.J. Aravind, P., and Tran, Q.T. (paper No.3) introduce bidirectional static loading tests on two shaft-grouted barrette piles of the 40-storey Exim Bank Building in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Simulation of the measured load-movement response indicated that the shaft resistance response was hyperbolic. The test schedule was interrupted by unloading/reloading cycles, which disturbed the gage data and included uneven load-holding durations which exacerbated the analysis difficulty.

Pham Huy Giao and Ta Thi Thoang (paper No.4) have an excellent paper on soil characterization and land subsidence prediction for the first MRT line in HCM city to meet the transportation needs of a fast growing population and rapid urbanization. Being located in the Sai Gon-Dong Nai delta HCM city area has low elevations and is underlain by a sequence of clayey, silty and sandy soil layers. Land subsidence due to groundwater extraction had been suspected and observed in HCM city. In this study, geotechnical characterization of the subsoil along the first MRT line was carried out. Prediction of land subsidence along this MRT line was conducted using a FEM consolidation code.

Shiwakoti and Manai (paper No.5) examine the application of deep cement-mixing technique in improving engineering properties of soft grounds at nine different sites in southern Vietnam’s typical soft soil deposits. The exercise consisted of running a series of laboratory tests on undisturbed soil samples and their mixes with cement and field trials, followed by field application of 500,000 m cement treated columns with 600mm diameter, using Dry Jet Mixing technique. After the field trials and applications, cores were extracted from the treated grounds to evaluate improvement in their engineering characteristics. Both the laboratory and the field results revealed a drastic enhancement in strength, stiffness, and permeability of the treated soft soils.

Over-consolidation ratio (OCR) is an important geotechnical parameter for predicting undrained shear strength, lateral pressure ratio and settlement of clayey ground. Piezocone studies were made by Bui Truong Son, Le Hong Quang and Lam Ngoc Qui (paper No.6). In Southern Vietnam, a thick layer of saturated soft clays distributes throughout all the area. It includes Mekong (in Ca Mau province) and Dong Nai (in HCMC and Vung Tau) alluvial deposits. Below the soft clayey layer, there is a layer of either stiff to very stiff clay or fine sand. Based on the reliable data of consolidation test results of samples taken by piston tube and piezocone, relationship between over-consolidation ratio and normalized penetration resistant is established and analysed.

Phan To Anh Vu (paper No.7) studied the ground improvement using soil-cement method: A case study with laboratory testing and in-situ verification for a Highway project in Southern Vietnam. This article presents the experimental unconfined compressive strength results of soil-cement columns to improve the soft soil gained by Tan Son Nhat-Binh Loi Outer Ring Road Project, located in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The laboratory test results revealed that the Stable Soil cement has a greater unconfined compressive strength than tower (60%) slag cement. In addition, cement-soil samples obtained from insitu indicated that the target cement content of 240 kg/m3 was satisfied not only a required compressive strength (>24 kgf/cm2) but also a low-cost. The obtained results are expected to provide an experience for further design and construction in Ho Chi Minh City and its vicinity.

Bengt Fellenius and Mauricio Ochoa (paper No.8) write on the use of piled foundations for wide storage tanks. The authors have analyzed five case records involving wide piled foundations and show that the foundation settlement can be modeled as a flexible raft placed at the pile toe level with the foundation load distributed according to Boussinesq stress distribution and that the capacity of an individual pile is not relevant to the foundation performance. Differential settlement between the perimeter and interior piles and the effect of drag force and downdrag are discussed. The limitation of drag force as affected by the pile spacing and the weight of the soil in between the interior piles is addressed.

Tran Thi Thu Hang and Frederic Dubois (paper No.9) deal with discrete modelling of excavation in fractured rock by NSCD method. The presence of the network of discontinuities on intact rock is a special feature of nature rock masses. Non Smooth Contact Dynamics method (NSCD) is a discrete numerical method that owns many strong advantages of the study on granular materials and has been used recently in rock engineering. LMGC90, open-sourced software built on NSCD, has demonstrated a robust capacity in the modelling and mechanical analysis of diverse environments, masonry and rock included. In this study, a numerical modelling of a multi-phase-excavation in fractured rock was realized. The simulation of the tunnelling with the consideration of the state of the excavation and its neighbouring rock blocks, during and after the excavation schedule, and at each excavation phase was conducted. The obtained mechanical behaviours of the model were analysed, and three failure mechanisms of the excavation vicinity during the tunnelling was aimed. The observed phenomena showed typical effects of two components of the rock mass (rock structure and rock material) to the stability of the excavation and the host rock mass.

Duong Diep Thuy, Pham Quang Hung, and Le Thiet Trung (paper No.10) studied the pile groups in Vietnam using a method for estimating the pile group settlement considering the distribution of pile shaft friction, called SDF. For illustrating the proposed method is used for a full scaled experimental model by Koizumi et al (1967), for a field model test by Phung (1993) and for two case histories in Vietnam, Ca Mau Fertilizer Plant, and Ecopark Tower 2. Comparison of the calculated settlements with the measurement results shows that the SDF method provided a good prediction for all the studied cases.

Nguyen Quang Tuan and H. Konietzky (paper No.11) deals with the mechanical behaviour of Hai Duong Medium dense sand in triaxial test and its simulation using DEM. Numerical simulations of the drained triaxial behaviour of medium sand, a typical constructional soil material and widely used in Northern Provinces of Vietnam, were performed using discrete element method (DEM). The sand was simulated based on spherical particles using PFC3D with a non-linear contact model including rolling resistance. The calibrated simulations show that the DEM model is able to capture the mechanical behaviour of sand. The effects of different microscopic parameters on the macroscopic behaviour of the sand were investigated.

Tran The Truyen, Nguyen Van Hung, and Tran N. Hoa (paper No.12) studied the influence of geometrical parameters of soil cement columns on the settlement of embankments on reinforced soft soil. Deep Mixing Method (DMM) is a widely used soft soil improvement method in the construction of road, port, and tunnel foundations, etc. Deep mixing of cement with soil and water, forming Soil Cement Columns (SCC) in situ, has been applied in many projects in Vietnam in recent years; it has proved many advantages compared with other applied methods in the site. At present, Vietnamese engineers are concerned with finding out recommendations for an optimal choice of SCC scheme. This paper analyzes the influence of main geometrical parameters of SCC including the length, the diameter, and the spacing on the behavior of reinforced soft soils in some construction projects in Vietnam. The results will be an important basis for recommendations on the choice of rational schemes of SCC for soft soil improvement in Vietnam.

Benson Hsiung, Dao Sy Dan and William Cheang (paper No.13) evaluated the performance of diaphragm walls by wall deflection paths for deep excavations in Central Hanoi. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the performance of diaphragm walls by wall deflection paths for deep excavations in Central Hanoi. PLAXIS 2D was used for 2D finite element analyses in this paper. A benchmark analysis was first conducted on the excavation to verify the validity of material models and their input parameters for predicting wall deflections. The reference envelopes of wall deflection paths were then delivered for various conditions of deep excavations in Central Hanoi. Considering the current prediction, up to 72 mm of the maximum lateral wall displacement was predicted for an excavation with a 21.9 m depth. Reference envelopes of excavations have been developed and discussed in various conditions of the excavation. It is found that the maximum lateral wall displacement at the first stage of excavation is roughly inversely proportional to the Young’s moduli of soils. Changing the wall thickness leads to the limited difference in reference envelope at shallow excavation stages, but this may not be correct when the excavation goes deeper.

Hoang Hiep and Pham Huy Giao (paper No.14) studied the effect of vacuum pressure distribution on settlement analysis results for an improved thick soft clay deposit at Sai Gon-Hiep Phuoc terminal port, South of Vietnam. In this study an approach of settlement analysis using a FORTRAN code was proposed to successfully simulate the large consolidation settlement of a thick soft clay deposit, improved by combination of preloading, PVD and vacuum pressure for Sai Gon-Hiep Phuoc (SGHP) project. Geotechnical characterization of the subsoil profile underlying the project site was carefully done to provide input data for settlement analysis, in which a particular focus was given on studying the vacuum pressure distribution along the 35-m deep PVD. It was found that the coefficient of vacuum pressure distribution (kP) from 0.85 to 1.0 gave the best estimation of the time-dependent total primary settlement as embankment construction goes in addition to a smear effect RS= 3.0. The increasing trend of kP with time might be explained by the fact that for the later stages of loading the vacuum pressure could spread more to the depth.

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Huong and Trinh Minh Thu (paper No.15) studied the Characteristic of Unsaturated Soil of Earth Fill Dams in Vietnam. Earth dams in Vietnam, especially earth dams at the central part of Vietnam, are generally made using in-situ soils having low clay content. The knowledge, experience, calculation theory, apparatus etc, for unsaturated soils in Vietnam are still very limited, especially the studies of the influences of the shear strength of unsaturated soils to the stability of earthen structures. Therefore, study on the soil-water characteristic curve, shear strength and coefficient of permeability versus different matric suction for Vietnamese soil is an urgent task. This study shows that when the matric suction in the soil changes, the effective cohesion c’ would also change; however the internal friction angle is almost unchanged for some types of soil in Vietnam. The experimental results can be applied to study the effect of unsaturated soil to the factor of safety of the slope.

Finally paper by Alain Guilloux and Hervé Le Bissonnais (paper No.16) is on the management of settlements for urban tunnels. The TOULON highway tunnel is located in a very dense urban environment, and a much complex geology. The excavated section is about 120 m2 and the depth is in the range 15-35 m. The aim of the paper is to show how a great attention was paid to the settlements control: at the design stage through soils investigations, survey of existing constructions in regards to their sensibility to tunnel induced settlement, definition of settlements thresholds, and choice of ground prereinforcement techniques; during the construction, by heavy monitoring of deformations and continuous adaptation of the supports to the actual settlements and buildings behaviour.

This issue contains sixteen papers which are related to the Vietnam soil conditions and contribute to the advancement of geotechnics, and are all written by the Vietnamese authors, about projects in Vietnam, or the topics that Vietnam are facing. It is hoped that the issue will demonstrate how the authors have made their studies geared in a manner useful to geotechnical engineers in Vietnam and elsewhere.

Phung Duc Long

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is a genuine pleasure to note that this Issue contains sixteen excellent contributions as made by authors mostly from Vietnam in using modern developments in Geotechnics relevant and applicable to Vietnamese soil and rock conditions. They are mostly practical in nature and is an excellent example of how research be conducted useful to our geotechnical profession in practice. Dr. PHUNG Duc Long is the lead editor. His Vietnamese team included: Dr. Pham Van Long, Dr. Pham Huy Giao, Mr. Mai Trieu Quang, Dr. Nguyen Anh Minh, Dr. Vu Quang Hung, and Dr. Vu The Manh.

The Preface by Dr. Phung adequately covers the details of the contributions by the authors. Vietnam is an important arm of our AGSSEA and has developed enormously in the recent years with tall buildings, coastal structures, highways and expressways, airport developments etc. It is a paradise for geotechnical engineers. We are all most grateful to Dr. Phung and his team. This issue demonstrates the future of Geotechnics extend to all member countries of AGSSEA and beyond. The successful conferences and symposia organised by the Vietnamese Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (VSSMGE) is also worthy of praise.

K. Y. Yong
N . Phienwej
T. A. Ooi
A. S. Balasubramaniam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

March 2016: VIETNAM SPECIAL ISSUE
Editors: Dr. Phung Duc Long & San Shyan Lin

SEAGS-AGSSEA Journal – June 2016

Prof. Meei-Ling Lin

Prof. Meei-Ling Lin

Dr. Lin is a Professor at Department of Civil Engineering, National Taiwan University. She received her Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering from University of Texas, Austin, USA, in 1987. Dr. Lin has been a member of the General Committee of the Southeast Asia Geotechnical Society since 2007. She serves as a committee member of the Jointed Technical Committee 1 (JTC1 on Landslide) of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, the International Association for Engineering Geology and the Environment, the International Society for Rock Mechanics, and the International Geo-textile Society. She also serves as a committee member of Technical Committee 303 (TC-303 on Flood) and Asian Technical Committee-1 (ATC-1 on Climate Change) of ISSMGE.

Prof. Lin’s research interests and experiences include: potential analysis and simulation and behaviors of debris flow and slope stability, seismic slope behavior and stability, dynamic soil behaviors associated with soil liquefaction and ground responses analysis, mapping and micro-zonation of related debris flow, seismic slope stability potential, and seismic ground response. She lead a group to initiate a drafted Code for the Engineered Slope for the Ministry of Transportation and Communication, Executive Yuan, Taiwan. She has been invited as a Keynote speaker of international conferences, a special lecture speaker of International Landslide Symposiums and a panel reporter by ISSMG Conferences, and recently delivered an Opening Keynote for the Fourth Italian Workshop on Landslides.

SPECIAL FEATURE STORY ON “Recent Diaphragm Wall Technologies and Future Challenges”
By Hosoi Takeshi and Matsushita Shinya

Dr. Hosoi Takeshi

Dr. Hosoi Takeshi

Dr. Hosoi Takeshi is a Technical Advisor at WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff, Singapore. He received his PhD with research focused on “Bearing Capacity of Diaphragm Wall Foundation and various Issues during its Construction” from Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan in the year 1993.

Dr. Hosoi has more than 50 years of experience in design and construction of underground structures, tunnelling, bridge foundations and marine works. He is an international expert in diaphragm wall, barrette and bored pile foundation, shield tunnelling, NATM tunnelling, and other complex geotechnical works.

He is a Professional Engineer (PE) in Japan Since 1983, Fellowship of Japanese Society of Civil Engineer and International Member of Japanese Geotechnical Society. He coordinated the Asian Ocean Seminar sponsored by Japanese Ministry of Port and Harbour for 10 years. He was also a national member in “E-Defence Project” in Japan.

He served as a General Manager of Technical Research & Earthquake Technology Research Institute for 8 years and General Manager of Design Department of Nishimatsu Construction Co. Ltd. for 7 years.

Mr. Matsushita Shinya

Mr. Matsushita Shinya

Mr. Matsushita Shinya has been a Chief Engineer of Matsushita M&C Lab Co. Ltd. Since 2013. He was graduated from Nagoya University (Department of Science) in 1972 and joined Matsushita M&C Lab Co. Ltd.in 1972. He served as CEO of Matsushita M&C Lab. Co. Ltd. from 2003-2013. He is a Member of Japanese Geotechnical Society. He has been involved in a lot of big diaphragm wall projects in Japan for more than 40yers. In 1982 he was engaged in the experimental diaphragm wall construction for practical use of high DS polymer slurry and in 1984 he was joined the diaphragm wall construction project for Nagoya Subway 6 Line to lead successful adoption of polymer slurry. He was involved in Diaphragm Wall Foundation of Aomori Bay Bridge in 1988 and also in 1991 Diaphragm Wall Shaft at Kawasaki Artificial Island for Trans Tokyo Bay Highway Road. From 1992 to 1994 he was invited by the Grand Hi-Lai Hotel project and the Tuntex project（the Tuntex & Chien Tai Tower）at Kaohsiung, Taiwan as a consultant of Polymer slurry. From 2001 to 2006 he took part in the Water Cut-off Wall Project at Kansai International Airport for stabilizing land settlement as a chief engineer for quality control of slurry. In 2008 he engaged in the Wall Foundation , “Knuckle Wall ” Project of Tokyo Sky Tree as a chief engineer for quality control of polymer slurry.

HISTORICAL NOTE ON “Expriences of Geotechnical Development in Japan and Future Directions”
By Masami Fukuoka

Professor Masami Fukuoka

Prof. Masami Fukuoka

Prof. Fukuoka was born on 12 March 1917 in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. He studied Civil Engineering at the University of Tokyo, and in 1940 he entered the profession fully, taking up a post as a civil engineer for Japan’s Public Works Research Institute (PWRI) of the Ministry of Internal Affair. During the Second World War, he served in the Japanese military.

He returned to PWRI after the war ended, and his engineering acumen was immediately needed. Japan experienced a series of severe earthquakes and floods, which further complicated the damage the country had suffered to its infrastructure during the war. It was one of the most difficult times in the history of Japan, he said to me when I was young. As a civil engineer, in particularly, as a geotechnical engineer, he worked to restore Japan’s infrastructures from the effects of war and natural disasters. His strength of leadership was an especially important contribution to the design and construction of a great number of important infrastructures; and his work improved projects across a broad range of sectors, including those dealing landslides, road building and pavements, slope stability, flood control, river and coastal dyke engineering, ground investigation and soil test, earth pressure and retaining walls, rock-fill and earth-fill dams, ground subsidence, foundations of long-span bridges, earthquake geotechnical engineering and, eventually, geosynthetic engineering. The breadth of his work was extraordinary, considering how difficult it is to become a specialist in even one of these areas today. After rising to serve as PWRI’s director, he retired in 1970 and entered academia and became a full professor of Civil Engineering of the University of Tokyo, where I was studying as doctoral candidate. In 1977, Prof. Fukuoka transitioned to a professorship at Tokyo University of Science where he remained until his retirement in 1986. As his career progressed; he contributed greatly to multiple professional organizations. He helped establish the Japanese Geotechnical Society (JGS) in 1949 and served as President from 1976 – 1997. He was integral to Tokyo playing host to the 9thInternational Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, then served as President of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering (now ISSMGE) from 1977-1981.During this period, while at Tokyo University of Science, he started the research on geosynthetic-reinforced soil retaining walls and geomembrane lining at the bottom of reservoirs.

PREFACE

This Issue contains thirteen excellent papers as the country issue from Chinese Taipei Geotechnical Society (CTGS). It is an example of contributions from leading private sectors in Taiwan and also academics.

The first paper by Lee et al deals with the topic of rock tunnelling applied to steady water resources supply in Taiwan, challenges and examples. The authors deal with increasing soil erosion and slope collapse in some catchment area in Taiwan in the past decade. Also, increased sedimentation rates of the reservoirs reducing the effective capacity, and severely affecting the steady water supply. Multiple measures have been proposed for stabilizing the water supply. Tunnelling in the catchment area, even close to a dam, represents serious environmental and engineering risks. The authors present two cases of rock tunnelling as applied to steady water resources supply. Challenges and some distinctive issues, such as the presence of a high-temperature ground, a combustible gas emission ground, and potential instability of rock wedges caused by large underground excavation, are discussed. The authors then present countermeasures with a clever design of an elephant-trunk intake pipe to release turbid water. State-of-the-art tunnelling through rock and some innovative tunnelling technologies are utilized in these two cases.

The second paper by Chiu et al deals with the interesting topic of the state-of-the-art of tunnel maintenance in Taiwan and challenges to sustainable development. Tunnel construction in Taiwan started as early as the late nineteenth century; within the last 125 years, tunnel maintenance in Taiwan went through several stages. In early years engineers dealt with tunnel excavation. Now tunnel inspections, repairs and reinforcement were performed only when serious damages were observed. As the number of damaged tunnels increased, investigations revealed that the degradation of tunnels in Taiwan is inevitable and usually occurred in an exceptionally shot period. Frequent earthquakes, a high ground water level and poorly cemented rock masses provide an environment for such degradation. To adapt more effectively to the environment, tunnel maintenance looked at the entire life cycle of a tunnel. Thus the diagnostic methods have demonstrated to be useful in enhancing the sustainable operation of tunnels.

An interesting contribution by Wang et al dealt with rock tunnel –shaft intersection in projects in Taiwan. The construction of an intersection between a shaft and a rock tunnel is a three-dimensional problem, and requires more complex excavation and support methods than those used in conventional two-dimensional tunnel construction. The paper considered examples of rock tunnelling in Taiwan, and the construction of intersections between shafts and tunnels. Data are collected from case histories first, and the excavation sequences are classified. Then challenges as encountered to secure construction of the intersections of shafts and tunnels are examined, including the significant scale effects of rock masses on excavations; difficulties in controlling rock deformation near the intersections, and groundwater ingress are also discussed. Strategies and countermeasures as applied to overcome these difficulties in recent projects, and their effectiveness is investigated. Finally, the state-of-the-art design and construction of intersections between shafts and tunnels in Taiwan are presented.

The fourth paper by Hsiao et al dealt with the influence of peak strength degradation in assessing the stability of tunnels in hard rocks. Tunnelling depths are increasing rapidly in Taiwan. The effect of brittle failure on hard rock tunnelling is, however, rarely studied. In this paper, a study is carried out on the importance of the post-peak behaviour using Hoek-Brown failure criterion is investigated; through strength loss experimental studies , a relationship between strength loss parameter and confining stress is established. Subsequently, a numerical analysis model (so-called strength degradation model), is proposed and applied to predict the impact of the post-peak strength degradation on an actual tunnel. The analysis showed that the effect of the post-peak strength degradation on deformation during excavation is becoming more and more pronounced with increasing depth of tunnels. Severe deformation due to the excavation may endanger the tunnel stability during construction in deep overburden. Thus the strength degradation beyond brittle failure shall play an exceptionally important role in the stability of deep tunnelling.

The fifth paper by Hwang et al is on the deep excavations in Taipei Basin and the performance of diaphragm walls. Since movements of diaphragm walls are reduced by the presence of existing underground structures in the vicinity of excavation, comparison of the observed wall deflections with the results obtained by using two-dimensional analyses may lead to erroneous conclusions. Similarly, additions to diaphragm walls, such as buttresses, station entrances, ventilation shafts, etc., will also tend to reduce wall deflections. Thus the authors recommend to compare the results of two-dimensional analyses with the upper envelopes, designated as “reference envelope”, of a family of wall deflection paths of the same geometry of excavation and the same characteristics of the retaining system. Inclinometer readings obtained at Shandao Temple Station of the Bannan Line of Taipei Metro were studied to establish the relationship between wall deflections and depth of excavations. The results are verified by numerical analyses using PLAXIS computer software. Reference envelopes were then developed for estimating maximum wall deflections; and charts were established for correcting inclinometer readings to account for the movement at diaphragm wall toes. The authors found that the width of excavation has significant influence on wall deflections and toe movements. Additionally, the consolidation of the Songshan Formation due to the drawdown of groundwater in the Jingmei Formation reduced the movements of diaphragm wall toes.

In an interesting paper Yang et al studied the hydraulic characteristics of the Jingmei Formation and the Dewatering of Deep Excavations in Taipei Basin. Geotechnical Engineers in Taipei are well aware that the Jingmei Formation is a unique geological feature of the Taipei Basin. It is highly permeable and a water-rich stratum responsible for many failures in underground constructions. The piezometric heads in the Jingmei Formation had to be lowered by pumping for the deep excavations to be carried out safely. The authors thus discuss the hydraulic characteristics of the Jingmei Formation and the experience gained in large scale dewatering schemes. Attempts have been made to establish the relationship between the progression of tides in the river and the fluctuation of the piezometric levels in this Formation. The authors found that, the transmissivity and storage coefficient deduced from the observed groundwater drawdown are affected not only by the pumping rate, but also the duration of pumping; thus the rates required tend to be overestimated as based on the results of pumping tests.

Forensic studies have now become an important field in geotechnical engineering. The seventh paper by Lee et al is on the forensic investigation of a subway tunnel failure during construction. In this paper, the forensic evidences and investigation of a subway tunnel construction failure occurred in Kaohsiung, Taiwan is presented. The studied construction failure occurred during a cross-passage excavation of a shield tunnel construction work of the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit System, and resulted in severe tunnel collapse and extensive ground failure that even reached to ground surface 30m above the tunnel depth. Valuable photo images obtained during and post event, as well as results of special geophysical testing methods were presented and compared to verify aspects of the proposed failure scenario. Information presented in this paper would be helpful to improve engineers’ knowledge for preventing similar construction risks.

Typhoon Morakot brought tremendous rainfall of a hundred-year recurrence period in Taiwan. The paper by Chou et al concentrates on the effects as encountered by roads and houses in the middle and southern part of Taiwan; from landslides, debris flows, and floods. Erosion of road foundations, sliding of slopes, and collapse of bridges has paralysed the road system. Using Alishan Route 18 as an example, this paper discusses different causes, types, and renovation methods of slope disasters for future reference.

The paper by Lee et al also deals with the forecast of shallow landslides pertinent to Taiwan in a study which combines rainfall parameters and landslide susceptibility. Catastrophic landslides and debris slides triggered by typhoons such as Typhoon Morakot (2009) have occurred more frequently in the recent years, and caused many casualties and much economic loss in Taiwan. For the purpose of reducing the damage and preventing loss of life resulting from geological hazards, this study collects multiple period landslide inventories which contain the information of occurrence time, location, magnitude, rainfall intensity, and accumulated rainfall to establish the rainfall threshold for shallow landslides on a regional scale. The concept of a hazard matrix which combines the magnitude (landslide ratio of slope units) and the possibility of occurrence (historical disaster records) are investigated to set up the early warning thresholds. Accordingly, the critical rainfall thresholds were built up based on the R24 (24 hours cumulated rainfall) and I₃ (3-hour mean rainfall intensity) of historical records. The model developed can predict the possible sediment hazard on the hillslope 2~9 hours before occurrence of landslides. The web based GIS helped to have early-warning systems to display the real-time rainfall data and the warning signal immediately for disaster prevention through increasing the response time.

Chang et al made dynamic analyses for performance based seismic design of geotechnical structures with examples in deep foundation. Performance-Based Seismic design (PBSD) of geotechnical engineering structures can be evaluated by a number of methods taking into account the uncertainties of the designed influence factors. Despite the fact that the seismic force is known to be a significant factor, the static and/or pseudo static analyses seem to be commonly adopted in design practice. The paper by Chang et al briefly discusses alternate approaches with the emphasis on dynamic analysis. Examples are given with the assessments of two deep foundations located in Taiwan. Dynamic analysis is rather important to the seismic design problems since it can monitor the details of time-dependent structural responses incorporating both peak ground acceleration and duration of the earthquake. Other than the 3D finite element analysis, the simplified solution from 1D wave equation analysis can be very effective and convenient for PBSD analysis on deep foundation.

The eleventh paper in this CTGS Issue is on the time dependent dynamic characteristics during soil liquefaction in saturated sand. Chen et al, conducted model pile tests to quantify the relation between soil stiffness and excess pore water pressure during liquefaction, the test data of a series of shaking table tests on model pile in saturated sand using a large biaxial laminar shear box conducted at the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering were analysed. The pile tip was fixed at the bottom of the shear box to simulate the condition of a pile foundation embedded in a firm stratum. The pile head was mounted with steel disks to simulate the superstructure. In addition, strain gauges and mini-accelerometers were placed on the pile surface to obtain the response of the pile under shaking. Therefore, the model pile can be considered as a sensor to evaluate the changes of dynamic characteristics of soil-pile system during the shaking by using the time-frequency analysis and system identification technique. The results showed that the stiffness of the soil would increase with the dissipation of pore water pressure and the recovery of soil stiffness is directly related to the effective stress ratio of soil specimen.

The interesting paper by Shi et al present geological investigation and sliding mitigation in Jiufen Area in Taiwan. Jiufen’s orographic and geological characteristics together with frequent typhoons and heavy rain make it potentially vulnerable to landslides. The landslide problems can be disastrous not only to the 2,300 local residents, but also to the constant flow of tourists visiting the town. After the site investigations, it is concluded that both of the colluvium and groundwater are the most important geological factors to the slope stability problems. According to the long-term groundwater level monitoring result, it varied from 8m to 12m during the period of typhoon and heavy rainfall. And the displacement induced by the groundwater level rising was found. Four underground flow lines were located based on the resistivity image profiling and self-potential investigation. Then five water collection wells were planned to construct according to the locations of underground flow lines. The level lowered down about 15m after the wells completed and the slope became stable. It is suggested that the depth of colluvium in Jiufen area needs to be investigated in more detail.

Finally the last paper thirteenth in this Issue is by Shu et al on the interpretation and analysis of potential fluidised landslide slope. Fluidized landslide, also called hillslope-type debris flow, often occurs on the village side hillslope in the mountain area during extreme weather condition. Fluidized landslide induces more severe damages than the shallow landslide; however its recognition model is still lacked. In this research a recognition model of the potential fluidized landslide slope was developed using 80 cases occurred in the Kaoping River basin, southern Taiwan. 30 fluidized landslides and 30 shallow landslides are employed for the model development and another 10 events of each landslide are applied for verification. Results show that the recognition model composed of 8 discriminant factors including geomorphology factors, hydrology factors and potential landslide factor predicated by SHALSTAB model provides accuracy rate of 85% of the verification events. Thus the model can be of practical use for fluidized landslide interpretation. The model can be used to identify the potential dangerous slope areas and effectively assist the disaster prevention and early warning of villages in mountain area.

The editor of this CTGS Issue is very pleased to be able to present the geotechnical activities in Taiwan through these thirteen contributions and hope that the material would be beneficial to Geotechnical Engineers in SE Asia and elsewhere.

Meei Ling Lin

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Thirteen excellent contributions are contained in this Country Issue of the Chinese Taipei Geotechnical Society (CTGS) as edited by Prof. Meei Ling Lin. All contributions are by authors from Taiwan and Prof. Meei Ling Lin must be congratulated for her excellent task. In the Preface Prof Lin have described in great detail the contributions from the authors. It is a pleasure to note that successful country issues are now completed by the Thai Geotechnical Society, The Vietnamese Society and now the Chinese Taipei Society. The contributions from Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia will also be released soon. Also, last but not least from Indonesia.

This issue also contains a special feature story on “Recent Diaphragm Wall Technologies and Future Challenges” by Hosoi Takeshi and Matsushita Shinya; a historical note on “Experiences of Geotechnical Development in Japan and Future Directions” by Masami Fukuoka and an “Obituary of Masami Fukuoka” by Fumio Tatsuoka. The passing away of Prof Masami Fukuoka on 27 January 2016 is a great loss to the engineering communities.

K. Y. Yong
N . Phienwej
T. A. Ooi
A. S. Balasubramaniam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

June 2016: CHINESE TAIPEI SPECIAL ISSUE
Editor: Professor Meei-Ling Lin

SEAGS-AGSSEA Journal  – September 2016
September 2016 Issue: Hong Kong and Singapore Special Issue
Edited by Sing Lok Chiu (HK Part) and Tiong Guan Ng (Singapore Part)

Dr SL Chiu, a registered geotechnical engineer to the Buildings Department of the government of the Hong Kong SAR, a geotechnical specialist. He graduated from Civil engineering department of National Taiwan University, MSc and DIC in “Soil Mechanics” at Imperial College of London University, UK, and PhD in “soil behaviours at elevated temperature” at University of Sydney, Australia.  He is a technical director (geotechnical) with AECOM Asia Company Limited, has been practising in geotechnical engineering field for more than 30 years.  He has been DPM, PM, and special task team leader of various Landslip Preventive Measures (LPM) Agreements with Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO) of HKSAR Government as well as natural terrain hazard study agreements with Hong Kong Housing Authority (HKHA) over the past 15 years.

Besides, he has been actively involved in design and construction supervision of numerous prestigious site formation, foundation and deep basement construction works in urban areas, reclamations and ground improvement works in Hong Kong as well as throughout SE Asia and China. He recently led a team of foundation and bridge engineers undertaking design of the 2nd Penang Bridge- a cable-stayed bridge of total length of 26 km in Malaysia.  At present, he is leading a team of geotechnical engineers undertaking tender design of KVMRT Line 2.

Dr. Tiong Guan Ng

Dr. Tiong Guan Ng is the President of Geotechnical Society of Singapore (2014-2015). He graduated from the University Technology Malaysia (UTM) with first class honours degree in Bachelor of Civil Engineering in 1992. He obtained his PhD degree in the research of Spud Can Foundation on Sand in 1999 from the National University of Singapore (NUS). He left NUS to join a specialist ground engineering company as design engineer in 2000. In Feb 2002, he co-founded GeoEng Consultants, a consultancy firm specializing in civil and geotechnical works, which grows to become one of the largest geotechnical consultancy firms in Singapore in a few years. In Nov 2011 GeoEng Consultants was acquired and became part of Golder Associates, a global consultancy company specialists in ground engineering and environmental services

At present, Dr. Ng is the Principal and Executive Director of Golder Associates in Singapore leading the local Geotechnical Business Unit. He specialises in analysis and design of earth retaining system, and has special interest in back-analysis and interpretation of instrumentation. He had involved in the design and supervision of earth retaining structures for several major projects in Singapore which include the world 1^st underground MRT Depot (LTA Circle Line Contract 821), Geylang River Cross for Kallang Paya Lebar Expressway (LTA Contract 421), the deepest excavation within Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort for MRT tunnels below Bayfront Avenue and Construction of Downtown Line 1 Promenade Station (LTA Contract 902). He also involved in the assessment and review of several geotechnical failure cases in Singapore which include excavation failure at Lengkong Empat, foundation failure at Church Street, the collapse of excavation at Nichol Highway Station and water leakage at Jalan Besar Station. He is currently leading the team for design and supervision of Changi Land Preparation Project.

Prof.  San-Shyan Lin

Dr. Lin is a Professor at Department of Harbor and River Engineering of National Taiwan Ocean University in Taiwan. He received his Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri USA in 1992. Dr. Lin was an engineer at Taiwan Area National Expressway Engineering Bureau from 1992 to 1994. Prof. Lin also served as TRB A2K03 Committee member on Foundations of Bridges and Other Structures between 1995 and 2004. He is also serving as committee member of TC-212 and ATC-1 of ISSMGE and as editorial board member of four major international journals in geotechnical engineering.

Prof. Lin’s research and practical experiences have been dealt with static and dynamic behaviour of deep foundations, ground improvement and effects of scouring on bridge foundations. In the past decades, he was involved in many research projects such as interpretation of pile load testing results due to axial, lateral, or combined loading; effect of soil liquefaction on performance of pile foundation in sand; seismic effect of pile foundations; performance of suction pile in sand or in clay; and effect of scouring on performance of pile and caisson foundations etc. Prof. Lin has published more than 110 peer-reviewed journal papers and conference papers. One of his published Journal papers dealing with cyclic lateral loading effect on permanent strain of deep foundation due to cyclic lateral loading has been cited more than 66 times in Google academic website by many international researchers working on wind turbine foundations.

PREFACE

This is a combined Issue of contributions from HK and Singapore; contains seventeen excellent papers. Also, papers directly submitted to the SEAGS Office. These papers are four in number.

The first paper by Ho & Cheung is on challenges in improving slope safety through the landslip prevention and mitigation program.  In 1977, the Hong Kong Government embarked on a systematic retrofitting programme, known as the Landslip Preventive Measures (LPM) Programme, to systematically upgrade existing substandard man-made slopes to modern safety standards. By 2010, some 4,500 high-risk government man-made slopes have been upgraded through engineering works, and the overall landslide risk arising from man-made slopes has been reduced to less than 25% of the 1977 level.  Over the years, the programme has evolved progressively in response to Government’s continuous improvement initiatives and rising public expectations in respect of slope safety and slope appearance.  In 2010, the Government launched the Landslip Prevention and Mitigation (LPMit) Programme to dovetail with the LPM Programme, with the focus being on retrofitting the remaining moderate-risk substandard man-made slopes and systematically mitigating natural terrain landslide risk.  This paper presents the challenges, technical advances and achievements of the LPM and LPMit Programmes.

The second paper is by Ng et al on Rock caverns- Hong Kong’s hidden land. The hilly terrain and underlying geology of Hong Kong offer an excellent opportunity for placing urban facilities underground. About two-thirds of Hong Kong’s land is found to be suitable for rock cavern development. Given the potential for multi-layer cavern development, a substantial usable area could be created. In September 2012, the Civil Engineering and Development Department of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region commenced a study on “Long-term Strategy for Cavern Development”, to develop a holistic approach in planning and implementing cavern development and render it a sustainable means for expanding land resources. The study also places emphasis on private sector participation as facilities, such as storage, warehousing and data centres, can benefit from rock caverns’ stable and secure setting. Implementation of a long-term strategy for cavern development could provide a sustainable approach in easing the pressure of land shortage. Developing a systematic relocation programme for suitable Government facilities could release surface sites for other uses including housing, and placing nuisance or potentially hazardous facilities in caverns could remove incompatible land uses. Reserving rock cavern space to accommodate future public and private sector facilities underground could further reduce the land take. The Hong Kong Government has also commenced an initiative to explore the potential of underground space development in the urban areas. Facilitating rock cavern development at the urban fringes and underground space development in the urban areas could enhance Hong Kong’s utilisation of land resources in pursuit of sustainable development.

The next paper is on the first subsea TBM road tunnel in Hong Kong by Liu et al. Subsea tunnels for transportation are traditionally constructed in the form of Immersed Tunnel (IMT). With the technical advancement of mechanized Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) construction, subsea TBM bored tunnels were successfully constructed in different parts of the World over the last decade. Using a TBM has benefits over the IMT when excavating beneath the sea, since it does not require dredging and marine access. This makes it particularly favourable when coping with environmental concerns and constraints within existing shipping passages. Since the first subsea tunnel across the Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong was constructed in 1972 by immersed tunnel method, four other additional subsea immersed tunnels were constructed across the same Victoria Harbour between 1979 and 1997. The subsea tunnel of Tuen Mun – Chek Lap Kok Link (TM-CLKL) was also originally proposed using immersed tunnel method in the feasibility study stage. However, the tunnel scheme was changed to TBM bored tunnel in the Investigation and Preliminary Design Stage. The TBM bored tunnel scheme was further developed in the Detailed Design Stage and the project is now under construction. This would be the first subsea TBM road tunnel in Hong Kong and this paper discusses the key considerations and rationales in changing the original IMT scheme to the TBM bored tunnel scheme for the subsea tunnel section of TM-CLKL.

The fourth paper is by Tam and Chang on achievements and challenges to the Hong Kong landslide risk management. Landslide is one of the common natural hazards in Hong Kong. With the Government and public’s concerted efforts, landslide risk in Hong Kong has been drastically reduced since the establishment of a comprehensive slope safety system in 1977.  However, given Hong Kong’s climatic and geographical conditions and the current state of technology, occurrence of serious landslides that could potentially cause multiple fatalities remains a distinct possibility, particularly during extreme rainfall events.

The fifth paper by Tsang et al is on sub sea horizontal directions coring (HDC). The Tuen Mun – Chek Lap Kok Link comprises a 9 km long dual 2-lane carriageway between Tuen Mun and North Lantau, with approximately 5 km long sub-sea tunnel between Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities and Tuen Mun. This is a major highway infrastructure constructed to alleviate the increase in cross boundary traffic due to projected developments in the Northwest New Territories and North Lantau in Hong Kong, including the Airport developments and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. The proposed subsea tunnel is to be constructed by large diameter Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) which will bore underneath two sets of existing submarine power cables providing power supply to the Hong Kong International Airport. Ground investigation using conventional vertical marine drill holes is not allowed within the cable protection zone with the considerations of the potential risk of damaging the power cables. To provide sufficient ground information for the design of the proposed TBM tunnel, Horizontal Directional Coring (HDC) with a total length of 660m was proposed at the invert level along the tunnel alignment.  It was anticipated that the HDC would go through rock, soil or soil/rock interface and terminate at interface of soft / mixed ground. The HDC works has been completed in mid-2013. This paper describes the design considerations and the trajectory planning of the HDC work, with construction of a marine platform (of size 15m x 20m to facilitate the installation of the HDC). The difficulties and problems encountered during the subsea horizontal drilling is also discussed.

The last paper from Hong Kong contribution is the seventh Lumb lecture by Endicott. The Lumb Lecture is held in Hong Kong biennially to celebrate the work and the legacy of a great Geotechnical Engineer, Professor Peter Lumb. This paper reviews changes in geotechnical practice, in and around Hong Kong, since his retirement and shows remarkable developments and some folly. What would he think of his legacy? Would he be disillusioned by folly or would he have taken satisfaction to see that, in many instances, his legacy lives on. There are a number of valid successors following in Peter’s footsteps. This paper has drawn extensively upon the work of many good geotechnical engineers and is dedicated as a tribute to all of the geotechnical engineers, engineering geologists, geologists and other people who have made the name of Hong Kong synonymous with ground engineering. There are too many to single out individually.

The second part of this Issue is contributions from Singapore. The papers are numbered continuously. Thus the seventh paper is by Ng and Low on Singapore case histories for the circle line and down town line projects. The case history of Overrun Tunnel (ORT) of C922 is basically an underground facility building functions as both Railway Facility (Operation Control Centre) and Electrical Substation (ESS) which is to be built next the Expo Station. ORT is located in old alluvium (OA).  The proposed underground overrun tunnel is a box structure with dimensions of approximately 23m wide, 25m deep and approximately 440m long. The proposed diaphragm wall function as the earth retaining system (ERSS), it designed for both temporary loading conditions during excavation and permanent load conditions in accordance with LTA Civil Design Criteria. Bottom-up construction sequence is adopted where lateral supports using four (S3 to S6) or six (S1 to S6) layers of steel strutting were installed as excavation progresses downward. The most challenging part is the omission of the last layer of strut S6 for the whole ORT by using observational approach. The case history of C824 Nicoll Highway Station demonstrates that Jet Mechanical Mixing (JMM), if properly installed, has major benefits in controlling the stability and movements induced by deep excavations in soft ground. The reasons can be attributed to the fact that the inner soil column is comprehensively mixed, combined with the attributes of the outer jet grouted column with sufficient overlapping.  The whole process undergoes tight quality control and rigorous testing to ensure a continuous and comprehensive slab. In addition to the JMM slab, there is the major benefit of the discrete soil mixing columns formed above the JMM slab during the withdrawal of the auger.

The eighth paper is on an update of the vacuum preloading methods by Chu et al. It has been more than 60 years since the concept of vacuum preloading was proposed. The vacuum preloading method has been evolving. There have been considerable improvements in the techniques as well as new applications. In this paper, several vacuum preloading methods including some new variations are introduced. The advantages and disadvantages of each method are compared. Technical issues such as improvement depth, vacuum pressure distribution in soil, and evaluation of degree of consolidation for soil under vacuum consolidation are discussed. A case history using a combined vacuum and fill surcharge preloading method for soft soil improvement is also used to illustrate the changes in the pore pressure versus depth profiles and the application of the method to calculate degree of consolidation using pore water pressure distributions.
In the next paper a new lithostratigraphical framework is proposed for Singapore by Lat et al. A study was initiated in mid-2013 by Building & Construction Authority of Singapore (BCA) to review the existing stratigraphy framework of Singapore. The new lithostratigraphical framework follows the recommendations of International Commission of Stratigraphy (ICS) and it was developed based on geological fieldworks observations and rock cores examination obtained from new deep boreholes. This paper will only cover on the Jurong Formation, Fort Canning Boulder Bed and Old Alluvium. The Jurong Formation has been upgraded to Jurong group according to ICS stratigraphy guidelines and the Jurong group is sub-divided into three (3) formations, known as Tuas formation, Bukit Resam formation and Pasir Panjang formation. The Fort Canning Boulder Bed and Old Alluvium have been re-classified as Fort Canning formation and Bedok formation respectively.

The tenth paper by Na and Low describe the issues and challenges involved in the procedures for strut omission by observational approach for two case histories from two different projects – Circle Line Contract C824 and Down Town Line Stage 3 Contract C922 in Singapore. It was concluded that it is important and beneficial to implement a comprehensive instrumentation and monitoring program to the excavation projects as this will allow the contractor and designer to have adequate and sufficient information in a timely manner to optimize the design by observational approach. It was also strongly recommended that observational approach to optimize the design should be encouraged for excavation site especially for sites with geological formation of OA formation.

The following paper 11th in the series is by Tan on economical design of non-negative skin friction piles in soft clays. Code based design of piles with NSF consider the NSF force as a dragload to be imposed on the pile as an unfavourable design action. These codes like Singapore CP4, UK BS 8004 and the recent EC7 would indirectly factor up the value of the dragload while at the same time factor down the positive shaft friction below the neutral plane. Thus the pile design in very deep soft clays typical of Singapore and Asean coastal plains will lead to very conservative pile lengths to meet the code requirements. The Unified pile design method of Fellenius recognized this deficiency and it allows for better pile design with NSF taking into account the need for both force and settlement equilibrium between pile and soil. Fortunately, EC7 also allows for interactive pile/soil analysis using modern FEM tools that can optimise pile design for NSF, particularly when the remaining consolidation settlements around the piles are relatively small. This paper will compare these methods and provide insights into the proper understanding of NSF effects on pile behaviour, and recommend the way forward for rational and economical pile design in settling soils.

The twelfth paper is by Liu et al on design framework for spatial variability in cement tratemenent for underground construction. The most common form of ground treatment used to facilitate underground construction in Singapore is cement treatment. However, there is currently no indication on how safe and how conservative this adopted strength is since the prescribed strength bears no relationship to the probability of failure or factor of safety. This paper examined several sources leading to non-uniformity and spatial variation in cement-treated soils, including curing time effect, influence of operating parameters on slurry concentration, in-situ water content and column positioning errors. A framework for design and monitoring of ground treatment by cement was proposed.

The thirteenth paper by Zhou and Zhao is on advances and challenges in underground space utility in Singapore. Despite its promise and many benefits for sustainable urban development, the use of underground space has tended to be the last resort, due to high development cost and the complexities in the planning and development of underground space. In 2010, the Economic Strategies Committee of the Singapore government made developing underground space part of the government’s long-term economic strategy with specific recommendations on master planning, geological investigations, investment in research and development, and various policy issues. With this, the use of underground space has been elevated to a strategic level and has become an economic imperative in land-scarce Singapore. The ESC report also recommended that the government should take the lead in catalysing the use of underground space. Based on these recommendations, the Singapore government has taken various initiatives and studies, and initiated various research projects in support of these initiatives. This top-down strategy has also made it possible to plan and coordinate the development of underground space in a holistic manner, and helps overcome of the key challenges at the systems. This paper gives a review of advances in underground space development, highlights some key challenges, and discusses the various recent studies and planning issues, and examines possible strategies for future use of underground space in Singapore.

Furthermore, another four papers are included as contributed directly to the Editorial Team in this issue. The first paper authored by Dassanayake, Phien-wej and Giao dealt with modeling the groundwater pressure effect and slope stability analysis of C1 pit on deep pit mining of Mae Moh open pit lignite mine, Thailand. Stability of the west wall of the C1 pit for 2017 pit slope was evaluated in terms of the safety factor by the limit equilibrium method. Results obtained in this study indicated that the west wall is susceptible to failure due to water pressure associated with it. To maintain a safe slope, potentiometric head within west wall of C1 pit should be maintained below 170m, MSL.

Chen, Lin, Lee and Chen developed a seepage flow direct shear test device to investigate the effects of internal erosion to non-plastic silty sand prior to shearing. Tested results revealed that fines contents had noticeable influence on soil behaviours, regardless of whether an internal erosion process was applied to the samples.

Influencing factors including the Poisson’s ratio and the rock specimen thickness on Brazilian test results are investigated by Yang and Wang using PFC3D program based on a complex-shaped grain model which can capture all the characteristics of brittle rock in three-dimensional environment. Through investigating the stress-strain curves and crack developing processes of the Brazilian test specimens, it was concluded that the Brazilian tensile strength will increase with the specimen thickness due to the great loading increment.

An attempt was made by Cheng, Chern, Wu, and Lin to investigate the shear behaviour of soft rock joints under Constant Normal Load conditions, with special reference to the influences of infill thickness and moisture content on shear behavior of planar and rough joints. The results of this study showed that infilled water content could influence shear strength of planar and rough rock joints, more significant than infill thickness.

This combined Issue of the papers from Hong Kong, Singapore and other submisions makes futher contributions in the development of Geotechnical Engineering in SE Asia. The editors are very pleased to have the opportunity in compiling the material presented here.

Chiu, Sing Lok (HK Part),  Ng Tiong Guan (Singapore Part)
San Shyan Lin (Contributed Papers)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Seventeen contributions are contained in this issue from Hong Kong , Singapore; with another four papers contributed direct to the Editorial Team. No doubt the material contained here would be most valuable to our profession. The editors have adequately described the contributions in the preface. They are to be congratulated for these contributions.

K. Y. Yong
N . Phienwej
T. A. Ooi
A.S.Balasubramaniam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

September 2016: Hong Kong and Singapore SPECIAL ISSUE & Contributed Papers
Editors:  Sing Lok Chiu (HK Part), Tiong Guan Ng (Singapore Part) and San Shyan Lin ( Contributed Papers)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

HONG KONG Part (Part A)

1: Challenges in Improving Slope Safety in Hong Kong through the Landslip Prevention and Mitigation Programme

By Ken K.S. Ho and Raymond W.M. Cheung

2: Rock Caverns – Hong Kong’s Hidden Land

By K.C. Ng, K.J. Roberts and Y.K. Ho

3: The First Subsea TBM Road Tunnel in Hong Kong

By Albert Liu, Stephen Chan, Conrad Ng, Joseph Lo, C. K. Tsang and Dunson Shut

4: Achievements of and Challenges to the Hong Kong Landslide Risk Management

By Rick CK Tam and Michael MK Chang

5:  Subsea Horizontal Directional Coring (HDC)

By   C. K. Tsang, S. F. Chau and Jimmy Chan

6: 7th Lumb lecture 10th October 2012 “Peter Lumb’s legacy, Soil Mechanics = Simple concepts +mathematical processes + lateral thinking”

By John Endicott

SINGAPORE Part B

1:   Singapore Case Histories on Omission of Strut by Observation Approach For Circle Line and Down Town Line Projects

By David Ng C. C. and Simon Low Y. H.

2: Vacuum preloading methods: an update

By Jian Chu, Shuwang Yan and Wei Guo

3:  A New Lithostratigraphical Framework Proposed for Singapore

By    K.K Lat, K.H Goay, S.G Lau, S.L Chiam and K.C Chew

4: Effect of Ageing Environment on Fiber-Reinforced Polymer/Granular Interface Shear Behaviour

By H. A. Shaia and H. M. Abuel-Naga

5:  Economical Design for NSF Piles in Soft Clays using Soil-Structure Interaction

By Siew Ann Tan

6:  Towards a Design Framework for Spatial Variability in Cement Treatment for Underground Construction

By Y. Liu, Y. Jiang and F. H. Lee

7:  Advances and Challenges in Underground Space Use in Singapore

By  Y. Zhou and J. Zhao

Contributed Papers Part C

1:  Groundwater Flow Modeling and Slope Stability Analysis for Deepening of Mae Moh Open Pit Lignite Mine

By  A.B.N. Dassanayake, N. Phien-wej and P. H. Giao

2:  A Study on Internal Erosion of Low-Plasticity Silty Sand

By  Jing-Wen Chen, Bo-Rung Lin, Wei F. Lee and Yie-Ruey Chen

3:  Analysis of Influencing Factors on Brazilian Test Results Based on A Complex-shaped Grain Model for Brittle Rock

By  Guangcheng Yang and Xinghua Wang

4:  Effect of Infill Moisture Content and Thickness on Shear Behavior of Planar and Rough Rock Joints

By  Tsu-Chiang Cheng, Shuh-Gi Chern, Shin-Ru Wu and Yu-The Lin

 Cover Photographs:

1. 1972 Po Shan landslide in HK (After Ho and Cheung 2016)
2. Examples of purpose-built caverns in HK (After Ng et al, 2016)
3. Layout plan of DTL3 alignment and location of C922 ORT in Singapore (After Ng and Low 2016)
4. Underground Ammunition Facility cavern in Singapore (After Zhou and Zhao, 2016)

March 2015 Special Country Issue of Thailand

– Dr. Surachat Sambhadharaksa Memorial Issue: Advances in Geotechnical Engineering for Infrastructure Developments in Thailand

Edited by : Suched Likitlersuang, Suksun Horpibulsuk, Suttisak Soralump, Tirawat Boonyatee Suchatvee Suwansawat, and Thanakorn Chompoorat

Suched Likitlersuang

Suched Likitlersuang graduated with a bachelor degree in civil engineering from Chulalongkorn University in 1998 and received a master in geotechnical engineering from Asian Institute of Technology in 2000. He attained a doctorate in civil engineering from the University of Oxford in 2004. Suched is currently a full professor at the Department of Civil Engineering, Chulalongkorn University. He is members of the Thai Geotechnical Society and the Engineering Institute of Thailand. He is also an Editorial Board member of Geotechnical Research and serves as a Guest Editor of the Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society Journal special issue for Thailand. Suched has published over 70 articles in international conference proceedings and international journals. His research interests include constitutive modelling for geomaterial and asphaltic concrete, stress-strain characteristic of soils, numerical analysis in geomechanics, geo-environments, geotechnical earthquake engineering and soil bioengineering.

Thanakorn Chompoorat

Thanakorn Chompoorat was born in Thailand in 1980. He graduated the Bachelor degree in Civil Engineering from Srinakharinwirot University in 2003. He also received the Master and the Doctoral degrees in Geotechnical Engineering from Chulalongkorn University in 2005 and 2009 respectively. He is currently an Assistant Professor and Assistant Dean for Research and Academic Service of the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Phayao. Thanakorn is a member of the Thai Geotechnical Society as well as the Engineering Institute of Thailand and presently also serves as an Editorial Secretary of the Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society Journal special issue for Thailand. His main research interests are soil behaviour and pavement material behaviour, numerical analysis for soil and pavement material, and constitutive modelling and plasticity.

PREFACE

Welcome to Geotechnical Engineering Journal of the Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society (SEAGS) and the Association of Geotechnical Societies in Southeast Asia (AGSSEA). It is our great pleasure to serve as the editors for the first issue of 2015 and also the special country issue of Thailand. Our editorial team consists of Prof. Suched Likitlersuang from Chulalongkorn University, Prof. Suksun Horpibulsuk from Suranaree University of Technology, Dr. Suttisak Soralump – President of Thai Geotechnical Society, Dr. Tirawat Boonyatee – Vice president of Thai Geotechnical Society, Prof. Suchatvee Suwansawat – President of Engineering Institute of Thailand, and Dr. Thanakorn Chompoorat from Univerisity of Phayao. We are also supported by Prof. A.S. Balasubramaniam as the editor-in-chief and Dr. Teik Aun Ooi as the president of SEAGS to launch this special issue. The rigorous blind peer-review process has been carried out by international reviewers, while every effort was carefully made to ensure the technical quality of the journal. We highly appreciate our reviewers for their time and effort.

The theme of this special issue is Advances in Geotechnical Engineering for Infrastructure Developments in Thailand. The articles cover a wide range of topics from theoretical soil mechanics to geotechnical applications for Thailand’s infrastructure developments. This special issue of Geotechnical Engineering Journal of the SEAGS & AGSSEA is comprised of fourteen articles with a selection of authors from four countries including Australia, China, Japan and Thailand.

The first invited paper by Ohta (2015) presents consolidation settlement due to the embankment construction on soft Bangkok clay. The paper also acknowledges the technical communication with Dr. Surachat Sambhandaraksa related to consolidation settlement. Two papers (Ohtsu et al., 2015 and Jotisankasa et al., 2015) present field studies of slope stability due to rainfall in Thailand. The topics related to ground improvement for soft soil are still interested in this issue such as using chemical stabilisation (Horpibulsuk, et al., 2015, Fan, et al., 2015 and Julphunthong, 2015) and vacuum consolidation technique (Shibata et al., 2015). Two papers (Ukritchon and Boonyatee, 2015 and Horpibulsuk and Liu, 2015) related to soil modelling and its parameter calibration are included in this issue as well. Chompoorat and Likitlersuang (2015) summaries mechanical properties of hot mix asphalt for pavement design. Undrained shear strength of Bangkok clays from various laboratory techniques are discussed by Ratananikom et al. (2015). A review of pile foundation design on Bangkok subsoils is presented by Boonyatee et al. (2015). 3D finite element analysis of the potential use of piled raft foundation on Bangkok subsoils is proposed by Watcharasawe et al. (2015). Lastly, Por et al. (2015) presents a laboratory investigation of expansive soil behaviour.

We consider that this special issue summaries some recent advances in geotechnical engineering for infrastructure developments in Thailand. We also hope that it could make an important contribution to other countries in the Southeast Asia.

Suched Likitlersuang
Thanakorn Chompoorat

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

At the very outset, we would like to acknowledge the skill of Prof. Suched Likitlersuang, who headed the team of Guest Editors in producing this excellent issue. This issue honours the late Dr. Surachat Sambhandaraksa a very long time friend of ours and a past president of the SEAGS. This is also the Thai country issue produced in such a short time, while some other country issues will only appear in 2016. The topics and the authors are adequately described in the Preface. The SEAGS and the AGSSEA as well as the Thai Geotechnical Society (TGS) are very grateful to the Editors, authors and reviewers for their excellent work.

A good teacher is often measured by the quality of his students. Dr. Surachat had graduated from Chulalongkorn University going to almost all the good universities to do doctoral studies. It is appropriate to have a brief biodata of Dr. Surachat.

Dr. Surachat Sambhandharaksa, a past president of the Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society (SEAGS) from 1996 to 1999. A modest and clever achiever, Surachat was the earlier colleague of late Dr. Chai Muktabhant and Prof. Vichien Tengamnuey at Chulalongkorn University. Surachat always had an international outlook with his early education at the University of New South Wales in Australia in 1967; then his master degree from the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in 1970; later Surachat went to the Northwestern University and finally obtained his Sc.D. degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the United States of America in 1977. When he returned to Chulalongkorn University, Surachat was also a lecturer much in demand at the AIT. He was actively involved in most of the major projects in Bangkok and Thailand. He has real world experience in geotechnical engineering practice with sound knowledge on the fundamentals of soil behaviour. His practice is in embankments and piled foundations. He was a much sort out consultant in Bangkok. At AIT, we needed a person like Surachat to teach our design courses. Surachat also taught a popular course for non-soil engineers and this is really popular. Surachat, received the Outstanding Award of the Teaching from Chulalongkorn University and was voted as the best Geotechnical Engineer in Thailand in 2006. He was also, the chairman of the organizing committee of the 15th Southeast Asian Geotechnical Conference held in Bangkok in November 2004. Popularly called as Sam at MIT, Surachat has a charming personality always joyful and friendly in nature. Surachat hails from a good family with his father as the professor of surgery at the Faculty of Medicine in Chulalongkorn University. We all miss him a lot and his premature death is a great loss to his family and friends.

Finally, Dr. Surachat is highly respected internationally, Prof. Harry Poulos made the comment as follows:
“Dr Surachat was a leading figure in Geotechnical engineering in Thailand for many years, and a person who was vastly experiencing in identifying and solving problems related to foundations in the often-challenging ground conditions in Bangkok. I first met him at one of the early Southeast Asian Geotechnical conferences, and it was quite clear that his knowledge of the characteristics of Bangkok soils was second to none, and that he was well-placed to advise clients on foundation design in these soils. He was also was a congenial host and dinner companion at a number of conferences held in Bangkok. Apart from his practical geotechnical skills, he was able to pass on his knowledge to many students who had the privilege of studying under him at Chulalongkorn University and at AIT. He was very proud of his educational background, first in Australia, and then at MIT, where he studied with some of the pioneers of soil mechanics such as Lambe, Ladd and Whitman. He achieved recognition for his expertise both in Thailand and in Southeast Asia more generally, and with his passing, the Southeast Asian region has lost one of its elder statesmen in the geotechnical profession.”

Finally, We thank the Guest Editors, the authors of the papers and the reviewers , who made the most valued contribution in making this Issue feasible.

K. Y. Yong
N . Phienwej
T. A. Ooi
A. S. Balasubramaniam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

March 2015 Issue: Special Country Issue of Thailand
– Dr. Surachat Sambhadharaksa Memorial Issue Advances in Geotechnical Engineering for Infrastructure Developments in Thailand
Edited by : Suched Likitlersuang, Suksun Horpibulsuk, Suttisak Soralump, Tirawat Boonyatee Suchatvee Suwansawat, and Thanakorn Chompoorat

SEAGS-AGSSEA Journal – June 2015

Vol. 46 No.2 June 2015: SPECIAL ISSUE ON PILE FOUNDATIONS

Editors: San-Shyan Lin, Charng Hsein Juang, and Robert Liang

Prof. San-Shyan Lin

Professor Lin is a Professor at Department of Harbor and River Engineering of National Taiwan Ocean University in Taiwan. He received his Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri USA in 1992. Dr. Lin was an engineer at Taiwan Area National Expressway Engineering Bureau from 1992 to 1994. Prof. Lin’s research and practical experiences have dealt with drilled shaft foundations, earth reinforced structures and effects of scouring on bridge foundations. Prof. Lin has published more than 110 peer-reviewed journal papers and conference papers. In 2012, Prof. Lin served as chairman of organization committee of 5th Taiwan-Japan workshop of earthquake and heavy rainfall held in Tainan, Taiwan; member of international organizing committee of 7th Asian young geotechnical engineer conference held in Tokushima, Japan; and member of both international advisory committee and technical committee of Geosynthetics Asia 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand. Prof. Lin is currently serving as the member of conference advisory committee of 18th Southeast Asian Geotechnical Conference and member of international advisory committee of International Symposium on Advances in Foundation Engineering. In addition, Prof. Lin is serving as the President of Taiwan Geotechnical Society and the CEO of Sino-Geotechnics Research and Development Foundation in Taiwan. Prof. Lin also served TRB A2K03 Committee on Foundations of Bridges and Other Structures between 1995 and 2004 and serves as a member on the editorial boards for four major international journals in geotechnical engineering.

Prof. Charng Hsein Juang

Dr. Juang received his Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering from Purdue University in 1981. He joined the faculty of Clemson University in 1982 and has been with Clemson University ever since. Dr. Juang has a broad research interest in the field of geotechnical engineering. His past research work dealt with slope stability, soil-buried pipes interaction, soil and rock properties, pile foundations, fuzzy sets and uncertainty modeling in geotechnical engineering. His current research work deals with liquefaction, site characterization, braced excavation, reliability and probabilistic methods in geotechnical engineering, and fuzzy and neural network applications in geotechnical engineering. Dr. Juang has received a number of awards and honors. He was proud to be selected by his students through Chi Epsilon for Outstanding Teacher Award in 1985. Among his awards and honors are the Outstanding Research Paper Award by the Chinese Institute of Civil and Hydraulic Engineering (1976), the TK Hseih Award by the Institution of Civil Engineers of the United Kingdom (2001), the Clemson University Board of Trustees Award for Faculty Excellence (2002), election to ASCE Fellow (2007), and appointment to Chair Professor at National Central University, Taiwan.

His professional services include:
– Chair, ASCE/GI Committee on Risk Assessment and Management (2009-2012); Secretary, (2003-2009); Member (1993-present)
– Co-Editor in Chief, Engineering Geology (2012-present)
– Associate Editor & Editorial Board Member, ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (2004-2012)
– Editorial Board, Journal of GeoEngineering (2006-present)
– Editorial Board, Georisk (2009-present)
– Conference Chair, ASCE Geo Institute Specialty Conference, GeoRisk 2011, Geotechnical Risk Assessment and Management, Atlanta, June 26-28, 2011.

Prof. Robert Liang

Dr. Robert Liang holds a title of University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Akron. He also serves as the Director for the Center for Infrastructure Materials and Rehabilitation. Since receiving his Ph.D. in 1985 from the University of California in Berkeley, Dr. Liang has been with the University of Akron. From 1994 to 2000, he served as Civil Engineering Department Chair. Dr. Liang has conducted research in areas such as geotechnical engineering, pavement engineering, and infrastructure materials and rehabilitation technologies. His research has resulted in more than 300 journal and conference papers, with practical impacts on design and construction practices. Dr. Liang is active in ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers), TRB (Transportation Research Board), and DFI (Deep Foundation Institute) committee works. He serves as associate editor for the ASCE’s Journal of Engineering Mechanics and Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering. Currently, he is on the editorial board for several international journals, such as Georisk, and Journal of GeoEngineering. Dr. Liang received Wendell R. Ladue award from ASCE Akron-Canton Section for his outstanding contributions to the profession. He also received Louis Hill award from College of Engineering in recognition of his exemplary achievements in both research and teaching. He received outstanding service award from the Great Lakes Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering Organization for his service as the president of the organization. In recognition of his contributions to civil engineering, Dr. Liang was elected to Fellow of ASCE in 2009.

SPECIAL FEATURE STORY ON “Liquefaction Problems in the 21st Century” by Prof Ikuo Towhata
Prof Ikuo Towhata

Prof Ikuo Towhata obtained his Bachelor of Engineering degree from the University of Tokyo in 1977. He obtained his Master of Engineering and Doctor of Engineering in 1979 and 1982 respectively from the same university. In 1985 he was Assistant Professor at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok and in 1986 as Associate Professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. He returned to work in Tokyo University as an Associate Professor in 1987. In 1989 he was Associate research fellow at PWRI Ministry of Construction. He was Professor at Tokyo University from 1994 to 2014 and since 2015 he is Visiting Professor at Kanto Gakuin University, Department of Civil Engineering Yokohama Tokyo Japan. Professor Towhata has 32 years of research experience and his special areas of interest are Deformation characteristics of cohesionless soils; Dynamic analysis of earth structures during earthquakes; Permanent displacement of ground caused by seismic liquefaction; Soil improvement by densification and grouting; Stability of seabed in static and dynamic manners; Thermal effects on mechanical behavior of clays; Microscopic Observation of Granular Behavior of Sand Subjected to Shear; Dynamics of landslide and debris flow. Professor Towhata is active in public service and was Board member of Japanese Geotechnical Society for two terms; Board member of Japan Association for Earthquake Engineering for one term; Board member of Japan Landslide Society for two terms; Chairman of Editing Committee of Soils and Foundations Journal, the Japanese Geotechnical Society in 2005-2008; Chairman of Geotechnical Committee, Japan Society for Civil Engineers in 2007-2008; Vice President, Japan Association for Earthquake Engineering in June 2009-May 2011; President, Japanese Geotechnical Society in 2014-2016; Appointed Board Member and then Vice President for Asia, International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering in 2009-2017; Associate Member of Science Council Japan in 2014-2020. He is currently Member of the Japanese Geotechnical Society; Member of the Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society; Member of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering; Fellow member of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers and Member of the Japan Association for Earthquake Engineering. Professor Towhata has been invited to deliver Keynote Lectures and Special Lectures in many international conferences. He has published more than 600 papers and has published many books notably:

Towhata, I. (1999). Air photographs of the Niigata city immediately after the earthquake in 1964, Japanese Geotechnical Society, ISBN4-88644-054-1.
Towhata, I. (2008) Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering, ISBN 978-3-540-35782-7, pringer Verlag- Berlin Heidelberg.
Towhata, I. and Jiang, Y.-J., 2010. Geotechnical Aspects of 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, China, Chapter 8, Advances in Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering, Springer.
Professor Towhata has won many awards and among them the Japanese Geotechnical Society; Technological Development Award in 2015; Japan Society of Civil Engineers; Best book publication award in 2009; Japanese Geotechnical Society, Award for the Best Paper of the Year 2003; 2004 and the best twelve papers out of 600 at GeoEng2000 Conference at Melbourne in 2000

PREFACE

The theme of the 2015 June issue is Pile Foundations. The guest editors for this special issue are Professor San-Shyan Lin at National Taiwan Ocean University, Taiwan, Prof. Charng Hsein Juang at Clemson University, USA, and Prof. Robert Liang at Akron University, USA contributed to the editorial management. Prof. A.S. Balasubramaniam as the Editor-in-Chief and Dr. Teik Aun Ooi as the President of SEAGS strongly supported the launch of this special issue on Pile Foundations.

The topics and scope covered in this special issue are comprehensive and interdisciplinary, ranging from back-analysis of pile load test, piled-raft analysis, ground vibration caused by impact pile driving, analysis of bi-direction-cell test, effect of aging on barrette pile, comparison on dynamic response of a single pile using different approaches, response of “plug” in open-toe pipe pile, effect of toe grouting of IGM socketed drilled shaft, reliability-based design on foundation and ultimate resistance of drilled shaft by probabilistic approach. The issue is comprised of twelve papers with a selection of the authors from seven countries involving Canada, Japan, Lebanon, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand and USA.

Niazi and Mayne develops new sets of shear stiffness reduction curves from the back-analyses of 299 static axial pile load tests from 61 sites towards the implementation of a non-linear load-displacement response method for pile foundations. Subsequently, the elastic continuum solution is exploited by them to present a methodology for drawing the stiffness reduction curves as functions of depth. These curves are further utilized in modeling the pile as a stack of smaller shaft segments embedded in multi-layered soils. Hamada et al. presents static cyclic lateral loading tests on large-scale piled raft foundations carried out to investigate the influence of vertical load and pile spacing ratios during earthquakes. Yamashita et al. applies and modifies the simple method proposed by Clancy and Randolph (1996) on piled raft analysis. Four case histories in Japan are examined through comparisons with the field monitoring results. Massarsch and Fellenius describe the application of the Swedish standard which regulates permissible ground vibrations caused by driving of piles, sheet piles, or ground compaction. Fellenius explains how to use the bidirectional-cell test data on a pile to establish the load distribution for the pile, which enabled determining the distribution of the effective-stress beta-coefficients for the pile response Teparaksa presents testing process and discusses the result of different barrette pile static load tests, especially on aging effect on pile capacity. Lu and Chang presents a case study on dynamic behaviors of coal ash soils obtained in a landfilled field in north Taiwan and also the dynamic interaction of a single pile foundation sitting in the landfills. Fellenius recommends how to analyze the response of an open-toe pile. A comparison is also provided between the results of a simulated static loading test on a closed-toe and an open-toe pipe pile. Lin et al. presents the axial performance of two heavily instrumented drilled shafts, with and without toe grouting, socket in intermediate geomaterials in Taipei city. Abdallah et al. presents the results of a comprehensive investigation that is conducted to study the effect of choosing different proof-load test programs on the reliability of piles. Luo et al. evaluates and compares existing probabilistic approaches for determining the ultimate resistance of drilled shafts in sands considering the spatial variability of soil properties.

We consider that this special issue presents and illustrates the outcome of some of the state-of-the-art research on pile foundations, and hope that it will make an important contribution to this growing field in the years to come.

San-Shyan Lin
Charng Hsein Juang
Robert Liang

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The lead editor of the June 2015 Issue on Piled Foundation is Prof. San Shyan Lin with team members Prof. Charng Hsein Juang and Prof. Robert Liang. Prof. San Shyan Lin is of immense help to the SEAGS-AGSSEA Journal as a Member of the Team of Editor in Chief. It is worthy to mention that the Taiwan Geotechnical Society is the most active supporter of all SEAGS-AGSSEA activities including the Journal. There were many Issues of the Journal editted by members of CTGS (Chinese Taipei Geotechnical Society). They also contribute many articles and this is a most welcome culture which should be a model example to follow by other AGSSEA member countries. Gradually, we have been very successful in engaging members of AGSSEA to contribute to the journal and take much of the responsibility in contributing articles, engaged in reviewing and other aspects related to the journal. The country issues in 2016 and the Anniversary Issues in 2017 will further enhance the success in the active participation of AGSSEA members in the journal.

In the preface , Prof. San Shyan Lin and his team has already covered adequately the contents of the papers from an international set of prestigious authors and all articles were also reviewed by experts in the field. Details of the reviewers will be assembled in the December Issue for all the articles published in 2015. SEAGS-AGSSEA Journal is always very practice oriented and this well reflected in the contributions contained in this issue as well.

There are twelve excellent papers written by well known authors from : USA, Japan, Sweden, Canada, Thailand, Taiwan and other countries. No doubt, this Issue will be most useful to our Profession and all those who are engaged in Pile Foundation Research and Practice. Sincere thanks to all who have contributed to the success of this issue of our journal under the able leadership of Prof. San Shyan Lin.

We are grateful to Professor Ikuo Towhata for his contribution of Special Feature Story on “Liquefaction Problems in the 21st Century” in this issue.

K. Y. Yong
N . Phienwej
T. A. Ooi
A. S. Balasubramaniam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

JUNE 2015: SPECIAL ISSUE ON PILE FOUNDATIONS
Editors: San-Shyan Lin, Charng Hsein Juang, and Robert Liang

SEAGS-AGSSEA Journal – September 2015

September-2015 Issue: Soil Behaviour and Modelling

Edited By Prof. Zhen-Yu Yin and Prof. Jian-Hua Yin

Prof. Zhen-Yu Yin

Prof. Yin graduated from Zhejiang University, China in 1997 for his bachelor degree and from Ecole Centrale de Nantes, France in 2003 for his master degree. He got PhD from Ecole Centrale de Nantes, France in 2006 in the field of geotechnical engineering. He was promoted as professor in 2010 at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China. Prof. Yin‟s research topics include: (1) constitutive modeling for saturated soils; (2) microstructure and micromechanics for soils; (3) improvement technology for soft soils; (4) finite element analysis for geotechnical engineering. He has authored more than 50 papers in peer review journals such as Geotechnique, ASCE journals, IJSS, Nag etc.

In 2011, Prof. Yin was awarded “Professor of Exceptional Rank of Shanghai-Dongfang Scholar” by Shanghai Education Committee. Prof. Yin is now serving as committee member for both national and international associations (granular materials committee ASCE, Constitutive Relation and Strength Theory Committee of Chinese Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Soil Mechanics Committee of Chinese Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Underground Engineering Committee of Shanghai Society of Civil Engineers). From 2010 up to 2012, Prof. Yin has received 8 research grants as main investigator, financed by European Union, Chinese National Science Foundation, Minister of Education of China, Shanghai Science and Technology Committee etc.

Prof. Jian-Hua Yin

Dr Jian-Hua Yin is currently a professor in the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Professor Yin received a BEng degree in 1983 in Chinese Mainland, an MSc degree from Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1984, and a PhD from The University of Manitoba, Canada in 1990. Dr Yin has a mix of industrial and academic experiences. He joined Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 1995 as an Assistant Professor. He was promoted to an Associate Professor position in 1999, to a Professor position in 2002, and recently to the position of Chair Professor of Soil Mechanics in 2014. Professor Yin has a good track record in research and has played a leading role in development of advanced soil testing equipment, innovative fiber optical sensors, establishing a largescale multi-purpose physical modeling facility for studying geo-hazards, organization of regional and international conferences. His research interests include (i) testing study of properties and behaviour of soils, (ii) elastic visco-plastic modeling, (iii) soft soil improvement, (iv) soil nails and slope analysis, (v) development and applications fiber optical sensors, (vi) soil-structure interface, and (vii) development of advanced/special lab test apparatus. Currently, Professor Yin serves as a Vice-President of International Association for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics (IACMAG), Co-Editor of International Journal of Geomechanics, Co-Editor of Geomechanics and Geoengineering, and Associate Editor of Canadian Geotechnical Journal. He has received the honours of the prestigious “JOHN BOOKER Medal” in 2008, “Chandra S. Desai Excellence Award” in 2011 from IACMAG, and delivering the high-status 2011 “Huang Wenxi Lecture” in Chinese Mainland.

SPECIAL FEATURE STORY ON “Soil Mechanics at Emmanuel College –Elegant, Rigorous and Relevant”
By John Burland

Professor John Burland

Professor John Burland

Born in the UK, Professor Burland was educated in South Africa and studied Civil Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand. He returned to England in 1961 and worked with Ove Arup and Partners for a few years.

After studying for his PhD at Cambridge University, John Burland joined the UK Building Research Station in 1966, became Head of the Geotechnics Division in 1972 and Assistant Director in 1979. In 1980 he was appointed to the Chair of Soil Mechanics at the Imperial College London. He is now Emeritus Professor and Senior Research Investigator at Imperial College.

In addition to being very active in teaching (which he loves) and research, John Burland has been responsible for advising on the design of many large ground engineering projects world-wide including the underground car park at the Palace of Westminster and the foundations of the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London. He specialises in problems relating to the interaction between the ground and masonry buildings. He was London Underground’s expert witness for the Parliamentary Select Committees on the Jubilee Line Extension underground railway and has advised on many geotechnical aspects of that project, including ensuring the stability of the Big Ben Clock Tower. He was a member of the international board of consultants advising on the stabilisation of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City and was a member of the Italian Prime Minister‟s Commission for stabilising the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

He has received many awards and medals including the Gold Medal for engineering excellence of the World Federation of Engineering Organisations and the Gold Medals of the UK Institution of Structural Engineers and of the UK Institution of Civil Engineers. In 1994 he was awarded the Kevin Nash Gold Medal of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering „In recognition of outstanding services to ISSMGE, to International Goodwill and to International Geotechnical Practice and Education‟. In 1996 he was awarded the Harry Seed Memorial Medal of the American Society of Civil Engineers „for distinguished contributions as an engineer, scientist and teacher in soil mechanics‟. He is a Fellow of both the UK Royal Academy of Engineering and of the Royal Society of London and was appointed Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2005.

SPECIAL FEATURE STORY ON “Ground Improvement Methods for Port Infrastructure Expansion”
By Indraratna B., Heitor, A and Rujikiatkamjorn, C.

Prof. Buddhima Indraratna, PhD

Prof. Buddhima Indraratna, PhD

Buddhima Indraratna is a Civil Engineering graduate from Imperial College, London, and obtained his PhD from the University of Alberta in 1987. He has worked in industry in several countries before becoming an academic at AIT during the period 1988-1991, in which he was an Assistant Professor and then Associate Professor. He was involved in a number of major infrastructure projects in Thailand and Southeast Asia during that time. Subsequently, his contributions to the analysis of 2nd Bangkok International Airport (Suvarnabhumi) are well-known and published in major international journals.

Prof Indraratna’s significant contributions to geotechnical and railway engineering have been acknowledged through numerous national and international awards, including the 2016 Inaugural Ralph Proctor Lecture by the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, the most prestigious award in Transport Geotechnics. In 2009, he delivered the prestigious E.H. Davis Memorial Lecture of Australian Geomechanics Society for distinguished contributions to theory and practice of geomechanics. In 2014, he received the C.S. Desai Medal from the International Association for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics (IACMAG) for outstanding contribution to geotechnical research and education. For his pioneering contributions to Australian railway innovations, he was honoured with the prestigious Business and Higher Education award by the Australian Government in 2009, Engineers Australia Transport Medal in 2011 and 2015 Australasian Railway Society’s Outstanding Individual Award. Over the past two decades, he has also received numerous best paper awards, for example Thomas Telford Premium Award by the Institution of Civil Engineers, UK amd Robert Quigley Award by the Canadian Geotechnical Society. He was instrumental in changing the Australian standards the use of vertical drains in soft foundations soils and for revising the standards for railway ballast.

Prof Indraratna currently leads numerous projects funded by the Australian Research Council with over $15 million dollars over the past decade, and he has been a geotechnical consultant worldwide, and a United Nations consultant. He was also an Advisor to the Ministry of Science and Technology (Thailand) for new railway network planning and design, and an Advisor to the Government of Sri Lanka on Posttsunami rehabilitation of railways. He has more than 550 publications including over 230 reputed journal papers, 9 Books and over 45 invited keynote papers. He has supervised over 50 PhD graduates and 30 Postdoctoral Fellows.

Professor Indraratna is a Fellow of the most prestigious Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE), as well as a Fellow of several professional organisations including the Institution of Engineers, Australia (FIEAust), American Society of Civil Engineers (FASCE), Australasian Institute of Mining & Metallurgy (FAusIMM) and the Geological Society of UK (FGS).

PREFACE

This September 2015 issue of the journal contains fifteen interesting research papers and the details are described below. The time-dependency of the soft clay behaviour is studied in two papers by Wu et al and Ye et al as overview and interpretation of rate dependency and stress relaxation in soft clays respectively. In these papers, the strain rate dependent behaviour and under 1D and 3D stress conditions under complex loading conditions is studied through triaxial compression and extension tests under different OCR by Wu et al and the pore pressure development during stress relaxation by Ye et al. The latter paper also used stress relaxation curves in double logarithmic plane resulting in the development of a stress relaxation coefficient useful in analytical solutions for the 1D stress relaxation. A third paper by Bian et al proposes a new stress strain model based on CSSM for re-constituted clays which considers the effects of initial water contents. The model describes the undrained shear behaviour. With the decrease of initial water contents, the reconstituted clays experience enhanced strength, stiffness and dilation, which are not involved in the Modified Cam Clay model. These features can be captured by introducing a new hardening parameter (“quasi-structure” strength) into the conventional critical state model. The “quasi-structure” strength increases with the decrease of initial water contents. The available test data on the undrained shear behaviour of reconstituted clays at different initial water contents are used to verify the proposed model, and the comparisons between computed and measured results show that the proposed model is able to predict the overall pattern of stress-strain curves, pore pressure variations and effective stress paths reasonably well, especially the ultimate undrained strength and pore pressure response at large strain.

The fourth paper is on the engineering behaviour of Shanghai soft clay by Lu et al by statistical analyses of the test data. The goodness-of-fits of normal distribution, log-normal distribution, exponential distribution and uniform distribution are assessed for each parameter using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) method. The results show that the normal distribution is suitable for initial water content, specific gravity, plasticity index, liquidity index and unit weight, the log-normal distribution is suitable for initial void ratio and plastic limit, the exponential distribution is suitable only for liquid limit, and the uniform distribution is not recommended.

Wang et al in the fifth paper deal with the dynamic behaviour of frozen soils. The dynamic response of frozen soils is one of the significant factors that should be taken into account when designing and constructing infrastructures in cold regions. This paper firstly reviews the state-of-the-art of dynamic testing techniques including dynamic uniaxial/triaxial test, resonant column test, wave velocity test and the SHPB test. Then the correlations of dynamic indexes for frozen soils with test conditions are analyzed i.e., dynamic modulus, dynamic strength, damping ratio as well as dynamic Poisson‟s ratio. The typical stress-strain relationships for frozen soils under dynamic loading are summarized such as empirical models, creep modelling and strength criterion for frozen soils. Finally promising prospects of the study in this paper is suggested.

Ye et al (in sixth paper) is on the mineral constituents of one dimensional compression behaviour of clayey soils. Only few data are available concerning the effect of the four main clay minerals, kaolinite (K), illite (I), montmorillonite (M) and chlorite (C), on the mechanical properties of clayey soils. This paper discusses the effect of different mineral contents on the compression and swelling indexes of clay mixtures in order to provide correlations between the mineralogical content of a clayey soil and its compressive properties. Four pure clay powders were used to prepare 34 clay mixtures (different proportions of K+I, K+I+M, K+I+C). Conventional oedometer tests were conducted on all the prepared samples. Based on the test results, the evolution of the compressive properties with the proportions of pure clays was estimated and relevant correlations are suggested. All the results demonstrate that the compression and swelling indexes are reasonably well correlated to the proportion of clay minerals. The content in montmorillonite influences significantly the compressive properties of clayey soils, and the contents of illite and chlorite are less influential when added to kaolinite based clayey soils. Moreover, 15 samples with different proportions of K+I+M+C were prepared and tested, and the proposed correlations were validated in light of the results obtained on these materials.

The seventh paper by Fan et al, investigates the addition of fine grained Zeolite on the compressibility and hydraulic conductivity of clayey soil treated with calcium bentonite and used as backfills for vertical cut off walls. Vertical cutoff walls, using backfill consisting of on-site sandy soil and Na-bentonite are widely used as engineering barriers for the purpose of achieving relatively low hydraulic conductivity and high contaminant sorption capacity. At some sites, locally available clayey soil, Ca-bentonite and natural zeolite may be considered as an alternate backfill. However, studies on the compressibility and hydraulic conductivity of zeolite-amended clayey soil/Ca-bentonite backfills for vertical cutoff walls are very limited. A series of one-dimensional consolidation tests is performed to evaluate the compressibility and hydraulic conductivity of fine-grained zeolite-amended clayey soil/Ca-bentonite backfills. Kaolin is used as the control clayey soil, and it is amended with various amounts of Ca-bentonite (5, 10, and 15%) and zeolite (2 – 40%) to prepare zeolite-amended kaolinbentonite backfills. The results indicate that the addition of fine-grained zeolite has insignificant influence on the compressibility and hydraulic conductivity of clayey soil/Ca-bentonite and sandy soil/Na-bentonite backfills. The hydraulic conductivity of the zeolite-amended clayey soil/Ca-bentonite backfills is generally lower than the typical regulatory limit of 10-9 m/s. Two empirical methods, based on the Nagaraj‟s generalized void ratio (e/eL) and Sivapullaiah et al.‟s method are assessed to predict the hydraulic conductivity of the backfills. The proposed method based on the Sivapullaiah et al.‟s method is shown to estimate the hydraulic conductivity for the finegrained zeolite-amended clayey soil/Ca-bentonite backfills with reasonable accuracy.

The eighth paper by Cheng and Saiyouri is titled effect of long term aggressive environments on the porosity and permeability of granular materials reinforced by nano-silica and sodium silicate. Colloidal nanosilica is a kind of new chemical grout materials for filling small pores of fine-grained soil. Compared to traditional sodium silicate material, the advantages and disadvantages of colloidal nanosilica are studied under laboratory conditions for pure gels and sand-gel mixtures for long-term volume stability. Samples of Fontainebleau sand injected by nanosilica and sodium silicate were conserved in dry air, water, salt solution and acid solution for 8 different time periods. The results show that pure gel of nanosilica is much more stable than pure gel of silicate sodium in all environments studied; from results of porosity, nanosilica does not has manifest advantages compared with sodium silicate; from results of permeability, nanosilica sand has more stable capacity of water-blocking in all environments.

The ninth paper by Deka et al is on strength of lime treated flyash using bentonite. The class “F” type Fly ash is non-cohesive and is normally strengthened or reinforced when used in structural fills. This paper deals with strength increase in unconfined compressive tests by pozzolanic reactions with lime and also bentonite.

The tenth paper is by Wang et al on soil deformation induced by underground tunnel construction. Development and utilization of underground railways can effectively ease the problem of urban traffic congestion. However, surrounding soil disturbance during tunnel excavation is likely to cause serious accidents. Thus, analyzing soil deformation during tunnel excavation is important. Through numerical simulation, this paper analyzes the influence of the step distance of a single-bore tunnel on the disturbance of the surrounding soil. Based on research on a single-bore tunnel, this paper further examines the effects of various spacing, locations, and excavation methods on the deformation of surrounding soils during parallel tunnel excavation. The results show that longer excavation steps lead to more intense disturbance to the surrounding soils. The most intense disturbance occurs at the ends of the tunnel. During new tunnel excavation, the tunnel crossing angle has stronger influence than the tunnel spacing on the original tunnel. Among the four excavation methods, single-bore advanced through is the most secure, whereas simultaneous excavation from opposite directions can cause the most intense disturbance to the surrounding soils. In practical operations, corresponding excavation methods can be employed according to specific conditions. Moreover, in-situ monitoring at key positions should be enhanced to avoid accidents.

The eleventh paper by Zhou et al is on full scale field tests on soil arching triggered during the construction of shallowly buried HDPE pipes. Soil arching significantly affects earth pressures around and above high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes in the construction phase. However, few studies have systematically addressed the change of soil arching with respect to soil cover thickness during the installation of HDPE pipes. This paper presents full-scale field investigations on the soil arching above and around three HDPE pipes buried shallowly in trenches. The results demonstrate that the soil arching developed in the backfill above the pipes is getting significant with increasing soil cover thickness. At a given soil cover thickness, more notable soil arching is found at a position closer to the pipe crown. The measured earth pressures acting on the pipe crown are compared with those estimated by the Marston load theory. It is found that the crown earth pressures estimated by the Marston‟s trench equation and embankment equation are 8% to 32% and 2% to 14% respectively higher than those obtained from the field tests. The results suggest that a threshold trench width is likely to exist when the Marston load theory is used for calculating the earth pressures on the top of HDPE pipes buried in the trench.

The twelfth paper is on a pollutant migration model considering solute decay in layered soil by Yu and Cai. Organic pollutant solute undergoes significant decay during the migration process in clay liner systems and foundation clay. Liner and foundation soil have layered properties. A one-dimensional computational model is established to calculate pollutant migration by considering the decay in layered soil medium. The separation of variable method is used to obtain the analytical solution. To verify the capability of the developed method, a typical example is illustrated by applying this model. The calculated results are compared with the results obtained from the GAEA Pollute v7. Consistent results demonstrate the reliability and validity of the proposed migration model, which can be a promising tool for landfill liner design when considering the organic pollutant decay.

The thirteenth paper is on effect of cyclic strain history on shear modulus of dry sand using resonant column tests by Jyant Kumar and Achu Catherine Cherian. A number of resonant column tests were performed on dry sand specimens to examine the effect of cyclic shear strain history, by including both increasing and decreasing strain paths, on the shear modulus (G) for different relative densities (Dr) and confining pressures (σ₃). The specimen was subjected to a series of cycles of increasing and decreasing shear strain paths approximately in a range of 0.001-0.1%. For a particular cycle, with a given strain amplitude, the shear modulus during the increasing strain path becomes always greater than that during the decreasing strain path. For a given cycle, irrespective of relative density of sand, the difference between the values of G associated with the increasing and decreasing strain paths becomes always the maximum corresponding to a certain shear strain level. The maximum reduction in the shear modulus, due to the cyclic variation of the shear strain, was noted to be around one fourth of the maximum shear modulus (G₀). This reduction in the shear modulus on account of the cyclic variation of shear strain increases generally with decreases in the values of both relative density and confining pressure. The study will be useful to examine the response of sand media subjected to earthquake excitation.

Bhattacharya and Kumar are the authors of the fourteenth paper on vertical uplift capacity of circular anchor plates. Experimental and numerical investigations have been carried out to determine the vertical uplift resistance of circular anchor plates embedded in cohesionless soil media. Experimental studies are performed on model circular anchor plates placed at different depths in loose to medium dry sand deposit for two different relative densities, namely, 25% and 65%, respectively. The numerical work has been done by using an axisymmetric lower bound limit analysis in conjunction with finite elements and linear programming to compute the uplift resistance offered by circular anchor plates embedded horizontally in sand. In the case of numerical studies, the internal frictional angle of sand was varied from 20° to 45°. Both experimental and numerical studies clearly reveal that the uplift resistance of the circular plate increases considerably with increases in embedment ratio (H/D), and soil frictional angle (ø). The deformation of the anchor plate, corresponding to the failure load, increases with an increase in the values of H/D and relative density of sand. The values of the failure loads obtained from the computational analysis match well with the present experimental results as well with the available data from literature.

In this fifteenth paper by Benson Hsiung and Sy-Dan Dao, a simple method for predicting movements, especially the ground surface settlements, caused by deep excavations in sands is presented. The case history of deep excavation in thick layers of sand is adopted from Kaohsiung, Taiwan as the basis for numerical analyses. In order to improve the inconsistence in prediction of ground surface settlements induced by the deep excavation, the analysis using the simple constitutive model but with additional two factors, α and β is applied. The factor α defines the width of primary strain zone behind the retaining wall, and β indicates the difference of soil stiffness in two zones of the primary strain zone and small strain zone. It is concluded that changing α seems not to induce significant change, and values of β from 3 to 5 shall be taken once such approach intends to be adopted for predicting ground surface settlements caused by deep excavations in sands.

The editors are grateful to the authors and reviewers and are very pleased with the significant contributions made by them in making this Issue feasible to our SE Asian Geotechnical Community and others.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This September 2015 Issue is edited by Profs. Zhen-Yu Yin and Jian-Hua Yin. They are to be congratulated for acquiring fifteen excellent papers, which covers a wide range of topics which will be of great value to researchers and practitioners. Details of the contents are in the Preface as compiled by the editors. They cover strain rate effects and stress relaxation with a new Stress strain Model as based on CSSM; the engineering behaviour of Shanghai soft clay is statistically analyzed; the dynamic behavior of frozen soils is studied using dynamic uniaxial/triaxial test, resonant column test, wave velocity test and the SHPB test. The addition of fine grained Zeolite on the compressibility and hydraulic conductivity of clayey soil treated with calcium bentonite and used as backfills for vertical cut off walls is also presented. Additionally, effect of long term aggressive environments on the porosity and permeability of granular materials reinforced by nano-silica and sodium silicate is also presented. The strength of lime treated flyash using bentonite is also studied in detail; the class “F” type Fly ash is non-cohesive and is normally strengthened or reinforced when used in structural fills. Soil deformation induced by underground tunnel construction is of importance. Among the four excavation methods, single-bore advanced through is the most secure, whereas simultaneous excavation from opposite directions can cause the most intense disturbance to the surrounding soils. In practical operations, corresponding excavation methods can be employed according to specific conditions. Moreover, in-situ monitoring at key positions should be enhanced to avoid accidents.

Full scale field tests on soil arching triggered during the construction of shallow buried HDPE pipes is also presented. Soil arching significantly affects earth pressures around and above high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes in the construction phase. The paper here presents full-scale field investigations on the soil arching above and around three HDPE pipes buried shallowly in trenches.

Organic pollutant solute undergoes significant decay during the migration process in clay liner systems and foundation clay. Liner and foundation soil have layered properties. A one-dimensional computational model is established to calculate pollutant migration by considering the decay in layered soil medium. The thirteenth paper is on effect of cyclic strain history on shear modulus of dry sand using resonant column tests by Jyant Kumar and Achu Catherine Cherian. A number of resonant column tests were performed on dry sand specimens to examine the effect of cyclic shear strain history, by including both increasing and decreasing strain paths, on the shear modulus (G) for different relative densities (Dr) and confining pressures (σ₃). The study will be useful to examine the response of sand media subjected to earthquake excitation.

Bhattacharya and Kumar are the authors of the fourteenth paper on vertical uplift capacity of circular anchor plates. Experimental and numerical investigations have been carried out to determine the vertical uplift resistance of circular anchor plates embedded in cohesionless soil media. The numerical work has been done by using an axisymmetric lower bound limit analysis in conjunction with finite elements and linear programming to compute the uplift resistance offered by circular anchor plates embedded horizontally in sand. Finally, Benson Hsiung and Sy-Dan Dao presented a simple method for predicting movements, especially the ground surface settlements, caused by deep excavations in sands. The case history of deep excavation in thick layers of sand is adopted from Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

No doubt, this Issue will be most useful to our Profession and all those who are engaged in Pile Foundation Research and Practice. Sincere thanks to all who have contributed to the success of this issue of our journal under the able leadership of Profs. Zhen-Yu Yin and Jian-Hua Yin.

K. Y. Yong
N . Phienwej
T. A. Ooi
A. S. Balasubramaniam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SEPTEMBER 2015: SPECIAL ISSUE ON SOIL BEHAVIOUR AND MODELLING
Editors: Prof. Zhen-Yu Yin and Prof. Jian-Hua Yin

December-2015 Issue: Problematic Soils including Contaminated Soils

Edited By Prof. Jay N. Meegoda and Prof. Liming Hu

Prof. Jay N. Meegoda

Prof. Jay N. Meegoda

Dr. Meegoda is the director of Geotechnical Program and a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology. He received his BS (Honors) from University of Sri Lanka and his M.S. and his Ph.D. from the University of California at Davis. He has been working as educator, consultant and researcher in engineering for over 35 years. He utilizes scientific concepts and engineering technologies in his research to provide solutions to real world problems. Dr. Meegoda has worked with state and local governments, and foreign governments to provide technical input for broad range of problems.

Dr Meegoda has worked on three major research areas. His primary research is in Mechanics of Geo-Environmental Engineering, which includes Engineering Properties of Contaminated Soils, Centrifugal Modeling of Contaminant Movement in Soils and Remediation of Contaminated Soils, Micro-mechanics of Soils, Reuse of Contaminated Soils, and Ultrasound. His second major research area is sustainable use of waste, which is still under the broad area of Geo-environmental Engineering. It includes Modeling of Bio-reactor Landfill performance, Sustainable Waste Management and Construction use of waste. Recently Dr. Meegoda initiated his third research area, the sustainable infrastructure initiative, which includes Performance of pipes and development of next generation of pipes, Management of underground infrastructure and Pavement texture and snow/ice management to limit accidents. He has offered numerous short courses worldwide, and teaches graduate and undergraduate courses at New Jersey Institute of Technology on Geotechnical and Geo-environmental Engineering.

Dr. Meegoda as PI has successfully concluded several multidisciplinary research projects worth over $7M from agencies such as NSF, USEPA, US Army, FHWA, NJDOT and NJDEP that provided broader impact to the society. Some of those technologies are now extensively used while others are to be commercialized. He has published over 150 papers. He has one patent and applied for one provisional patent. He received the research implementation award from the New Jersey Department of Transportation in 2011 for his Culvert Information Management Research, the best theoretical paper award from the Environmental and Water Resources Institute of ASCE in May 2012 for his research collaboration with China and the best practice paper award from the Environmental and Water Resources Institute of ASCE in May 2001 for the paper describing the results of one USEPA SITE demonstration project.

Dr. Meegoda currently serves Associate Editor of the ASCE Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste Management, Editorial Board Member ASTM Geotechnical Testing Journal, Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering, Springer Journal on Waste and Biomass Valorization and The Scientific World Journal, Guest editor, Journal of Hazardous Materials, special issue on Contaminated Dredged Sediments and Associate Editor of the 4th International Symposium on Environmental Geotechnology and Global Sustainable Development. He is a guest/research/visiting professor/scholar of six different universities. He has research collaborations spanning all six continents. He was invited to deliver keynote lectures and invited lectures at numerous events around the world. At NJIT, he was instrumental in setting up the NJIT chapter of Engineers without Borders and is currently serving as the faculty advisor.

Prof. Liming Hu

Prof. Liming Hu

Dr. Hu is an Associate Professor of Geo-environmental Engineering, and the Deputy Director of Institute of Geotechnical Engineering of Tsinghua University in China. He is also the senior Research Scientist at State Key Laboratory of Hydro-Science and Engineering (SKLHSE), and the director of the Geo-environmental Research Centre. He obtained double Bachelors in both Hydraulic Engineering and Environmental Engineering from Tsinghua University in 1995, and MEng and Ph.D. in Geotechnical Engineering from the same university in 2000. Then he worked as post-doctoral Research Associate at the Department of Civil Engineering of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) from 2000 to 2002. Since April 2002, Dr. Hu joined in Tsinghua University. He has supervised 15 Master students and 6 Ph.D. students.

Dr. Hu’s research interests focuses on contaminant transport, soil/groundwater remediation, valorization of solid waste, and landfill design in field of Geo-environmental Engineering, as well as soft ground improvement and soil-structure interaction in field of Geotechnical Engineering. He has more than one hundred publications in peer-reviewed journals, and owns 12 invention patents and 3 software packages.

Dr. Hu obtained numerous notable honors and awards due to his outstanding research achievements, such as 2013 First-Class State Award for Inventions by Chinese Central Government, 2013 Outstanding Young Scholar at Tsinghua University, 2013 Scientific Research Award from Hubei Province, 2012 Best Theoretical-Oriented Paper by ASCE Environment and Water Resources Institute, and 2012 Outstanding Young Scholar by Chinese Society for Rock Mechanics and Engineering, 2007 New Century Excellent Talents in Chinese Universities by Ministry of Education, 2005 New Star in Science and Technology by Beijing Municipal Government, and so on.

Now Dr. Hu serves as Chair of Committee for Chinese Young Geotechnical Engineers; Chair of Technical Committee on Soil Contamination and Remediation, and Core Member of the Institution of Geo-Environmental Engineering under Chinese Society for Rock Mechanics and Engineering; and Vice-Chairman of Committee for Geo-Environmental Engineering under Chinese Institution of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. He is also the life member of Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society (SEAGS), member of American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Member of International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), and Member of International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM), Member of American Chemistry Society (ACS), etc. Dr. Hu also serves as a member of TC215 (Environmental Geotechnics) of ISSMGE.

SPECIAL FEATURE STORY ON “Challenges in Going Underground in Big Cities” By L. John Endicott

Dr. John Endicott Dr. John Endicott has been an Adjunct Professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and at the University of Hong Kong. He has been practicing in Hong Kong since 1975 and is well known as an all-round geotechnical practitioner in South East Asia. He has worked on many projects on underground railway stations, metro lines, major roads, viaducts and foundations in Singapore as well as in Bangkok, Malaysia, Korea, Indonesia, India and China. He has been an expert witness in many projects including the collapse of the Nicoll Highway in Singapore.

HISTORIC NOTE ON “Underexcavating the Tower of Pisa: Back to Future” By John Burland, Michele B. Jamiolkowski, and Carlo Viggiani

Professor John Burland Born in the UK, Professor Burland was educated in South Africa and studied Civil Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand. He returned to England in 1961 and worked with Ove Arup and Partners for a few years.After studying for his PhD at Cambridge University, John Burland joined the UK Building Research Station in 1966, became Head of the Geotechnics Division in 1972 and Assistant Director in 1979. In 1980 he was appointed to the Chair of Soil Mechanics at the Imperial College London. He is now Emeritus Professor and Senior Research Investigator at Imperial College. In addition to being very active in teaching (which he loves) and research, John Burland has been responsible for advising on the design of many large ground engineering projects world-wide including the underground car park at the Palace of Westminster and the foundations of the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London. He specialises in problems relating to the interaction between the ground and masonry buildings. He was London Underground’s expert witness for the Parliamentary Select Committees on the Jubilee Line Extension underground railway and has advised on many geotechnical aspects of that project, including ensuring the stability of the Big Ben Clock Tower. He was a member of the international board of consultants advising on the stabilisation of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City and was a member of the Italian Prime Minister’s Commission for stabilising the Leaning Tower of Pisa. He has received many awards and medals including the Gold Medal for engineering excellence of the World Federation of Engineering Organisations and the Gold Medals of the UK Institution of Structural Engineers and of the UK Institution of Civil Engineers. In 1994 he was awarded the Kevin Nash Gold Medal of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering ‘In recognition of outstanding services to ISSMGE, to International Goodwill and to International Geotechnical Practice and Education’. In 1996 he was awarded the Harry Seed Memorial Medal of the American Society of Civil Engineers ‘for distinguished contributions as an engineer, scientist and teacher in soil mechanics’. He is a Fellow of both the UK Royal Academy of Engineering and of the Royal Society of London and was appointed Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2005.

Prof. Michele Jamiolkowski Professor Michele Jamiolkowski has been the Emeritus Professor of C.E., Technical University of Torino since 2008. In addition, he has also been the Founder and Chairman of the Engineering Consultant Company, Studio Geotecnico Italiano; Foreign Member of the Polish Academy of Science; Member of the Lagrangian Academy of Science, Torino; and Editor in Chief of the International Journal Geomechanics and Geoengineering.In addition to his outstanding academic record, Professor Jamiolkowski has also been involving in many world famous mega-projects such as Geotechnical Consultant for the Suspension Bridge over Messina Straits, Geotechnical Consultant for the Engineering Company Technital designer of the MOSE Project in Venice for Safeguarding Venice from high tides etc. He was also the President of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering between 1994 and 1997, and also the Chairman of the International Committee for Safeguard of the Leaning Tower of Pisa between 1999 and 2000. Currently, he is still serving as the Member of the International Advisory Group of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for the design and construction of the New Safe Confinement of the reactor in Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant; the Chairman of the International Board Expert for Development of the Second World Largest Copper Mine Tailings Depository Zelazny Most in Poland; the Geotechnical Consultant for the Venice Defence System against Water; the Chairman of the Technical Committee for Safeguard of Rome Monuments During Construction of the New Subway Line C Underpassing Historical Town Centre; and the Foreign Associate US National Academy of Engineering. For his outstanding achievement, Prof. Jamiolkowski is the recipient of numerous awards or honors, such as K. Terzaghi and R.B. Peck Awards from the ASCE; E. De Beer Awards from the Belgian Geotechnical Society; Honorary International Member of the Japanese Geotechnical Society; Doctor Honoris Causa: University of Bucharest, University of Ghent, SGGW, Life University (Warsaw); Recipient of the Italian Prize “Savior of the Art”; Honorable International Member of the Japanese Geotechnical Society since 1998; Honorary Professor Academia Sinica of Guangzhou, China; and Commendatore of the Italian Republic bestowed by the President of Italy. Other distinctions of Professor Jamiolkowski include 1985 Theme Lecturer at the XI International Conference SMFE, San Francisco, US; 1986 James Forrest Lecture, ICE, London, UK ; 1991 Cross Canada Lecture Tour. Canadian Geotechnical Society ; 1994 John Buchanan Lecturter, University of Texas at Austin ; 1997 Manuel Rocha Lecture in Lisbon; 2000 George Hendris Memorial Lecturer, University of Western Australia, Perth; 2001 Terzaghi Oration at the XV ICSMGE in Istanbul; 2002 Szechy Memorial Lecture in Budapest; 2002 Kersten Lecture. University of Minnesota US; 2004 Keynote Lecturer at the Skempton Conference at Imperial College in London; 2004 Keynote Lecturer 15th SEAGC, Bangkok; 2006 R.B. Peck Lecturer at the ASCE Geo-Institute in Atlanta; 2006 4th G.A. Leonards Lecture, University of Purdue, US; 2007 XIV ECSMFE, Madrid, Special Lecture; 2009 XVII ICSMGE, Great Project Lecturer, Alexandria; 2010 1st Za-Chieh Moh Lecturer, in Taipei, Taiwan; 2011 3rd V. De Mello Lecturer, in Lisbon; 2013 53rd Rankine Lecturer, in London; 2014 1st Tchebotarioff Lecturer in St. Petersburg; and 2014 6th J. K. Mitchell Lecture. Professor Jamiolkowski is the author and co-author of more than 250 publications, journal with referee & international conference.

Prof. Carlo Viggiani Professor Carlo Viggiani graduated in Civil Engineering in 1960 at the University of Napoli; PhD in Geotechnical Engineering in Napoli in 1969. He has been teaching in a number of Italian Universities; since 1975, at the University of Napoli Federico II where is, at present, Emeritus Professor of Foundation Engineering. Is Author or Co-Author of 4 books and more than 200 technical papers. He has been Editor of the Italian Geotechnical Journal; component of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics; at present he is editor of the series “Argomenti di Geotecnica” (Issues in Geotechnics) of the publisher Hevelius.He has been State of the Art Reporter at the ICSMFE in New Delhi, 1994 (Mitigation of Natural Hazards: Landslides and Subsidence) and at the ICSMGE in Osaka, 2005 (Pile foundations). Chairman of TC19 (later TC301) (Preservation of Monuments and Historic Sites) of the ISSMGE, he participated to the conservation of a number of monuments affected by geotechnical problems. From 1990 to 2002 member of the International Committee for the Safeguard of the Leaning Tower of Pisa; presently member of the Monitoring and Surveillance Committee of the Tower. Involved in the design and construction of a number of civil engineering structures; among them earth dams, civil and industrial buildings, bridges, tunnels and underground constructions, stabilisation of landslides. Consultant for Italian Railways and Underground Transportation Systems in Rome, Napoli, Torino, Bologna, Firenze. Involved in the design of the suspension bridge over the Messina Straits.

PREFACE

Welcome to Geotechnical Engineering Journal of the Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society (SEAGS) and the Association of Geotechnical Societies in Southeast Asia (AGSSEA). It is our great pleasure to serve as the guest editors for the last issue of 2015. It is also a special issue dedicated to on Problematic Soils including Contaminated Soils. This December 2015 issue of the journal contains fifteen interesting research papers and the details are described below.

First six papers are on contaminated soils or groundwater and their remediation. Next two papers are on electro-osmosis drainage. Next three are on ground improvement. Last four are on interesting or emerging topics such as education, impact of rise in sea level, numerical analysis and theoretical analysis.

We specifically requested Professor Chrysochoou to describe Geochemistry in Geotechnical Engineering Problems and set the tone for the issue. In this paper Professor Chrysochoou uses Ettringite, which is a problematic mineral found in soils as well as concrete, as case study to elaborate Geochemistry and how that is related to Geotechnical Engineering.

In the second paper Professor Meegoda and his team describes the Engineering Properties of Chromium Contaminated Soils. The chromite ore processing activities have over 2 million tons of processed chromium ore residue in Hudson County, New Jersey. This is a hazardous waste needing proper disposal. Professor Meegoda and his team explored the feasibility of using as construction material or to be used as brownfield type remediation.

Dr. Nithya and his team explored heavy metal sorption characteristics of two geo -materials in the third paper. The mobility of heavy metals into the environment as a result of mining, industrial and agricultural activities such as that described in the second paper is of major concern and engineers are exploring ways to absorb those heavy metals. Dr. Nithya and his team performed batch sorption experiments to evaluate suitability of two soils found in India as sorbents for heavy metals.

In the fourth paper Professor Mulligan and her student explored reduction of Chromium in water and soil using a biosurfactant “Rhamnolipid.” Rhamnolipid is readily biodegradable biosurfactant with a very low environmental impact. Professor Mulligan and her student performed batch experiments to evaluate the feasibility of using Rhamnolipid for the removal and reduction of hexavalent chromium from contaminated soil and water.

Professor Barbosa and her team describe details of a reclamation project of a brownfield site containing 1.2 million cubic meters of mineral waste pile inside a 260,000 m2 liquid waste pond in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, the fifth paper of this issue. Professor Barbosa and her team proposed technical solution that included the complete draining of the liquid pond, accompanied by on site treatment, a hydraulic barrier of pump & treat wells and the construction of an engineered waste containment facility using the mineral solid waste as compacted earth fill material combined with geosynthetics.

A review of acidic groundwater remediation in the Shoalhaven floodplain in Australia, is given by Professor Indraratna and his team in the sixth paper. Acidic groundwater generated from acid sulfate soils create unfavorable environmental conditions. Professor Indraratna and his team installed a pilot-scale permeable reactive barrier showing that it is a promising technology for long-term remediation acidic groundwater.

Electro-osmosis is an effective technique for soft ground improvement. However with the continuous application of electrical energy the effectiveness of electro-osmosis decreases with increase in soil resistance. The intermittent application of the current is one way to overcome this problem. Hence Professor Hu and his team describe an experimental and a numerical study of electro-osmosis on kaolinite under intermittent current in the seventh paper.

A new type of electro-kinetic geo-synthetics (EKG) electrode to avoid the electrode corrosion and provide an effective drainage channel was developed for electro-osmosis drainage, and its performance was evaluated by Professor Shen and his coworker in the eighth paper.

The title of the ninth paper is innovative soft soil improvement method through intelligent use of vacuum dewatering and dynamic compaction. This research was performed by Professor Liang and his team.

Professor Shivashankar and his team provide the tenth paper entitled “Some Studies on Engineering Properties, Problems, Stabilization and Ground Improvement of Lithomargic Clays.” They performed laboratory studies to determine engineering and strength properties of these lithomargic clays and stabilized soils. Then they reported ways to improve sites containing Lithomargic Clays.

The eleventh paper describes laboratory investigation of stone column reinforcement of a soft South African clay by Professor Kalumba and his coworker.

Professor Bouassida and his team describe the results of a numerical modelling study of Tunis so ft clay in the twelfth paper.

A framework for the de-structuring of clays during compression, is the title of thirteenth paper and it is a theoretical study performed by Professor Horpibulsuk and his colleagues.

In the fourteenth paper Professor Yasuhara and his colleagues describe impact of inundation caused by sea-level rise combined with land subsidence, a modern day problem.

Last but not least is the fifteenth paper by Professor Scharle and his colleague. This is an invited paper on challenges of educating our younger generation in Geotechnical Engineering.

The guest editors are grateful to the authors and reviewers for their contributions. We are very pleased with the significant contributions made by authors in making this Issue feasible to our SE Asian Geotechnical Community and others.

Jay N. Meegoda
Liming Hu

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The December 2015 Issue of the Journal on problematic and contaminated soils are edited by Prof. Jay Meegoda and Prof. Liming Hu. They did an excellent job within a short time and also forwarded all the completed documents well in time for the Journal Production team under the Leadership of Dr. Ooi at IEM, Malaysia.

There are 15 papers in this Issue with a paper on “Characteristics and Consequence of Nepal Earthquake 2015: A Review” by A S M Fahad Hossain, Tuk Lal Adhikari, Mehedi Ahmed Ansary and Quazi Hamidul Bari, a Feature story by Dr. John Endicott on “Challenges in Going Underground in Big Cities” and a historic note on “Underexcavating the Tower of Pisa: Back to Future” by John B. Burland, Michele B. Jamiolkowski and Carlo Viggiani. This historical note was first published in 2000 before full underexcavation of the Tower was carried out. Work on the Tower has now been successfully completed and an up-date on the behavior of the Tower can be found in Burland et al (2009).

The guest editors have adequately covered the important aspects of the papers: First six papers are on contaminated soils or groundwater and their remediation. Next two papers are on electro-osmosis drainage. Next three are on ground improvement. Last four are on interesting or emerging topics such as education, impact of rise in sea level, numerical analysis and theoretical analysis. It is rewarding to note the authors of the papers cover all continents. It is a clear indication of the International nature of the Journal.

There were numerous Guest editors from 2011 to 2015; each and every one of them brought innovation and scholarly contribution both in research and practice. The journal continues to have page lengths suitable for the authors to comprehensively present their contributions. As a cost cutting measure the hard copy of the journal is only produced after all the soft copies are produced and this is a bound volume made available to all in the middle of the subsequent year. The soft copies are released spot on time in March, June, September and December each year. All articles are reviewed by more than two reviewers; Prof. Jay Meegoda and Prof. Liming Hu used an excellent set of reviewers.

The Issues in 2016 are devoted to AGSSEA country contributions and will be released by Taiwan Geotechnical society editors in March 2016, followed by the editors in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia for the June, September and December Issues respectively. This will be followed by the Anniversary Issues in 2017. It is anticipated that the journal will also have a higher level of standard from the 51st year of the formation of SEAGS in 1967.

It is a genuine pleasure to have the excellent contributions in this December 2015 Issue and to record our vote of thanks to the Guest Editors Prof. Jay Meegoda and Prof. Liming Hu, the authors of the articles, the reviewers and all those who have contributed to the success in this Issues as well as the previous such Issues from 2011. It is important to thank Prof. San Shyan Lin for his varied contribution to SEAGS-AGSSEA in addition to his duties in the editorial team as a most valued member.

No doubt the contribution of the articles in this Issue, the Feature story and the historic note will further add prestige to the success story of the journal.

K. Y. Yong
N . Phienwej
T. A. Ooi
A. S. Balasubramaniam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECEMBER 2015: SPECIAL ISSUE ON PROBLEMATIC SOILS INCLUDING CONTAMINATED SOILS
Editors: Prof. Jay N. Meegoda and Prof. Liming Hu

Prof. Buddhima Indraratna

Prof. Buddhima Indraratna is currently Professor of Civil Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Wollongong. Concurrently, Buddhima is also the Research Director, Centre for Geomechanics and Railway Engineering; Program Leader, ARC Centre of Excellence in Geotechnical Science and Engineering; and Node Coordinator, CRC for Rail Innovation.

Since his PhD from the University of Alberta in 1987, his significant contributions to geotechnical and railway research have been acknowledged through numerous national and international awards, including the 2009 EH Davis Memorial lecture, regarded as one of the highest accolades within the Australian Geomechanics Society. Honoured as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE) and as a recipient of the 2011 Engineers Australia Transport Medal and 2009 Business Higher Education Round Table (BHERT) award by Australian Commonwealth for Rail Track Innovations, his contributions to Transportation Geotechnics and Ground Improvement have been further acclaimed. He has published over 500 peer-reviewed articles (200+ Journal papers) and 5 research-based Books, and successfully supervised over 40 PhD graduates. His research income is approx. $1.2 M/year. He is the Founding Director of the Centre for Geomechanics and Railway Engineering (GRE). In this Centre, he is mentoring over a dozen full-time staff and overseeing the progress of over 30 PhD students. GRE is one of the three research centres forming the ARC Centre of Excellence in Geotechnical Sciences and Engineering (ARC-CGSE) funded recently (with Newcastle and UWA), of which he is a Program Leader. He is also the node coordinator of the CRC for Rail Innovation at UOW in charge of several rail track innovation projects including a real track design at Singleton, near Newcastle, NSW.The National Rail Testing Facility will be soon established at the University of Wollongong under his leadership through funding by the Australian Research Council.

Dr. Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn

Dr Cholachat is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Geomechanics and Railway engineering, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong. He received his B Eng (1st Class Honours) from the Khonkaen University, Thailand in 2000 with a Masters (M Eng) from the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand in 2002. He obtained his PhD in Geotechnical Engineering from the University of Wollongong in 2006. He received the Australian Geomechanics Society Thesis Award in 2006. In 2009, he received an award twice from the International Association for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics (IACMAG) for an outstanding paper by an early career researcher, and the 2006 Wollongong Trailblazer Award for innovations in soft soil stabilisation for transport infrastructure. Recently he received the 2012 DH Trollope award and the 2013 ISSMGE Young Member award for academic achievements and outstanding contributions to the field of geotechnical engineering. He recently secured an early Career Researcher Award through the ARC Centre of Excellence in Geotechnical Science and Engineering with a grant of $680k for 3 years. His key areas of expertise include ground improvement for transport infrastructure and soft soil engineering. He has published over 140 articles in international journals and conferences. While maintaining a strong focus on quality teaching, to date, he has secured over $2 Million in research funding, mostly from external sources. He is currently a CI of two ARC-DP projects, 3 ARC-LP projects and a CRC-Rail project. He is currently the supervisor/co-supervisor of 10 HDR students and 4 Research Associates.

PREFACE

This Special Issue of the Geotechnical Engineering Journal of the Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society & Association of Geotechnical Societies in Southeast Asia on the Geotechnics for Advancing Transport Infrastructure is the result of keen discussion among various experts, for highlighting the key geotechnical issues encompassing modern transport infrastructure. This special issue includes a dozen invited papers from around the globe, including numerical and analytical methods, design parameters, field and laboratory testing, and case studies.

The issue begins with an invited paper by Tatsuoka et al titled “Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Structures for Railways: Twenty Five Year Experiences in Japan.” It draws our attention to the importance of the application of Geosynthetic-reinforced soil retaining walls constructed for high-speed train lines considering for both high seismic loads and subsequent over-topping tsunami current.

The article on the “Enhancement of Rail Track Performance through Utilisation of Geosynthetic Inclusions” by Indraratna et al. proposes the use of artificial inclusions such as polymeric geosynthetics and rubber shock mats with the aim of reducing particle breakage as a cost-effective option. The relative performance of different types of geogrids, geocomposites and shock mats installed in fully instrumented field tracks has been evaluated in the towns of Bulli and Singleton in the State of New South Wales, Australia.

In their study on “Railway Track Transition Dynamics and Reinforcement Using Polyurethane GeoComposites,”, Woodward et al. investigate the application of a polyurethane reinforcement technique to control the ballast migration behaviour in the transition zone to reduce dynamic effects from problems like hanging sleepers. The paper demonstrates the effectiveness of the application through numerical simulation and a case study at Tottenham Hale Junction in the United Kingdom.

In the paper “How to Overcome Geotechnical Challenges in Implementing High Speed Rail Systems in Australia,” Khabbaz and Fatahi summarise lessons learnt from other countries experienced with high speed rail. The challenges and the effective solutions associated with implementing HSR systems in Australia are explained including selection and design of proper tracks, geographical issues, environmental concerns, economics and project costs and construction procedures.

In their contributions “Maintenance Model for Railway Substructure,” by Ebrahimi et al. propose a maintenance model for railway substructure to predict the deformation of railway track and to estimate a schedule for ballast maintenance and tamping. A mechanistic-based maintenance planning software program was developed by incorporating the mechanistic empirical deformation model for railway substructure.

In their study “Dynamic Behaviour of Railway Ballasted Track Structures in Shaking Table Tests and Seismic Resistant Performance Evaluation in Japan,” Ishikawa et al. present an experimental and analytical study to explain the dynamic response of ballasted track structures subjected to horizontal seismic motions using small-scale model ballasted tracks with shaking table tests. They show that this technique could roughly assess the seismic performance of ballasted track structures for practical use.

The article “Mechanical Properties of Polyurethane-Stabilized Ballast,” by Keene et al. presents the mechanical properties of Polyurethane-Stabilized Ballast (PSB) compared to other materials commonly used in transportation infrastructure. It is found that PSB has mechanical properties similar to cement-stabilized soil (i.e., displays flexural strength), but has much greater compressive strength than ballast, which is critical for stabilization of track substructure.

“Dependency of Cyclic plastic Deformation Characteristics of Unsaturated Recycled Base Course Material on Principal Stress Axis Rotation” is an experimental study by Inam et al. who present the strength-deformation characteristics of unsaturated recycled crusher-run material, under various loading conditions and saturation degrees using multi-ring shear apparatus. The results from the multi-ring shear tests during repeated axial and shear loading tests can produce the real permanent deformation behaviour inside the base course and such results can be incorporated in practical pavement design.

The paper “Quickness Test Approach for Assessment of Flow Slide Potentials” by Thakur and Degago introduces a novel and pragmatic test procedure referred to as the quickness tests to evaluate remoulded shear strength of the sensitive clays. Based on relevant Norwegian landslides data, a quickness based criteria is proposed to assess the potential for occurrence of flow slides.

“Cement Stabilization for Pavement Material in Thailand” presented by Horpibulsuk et al. is a detailed review on the application of lightweight cemented clay and recycled pavement material, which are commonly used in Thailand. The effects of water content, cement content, air content and curing time play a major role in controlling the field strength development.

The study on “Stone Columns Field Test: Monitoring Data and Numerical Analyses” Almeida et al. presents a case study of a field test performed on a set of sixteen stone columns loaded with iron rails for one month. The numerical calculations of vertical and horizontal displacements reproduced the field measurements with satisfactory accuracy up to limit state conditions. The yield of stone columns provided by 3D analysis appears to be more realistic than that provided by 2D analysis.

“Numerical Analysis of Response of Geocell Confined Flexible Pavement,” by S. Babu and R. Babu investigates the behaviour of geocell reinforcement in the flexible pavement. The paper elaborates on the effects of secant modulus of geocell material, aspect ratio, thickness of geocell-reinforced layer, and type of subgrade material using a series of numerical analyses.

Our invitation to be Guest Editors of this Special Issue is gratefully appreciated. The 11 articles plus the technical note included in this Special Issue covers an array of issues from theory to practice in transport infrastructure development. We gratefully acknowledge the efforts of all Authors who accepted our invitation to submit high quality articles in a timely manner. All papers have been peer-reviewed according to journal guidelines to maintain high standards, and we acknowledge these efforts by all Reviewers.

It is hoped that this Special Issue on Transport Geotechnics would be of immense benefit to both researchers and practitioners alike.

Prof Buddhima Indraratna,
A/Prof Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We are very fortunate to begin Year 2014 with this excellent Issue on Geotechnics for Advancing Transport Infrastructure. Also no one else can be better Guest Editors than Prof. Buddhima Indraratna and A/Prof Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn. Prof. Buddhima Indraratna is currently Professor of Civil Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Wollongong. Concurrently, Buddhima is also the Research Director, Centre for Geomechanics and Railway Engineering; Program Leader, ARC Centre of Excellence in Geotechnical Science and Engineering; and Node Coordinator, CRC for Rail Innovation. Dr Cholachat is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Geomechanics and Railway engineering, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong. In the Preface, the Guest Editors proudly say, “This special issue includes a dozen invited papers from around the globe, including numerical and analytical methods, design parameters, field and laboratory testing, and case studies”. Indeed it is truely remarkable to have such an excellent set of papers, so eloquently presented in a systemmatic manner by the authors in an authoritative manner.

Appropriately the Issue begins with a novel contribution by Prof. Tatsuoka and co-authors on twenty five years of experiences in Japan on Geosynthetic reinfotrced soil structures for railways. The subsequent papers by Prof. Indraratna and Dr. Rujikiatkamjorn on enhancement of rail track performance through utilisation of geosynthetic inclusions; Railway Track Transition Dynamics & Reinforcement Using Polyurethane GeoComposites by P. Woodward, O. Laghrouche and A. El-Kacimi; How to Overcome Geotechnical Challenges in Implementing High Speed Rail Systems in Australia by by H. Khabbaz and B. Fatahi; Maintenance Model for Railway Substructure by Ali Ebrahimi, James M. Tinjum, and Tuncer B. Edil; Dynamic Behaviour of Railway Ballasted Track Structures in Shaking Table Tests and Seismic Resistant Performance Evaluation in Japan by T. Ishikawa, S. Miura and E. Sekine; and Mechanical Properties of Polyurethane-Stabilized Ballast and Infrastructure Materials by A. Keene, J.M. Tinjum, and T.B. Edil; all of them are invaluable contributions related to railways and use of geosynthetics.

The following four papers and a Technical note as described makes this Special Issue a special volume by itself on Geotechnics for Advancing Transport Infrastructure; Dependency of Cyclic Plastic Deformation Characteristics of Unsaturated Recycled Base Course Material on Principal Stress Axis Rotation by A. Inam, T. Ishikawa, and S.A. Miura; Quickness Test Approach for Assessment of Flow Slide Potentials by V. Thakur and S. A. Degago; Cement Stabilization for Pavement Material in Thailand by S. Horpibulsuk, A. Chinkulkijniwat, A. Suddeepong, and A. Neramitkornburee; Stone Columns Field Test: Monitoring Data and Numerical Analyses by Marcio Almeida, Bruno Lima, Mario Riccio, Holger Jud, Maria Cascão, Felipe Roza ; Numerical Analysis of Response of Geocell Confined Flexible Pavement by G. L Sivakumar Babu and Ram Babu.

Grateful thanks are due to all the contributing authors for their dedicated contributions. A very high standard is maintained in the contributions in this Issue and the subsequent three Issues are also expected to be of great value. They will form a very useful contribution to our profession.

K. Y. Yong
N . Phienwej
T. A. Ooi
A. S. Balasubramaniam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

MARCH 2014 SPECIAL ISSUE ON GEOTECHNICS FOR ADVANCING TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
Editors: Prof. Buddhima Indraratna & Dr. Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn

Numerical Analysis of Response of Geocell Confined Flexible Pavement
by G. L Sivakumar Babu and Ram Babu113-117

SEAGS-AGSSEA Journal – June 2014

Prof. Tatsunori Matsumoto

Prof. Matsumoto is now with Kanazawa University in Japan for nearly 34 years. He was educated at the Kanazawa University and received his Doctoral Degree from Kyoto University for his work on steel pipe piles in 1989. He has extensive research and practical experience on piled foundations and piled raft foundations. Prof. Matsumoto has a Shake Table Facility for the study of dynamic and earthquake type of behaviour of piled foundations. He has also worked on the centrifuge with pile groups and piled raft foundations in collaboration with Taisei Corporation. Prof. Matsumoto also has wide experience in the seismic design of raft and piled raft foundations. Prof. Matsumoto is one of the authors of the computer software PRAB—Piled Raft Analysis with Batter Piles. With this software piled raft foundation can be analyzed with vertical and horizontal loads as well as moment.

Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Grabe

Prof. Grabe was educated in civil engineering at Hannover University/Germany and received his Doctoral Degree from Karlsruhe University/Germany for his work “Experimental and theoretical investigation of entire area compaction control using vibratory rollers” in 1992. Afterwards he worked in geotechnical consulting and construction companies for six years. In 1998 he became head of the Institute of Geotechnical Engineering and Construction Management at Hamburg University of Technology in Germany. He has extensive research and practical experience in physical, theoretical and numerical modelling in geotechnical engineering, especially in pile foundations, and marine geotechnics. Prof. Grabe has a complete soil mechanics laboratory and worked also on physical modelling in centrifuge in collaboration with University of Western Australia.

Prof. Grabe’s main research topics are geotechnical engineering in general, and marine geotechnics in particular. His methodical background covers physical modelling (1g model tests and ng model tests in collaboration with UWA), theoretical modelling (single and multiphase models for saturated and unsaturated soils based on continuum approach), numerical modelling (grid and mesh-based methods like FDM, FVM and FEM for continuum approach; meshfree methods like SPH for continuum approach, and DEM for discontinuum approach). Prof. Grabe and his research group produced 257 publications in national and international journals and conferences since 1998. From 2011 Prof. Grabe is vice president of Hamburg University of Technology, and is responsible for research in this function.

Prof. Der-Wen Chang

Prof. Chang has been the Geotechnical faculty member at The Department of Civil Engineering of Tamkang University (TKU), Taipei, Taiwan for over 22 years. He received Ph.D. in Civil Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin in 1991 and MS in Civil Engineering at Michigan State University in 1987. Prof. Chang has supervised the research work of over 60 Master Thesis and 3 Ph.D. Thesis at TKU, and published more than 190 articles as the Journal, Conf. papers and reports. Nearly all his research studies are related to numerical modeling and dynamic analyses for the geotechnical structures. His research experiences include NDT methods on pavements, seismic behaviors of the pile foundation, constitutive modeling of the soils, and recent study on the performance based design for the earth
structures. Prof. Chang is also the visiting Professor at University of Washington at Seattle, US in 2008 and LN Gumilyov Eurasian National University at Astana, Kazakhstan for research studies in 2010 and 2011. Other than the research works, Prof. Chang devotes himself a great deal to serve the communities. He involves heavily and indeed shows his good performance in the public works related to education and constructions. Prof. Chang is currently serving as the Int. Secretary General of Chinese Taipei Geotechnical Society, GC member at SEAGS and Editorial Panel for SEAGS/AGSSEA J. of Geotechnical Engineering, and TC212 member at ISSMGE.

Foreword

The theme of the 2014 June issue is Deep Foundations. Prof. Tatsunori Matsumoto at Kanazawa University, Japan and Prof. Jurgen Grabe at Hamburg University of Technology, Germany are the guest editors while Prof. Der-Wen Chang at Tamkang University, Taiwan is the in-house editor. Prof. Der Wen Chang also undertook all the administrative works related to the review of the articles and coordinating with the Guest Editors, Authors and Reviewers. After 18-month of preparations, thirteen papers were finally selected and are published in this Issue.

The content of this issue covers up mainly the task force studies 1~5 of ISSMGE TC212. More than half of the technical papers are based on observations of the experimental works. Axial Bearing Capacity and Static Cyclic Loading Behaviours of the Model Piles and/or Pile Group are respectively examined by Aoyama et al., Hwang et al. and Ünsever et al. Case studies on Response of Laterally Loaded Nonlinear Piles are shown by Wei Dong Guo. Seismic Performance of the Piles from Field Measurements is discussed by Yamashita et al. Seismic Soil-structure-foundation Behaviours with Liquefaction concerns from the Shaking Table Test with Numerical Comparisons are discussed in the study made by Zhang et al.. An Overview of the Deep Foundation Systems of the High-rise Buildings can be found by
Katzenbach and Dr. Leppla.

On the other hand, a number of numerical studies can be found on simulating the pile foundation behaviors. The topics include: Energy Pile with Feasible Material Modeling by Ma et al., Passive Loading Effects on Piles by Moormann and Aschrafi, Dynamic Load Testing on Pipe Piles Compared to Case Study by Phan Ta et al., Laterally Loaded Nonlinear Piles by Wei Dong Guo, Seismic Performance of the Piles using Reliability Method by Chang et al., and Bearing Behaviours of Pile Group and/or Piles respectively discussed by Wu and Yamamoto, Reul et al. and Ünsever et al.

It is the sincere wish of the editors that this issue can provide a good record for the advanced works on deep foundation research. Sincere gratitude is expressed by the editors to the delegates and the reviewers who have contributed tremendous time and efforts in making this Remarkable Issue feasible and to complete the work within very strict timelines.

Tatsunori Matsumoto
Jurgen Grabe &
Der Wen Chang

Acknowledgement

This special Issue on Deep Foundations as edited by Prof. Tatsunori Matsumoto, Prof. Jurgen Grabe and Prof. Der Wen Chang have thirteen excellent papers. Each paper being reviewed by at least two reviewers and some by more than two. The authors of the papers as per the Table of Contents and in that order are: C. Moormann and J. Aschrafi; Xiaolong Ma, Gang Qiu and Jürgen Grabe; L. Phan Ta , T. Matsumoto and H. Nguyen Hoang; K. Yamashita, T. Hashiba, H. Ito and T. Tanikawa; Y.S. Unsever, T. Matsumoto, S. Shimono and M.Y. Özkan; J.H. Hwang, Z.X. Fu, P.Y. Yeh and D.W. Chang; D.W. Chang, Y.H. Lin, H.C. Chao, S.C. Chu and C.H. Liu; Wei Dong Guo; Y. Wu and H. Yamamoto; F. Zhang, R. Oka, Y. Morikawa, Y. Mitsui, T. Osada, M. Kato and Y. Wabiko; S. Aoyama, L. Danardi, L. Bangan, W. Mao, S. Goto and I. Towhata; O. Reul, J. Bauer and C. Niemann; and R. Katzenbach and S. Leppla.

Indeed the papers are excellent and deal with: Numerical Investigation of Passive Loads on Piles in Soft Soils; Simulation of an Energy Pile using Thermo-hydro-mechanical Coupling and a Visco-hypoplastic Model; Studies on Dynamic Load Testing of an Open-ended Pipe Pile with a Case Study; Performance of Piled Raft Foundation Subjected to Strong Seismic Motion; Static Cyclic Load Tests on Model Foundations in Dry Sand; Axial Bearing Behaviour of a Model Pile in Sand under Multiple Static Cycles; Seismic PBD of Piles from Monte Carlo Simulation using EQWEAP Analysis with Weighted Intensities; Case Studies on Response of Laterally Loaded Nonlinear Piles; Analysis of the Effect of Pile Tip Shape on Soil Behaviour Around Pile; Shaking Table Test on Superstructure-foundation-ground System in Liquefiable Soil and its Numerical Verification; Model Loading Tests on the Bearing Behaviour of a Group Pile and Ground Deformation; the Bearing Behaviour of Pile Groups Subjected to Lateral Pressure due to Horizontal Soil Movements; Deep Foundation Systems for High-rise Buildings in Difficult Soil Conditions.

Thus this Issue is unique in its own way in covering, theory, and practice via laboratory and field tests on model piles and under full scale conditions. Both static and dynamic loading conditions as well as earthquake type of loading; also the laboratory tests also include shaking table tests.

The authors of the papers and the editors are to be congratulated for this master-piece of work . Both Prof Tatsunori Matsumoto and Prof Der Wen Chang are also the guest editors of our June 2011 Issue of the journal and this Issue have seen the contributions of Prof. Jurgen Grabe as well as a Guest Editor.

We hope this Issue of the Journal will be of immense value to researchers and practitioners.

K. Y. Yong
N . Phienwej
T. A. Ooi
A. S. Balasubramaniam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

JUNE 2014: SPECIAL ISSUE ON DEEP FOUNDATION

Editors: Tatsunori Matsumoto, Jurgen Grabe & Der Wen Chang

Vol. 45 No.3 September 2014

Part 1: Centrifuge-based Physical Modeling (Editors: B.V.S. Viswanadham, Christophe Gaudin & Tom Schanz)
Part 2: Contributed Papers (Editors: Ooi Teik Aun, Hanh Quang Le & Noppodol Phienwej)

GUEST EDITORS

Prof. B.V.S. Viswanadham

Prof. Viswanadham obtained his PhD (Dr.-Ing.) from the Ruhr-University of Bochum, Germany in November 1996. He obtained his Bachelor degree in Civil Engineering from the Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, India in 1987 and thereafter did his Master of Technology in Civil Engineering with Geotechnical Engineering as a specialization from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras), Chennai, India in 1989. Before joining the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) in December 1998, he worked as a Senior Project Officer, Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT Madras and as a Scientist, Geotechnical Engineering Division, Central Road Research Institute, New Delhi for about eleven years. Currently, Prof. Viswanadham is working as a Professor in the department of Civil Engineering with geotechnical engineering as a specialization. The research interest of Prof. Viswanadham is on: (1) Centrifuge model studies on the behaviour of geotechnical structures; (2) Environmental Geotechnics with a special reference to landfill waste containment systems; (3) Ground improvement using Geosynthetics and studies on the behaviour of geosynthetic reinforced soil structures; (4) Natural hazard mitigation – landslides and slope protection; (5) Bulk utilization of waste materials especially coal ash. He has published 120+ technical papers in peer-reviewed international journals/International conferences/National conferences.

Prof. Viswanadham is a Co-ordinator of the National Geotechnical Centrifuge Facility available at IIT Bombay. He has focused in disseminating knowledge on centrifuge modelling to Students/Professionals through courses (for both undergraduate and post-graduate levels) and continuing education programme courses at IIT Bombay with an aim to establish centrifuge modelling technique as an essential tool for studying problems in geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering. Prof. Viswanadham is the Member of the Technical Committee for Physical Modelling on Geotechnics (TC104) of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), and the Chair of the Ist Asian regional workshop on the Centrifuge Modelling for Geotechnical Infrastructure to be held in IIT Bombay in November 14-16, 2012.

Prof. Christophe Gaudin

Prof. Gaudin graduated with a Doctorate in Engineering Science from the Ecole Centrale de Nantes in November 2002. He subsequently joined the Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems (COFS) in July 2003 and was appointed as Manager of the UWA centrifuge facilities. He was promoted Research Professorial Fellow in 2009 and hold since the position of Deputy Director of COFS. His research interests cover offshore anchoring systems and shallow foundations, pipeline-soil interaction and similitude principles associated with centrifuge modelling, for which he has authored 90+ referred publications.

As manager of the UWA centrifuge facilities and a team of 8 technicians, Prof Gaudin has focused on establishing centrifuge modelling techniques as an essential tool to assist the offshore industry in developing and designing foundation solutions. He has built a strong relationship with the offshore industry, raising over $3.5M of research funding and producing 50+ consulting reports.

Since 2010, Prof. Gaudin is the Chair of the Technical Committee for Physical Modelling on Geotechnics (TC104) of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), and the Chair of the 8th International Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics to be held in Perth in 2014. His goals as TC Chair for the current term are notably to increase awareness of centrifuge modelling techniques and capabilities in the geotechnical engineering community, both in academia and industry, and to support the emergence of new centrifuge centres around the world.

Prof. Tom Schanz

Prof. Tom Schanz received his PhD at ETH Zurich on the mechanical behavior of granular mixture. This period followed a PostDoc stay at Kagoshima University (Japan). Thereafter he received his habilitation at University Stuttgart (Germany). After ten years as Professor at Bauhaus-University Weimar (Germany) he is nowadays head of the Laboratory of Foundation Engineering, Soil- and Rock Mechanics at Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany. The laboratory is running currently two geotechnical centrifuges since about 30 years. Research projects involving these equipments cover all subjects from environmental engineering, natural hazard assessment and nowadays problems involving unsaturated soil mechanics. Beside the centrifuge center the laboratory is running an excellent equipped soil dynamics and clay lab. Tom’s research papers cover a wide range of theoretical, experimental and numerical subjects, as unsaturated soil mechanics, physico-chemical clay behavior, constitutive models, earthquake engineering and application of numerical methods to geomechanical problems. Tom is member of international committees as Unsaturated soils and European Numerical methods, he is chairman of the German committee for Numerical Methods in Geotechnics.

FOREWORD

By Prof Viswanadham, and Dr.Ooi Teik Aun & Dr. Hanh Quang Le

A growing number of papers were received from time to time by authors who have an active interest in the journal. It is the only journal in SE Asia and we need to cater well for all authors.

As such, this Issue of the Journal is in two parts. The First Part is edited by Prof. Viswanadham and his team on Centrifugal Model Tests. The second part is edited by the in-house editors of the Journal.

Part 1: Centrifuge-based Physical Modeling

It is a pleasure for us to be Guest Editors for this Special Issue on Centrifuge-based Physical Modeling. There are seven excellent papers:

Centrifuge Modelling of Improved Ground; Simulation of Soil Movement in Geotechnical Centrifuge Testing – Deep Excavations, Tunnelling, Deposit; Run-out of sensitive clay debris: significance of the flow behaviour of sensitive clays; Verification of the Generalized Scaling Law for Flat Layered Sand Deposit; Performance of Rail Embankments Constructed with Coal Ash as a Structural Fill Material: Centrifuge study; Centrifuge Model Tests on the Use of Geocomposite as an Internal Drain in Levees; Field scale tests for determination of pullout capacity of suction pile anchors under varying loading conditions.

The authors of these papers are M. Kitazume, Y. Morikawa and S. Nishimura; D. König, O. Detert andT.Schanz; V. Thakur and D. Nigussie; T. Tobita, S. Escoffier, J. L. Chazelas and S. Iai; B.V.S. Viswanadham and V.K. Mathur; Vijaya Ravichandran, R. Ramesh, S. Muthukrishna Babu, G.A.Ramadass, M.V.Ramanamoorthy and M.A. Atmanand.

With an aim of disseminating knowledge and expertise about the centrifuge based physical modelling techniques, the Technical committee TC 104 on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) is organizing regional workshops first in Europe and Asia. The first Asian workshop on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics (Asiafuge2012) was held in Mumbai, India in November 14-16, 2012 and was organised in association with Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India, and the Indian Geotechnical Society Delhi with an emphasis on the application of centrifuge-based physical modelling for infrastructure development. Selected themes included soft ground problems, foundations, deep excavations, slopes and embankments, earthquakes, climate change, ground improvement techniques, tunnels, offshore foundation systems, environmental geotechnics, geosynthetics and novel construction techniques in infrastructure geotechnics. The above papers were selected by a scientific committee consisting of delegates, who attended Asiafuge 2012.

B.V.S. Viswanadham (Lead Guest Editor)
C. Gaudin
T. Shanz

Part 2: Contributed Papers

In this part there are 7 contributed papers on mobile information system for risk management in urban underground construction; Design methods in Segmental Tunnel Linings; Challenges in constructing urban tunnels; Bulk compression of dredges soils; Energy piles; Bored piles in residual soils and Centrifugal shaking table tests on reinforced earth embankments.

The authors of the papers are: Hanh Quang Le and Bin-Chen Benson Hsiung; N.A. Do, D. Dias, P.P. Oreste, I. Djeran-Maigre; R. Katzenbach and S. Leppla; Hiroshi Shinsha and Takahiro Kumagai; A.M. Tang, J.M. Pereira, G. Hassen, N. Yavari; Mutiasani Dianmarti Kusuma and Eng-Choon Leong; W.Y. Hung, J.H. Hwang, C.J. Lee.

The editorial team of the contributed papers are most grateful to the authors and the reviewers for their excellent job. Most papers in Part 2 were presented in Geotech Hanoi 2013, but were modified significantly and had been subjected to extensive review.

Ooi Teik Aun (Lead Editor Part 2)
Hanh Quang Le
Noppodol Phienwej

Acknowledgement

A growing number of contributed papers are now received for the journal. As such this Issue is in two parts; Part 1 is on Centrifuge based Physical Modelling with Prof. B.V.S. Viswanadham as lead editor. There are six papers contributed in this part. Part 2 of the Issue is on contributed papers as edited by In-house Editors Dr. Ooi Teik Aun and Dr. Hanh Quang Le. The future Issues of the Journal will also have papers edited by Guest Editors on theme Issues and contributed papers on a wide range of topics which are of great interest to our Geotechnical Community in SE Asia and elsewhere.

The topics and the authors are adequately described in the Foreword. The reviewers are not named here. But most papers had more than two reviewers. Special thanks are extended to the Editors, authors and reviewers for their excellent work.

K. Y. Yong
N . Phienwej T. A. Ooi
A. S. Balasubramaniam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SEPTEMBER 2014: SPECIAL ISSUE ON CENTRIFUGE MODELLING OF GEOTECHNICAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Part 1: Centrifuge-based Physical Modeling (Editors: B.V.S. Viswanadham, Christophe Gaudin & Tom Schanz)
Part 2: Contributed Papers (Editors: Ooi Teik Aun, Hanh Quang Le & Noppodol Phienwej)

SEAGS-AGSSEA Journal – December 2014

December-2014 Issue: Offshore and Coastal Geotechnics

Edited By Shinji Sassa, Poul V. Lade, Lizhong Wang, Yean K. Chow, Dong S. Jeng, Chiristophe Gaudin & Fuping Gao

Dr. Shinji Sassa

Dr. Shinji Sassa is Head of Soil Dynamics Group and Research Director of Asia-Pacific Center for Coastal Disaster Research (APaC-CDR) at Port and Airport Research Institute, Japan. He obtained his Dr. Eng. from Kyoto University. He is best known for his seminal works on wave-induced seabed liquefaction that have been extensively cited worldwide. His main research areas are Waterfront and Coastal Geotechnics, Subaqueous Sediment Gravity Flows and Ecological Geotechnics. These pioneer and address the multidisciplinary research encompassing Geotechnics, Hydraulic/Coastal Engineering, Geophysics and Ecology. He was an invited panelist, twice, at the 15th and 17th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, ISSMGE. He has been a member of the International Geoscience Programme of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences, and served as a panelist leader at the UNESCO SMMTC conference in Kyoto 2011. He is also the Technical-Oversight-Committee nominated member of TC213 on Scour and Erosion of ISSMGE. He is the recipient of several distinguished awards, including the Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the Best Paper Award twice and the Best Technical Development Award from the Japanese Geotechnical Society and the Presidential Award from PARI. His selected papers have been published in the world-leading journals in the diverse fields of geotechnics, geophysics and ecology such as Géotechnique, Journal of Geophysical Research, Geophysical Research Letters and Marine Ecology Progress Series concerning liquefaction, sediment transport and geomorphodynamics, submarine landslides, and benthic ecology in estuarine, coastal and marine area.

Prof. Poul V. Lade

Dr. Poul V. Lade joined The Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington, D.C. in 2003. He was educated at the Technical University of Denmark in Copenhagen and received his Ph.D. degree at University of California at Berkeley in 1972. Before coming to CUA, he was on the faculty at UCLA for 21 years (1972-1993) before moving to The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore (1993-1999) and to Aalborg University in Denmark (1999-2003). He was a member of Geotechnical Engineering Technical Group in Los Angeles from 1974 and he served as chairman in 1978-79.

Professor Lade’s research interests in Geomechanics include experimental methods, three-dimensional stress-strain and strength behavior of soils during monotonic loading and large three-dimensional stress reversals, stability, instability and liquefaction of granular materials, time effects in soils, constitutive modeling of frictional materials such as soil, rock, and concrete employing elasticity and work-hardening, isotropic and kinematic plasticity theories, and deformation and stability analyses of foundation engineering problems. He has given numerous conference presentations and short courses on stress-strain behavior and constitutive modeling of soils in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia/New Zealand. He has nearly 300 publications based on research performed with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). His Science Citation Index is approximately 3000 and his H-index is currently 29.

Professor Lade is a member of several geotechnical engineering societies and he currently serves as Editor for the Americas of Geomechanics and Engineering (Techno Press, Korea), and he serves on the Editorial Boards of six other journals dealing with Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. He was awarded “Professor Ostenfeld’s Gold Medal for original contributions to engineering science research on behavior and constitutive modeling of soils” from the Technical University of Denmark in 2001, and he was elected member of the Danish Academy of Technical Sciences in 2001.

Prof. Li-zhong Wang

Prof. Lizhong Wang is a Vice Dean of Civil Engineering and Architecture College, Zhejiang university, China. He earned his Phd in Zhejiang University in 1995 and became a Professor in 2000. He was a visiting scholar in NGI in 2006. Prof. Lizhong Wang has been long engaged in the research on marine soil mechanics and marine geotechnology. His research includes the constitutive behavior of marine soils,offshore pipelines, mooring systems, subsea tunneling,seabed geohazards and offshore wind turbine foundations.

Prof. Lizhong Wang was granted the first prize in Scientific and Technological Progress Award of Chinese Universities in 2011( Rank No.1). His research achievements were successfully applied in more than 20 major projects both at home and abroad. He was granted one national invention patent and four utility patents. Besides, he participated in establishing standards and engineering design guide. He has published 108 Journal papers, including 34 SCI-indexed and 60 EI-indexed papers. His research achievements were recognized by the international peers and he was appointed as an international external evaluator in the joint project of Bangladesh and Norway.He organized International symposium of coastal & offshore geotechnics in 2012.

Prof. Y.K. Chow

Professor CHOW Yean Khow joined the National University of Singapore (NUS) as a in 1982 and became a Professor in 1999. Prior to joining NUS, he practised as an offshore geotechnical engineer with Fugro Limited (UK), mainly involved in the design and installation of offshore foundations in the North Sea. He served as the Head of the Division of Geotechnical and Transportation Engineering from 1995 to 1998. He was the Deputy Head (Administration) of the Department of Civil Engineering from 1998 to 2000. From 2000 to 2003, he was Vice-Dean (Graduate Studies) and from 2003 to May 2008 Vice-Dean (Academic Affairs & Graduate Studies) of the Faculty of Engineering. He is the Executive Director of the Centre for Offshore Research & Engineering (CORE) from July 2008.

Professor Chow’s main research interests are in offshore foundation engineering, offshore pipelines/risers, computational geomechanics, soil-structure interaction, piles and piled raft foundations, and effects of construction activities such as deep excavations and tunnelling on pile foundations. He has published extensively, with over 200 technical publications including over 80 in international refereed journals. He is on Editorial Board of the following international journals: International Journal of Geomechanics (ASCE), Computers and Geotechnics (Elsevier), and Geomechanics and Geoengineering (Taylor & Francis). He is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Association for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics. He is a Registered Professional Engineer (Civil) and a Specialist Professional Engineer in Geotechnical Engineering in Singapore. He has served as geotechnical consultant to numerous projects in Singapore and the region.

Prof. Dong Sheng Jeng

Prof. Dong Sheng Jeng is currently at Division of Civil Engineering, the School of Engineering, Physics and Mathematics, University of Dundee. He was educated in National Chung-Hsing University in Taiwan and received his Doctoral Degree from the University of Western Australia. Prof. Jeng was also at the Griffith University and University of Sydney before as a staff member. Prof. Jeng has been working in the area of offshore geotechnics since 1993. His most significant contributions have been in the field of coastal geotechnical engineering, specifically issues associated with wave–seabed–structure interaction (WSSI), which have a major bearing on the understanding and construction of coastal structures. He established the first analytical solutions for the inherent problems of WSSI in 3D short-crested wave systems and revised the conventional consolidation equation for anisotropic seabeds with variable permeability to obtain closed-form solutions. His 3D models allow the determination of wave-induced oscillatory liquefaction in front of breakwaters under obliquely incident wave; this represents the most dangerous condition and one that cannot be dealt with using either 1D or 2D models. My analytical solutions have been widely used for verifying numerical simulations and for determining wave surface profiles using measured pore pressure in marine sediments. These solutions were the basis of a major chapter in ‘The mechanics of scour in the marine environment’ (Chapter 10, Sumer & Fredsøe, 2002) and have been widely used by coastal engineers for the prediction of wave-induced oscillatory liquefaction around marine structures and the installation of in situ facilities.

Currently, Prof. Jeng and his students are working on the development of poro-elastoplastic models for post-liquefaction and densification in marine sediment under dynamic loadings (such as waves, currents and earthquakes etc.). This is also part of his current EU project—MERMAID (2012-2016). They are also establishing new conceptual model for pore pressure accumulations in marine sediment with instant cyclic shear stresses, unlike the existing models based on the maximum cyclic shear stresses.

Prof. Jeng has won a large number of competitive research grants in offshore and coastal geotechnics and has published in most of the leading Geotechnical Engineering and other journals; His journal publications exceed over one hundred.

Prof. Christophe Gaudin

Prof. Gaudin graduated with a Doctorate in Engineering Science from the Ecole Centrale de Nantes in November 2002. He subsequently joined the Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems (COFS) in July 2003 and was appointed as Manager of the UWA centrifuge facilities. He was promoted Research Professorial Fellow in 2009 and hold since the position of Deputy Director of COFS. His research interests cover offshore anchoring systems and shallow foundations, pipeline-soil interaction and similitude principles associated with centrifuge modelling, for which he has authored 90+ referred publications.

As manager of the UWA centrifuge facilities and a team of 8 technicians, Prof Gaudin has focused on establishing centrifuge modelling techniques as an essential tool to assist the offshore industry in developing and designing foundation solutions. He has built a strong relationship with the offshore industry, raising over $3.5M of research funding and producing 50+ consulting reports.

Since 2010, Prof. Gaudin is the Chair of the Technical Committee for Physical Modelling on Geotechnics (TC104) of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), and the Chair of the 8th International Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics to be held in Perth in 2014. His goals as TC Chair for the current term are notably to increase awareness of centrifuge modelling techniques and capabilities in the geotechnical engineering community, both in academia and industry, and to support the emergence of new centrifuge centres around the world.

Prof. Fuping Gao

Prof. Fuping Gao is a Principal Investigator at the Key Laboratory for Mechanics in Fluid Solid Coupling Systems (LMFS) and serving as the Director of Division of Science-Technology & Finance, Institute of Mechanics, CAS. He obtained his Master degree in Geotechnical Engineering from Beijing Jiaotong University, and PhD in Offshore Engineering Mechanics from Institute of Mechanics CAS. He was a visiting Research Assistant at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) in 2000; a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Griffith University, and the University of Western Australia (2001-2002).

His research activities involve offshore seabed/soil dynamics and fluid-structure-soil interaction modeling with applications in the offshore engineering, with recent focuses on stability analyses of submarine pipeline and riser systems, foundations for offshore renewable energy exploitation, etc. He serves as Vice Chair of the Technical Committee of Geotechnics of Soil Erosion, International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), TPC member of the International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineering (ISOPE); also serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Hydrodynamics, Theoretical and Applied Mechanics Letters, Chinese Journal of Geotechnical Engineering.

SPECIAL FEATURE STORY ON “Challenges in the Design of Tall Building Foundations” by Prof Harry G Poulos
Prof Harry G. Poulos

Harry Poulos obtained a Civil Engineering degree from the University of Sydney in 1961, and then went on to do a PhD degree in Soil Mechanics, graduating in 1965. He worked with the consulting firm of McDonald Wagner and Priddle for a year before joining joined the Department of Civil Engineering at Sydney University in 1965. He was appointed a Professor in 1982, a position which he held until his retirement in 2001. In 1989, he joined the consulting firm of Coffey Partners International, and is currently a Senior Principal with Coffey Geotechnics. He is also an Emeritus Professor at the University of Sydney, and an Adjunct Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

He has published books and technical papers on foundation settlements, pile foundations, and offshore geotechnics. His main research interests continue to be in deep foundations and their application to high-rise buildings, and to problems relating to ground movements near foundations.

He has been involved in a large number of major projects in Australia and overseas including the Docklands Project in Melbourne, the Crown tower development in Sydney, Egnatia Odos highway project in Greece, high-rise foundation problems in Hong Kong, the Emirates twin Towers in Dubai. the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai, the Incheon 151 Tower in Korea, and the Dubai tower in Doha, Qatar.

He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 1988 and a Fellow of The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering in 1996, and in 1999 was made an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia. In 2010, he was elected a Distinguished Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the first Australian to receive this honour, and in 2014, he was elected as a Foreign Member of the US National Academy of Engineering.

He has received a number of awards and prizes, including the Kevin Nash Gold Medal of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering in 2005. He was the Rankine Lecturer in 1989 and the Terzaghi Lecturer in 2004, and was selected as the Australian Civil Engineer of the Year for 2003 by the Institution of Engineers Australia. In 1993, he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for services to engineering.

PREFACE

The theme of the 2014 December issue is Offshore and Coastal Geotechnics. The guest editors for this special issue are Dr. Shinji Sassa at Port and Airport Research Institute, Japan, Prof. Poul V. Lade at The Catholic University of America, USA, Prof. Li-zhong Wang at Zhejiang University, China, Prof. Yean K. Chow at National University of Singapore, Prof. Dong Sheng Jeng at Griffith University, Australia, Prof. Christophe Gaudin at University of Western Australia and Prof. Fuping Gao at Chinese Academy of Sciences. Dr. Dariusz Wanatowski at The University of Nottingham Ningbo, China contributed to the editorial management. Prof. Bala as the Editor-in-Chief and Dr. Teik A. Ooi as the President of SEAGS strongly supported the launch of this special issue on Offshore and Coastal Geotechnics.

The topics and scope covered in this special issue are comprehensive and interdisciplinary, ranging from Offshore Foundations, Seabed Liquefaction, Scour and Erosion, Marine Slope Stability and Geotechnical Aspects of Dredging and Reclamation Works to Tsunami-Seabed-Structure Interaction. The issue is comprised of twelve papers with a selection of the authors from eight countries involving Asia, Australia, Europe and USA.

Sumer summarizes recent research advances in seabed liquefaction through the use of standard wave-flume tests and centrifuge wave-soil modelling and mathematical approaches together with their implications for the stability of marine structures. Sun et al. develops and validates a new hybrid Eulerian-Lagrangian modelling framework of coastal current-induced sediment transport and sand dune migration. Liu and Zhao presents a numerical study of the penetration mechanism and kinematic behaviour of the drag anchor in soils by performing a large deformation finite element analysis. Wang et al. describes and discusses the results of a series of specially designed water flume tests on the response of silty soils under the action of combined waves and currents. Luo et al. proposes a new pipeline stability analysis method that takes into account the three-dimensional scour and pipe sinkage that were observed in an innovative large experimental facility, named the O-tube. Kohan et al. describes an improved analytical method for accurately predicting the offshore spudcan extraction resistance in soft clay and validates the method against a large database of centrifuge model tests. Jostad et al. develops and validates a new finite element procedure that accounts for 3D cyclic undrained degradation of soils with its application to a foundation design of offshore structures. Monkul et al. proposes volumetric compressibility (mv) as an indicator of liquefaction potential for sands and silty sands that are ubiquitous in offshore and coastal deposits on the basis of a series of isotropic compression and undrained triaxial tests. Lee et al. investigates the seismic responses of a gently sloped liquefiable sand deposit confined within parallel walls of different geometry using centrifuge modelling and assesses the wall effects in relieving the excess pore pressures and the lateral spreading. Chen et al. numerically investigates the pullout behaviour of circular plate in normally consolidated clay and presents a direct design method for obtaining the uplift capacity of a circular plate anchor embedded in soils with a linearly increasing shear strength. Kumagai et al. presents and validates a new restoration method of artificial tidal flats by use of pressure injection of slurry dredge clay through the combined use of laboratory and field experiments and the finite element analyses. Sassa reports some recent research advances on tsunami-seabed-structure interaction and discusses the stability assessment for the design of tsunami-resistant structures from geotechnical and hydrodynamic perspectives.

We consider that this special issue presents and illustrates the outcome of some of the state-of-the-art research on Offshore and Coastal Geotechnics, and hope that it will make an important contribution to this growing field in the years to come.

Shinji Sassa
Poul V. Lade
Lizhong Wang
Yean K. Chow
Dong S. Jeng
Chiristophe Gaudin
Fuping Gao

Acknowledgement

The Year 2014 had been very successful in many ways. We were very fortunate to have an excellent Issue in March 2014 as edited by Prof. Buddima Indraratna and A/P Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn. Prof. Buddhima Indraratna is currently Professor of Civil Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Wollongong. Concurrently, Buddhima is also the Research Director, Centre for Geomechanics and Railway Engineering; Program Leader, ARC Centre of Excellence in Geotechnical Science and Engineering; and Node Coordinator, CRC for Rail Innovation. This June Issue on Deep Foundations as edited by Prof. Tatsunori Matsumoto, Prof. Jurgen Grabe and Prof. Der Wen Chang have thirteen excellent papers. The authors of the papers and the editors of the June Issue are to be congratulated for that master-piece of work. A growing number of contributed papers were received for the journal. As such the September 2014 Issue was in two parts; Part 1 is on Centrifuge based Physical Modelling with Prof. B. Viswanatham as lead editor. There are six papers contributed in this part. Part 2 of the Issue is on contributed papers as edited by In-house Editors Dr. Ooi Teik Aun and Dr. Hanh Quang Le. We have always been keen to have a Special Issue on Centrifuge based Physical modelling. This December Issue on Offshore and Coastal Geotechnics is edited by Prof Shinji Sassa, Prof Poul V. Lade, Prof Lizhong Wang, Prof Yean K. Chow, Prof Dong S. Jeng, Prof Chiristophe Gaudin and Prof Fuping Gao. A Feature Story on “Challenges in the Design of Tall Building Foundations” by Prof Harry G. Poulos is also included for the first time in the Journal.

The Authors of the March 2014 Issue are from: Tokyo University of Science; University of Tokyo; Hokkaido Shinkansen Construction Bureau in Japan; University of Wollongong; Herriot-Watt University in UK; University of Technology Sydney; Geosyntec Consultants, Kennesaw; University of Wisconsin-Madison; Hokkaido University, Hokubu Consultants in Tokyo; University of Texas at Austin; National Highway Authority in Pakistan; Norwegian Public Roads Administration; Suranaree University of Technology in Thailand; Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Fluminense Federal University in Brazil; Fugro In-situ Geotechnica, Brazil; Smoltczky Partner, Germany; Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in India;

The authors of the June Issue are from: University of Stuttgart, Germany; DB ProjectBau GmbH, Hannover, Germany; Hamburg University of Technology, Germany; HAMC University of Architecture, Vietnam; Kanazawa Graduate School of natural Science & Technology, Japan; South Vietnam Bridge Road Building Institute in Vietnam; Takanaka Corporation in Japan; Middle-East Technical University in Turkey; National Central University, Taiwan; National Tamkang University Taiwan; Hiroshima University in Japan; Nagoya Institute of Technology in Japan; University of Kassel, Germany; Technical University of Darmstart, Germany;

September 2014 Issue Authors are from: Tokyo University of Technology; Port and Airport Research Institute of Japan; Ruhr University of Bochum, Germany; Husker Geosynthetics GmbH, Gescher, Germany; Kyoto University, Japan; IFSTTAR at Nantes in France; IIT Bombay in India; NTPC Limited, Noida in India; National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai, in India; University of Transport & Communication, Vietnam; National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences, Taiwan; University of Lyon, France; Grenoble Alpes University, France; Polytecnico di Torino, Italy; Hanoi University of Mining & Geology, Vietnam; Ecole des Ponts Paris Tech, France; Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

The December 2014 Issues have authors from: 1: Technical University of Denmark, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, USA; Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Tianjin University, China; Chinese Academy of Sciences, China; University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia, Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, Norwegian University for Science and Technology, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway NGI Inc., Houston, Texas, USA; GS Engineering & Construction Corp., Seoul, South Korea; Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey; The Catholic University of America, USA; Istanbul Technical University, Turkey; National Central University, Jhongli City, Taiwan, National University of Singapore; Fugro Singapore Pte Ltd, Singapore; Hiroshima University, Japan; Port and Airport Research Institute, Yokosuka,Japan

We have had remarkable Guest Editors since 2011. They all have done excellent job and so are the 2014 Issues. The Preface is excellent and Dr. Shinji Sassa and the co-editors are thanked for all their contributions and also summarised contents of the papers. This Issue and others in 2014 will be of great use to our Geotechnical Community in SE Asia and elsewhere.

Additionally, an attempt is made to have Feature Stories in the Issues starting with December 2014 Issue. These feature stories are to be written by invited authors as drawn from our international community with extensive and authoritative experience. Prof. Harry G Poulos accepted our invitation to have an article in the December 2014 Issue. This is to be followed by Prof. Robert Mair of Cambridge University on “Geotechnical Challenges encountered in the London Metropolitan Subway System”, followed by Prof. Ikuo Towhata on “Coping with the Natural Hazards, Challenges in Japan and elsewhere”. The subsequent one is by Dr. John Endicott of his “Decades of experience in Major Projects in Hong and Singapore”. Prof. Harry G Poulos is thanked for helping to start this feature stories in our journal.

K. Y. Yong
N . Phienwej
T. A. Ooi
A. S. Balasubramaniam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECEMBER 2014: SPECIAL ISSUE ON Offshore and Coastal Geotechnics
Editors: Shinji Sassa, Poul V. Lade, Lizhong Wang, Yean K. Chow, Dong S. Jeng, Chiristophe Gaudin & Fuping Gao

SEAGS-AGSSEA Journal -March 2013

This issue has articles from researchers in Australia, Bangkok, Japan, Nottingham, UK, Singapore, Taiwan and many other countries. From Japan, Prof. Satoru Shibuya’s group also made contributions.

Prof. Der-Wen Chang is a faculty member at The Department of Civil Engineering of Tamkang University (TKU), Taipei, Taiwan for over 21 years. He received his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering at The University of Texas, Austin in 1991 and MS in Civil Engineering at Michigan State University in 1987. Prof. Chang has supervised the research work of over 60 Master Thesis and 3 Ph.D. Thesis at TKU, and published more than 160 articles in Journal, Conference proceedings and reports. Nearly all his research studies are related to numerical modelling and dynamic analyses for the geotechnical structures. His research experiences include NDT methods on pavements, seismic behaviours of the pile foundation, constitutive modelling of soils, and recent study on the performance based design for the earth structures. Prof. Chang is also the visiting Professor at University of Washington at Seattle, US in 2008 and LN Gumilyov Eurasian National University at Astana, Kazakhstan for research studies in 2010 and 2011. Other than the research works, Prof. Chang devotes himself a great deal to serve the communities. He involves heavily and indeed shows his good performance in the public service related to education and constructions. Other than the Secretary General at Chinese Taipei Geotechnical Society (2009~2011), Prof. Chang is the current GC member of SEAGS, Editorial Panel for SEAGS/AGSSEA J. of Geotechnical Engineering, Committee members for Public Construction and Hazard Prevention in Taipei City and New Taipei City governments. He is also a TC212 member at ISSMGE who puts a lot of research efforts on seismic behaviours and performance of the pile foundations.

Dr. Dariusz Wanatowski is a Lecturer in Geomechanics in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom. He graduated in Civil Engineering from Poznan University of Technology, Poland in 1999. Between 1999 and 2001 he worked as a teaching and research assistant at the same university where he was lecturing soil mechanics and foundation engineering courses. He was also involved in several research projects, including effects of various improvements of subgrade on its bearing capacity and experimental investigation of engineering properties of various organic soils. He obtained his PhD from Nanyang Technological University in 2006. Prior to joining the Nottingham Centre for Geomechanics in February 2006 Dr Wanatowski also worked as a researcher at NTU on effects of strength and stiffness anisotropy of geomaterials on the stability and deformation of tunnels. Dr Wanatowski’s general research interests are focused on experimental geomechanics, particularly strain softening and instability behaviour of granular soils, strain localization in sands, strength and stiffness anisotropy of geomaterials, and effects of intermediate principal stress on the strength and deformation characteristics of soils. He has consulting experience in the areas of laboratory and in situ testing of soils. He is also an Honorary Secretary for East Midlands Geotechnical Group in the UK.

Foreword

The SEAGS and AGSSEA Journal of Geotechnical Engineering has been growing tremendously since the SEAGC in Taipei in 2010. Thanks to all our Guest Editors and also the Editorial Team with Dr. Ooi and IEM Team from Malaysia, and Prof. Bergado and Team from AIT and Prof. Charles NG from the HK Society in using the HKUST Web. In 2010~2012, many important and representative topics had been selected and successfully presented. Apart from a series of special issues on subjects in geotechnical engineering, a considerable amount of contributed papers with wider spectrum have been received.

As a consequence, the 1st issue in 2013 collects eleven excellent papers on the fundamentals of soil behaviours and the lessons learned from different construction technologies. There are papers discussing the deep excavation in clay by Mabrouk and Rowe, a historical overview on consolidation and strength for Taipei clay made by Hwang et al.. Lime stabilization and the acid effects on organic clay was brought by Mohd Yunus et al.. Settlements of the compacted soils and the compaction for mudstones were discussed by Leong et al. and Puttiwonggrak et al., respectively. On the other hand, small-strain behaviour of sand was presented by Lai et al. considering the effects of stress paths.

Additionally, four papers discussing the observations from on-site construction technologies and/or relevant numerical simulation can be found. They are: Joint effect on Pipe Jacking method by Le et al., FE modelling on Box-Jacking tunnel work induced ground behaviours by Komiya and Nakayama, Deformations of historic building due to tunnelling by Ge et al., and Monitoring technology on slope with rainfall infiltration by Xu et al.. Papagiannakis discusses an overview of the state of the art of mechanistic-empirical pavement design, as established by NCHRP Study 1-37A in the United States. It is our belief that all the papers presented in this issue are highly valuable and useful to the engineering work. The editors would like to express their sincere gratitude towards the authors and the reviewers who make this publication possible.

Editors
Der-Wen Chang
Dariusz Wanatowski

Acknowledgement

We are fortunate to have all the material ready for the March 2013 Issue of the Journal. This Issue is on contributed papers as received from many authors worldwide. It is the intention of the editorial team to have a balanced between those papers which are directly contributed and those published under specific themes. We are most graterful, this issue in 2013 is made feasible with the contributions from Ahmed B. Mabrouk and R. Kerry Rowe (Canada); Richard N. Hwang, Za-Chieh Moh and I-Chou Hu (Taiwan); N.Z. Mohd Yunus, D. Wanatowski and L.R. Stace (UK); E.C. Leong, S. Widiastuti and H. Rahardjo (Singapore); A. Puttiwongrak, H. Honda, T. Matsuoka and Y. Yamada (Japan); Yong Lai, Jian-yong Shi, Xiao-jun Yu and Qiu-rong Cao (China); L.G. Le, M. Takise, M. Sugimoto and K. Nakamura (Japan); K. Komiya and T. Nakayama (Japan); Shi-ping Ge, Dong-wu Xie, Wen-qi Ding, Ya-fei Qiao, Jin-chun Chai (China & Japan); and Dongsheng Xu, Fei Tong, Huahu Pei, and Jianhua Yin(China) and Papagiannakis of United States. The number of papers has also increased to eleven in this Issue.

The geotechnical Engineering Journal has lately been published spot on time since 2010 and this is due to the untiring efforts of our inhouse technical editors, particularly Prof. Der Wen Chang of the Taiwan Geotechnical Society and Dr. Dariusz Wanatowski of University of Nottingham in UK; the Editorial team of IEM under Dr. Ooi; the Ediitorial team of SEAGS at AIT under Prof. Beregado; and last but not least the help of Prof. Charles Ng of the Hong Kong Geotechnical Society and HKUST in using their web.

The June and September Issues of 2013 will be under the Leadership of Prof. Akira Murakami and Prof. Fusao Oka repectively. Their editorial teams will include Prof. Muhunthan, Dr. Hossam Abuel-Naga, Dr. Suched Likitlersuang, and Prof. Helmut F. Schweiger. Finally, the December Issue containing papers to honour Prof. Bergado is expected to have fourteen papers and edited by Prof. Chai Jin-Chun and Prof. Dr. Shui-Long Shen.

It is a great pleasure to note that we now have papers and commitments till mid 2015 Issue.

K.Y. Yong
D.T. Bergado
T.A.Ooi
A.S.Balasubramaniam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

March 2013: SPECIAL ISSUE ON CONTRIBUTED PAPERS
Edited by Prof. Der-Wen Chang and Dr. Dariusz Wanatowski

SEAGS-AGSSEA Journal – June 2013

Prof. Akira Murakami received his BS (1978) at the Agricultural Engineering Department; MS (1980) at the Civil Engineering Department and Dr. Agr. (1991) from Kyoto University (KU), respectively. In 1982, he became an assistant professor at the Agricultural Engineering Department of KU, and was promoted to an associate professor of KU in 1994. He moved to the Graduate School of Environmental Science of Okayama University with a promotion to full professor in 1999. After joining Okayama University for just 10 years, he moved back to a full professor of KU in 2009. He has served as the Vice President of the Japanese Geotechnical Society (JGS), the Board Member of the Japanese Society of Irrigation, Drainage and Rural Engineering (JSIDRE), and the International Association for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics (IACMAG), and also serves as a core member of TC103 of ISSMGE and a member of the Multidisciplinary International Society on Inverse Problems in Science and Engineering. He had acted as the Secretary of TC34 of ISSMGE for two terms and delivered a general report of ‘Numerical Methods’ at 16ICSMGE held in Osaka. He is the recipient of the Japanese Society of Civil Engineering (JSCE) Paper Award (1996), the JSIDRE Sawada Prize (2007), the JGS Best Accomplishment Award (2008), the JSIDRE Best Paper Award (2010), the JGS Paper Award (2011, 2013) and is a Fellow of JSCE. His research interests include the data assimilation, inverse problem, finite element methods, mesh free methods, and DEM in geomechanics.

Dr. Dariusz Wanatowski is an Associate Professor and Head of Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC). He graduated in Civil Engineering from Poznan University of Technology, Poland in 1999. Between 1999 and 2001 he worked as a teaching and research assistant at the same university where he was lecturing soil mechanics and foundation engineering courses. He was also involved in several research projects, including effects of various improvements of subgrade on its bearing capacity and experimental investigation of engineering properties of various organic soils. He obtained his PhD from Nanyang Technological University in 2006. Prior to joining the Nottingham Centre for Geomechanics in February 2006 Dr. Wanatowski also worked as a researcher at NTU on effects of strength and stiffness anisotropy of geomaterials on the stability and deformation of tunnels. Dr. Wanatowski’s general research interests are focused on experimental geomechanics, particularly strain softening and instability behaviour of granular soils, strain localization in sands, strength and stiffness anisotropy of geomaterials, and effects of intermediate principal stress on the strength and deformation characteristics of soils. He has consulting experience in the areas of laboratory and in situ testing of soils.

Foreword

It is a pleasure for me to be the Guest Editor for this Special Issue on Modelling Aspects of Soil Behaviour. There are seven excellent papers:

Soil-water-air coupled finite element analysis of model test on slope failure of unsaturated soil; Relation between seepage force and velocity of sand particles during sand boiling; A density-and stress-dependent elasto-plastic model for sands subjected to monotonic undrained torsional shear loading; 1-G Model Test with Digital Image Analysis for Seismic Behavior of Earth Dam; X-ray CT imaging of 3-D bearing capacity mechanism for vertically loaded shallow foundations; Modeling and Bending Test Simulations of Cement Treated Soil; and Modelling viscous effects during and after Construction in London Clay.

The authors of these papers are Y. L. Xiong, X. H. Bao and F. Zhang; K. Fujisawa, A. Murakami, S. Nishimura and T. Shuku; G. Chiaro, J. Koseki and L.I.N. De Silva; Y. Miyanaga, A. Kobayashi and A. Murakami; D. Takano, J. Otani, M. Nakamura and R. Mokwa; K. Kaneda, T. Tanikawa and S. Onimaru; and S. D. Clarke and C. C. Hird.

Appropriate modelling of the soil behaviour is now most important with all types of current analyses and design of the geotechnical aspects of Infra-structure and mining engineering projects. This Special Issue is the second of this type in this Journal since 2011 and the first one was in December 2011 as editted by the guest Editor Dr. Dariusz Wanatowski. The material contained in this issue will fit in very well with the next Issue in September 2013 on Geotechnical Analyses. Visco elasto-plastic modelling of soils has been the current trend in soil behaviour.

I must thank Dr. Hossam Abuel-Naga of the School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Civil Engineering, The University of Manchester, in helping with the submission of the paper by S. D. Clarke and C. C. Hird. Also, the in-house editor of the Journal Dr. Dariusz Wanatowski for his meticulous and painful task of checking and making sure that the articles are indeed in the correct format as required in the production of the journal.

Akira Murakami
Guest Editor
Editorial Team, SEAGS/AGSSEA J. of Geotechnical Engineering
Professor of Kyoto University, Graduate School of Agriculture
Editor-in-Chief, Soils and Foundations

Acknowledgement

It is indeed a very great pleasure to have Prof. Akira Murakami of the Kyoto University and Editor in Chief of Soils & Foundations as the Guest Editor for this Special Issue on the Modelling Aspects of Soil Behaviour. Dr. Dariusz Wanatowski, our in-house Editor has assisted Prof. Murakami and us in the production of this important Issue. Additionally Dr. Hossam Abuel-Naga has been helpful in getting contributuions from the United Kingdom.

Grateful acknowledgement is made to the contributing authors : Y.L. Xiong, X.H. Bao and F. Zhang; K. Fujisawa, A. Murakami, S. Nishimura and T. Shuku; G. Chiaro, J. Koseki and L.I.N. De Silva; Y. Miyanaga, A. Kobayashi and A. Murakami; D. Takano, J. Otani, M. Nakamura and R. Mokwa; K. Kaneda, T. Tanikawa and S. Onimaru; and S.D. Clarke and C.C. Hird.

There are seven excellent papers related to slope failure in unsaturated soils; seepage force and velocity of sand particles during sand boiling; elasto-plastic model for sands subjected to monotonic undrained torsional shear loading; Digital Image Analysis for Seismic Behavior of Earth Dam; X-ray CT imaging of 3-D bearing capacity mechanism for vertically loaded shallow foundations; Modeling and Bending Test Simulations of Cement Treated Soil; and Modelling viscous effects during and after Construction in London Clay and they are of great value to engineering practice and research.

Also, the editorial works for the September and December Issues are now well advanced and the valuable assistance from our International Geotechnical Community is gratefully acknowledged.

K. Y. Yong
D. T. Bergado
T. A. Ooi
A. S. Balasubramaniam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

June 2013: SPECIAL ISSUE ON MODELLING ASPECTS OF SOIL BEHAVIOUR
Edited by Prof. Akira Murakami & Dr. Dariusz Wanatowski

SEAGS-AGSSEA Journal – September 2013

Prof. Fusao Oka

Prof. Oka is Professor emeritus of Kyoto University and JSPS scientific researcher of Kyoto University. He had been Professor of Civil and Earth Resources Engineering at Kyoto University in Japan. He has many years of experience in geomechanics with special emphasis on constitutive modeling of geomaterials, liquefaction analysis, strain localization problems and experimental works, numerical modeling of multi-phase materials such as chemo-thermo-hydro-mechanical modeling of Methane hydrate containing ground. His research expertise covers engineering applications such as soil liquefaction, consolidation and excavation problems with theoretical and experimental approach. Prof. Oka has particular interest in the viscoplastic modeling of geomaterials and related strain localization behavior. He gave a special lecture at the plenary session of 16th ICSMGE on computational geomechanics in 2005. He has published more than 200 papers in this field and has received many awards from the Japanese Geotechnical society (2005), Japan Society of Civil Engineers (1993), and IACMAG (1997, 2006). He has been serving as a chair of TC34 of ISSMGE on Prediction and Simulation Methods in Geomechanics and chaired the 4th International Workshop on Strain Localization and Bifurcation Theory for Soils and Rocks (1997), the ISSMGE International Symposium on Deformation and Progressive Failure in Geomechanics (1997), and the International Symposium on Prediction and Simulation Methods for Geohazard Mitigation by JGS and ISSMGE (2009), the 46th. Japan National conference on geotechnical Engineering (2011). He is now chairing the organizing committee of the 14th ICIACMAG 2014 Kyoto. He is currently serving as EBM of the International Journal of Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, Computers and Geotechnics and the International Journal of Geomechanics and Geoengineering.

Prof. Helmut F. Schweiger
(Graz University of Technology)

Prof. Helmut F. Schweiger is Head of the Computational Geotechnics Group at the Institute for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering of the Graz University of Technology in Austria and has over 25 years of experience in developing and applying numerical methods in geomechanics. He obtained his Ph.D. form the University of Wales, Swansea, UK. His main research interests are the development of multilaminate models for soils, application of Random Set Theory to finite element analysis and the assessment of the influence of the constitutive model for solving practical problems, in particular deep excavations, deep foundations and tunnels. Application of numerical methods in accordance with the design approaches defined in Eurocode7 is another topic he is involved in. His group was a member of several research projects funded by the European Commission. His research is reflected in more than 130 publications in International Journals and Conference Proceedings and invitations to keynote and plenary lectures at International Conferences on Soil Mechanics and Computational Geotechnics. He serves on a number of editorial boards of international journals and was chairman of 6th European Conference on Numerical Methods in Engineering. As a member of several committees Helmut is involved in formulating guidelines and recommendations for the use of finite elements in practical geotechnical engineering. He lectures on courses on Computational Geotechnics around the world and has been a member of numerous Ph.D. committees.
In 2005 he received the “Excellent Contributions Award Regional” of the International Association for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics and the “Best Paper Award” of the Japanese Geotechnical Society and in 2010 the “George Stephenson Medal” of the Institution of Civil Engineers, London, UK for a paper published in Geotechnique.

Foreword

I am very pleased to be the Leader of the Team of Guest Editors on this Special Issue on the Role of Analyses in Geotechnical Engineering. The co-editors are Prof. Helmut and Prof. Muhunthan in seeking contributions. Dr. Dariusz Wanatowski also helped in Proof Reading the articles.

There are nine papers in this issue and they are: Numerical Simulation of the Rainfall Infiltration on Unsaturated Soil Slope Considering a Seepage Flow; Seismic Response of Gravity-Cantilever Retaining Wall Backfilled with Shredded Tire;

Numerical modeling of lateral response of long flexible piles in sand; New Sampling Algorithm in Particle Fileter for Geotechnical Analysis; Comparison of deep foundation systems using 3D finite element analysis employing different modeling techniques; Application of a constitutive model for swelling rock to tunnelling; Finite element modelling of seismic liquefaction in soils; Random Wave-Induced Seabed Responses around Breakwater Heads; and Influence of brittle property of cement treated soil on undrained bearing capacity characteristics of the ground.

The authors of these papers are: S.Kimoto, F.Oka and E.Garcia; N. Ravichandran and E. L. Huggins; Md. Iftekharuzzaman and Bipul C Hawlader; T. Shuku, S. Nishimura, K. Fujisawa and A. Murakami ; F. Tschuchnigg & H.F. Schweiger; B. Schadlich, T. Marcher and H.F. Schweiger; V. Galavi, A. Petalas and R.B.J. Brinkgreve; Y Zhang, D-S Jeng, Z-W Fu and J Ou and S. Yamada, T. Noda, A. Asaoka and T. Shina.

Finally, I hope this Special Issue would be of great values to the Readers of Geotechnical Engineering Journal, whether they are in research or practice.

Fusao Oka
Guest Editor Editorial Team, SEAGS/AGSSEA J. of Geotechnical Engineering
Professor Emeritus of Kyoto University
Kyoto, Japan

Acknowledgement

It is a pleasure to thank Prof. Fusao Oka the Team leader of our Guest Editors for this September Issue on the Role of Analyses in Geotechnical Engineering Practice. The co-editors are Prof. Helmut Schweiger and Prof. Muhunthan Balasingham for acquiring papers from Europe & North America respectively. Dr. Dariusz Wanatowski helped the proof reading at the final stage.

Grateful acknowledgement is made to the contributing authors : :S.Kimoto, F.Oka and E.Garcia; N. Ravichandran and E. L. Huggins; Md. Iftekharuzzaman and Bipul C Hawlader; T. Shuku, S. Nishimura, K. Fujisawa and A. Murakami ; F. Tschuchnigg & H.F. Schweiger; B. Schadlich, T. Marcher and H.F. Schweiger; V. Galavi, A. Petalas and R.B.J. Brinkgreve; Y Zhang, D-S Jeng, Z-W Fu and J Ou and S. Yamada, T. Noda, A. Asaoka and T. Shina.

There are nine excellent papers related: Numerical Simulation of the Rainfall Infiltration on Unsaturated Soil Slope Considering a Seepage Flow; Seismic Response of Gravity-Cantilever Retaining Wall Backfilled with Shredded Tire;
Numerical modeling of lateral response of long flexible piles in sand; New Sampling Algorithm in Particle Fileter for Geotechnical Analysis; Comparison of deep foundation systems using 3D finite element analysis employing different modeling techniques; Application of a constitutive model for swelling rock to tunnelling; Finite element modelling of seismic liquefaction in soils; Random Wave-Induced Seabed Responses around Breakwater Heads; and Influence of brittle property of cement treated soil on undrained bearing capacity characteristics of the ground.

Also, the editorial works for the December Issue is now well advanced and the valuable assistance from our International Geotechnical Community is gratefully acknowledged.

K. Y. Yong
N . Phienwej
T. A. Ooi
A. S. Balasubramaniam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SEPTEMBER 2013 SPECIAL ISSUE ON NUMERICAL ANALYSES
Guest Editors: Prof. Fusao Oka & Prof. Helmut F. Schweiger

SEAGS-AGSSEA Journal – December 2013

PROF. JINCHUN CHAI

Prof. Chai got his bachelor of engineering degree from Tongji University in Shanghai, China in 1982; and master of engineering degree from the China Academy of Railway Science in Beijing, China in 1985. Then he got his Doctor of engineering degree from Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok, Thailand in 1992 under the supervision of Prof. D. T. Bergado. Professor Chai is currently Professor of Geotechnical Engineering at the Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Saga University, Japan. His primary research interests are: (1) soft ground improvement; (2) geosynthetics; and (3) numerical analysis in geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering.

He has written over 140 research papers (about 60 journal papers and over 80 conference papers) and two coauthored books, “Improvement techniques of soft ground in subsiding and lowland environment”, by :Bergado/Chai/Alfaro/Balasubramaniam;, Balkema (1994); and “Deformation analysis in soft ground improvement”, by Chai/Carter; Springer (2011). In Scopus database, his papers have been cited about 750 times, and his H-Index is 16. Professor Chai is a licensed Professional Engineer in Japan.

PROF. SHUI-LONG SHEN

Prof. Dr. Shui-Long Shen received his BSc. in Tunneling and Underground Space Technology from Tongji University in 1986 and his MPhil in Structural Engineering from the same university in 1989. He obtained his Ph.D. in Geotechnical Engineering from Saga University, Japan, in 1998. After Dr. Shen received his PhD, he worked in the Institute of Lowland Technology (ILT) as a lecturer from 1998 to 2001. During this period Dr. Shen served as an Associate Editor of Lowland Technology International-an International Journal. From 2001 to 2003, Dr. Shen worked in National Institute for Environmental Studies in Tsukuba-the Science City of Japan. In 2003, he joined the Department of Civil Engineering (DCE) of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) as a faculty member. He is now the Department Head of DEC. From 2005 to 2010, Dr. Shen has been keeping collaboration with other international organization, e.g. Saga University, Virginia Tech, The University of Kansas, The University of Hong Kong, Suranaree University of Technology.

Dr. Shen’s research interests focus on soft ground improvement and land subsidence due to withdrawal of liquid from underground. He published and/or edited five books, of which two conference proceedings published by ASCE. Dr. Shen published more than 150 technical papers in Journals and conferences, in which about 50 papers were published in International Journals.

Dr. Shen also serves as an editorial board member of four International Journals, e.g. Geotextiles and Geomembranes, Elseveir, and Geotechnical Engineering – SEAGS etc. and two domestic journals, e.g. Chinese Journal of Geotechnical Engineering.

PREFACE

This special issue is dedicated to Professor Dennes T. Bergado to commemorate his retirement from the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in June, 2013. The general theme of this issue is: Soft Ground improvement and Geosynthetics, which has been the main area of Prof. Bergado’s personal research activity over the past 3 decades and to which he has contributed enormously. The idea of having a special issue for Prof. Bergado’s retirement came from Prof. A. S. Balasubramaniam in March 2012. When he asked us to be guest editors for this issue, we accepted the invitation happily and eagerly. Prof. Bergado was Prof. Jinchun Chai’s supervisor for his Doctor of Engineering Degree in AIT (1992), and he is also a close friend of Prof. Shuilong Shen.

We were determined to make the issue one of very high standards and a lasting and memorable contribution to the subject area. We started to invite active researchers in the field to contribute their new research results or state-of-the-art papers in April 2012. All those we invited responded warmly and enthusiastically, and we believe this was because of Prof. Bergado’s outstanding contribution to the field as well as his friendly personality. We informed all who agreed to contribute that all papers would be subject to strict critical review and only those papers that satisfactorily addressed all review comments would be finally included in this issue. Thirteen (13) full papers were received by the end of 2012. Review and revision works took about 4 months and in May 2013, the 13 high quality papers were finally accepted and ready for publication. Among these papers, 7 are review articles, i.e., state-of-the-art papers, and 6 contain essentially new and previously unpublished material.

In the meantime, we invited senior professors in the field of geotechnical engineering who know Prof. Bergado well to write their thoughts and reflections about him for this special issue. The notes penned by Prof. H.G. Poulos, Prof. S.K. Kim & Prof. N. Miura are included with this preface. It is hoped that these short notes will provide inspiration to young researchers and engineers working in the area of ground improvement and the application of geosynthetics.

Finally we would like to thank all the contributors and people who helped us to make this special issue a success. We wish Prof. Dennes T. Bergado a very happy retirement and at the same time urge him to continue to contribute professionally to the fields of soft ground improvement and the use of geosynthetics. We feel he still has much to offer to our profession.

Jinchun Chai, Saga, Japan
Shui-Long Shen Shanghai, China

—

Prof. H.G. Poulos writes

Ground improvement has become an increasingly important issue in the development of property and infrastructure in areas where ground conditions are poor. South East Asia is one of these areas and so it is entirely appropriate that research into ground improvement methods should be undertaken at one of the region‟s foremost institutions, the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT). This research has been spearheaded by Professor Dennes T. Bergado, and over the past 3 decades, he and his research team have made many significant contributions to knowledge and practice in the area of ground improvement. Of particular significance is his work on vertical drains and ground reinforcement using inclusions and geosynthetics. He has presented innovative techniques to enhance the performance of vertical drains by heating them, and by the application of electro-osmosis. His two books in this area have been influential and have been of great value to students and practitioners alike.

A feature of Professor Bergado‟s research is his focus on solving geo-problems in Asia, and his recent research has expanded to include geotechnical aspects of natural disasters, including tsunamis. He and his team have addressed not only the science of the problems they have tackled, but also the technology of application of the science.
AIT has been fortunate to have a person of his calibre to lead the group and to carry on the pioneering work that began decades ago with Dr. Za-Chieh Moh, and continued under Professor A. S. Balasubramaniam. I am sure that I speak for many in our discipline in wishing him an enjoyable retirement, while at the same time hoping that he will be able to continue to contribute his knowledge and experience to the profession and to help guide the younger generation of geo- professionals.

H.G. Poulos
Coffey Geotechnics, and the University of Sydney, Australia.
December 2012

—

Prof. Sag-Kyu Kim writes

First of all, I would like to congratulate Professor Dennes T. Bergado on his honourable retirement from AIT. He has long served at the institute as an educator of geotechnical engineering. Through his long teaching career at AIT he has produced a lot of prominent geotechnical engineers, most of whom are now doing leading roles in the Asian region. His research works have mainly been concerned in soft ground improvement and geosynthetics. Lots of papers related to this discipline have been published in international journals and proceedings. Furthermore, he has been involved in important consulting projects including the construction of the new Bangkok international airport. His reputation as an expert in this field has made him to be invited as a theme lecturer or a keynote speaker in many international geotechnical events. It is my honour and privilege to write some words for such an expert in a special volume of Geotechnical Engineering Journal commemorating his academic achievements.

Everywhere in the world there exist soft grounds that need to improve for an effective land use. A large delta neighbouring the city of Busan in Korea was also one of such sites, where the Government planned to develop a large scale harbour along a coastline and residential and industrial compounds behind it. In connection with this challenging project, I opened a short course on „Soil improvement using prefabricated vertical drains‟ in 1998 at my University in Seoul. Prof. Dennes T. Bergado gave a practically useful lecture at the event with the theme of „Design and analysis of vertical drains‟ and introduced the case of soil improvement of Bangkok clay. Afterwards, I again organized an Asian Regional Committee entitled „Thick clay deposit,‟ and I have frequently held seminars and symposia in order to expand and deepen the understanding of ground improvement technologies. He often joined us in those events as an invited speaker and thus through those close contacts he became my long-time colleague and friend. We are deeply indebted to Prof. Dennes T. Bergado for having shared his experiences and introduced new technologies developed at AIT.

Though he is retiring from teaching and research duty at AIT, he is still young and energetic. I am sure he will continue to work with a new role in our geotechnical field. I wish him all the best and enjoying his second career.

Sag-Kyu Kim
Professor Emeritus, Dongguk University, Seoul, Korea.
December 2012

—

Prof. N. Miura writes

Bergado – All rounded Player

It was in 1987 when I first contacted with Prof. Dennes T. Bergado who was working at Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Bangkok, Thailand immediately as a young faculty member after he came back from U.S.A. Saga University asked me to invite a foreign professor, and I sent invitation letters to several universities. He sent back his positive response to accept our requirements. We were planning to establish a new institute to investigate the lowland problems especially such problems as land-subsidence, soft ground improvement, and water management in lowlands. Prof. Dennes T. Bergado was searching for new research topics after he finished probabilistic research in his PhD dissertation at Utah State University under Professor Loren Anderson. Prof. Dennes T. Bergado was interested in soft ground improvement in Saga Plain, because there exist common properties between soft Ariake Clay in Saga Plain and soft Bangkok clay.

The first topics he selected at Saga University were to investigate the prefabricated vertical drain (PVD). We made a large-scale test instrument for this purpose and he successfully performed experimental model tests. The results were successfully applied in field embankment tests at Saga Airport construction site. Some of the data appeared on his book publication “Soft Ground Improvement in Lowland and Other Environments” published by ASCE press（Bergado, Anderson, Miura and Balasubramaniam, 1996）. Subsequently, this equipment has been utilized for model tests in the soft Bangkok clay which lead to successful applications in the Mega-Projects in Bangkok, Thailand such as the Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Motorway to Pattaya, Outer Ring Road, etc.

During Prof. Dennes T. Bergado‟s stay at Saga University, close relationship was made with AIT, and Saga University accepted more than ten AIT alumni for doctoral studies. During Bergado‟s second stay, then AIT President, Prof. North, visited our University. After he went back to AIT, tremendous activities started in the field of geotechnical engineering. Field tests on full-scale embankments at AIT campus became a well-known monuments, and he published numerous papers based on the model embankments, and a large number of doctor students were produced at AIT.

Prof. Bergado‟s brilliant successes come not only from his creative and innovative researches but also his pleasant personality which attracted excellent students and also practicing engineers. In other words, he has a good sense of management. He is really an all-around player. I hope that he can continue his research activities after retirement and also he can enjoy golf as long as he can. I would like to say many thanks to him for his contribution to our activities at Saga University which led to the establishment of the Institute of Lowland Technology (ILT). Lastly, he also contributed in initiating the now famous International Symposium on Soil Reinforcement (now IS-Kyushu) which started at Saga University in 1988. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the technical journal at ILT called Lowland Technology International (LTI), a name Prof. Dennes T. Bergado suggested.

Norihiko Miura
December 2012

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is a great pleasure to write this acknowledgement for the December 2013 Issue dedicated to honour Prof. Dennes T. Bergado‟s retirement from the Asian Institute of Technology. At the very first sincere thanks must go to the guest editors Prof. Jinchun Chai and Prof. Shuilong Shen. They really did a magnificent job in making this volume possible with thirteen excellent papers; all related to ground improvement and from world-wide reputed authors.

Grateful acknowledgement is also made to the contributing authors: J.-C. Chai, J. P. Carter, A. Saito and T. Hino; Ennis M. Palmira, André R.S. Feel and Gregorian. L. S. Araújo; X. Yang and J. Han;J. K. Lee and J.Q. Shang; P.V. Long, D.T. Bergado, L.V. Nguyen and A.S. Balasubramaniam; Han-Yong Jeon and Yuan Chun Jin; P. Voottipruex and D.T. Bergado, and W. Wongprasan; C. Taechakumthorn and R.K. Rowe; C. Rujikiatkamjorn and B. Indraratna; Z.F. Wang, S.L. Shen, C.E. Ho and Y.H. Kim; Masaki Kitazume; Wei Guo, Jian Chu and Shuwang Yan; S. Horpibulsuk, C. Suksiripattanapong and A. Chinkulkijniwat; and H.M. Abuel-Naga, G.A. Lorenzo and D.T. Bergado.

There are fourteen excellent papers in this issue on: Behaviour of Clay Subjecting to Vacuum and Surcharge Loading in an Oedometer; Behaviour of Geogrid Reinforced Abutments on Soft Soil; Geocell-Reinforced Granular Fill under Static and Cyclic Loading: A Synthesis of Analysis; Electrical Vertical Drains in Geotechnical Engineering Applications; Design and Performance of Soft Ground Improvement Using PVD with and without Vacuum Consolidation; Reassessment of Long-Term Performance of Geogrids by Considering Mutual Interaction among Reduction Factors; Simulations of PVD Improved Reconstituted Specimens with Surcharge, Vacuum and Heat Preloading using Axisymmetric and Equivalent Vertical Flow Conditions; Reinforced Embankments on Soft Deposits: Behaviour, Analysis and Design; Current State of the Art in Vacuum Preloading for Stabilising Soft Soil; Jet Grouting Practice: an Overview; Deep Mixing Method in Japan; Recent Studies of Geosynthetic Tubes and Mattress: an overview; Design Method for Bearing Reinforcement Earth Wall; and Current State of Knowledge on Thermal Consolidation using Prefabricated Vertical Drains.

Prof. Bergado (Dennes) was in the Geotechnical Engineering batch that graduated from AIT in 1976. At that time, Dr. Moh, Dr. Brand, Dr. Peter Brenner and Prof. Prinya Nutalaya and Prof. A.S.Balasubramaniam were the Geotechnical Faculty Members at AIT. After working for a while in Philippines, Prof. Bergado studied at Utah State University in USA on a Full Bright Scholarship and worked with Prof. Loren Anderson. Prof. Bergado joined AIT as an Assistant Professor in 1982; early colleagues of Prof. Bergado at AIT include Prof. Hideki Ohta, Prof. Towhata, Late Dr. Tomiolo, Dr. Friedrich Prinzl, Prof. Ikuo Towhata, Prof. Yuhdbir and Dr. Sarvesh Chandra. Later, Dr Robert Whitely, Dr. Noppadol Phienwej, Dr. Rantucci, Prof. Buddhima Indraratna , Dr. Kuwano, Dr. Sugimoto, Dr. Honjo, Prof. Ohtsu, Prof. Shibuya and Dr. Takemura; just to name a few. Prof. Onodera and Prof. Toshinobu Akagi left AIT a little before Prof. Bergado joined AIT.

At AIT in the early years Prof. Bergado was involved with many major Sponsored Research Projects including the USAID Funded Welded Wire Mechanical Stabilized Earth and Geosynthetics in Embankments on Soft Clays. Prof. Bergado was also deeply involved with the PVD Soft Ground Improvement Project at the Second Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi) Airport Site with the Airport Authority of Thailand. The Doctoral Students of Prof. Bergado were: Prof. Shivashankar, Prof. Chai, Dr. Long, Dr Panich, Dr Lorenzo, Dr Sompote, Dr Lai, Dr Abuel-Naga, Dr Chairat, Dr. Pittaya, Dr Jaturonk, and Dr Tawatchai to name a few. He successfully supervised a total of 17 doctor and 160 master graduates. Prof. Bergado wrote 2 books in soil/ground improvement, edited 22 conference proceedings with more than 140 journal and 280 conference papers. Prof. Bergado also edited the Volume on Geotechnical Engineering in SE Asia for the Golden Jubilee Conference at San Francisco in 1985. Prof. Bergado was associated with the Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society from the time he joined AIT, earlier as Editor of the Journal (1996-2000) and later became the Secretary General of SEAGS (2001-2012). He also initiated the Asian Center for Soil Improvement and Geosynthetics (ACSIG) and founded the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS)-Thailand Chapter. Currently, he is serving his second term as elected member of the IGS International Council.

Prof. Bergado spent his Sabbatical at Saga University. Emeritus Professor Norihiko Miura has also contributed an article here on Prof. Bergado‟s contributions and so were Prof. H G Poulos and Prof. Sag-Kyu Kim. These articles are included in the Preface as written by the Guest Editors.

It is a genuine pleasure to have this special issue to honour Prof. Dennes T. Bergado who has been an AIT Alumnus, a Colleague and friend of all of us over the last 35 years or so.

K. Y. Yong
N . Phienwej
T. A. Ooi
A. S. Balasubramaniam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECEMBER 2013: GROUND IMPROVEMENT
Special Commemorative Issue in Honour of Prof Dennes T. Bergado on his Retirement from AIT
Editors: Prof. Jinchun Chai & Prof. Shui-Long Shen

SEAGS-AGSSEA Journal- March 2012

PROFESSOR CHARLES W.W. NG is Chair Professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Director of Geotechnical Centrifuge Facility at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He obtained his Ph. D from the University of Bristol, UK in 1992; and subsequently joined the University of Cambridge as a Research Associate before returning to Hong Kong in 1995. He was elected as an Overseas Fellow at Churchill College, Cambridge, in 2005. Professor Ng is a Charted Civil Engineer (CEng) and Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (FICE), the American Society of Civil Engineers (FASCE), the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (FHKIE) and the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences (FHKEng). He holds the title of Chang Jiang Scholar (Chair Professorship) by the Ministry of Education in China and he is an appointed Board Member of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. Currently Professor Ng is Associate Editor of the Canadian Geotechnical Journal. He has published widely on slope instability problems, behaviour and mechanics of saturated and unsaturated soils, soil-structure interaction problems such as tunnels, piles and deep excavations. He is the main author of two reference books including “Soil-Structure Engineering of Deep Foundations, Excavations” and “Tunnels and Advanced Unsaturated Soil Mechanics and Engineering”.

DR. APINITI JOTISANKASA is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Civil Engineering, Kasestsart University Bangkok. After obtaining his BEng degree in Civil Engineering from Kasetsart University in 1999, he pursued his MSc and PhD in Soil Mechanics at Imperial College London with the generous support of the Anandamahidol Scholarship from Thailand. His research topics for the PhD degree was on the Collapse behaviour of a compacted silty clay: the work which culminated in several world-leading journal papers such as Geotechnique, and the ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering. After being awarded the PhD degree in 2005, he started working for Kasetsart University as a lecturer in geotechnical engineering and his research area has been mainly on application of unsaturated soil mechanics on practical geotechnical engineering problems, such as rainfall-induced landslide, excavation, embankment stability, bio-slope engineering, geohazard mitigation, etc. He also lead a team consisting of geotechnical as well as electrical engineers who develop a wireless system for monitoring of slope behaviour such as pore water pressure (negative/positive) and slope movement. Dr Apiniti is the recipient of the Best paper award (Geotechnical Engineering) in the National Convention in Civil Engineering 2009 from the Thai Geotechnical Society and Chai Mukthabhan foundation for his work on the behaviour of instrumented volcanic soil slope subject to rainfall. In 2011, he was awarded the Young Technologist Award from the Foundation for the Promotion of Science and Technology under the Patronage of His Majesty the King of Thailand. Dr. Apiniti has been secretary general of the Thai Geotechnical Society since 2009 and currently a member of the TC106 (Unsaturated soils) of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering.

Preface

Most of the Earth’s land surface comprises unsaturated geomaterials, which often pose geotechnical hazards such as rainfall-induced landslides to societies and serviceability problems to high speed rail links founded on collapsible and expansive unsaturated soils. However, the vast majority of text books, conference proceedings and journal articles investigate mainly saturated soil mechanics, which is only a special case of unsaturated soil mechanics. With intensive building and construction activities in countries like China, India, Central and South America and Africa on foundation soils that are often unsaturated, geotechnical engineers can no longer ignore the complication of unsaturated soils and the challenges they present. In developed countries, many geo-environmental problems such as nuclear waste disposal also involve unsaturated soil mechanics heavily. Research on unsaturated soils has therefore been a major focus in many universities and research institutions over the last two decades.

This special issue contains eight keynote papers selected from the 5th Asia-Pacific Conference on Unsaturated Soils held in Pattaya, Thailand, between 29 February and 2 March 2012. The series of Asia-Pacific Conferences on Unsaturated Soils began in Singapore in 2000. With the continued support of the Technical Committee on Unsaturated Soils (TC106) of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th conferences were held in 2003 in Osaka, Japan, in 2007 in Nanjing, China and in 2009 in Newcastle, Australia, respectively. These conferences have proven to be a fruitful forum where researchers and practitioners in the region and beyond gathered enthusiastically to present their latest research findings and development and to exchange ideas on the subject.

Guest Editors
Charles W.W. Ng
Apiniti Jotisankasa

Acknowledgement

This March 2012 Issue of the Journal is on Soil Behaviour of Unsaturated Soils and Engineering Applications and it includes papers from well known researchers as drawn from Thailand, United States of America, Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

The Guest Editors of this Issue are Prof. Charles W. W. Ng at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Dr. Apiniti Jotisankasa at the Department of Civil Engineering, Kasestsart University Bangkok. Both Editors are internationally well known for their research and professional activities in Unsaturated Soil Mechanics and Engineering.

We are fortunate to have eight excellent contributions by authors who have spent a life time with unsaturated soil mechanics and engineering from:W. Mairaing, A. Jotisankasa and S. Soralump; J.D. Nelson, K.C. Chao, D.D. Overton and R.W. Schaut; C. W. W. Ng and A. K. Leung; A.J. Puppala, T. Wejrungsikul, V. Puljan and T. Manosuthikij; H. Rahardjo, A. Satyanaga, E. C. Leong; J.R. Standing ; D.G. Toll, J. Mendes, P.N. Hughes, S. Glendinning and D. Gallipoli; and D.J. Williams. Among other topics it deals with the development of unsaturated soil mechanics as a discipline; unsaturated expansive soils and foundation problems; unsaturated soil slopes and stabilization measures; some mining applications of unsaturated soil mechanics and finally the most important area of climate change and the role of unsaturated soil mechanics in engineering applications.

The material contained in this issue of the journal would be of great value to engineers as well as researchers dealing with engineering activities in unsaturated soils. The Guest Editors Prof. Charles W.W. Ng and Dr Apiniti Jotisankasa and the contributors are thanked for their untiring efforts and meticulous work which made this special issue to be possible and released well in time. We have had great guest editors for the 2011 Issues as: Jie Han; Tatsunori Matsumoto, Der Wen Chang; Chang Yu Ou and Dariusz Wanatowski. It is a pleasure to begin the Year 2012 with this excellent issue with such eminent persons like Prof. Charles W. W. Ng and Dr Apiniti Jotisankasa . Likewise we look forward to the most valued help from Prof. Ikuo Towhata, Prof Der Wen Chang, Dr. Ivan Gratechev; Prof. Malek Bouazza and Mr Tom Lunne and Prof de Groot for the June, September and December Issues.

K.Y. Yong
D.T. Bergado
T.A.Ooi
A.S.Balasubramaniam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Special Issue on Unsaturated Soil Mechanics And Engineering
Guest Editors: Charles W. W. Ng & Apiniti Jotisankasa

SEAGS-AGSSEA Journal – June 2012

Prof. IkuoTowhata

Prof. Ikuo Towhata had his engineering education at the prestigious Tokyo University in Japan and is currently a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering. Tokyo University is traditionally very strong in Soil Dynamics, Machine Foundations and Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering now for several decades. Also recently, Prof. Towhata has written a comprehensive and scholarly book in this discipline (see Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering, 2008: publisher Springer). Prof. Towhata was also the Editor in Chief of the well-known Journal, Soils and Foundations. He is an active member of several national and international committee on landslides, earthquake engineering. Recipients of several prestigious awards, Prof. Towhata’s interests in Geotechnics is very wide and are on deformation characteristics of sands, dynamic analysis of earth structures, soil improvement by densification and grouting, stability of slopes and seabeds under static and dynamic conditions, landslides and debris flows, seismic performance based design of geotechnical structures. Author of more than 250 publications, Prof. Towhata has lectured in many leading universities in most continents.

Prof. Der-Wen Chang

Prof. Der-Wen Chang teaches at The Department of Civil Engineering of Tamkang University (TKU), Taipei, Taiwan for over 19 years. He received Ph.D. in Civil Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin in 1991 and MS in Civil Engineering at Michigan State University in 1987. Prof. Chang has supervised there search work of over 60 Master Thesis and 3 Ph.D. Thesis at TKU, and published more than 160 articles as the Journal, Conf. papers and reports. Nearly all his research studies are related to numerical modeling and dynamic analyses for the geotechnical structures. His research experiences include NDT methods on pavements, seismic behaviors of the pile foundation, constitutive modeling of the soils, and recent study on the performance based design for the earth structures. Prof. Chang is also the visiting Professor at University of Washington at Seattle, US in 2008 and LN Gumilyov Eurasian National University at Astana, Kazakhstan for research studies in 2010. Other than there search works, Prof. Chang devotes himself a great deal to serve the communities. He involves heavily and indeed shows his good performance in the public works related to education and constructions. Prof. Chang is now serving as the Secretary General of Chinese Taipei Geotechnical Society, GC member of SEAGS, Editorial Panel for SEAGS/AGSSEA J. of Geotechnical Engineering, Committee members for Public Construction and Hazard Prevention in Taipei City and Taipei County governments. He will continue to work in the academia and hoping that his studies can better improve the civil engr. technologies.

Dr.Ivan Gratchev

Dr. Ivan Gratchev has spent the last ten years conducting research in the areas of geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering in Japan, in particular earthquake-induced liquefaction and landslides. He qualified to receive a prestigious scholarship sponsored by the Japanese Government to complete his master and doctoral courses at Kyoto University. After receiving a PhD degree in 2007, he was selected for a highly competitive fellowship by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) to conduct postdoctoral research at the University of Tokyo. His expertise in field investigation and laboratory testing led to his selection for several reconnaissance teams to assess structural damage and slope failures follow in recent earthquakes in Japan as well as the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake in China, and the 2009 earthquake in Sumatra. Since2010, Dr. Gratchev has been a lecturer at Griffith University, one of the fastest growing universities in Australia. He has produced more than 30 publications in refereed journals, international proceedings, as well as book chapters on research topics such as slope stability, liquefaction, and cyclic behavior of fine-grained soils as well as the effects of contamination on the geotechnical properties of soil.

Preface

I would like to express my deep respect to the geotechnical colleagues in Southeast Asia who have been
publishing this prestigious journal for more than 40 years. It is very important that a regional engineering community maintains its own place of publication and is able to freely express its own idea of importance and value. I wish this journal to continue its contribution for a long time from now on.

When I was asked in 2011 to take care of a special issue on geotechnical earthquake engineering, I felt reluctant. This was because of my domestic situations after the gigantic earthquake on March11, 2011, after which I have been working on such a variety of urgent issues as liquefaction vulnerability of subsoil, causative mechanisms of river levee damage, and post-earthquake public appeal among many others. Then fortunately two capable people started to jointly work with me for all the aspects of the publication of this issue. Upon this occasion, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my Co-Guest Editors, Prof. Der Wen Chang and Dr. Ivan Gratchev without whom the editing and publication of this issue will not be impossible.

The mitigation of natural disaster is an important but difficult task. This is partially because we do not fully understand what happens during disasters. We can scarcely eyewitness the occurrence of a natural disaster. We can only visit sites of damage after the event and report the observation to colleague engineers. It is certainly possible that important and essential keys for mitigation are still overlooked or unknown. In this regard, the study of disaster mitigation is important and fascinating to capable and ambitious people.

In my personal opinion, earthquake problems deserve attention of capable people most significantly in mountain areas. In the mountain areas where many slope failures are triggered by earthquake shaking, not only the seismic shaking but also the ground condition is uncertain or not well known for design purposes. Accordingly, many unexpected things happen. This is the reason why many papers in this issue address earthquake-rainfall interaction, which is called the combined effects, as well as the long-term effect of past earthquakes. These new problems are not studied in details yet and the practice does not know how to deal with them. Conventional approach of geotechnical engineering such as limit equilibrium and factor of safety is too expensive because the action is combined and rare. Consequently, there is no practical approach yet and ambitious people are waited to start positive action to solve the problem. As the chief editor of this issue, I strongly expect such people to read this issue and be stimulated. I am confident that there are many challenges in this field of study that deserve deep devotion of good people. It is desired that this special issue would pave a road to solution of geotechnical earthquake problems that appear abundant in Southeast Asia and have not been well investigated.

Guest Editor
Ikuo Towhata

Acknowledgement

The June 2012 Issue on Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering has Prof. Ikuo Towhata, Prof. Der Wen Chang and Dr. Ivan Gratchev as Guest Editors. Prof. Towhata has written a comprehensive and scholarly book in this discipline; see Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering, 2008: publisher Springer. We also had great guest editors for the 2011 Issues as: Jie Han; Tatsunori Matsumoto, Der Wen Chang; Chang Yu Ou and Dariusz Wanatowski. The March 2012 Issue had Prof. Charles W. W. Ng and Dr Apiniti Jotisankasa as Guest Editors.

We are most grateful to Prof. Ikuo Towhata, Prof Der Wen Chang and Dr. Ivan Gratchev for helping with the editorial works of the current issue. There are ten contributions as received from authors in Bangladesh, New Zealand, China, Iran, Japan and Chinese Taipei. The Authors are: Tahmeed M. Al-Hussaini, Tahsin R. Hossain and M. Hayeem Al-Noman; RP Orense, MJ Pender and LM Wotherspoon; Yingbin Zhang, Guangqi Chen, Jian Wu, Lu Zheng and Xiaoying Zhuang; Z. Yang, J. Qiao, H. Tian, D. Huang, M. Wang and H. Meng; Abbas Galandarzadeh and Alireza Ahmadi; Hirofumi Toyota M.
Kazama, T. Noda, T. Mori and J. Kim; Meei-Ling Lin and Yu-Hung Shu; Ikuo Towhata; and Hongling Tian, Jianping Qiao, Taro Uchimura and Lin Wang.

The material contained in this issue relates to earthquakes in Canterbury (New Zealand), Tohoku, Chi-Chi in Taiwan and Northwest Chengdu, China. Geotechnical hazards including soil liquefaction and seismically induced slope failures are also the topics presented in this issue. Laboratory studies on soil liquefaction resistance and the role of tension-shear mechanism failure in numerical simulation of seismic slope stability are also presented. Changes to building codes incorporating geotechnical earthquake provisions are also described. These contributions will be of great interest to engineers and researchers who are dealing with challenges in geotechnical earthquake engineering.

The guest editors are thanked sincerely for their dedicated contributions. Prof. Der Wen Chang in coordination with Prof. Ikuo Towhata and Dr. Ivan Gartchev has worked in a meticulous manner in making this issue feasible and to be released in time. We now look forward to the September and December 2012 Issues as edited by Prof. Malek Bouazza and Tom Lunne and Prof. de Groot respectively.

K.Y. Yong
D.T. Bergado
T.A.Ooi
A.S.Balasubramaniam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Special Issue on Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering
Guest Editors: Prof. Ikuo Towhata, Prof. Der Wen Chang & Dr. Ivan Gratchev

SEAGS-AGSSEA Journal – March 2011
Prof. Jie Han, the Guest Editor is a Professor at Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering at the University of Kansas in the United States. He received his Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1997 and has been a professional engineer in Georgia since 1998. Dr. Han was a senior engineer and manager of technology development at Tensar Earth Technologies, Inc., a leading geosynthetic manufacturer in the world, from 1997 to 2001. Prof. Han’s research and practical experiences have dealt with geosynthetics-reinforced earth structures, ground improvement, pile foundations, and pavement applications Prof. Han has coauthored three technical books, edited two ASCE Geotechnical Special Publications, and published more than 150 peer-reviewed journal papers and conference papers (a large portion on geosynthetics). Prof. Han is currently serving as the Technical and Proceedings Co-chair for the GeoFrontiers 2011 Conference to be held in Dallas, Texas, USA from March 13 to 16, 2011, which is jointly organized by the ASCE Geo-Institute, the Industrial Fabrics Association International, the North American Geosynthetic Society, and the geosynthetic industry. Prof. Han serves as a member on the editorial boards for four major international journals in geotechnical engineering, the ASCE Geosynthetic and Ground Improvement Committees, and TRB A2K07 Committee on Geosynthetics.

Foreword

Since the early use of fabrics to reinforce roads by the South Carolina Highway Department in the USA in 1920s, geosynthetics have been successfully adopted as reinforcements in many civil engineering applications, ranging from slopes, earth retaining walls, embankments, foundations, landfills, roads, earth structures for river and coastal protection, etc. This special issue focusing on geosynthetic-reinforced earth structures contains several technical papers contributed by a combination of internationally well-known experts and young, energetic researchers and/or engineers in these areas from China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and the United States. They present past successes, recent developments, and/or issues in the design, modeling/analysis, construction, and performance evaluation of geosynthetic-reinforced earth structures.

Prof. Dov Leshchinsky at the University of Delaware in the USA, an internationally well-known expert in geosynthetics, slopes, and walls, offers his broad and in-depth views on some issues related to the design of mechanically-stabilized earth walls and slopes. Issues include discussion on the artificial separation between reinforced walls and slopes, deficient seismic design of reinforced earth structures, and difficulties associated with feedback from field data and its implications on design of reinforced earth walls. Prof. Leshchinsky offers the solutions to these issues including the adoption of reinforced slope design method for reinforced walls and reduced seismic coefficients with limit equilibrium analysis for seismic design of reinforced earth structures. Prof. Leshchinsky emphasizes the importance of following the principles of statics in the development of design methods from field data.

Dr. Teik Aun Ooi at TAO Consultant and Mr. C.H. Tee at Mega Geoproducts and Services have many years’ practical experience in design and construction of geosynthetic-reinforced earth walls and steep slopes in Malaysia. They share their rich experience and knowledge accumulated through years of practice in their technical paper. They present various case histories of slope repair and the role of geosynthetic reinforcement in the slope reconstruction and performance.

Prof. Jinchun Chai at Saga University in Japan has developed a number of design methods well adopted in practice for ground improvement. In his paper included in this special issue, Prof. Chai proposed a method for predicting undrained shear strength of saturated clayey backfill in an embankment reinforced by dual function (reinforcement and drainage) geocomposites, which is used to calculate the factor of safety of the reinforced embankment. The proposed method considers the effects of discharge capacity of the geocomposite, spacing between geocomposite layers, construction speed, and the coefficient of consolidation of the backfill.

Dr. Jie Huang, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at San Antonia, Dr. Anil Bhandari, a project manager at Terracon (a major geotechnical firm in the USA), and Dr. Xiaoming Yang, a research associate at Louisiana Transportation Research Center, are three active young researchers and engineers in geotechnical engineering. They jointly contribute a technical paper to review and summarize the numerical modeling techniques (FEM, FDM, and DEM) to model and analyze geosynthetic-reinforced earth structures including MSE walls, reinforced slopes and embankments, and reinforced unpaved and paved roads.

Prof. Jian Chu at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and Prof. Shuwang Yan at Tianjin University in China are internationally well-recognized for their research in ground improvement, coastal protection, and land reclamation. Together with Prof. Chu’s student, Wei Guo, they contribute a technical paper on recent advances in the research and practice using geosynthetic tubes and geosynthetic mats for the construction of river and coastal structures.

Prof. Yunmin Chen at Zhejiang University is a leading geotechnical engineering researcher in China. Prof. Chen and his colleagues have been involved in the research and consulting of several major landfills in China. Their technical paper addresses the issues related to the performance-based design of geosynthetic liner systems in landfills, including the breakthrough time, interface sliding failure, and liner tensile failure.

Prof. Jie Han at the University of Kansas in the USA is the guest editor of this special issue. He, his former graduate student, Mr. Yuze Zhang, and his colleague, Prof. Robert L. Parsons contribute a technical paper on laboratory evaluation of geosynthetic-soil confinement using a wheel tracking device. Their paper discusses a newly-developed performance-based laboratory test method to evaluate geosynthetic-soil confinement and distinguish the benefits of rut reduction among different types of geosynthetics and base course materials.

Jie Han
Guest Editor

Acknowledgement

A number of theme oriented special issues are introduced in 2011and the first one is released in March 2011 on Geosynthetic–reinforced earth structures. The Guest Editor of this issue is Prof. Jie Han of the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering at the University of Kansas in the United States. He received his Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1997 and has been a professional engineer in Georgia since 1998. Dr. Han was a senior engineer and manager of technology development at Tensar Earth Technologies, Inc., a leading geosynthetic manufacturer in the world, from 1997 to 2001. Prof. Han’s research and practical experiences have dealt with geosynthetic-reinforced earth structures, ground improvement, pile foundations, and pavement applications. Prof. Han has co-authored three technical books, edited two ASCE Geotechnical Special Publications, and published more than 150 peer-reviewed journal papers and conference papers (a large portion on geosynthetics). Prof. Han is currently serving as the Technical and Proceedings Co-chair for the GeoFrontiers 2011 Conference to be held in Dallas, Texas, USA from March 13 to 16, 2011, which is jointly organized by the ASCE Geo-Institute, the Industrial Fabrics Association International, the North American Geosynthetic Society, and the geosynthetic industry. Prof. Han serves as a member on the editorial boards for four major international journals in geotechnical engineering, the ASCE Geosynthetic and Ground Improvement Committees, and TRB A2K07 Committee on Geosynthetics.

The papers in this issue are authored by well known researchers and practioners: D. Leshchinsky; T.A. Ooi and C.H. Tee; J.-C. Chai, T. Hino, Y. Igaya, and Y. Yamauch;, J. Huang, A. Bhandari, and X. Yang; J. Chu,W. Guo, and S.W. Yan; Y.M. Chen,W.A. Lin, B. Zhu, and L.T. Zhan; and J. Han, Y. Zhang, and R.L. Parsons.

The papers contained in this issue by the well known authors will undoubtedly be of great interest to engineers and scientists. On behalf of the Association of Geotechnical Societies in Southeast Asia, the Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society and the Editorial panel of the Geotechnical Engineering Journal we express our sincere gratitude to the Guest Editor Prof. Jie Han and the contributing authors.

K.Y. Yong
D. Bergado
Teik Aun Ooi
A. S. Balasubramaniam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Special Issue on Geosynthetic-reinforced Earth Structures
Guest Editor: Jie Han

SEAGS-AGSSEA Journal – June 2011

A special issue on Deep Foundations is also planned and to be edited by Prof. Tatsunori Matsumoto with the assistance of Dr. Der Wen Chang and this is expected in June 2011. Professor Harry G. Poulos, Prof. Bengt Fellenius and several others are expected to contribute in this issue together with Prof. Tatsunori Matsuoka.

Prof. Matsumoto is now with Kanazawa University in Japan for nearly 32 years. He was educated at the Kanazawa University and received his Doctoral Degree from Kyoto University for his work on steel pipe piles in 1989. He has extensive research and practical experience on piled foundations and piled raft foundations. Prof. Matsumoto has a Shake Table Facility for the study of dynamic and earthquake type of behaviour of piled foundations. He has also worked on the centrifuge with pile groups and piled raft foundations in collaboration with Taisei Corporation. His research work on piled raft foundations range from the simplified calculation methods of Poulos – Davis and Randolph (PDR Method), Burland’s method to approximate computer based methods such as the strip on spring and plate on spring approaches and hybrid methods. He has also worked on more rigorous method using boundary elements and finite elements. Prof. Matsumoto also has wide experience in the seismic design of raft and piled raft foundations. Prof. Matsumoto is one of the authors of the computer software PRAB—Piled Raft Analysis with Batter Piles. With this software piled raft foundation can be analyzed with vertical and horizontal loads as well as moment.

FOREWORD

The Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society (SEAGS) was formed over 40 years ago and has been an important factor in the growth of geotechnical engineering in the Southeast Asian region. SEAGS has made a very important contribution to the dissemination of geotechnical knowledge by publishing the journal Geotechnical Engineering, which first appeared in 1970. A number of influential papers have appeared in this journal, generally dealing with regional issues and case histories but also with geotechnical problems on a global scale.

In recent years, several of the original countries comprising SEAGS have grown to such an extent that they have formed their own national geotechnical groups. A number of these countries have formed the Association of Geotechnical Societies of South East Asia (AGSSEA) which now interact and cooperate with SEAGS. Currently, the President of SEAGS and Chairman of AGSSEA are Dr. Ooi Teik Aun and Professor K.Y. Yong respectively, while the Secretaries General are Professor Dennes Bergado and Mr. Kenny Yee.

SEAGS and AGSSEA now cooperate in producing Geotechnical Engineering, and in order to respond to the growth of geotechnics in the region, the editors have decided to re-focus the journal and to produce a series of theme issues that deal with specific areas of geotechnical engineering.

This present issue deals with deep foundations, a subject that has been of abiding interest to engineering professionals in the region over many years. Indeed, with the remarkable growth in the number and height of structures, studies of deep foundations and their behaviour under various scenarios have become a matter not only of research interest, but also of intense practical and economic interest. It is being recognised increasingly that traditional methods of deep foundation design that may have been adequate in past times may not be suitable for today’s circumstances, where much larger loads may be acting on the piles and where piles may be subjected not only to direct structural loads but to loads imposed by ground movements arising from such sources as earthquakes, excavations and tunnel construction. It is also being recognised that in such cases, the sources of movement may also change the stress state in the ground so that the ground conditions during and after construction may be different from those encountered during the site investigation. Such differences need to be recognised and allowed for in the design process. It must also be recognised that there may well be “side effects” that arise from construction-related ground movements that may adversely affect existing foundation.

A further trend, and one that is to be applauded, is the increasing use of pile load testing, not only as a means of verifying the capacity and integrity of the as-constructed piles, but also as an adjunct to pile design. Many of the elements of uncertainty that are present in pile design may be reduced by carrying out tests on trial piles as part of the design process. However, in such cases, it is essential to understand the limitations of the test procedure being and to interpret the test results accordingly, taking into account the test configuration and test setup, the means of applying load and supplying reaction, and the means of measurement of the pile responses. In particular, care should be taken to allow for residual stresses that exist in the pile prior to testing, as failure to do so may lead to misinterpretation of the contributions to the pile resistance of the shaft and the base.

The nine papers in this issue cover a broad range of topics in deep foundations, including load testing (3 papers), analysis and design issues (2 papers), fundamental understanding of pipe pile behaviour (1 paper), piled raft foundations (2 papers), and two case histories, one involving the foundations for the Taipei 101 tower, formerly the world’s tallest building, and the other a proposed 151 storey tower in South Korea.

Professor Tatsunori Matsumoto from Japan is the editor for this issue and has been instrumental in attracting the papers that appear here, and especially, in securing a number of papers from Japan. He has done a fine job in coaxing and encouraging the authors of the papers, arranging for the review of the papers, and editing the final manuscripts. He deserves the thanks of the journal readership for his untiring efforts. He has been assisted by Professor Der-Wen Chang of Taiwan, and by Professor Balasubramaniam (Bala), from Australia, whose links with SEAGS extend over many years.

It is to be hoped that the readers of this issue will benefit from the information and knowledge that is contained within the papers, and that they may find occasion to apply this knowledge in their own professional practice.

H.G. Poulos

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This Special Issue on Deep Foundations is edited by Prof. Tatsunori Matsumoto with the assistance of Prof. Der Wen Chang as co-editor. Prof. Matsumoto is with Kanazawa University for nearly 32 years and has made excellent contributions in Piled Foundations starting with his Doctoral Research at Kyoto University on steel pipe piles as early as 1989. He has extensive research and practical experience on piled foundations and piled raft foundations. Prof. Matsumoto has a Shake Table Facility for the study of dynamic and earthquake type of behaviour of piled foundations. He has also worked on the centrifuge with pile groups and piled raft foundations in collaboration with Taisei Corporation. His research work on piled raft foundations range from the simplified calculation methods of Poulos – Davis and Randolph (PDR Method), Burland’s method to approximate computer based methods such as the strip on spring and plate on spring approaches and hybrid methods. He has also worked on more rigorous method using boundary elements and finite elements. Prof. Matsumoto also has wide experience in the seismic design of raft and piled raft foundations. Prof. Matsumoto is one of the authors of the computer software PRAB—Piled Raft Analysis with Batter Piles. With this software piled raft foundation can be analyzed with vertical and horizontal loads as well as moment. The co-editor Prof. Der Wen Chang is currently a Professor at the Tamkang University in Taiwan. Prof. Chang recerived his Doctoral Degree from University of Texas at Austin in 1991. His research interests are in soil-structure interaction, earthquake geotechnical engineering and soil dynamics. Prof. Chang is a valuable member of the Chinese Geotechnical Society in Taipei serving as Secretary General; he also played a key role in the 17th Southeast Asian Geotechnical Conference held in Taipei in May 2010.

The contributing authors in this issue are :Kiyoshi Yamashita, Junji Hamada and Takeshi Yamada; K. Watanabe, H. Sei, T. Nishiyama and Y. Ishii; N. Suzuki and T. Seki; K. Matsuzawa and T. Matsumoto; Suriyah Thongmunee, Shun-ichi Kobayashi and Tatsunori Matsumoto ; Ching-Han Yu; Bengt H. Fellenius ; H.G. Poulos, J.C. Small and H. Chow ; and Ahmad Abdelrazaq, Frances Badelow, Sung Ho-Kim, and Harry G. Poulos.

Special thanks are due to Prof. Harry G Poulos for his valuable advice and participation in the review of most of the papers; each paper is reviewed at least by two other reviewers. No doubt the papers contained in this issue will be of great interest to those in practices as well as in teaching and research. On behalf of the Association of Geotechnical Societies in Southeast Asia, the Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society and the Editorial Panel of the Geotechnical Engineering Journal, we express our sincere gratitude to the Editors Prof. Tatsunori Matsumoto, Prof. Der Wen Chang, Prof. Harry G. Poulos and the contributing authors and reviewers.

K.Y. Yong
D.T. Bergado
T.A. Ooi
A.S. Balasubramaniam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Special Issue on Pile Foundations
Guest Editor: Tatsunori Matsumoto

SEAGS-AGSSEA Journal – Preface – September 2011

SEAGS-AGSSEA Journal –  September 2011

This special issue has papers from China, Taiwan, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore etc.

Prof. Chang-Yu Ou received his Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering in 1977 from National Cheng-Kung University in Taiwan and his Masters and Doctoral Degrees from Stanford University in 1984 and 1987 respectively. He has focused on studies of soil behaviour and excavation problems since beginning to teach in a university and has published many journal and conference papers concerning the subjects. At the same time, working with industrial builders, he has also taken part in many large-scale excavation projects and accumulated experience in analysis and design. Supported by study results and analysis experience, he has opened a course on deep excavation at the university.

He is currently the Dean of engineering at the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan. He was also the Director of Ecological and Hazard Mitigation Engineering Research Center of the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan. He was also a Visiting Professor at University of California, Berkeley. His areas of interest are deep excavations, soil behaviour, soft ground tunnelling and ground improvement.

Foreword

Asia currently is the most fast growing area in economy. Many high rise buildings and infrastructures including subway tunnels in urban areas and mountain tunnels connecting cities are under construction. Some of them are extraordinary in terms of scale and construction difficulty. The strength and stress-strain behavior of soils are seriously considered and monitoring systems are comprehensively implemented in projects. Therefore, as a guest editor of this special issue featuring the urban geotechnical construction, I am very happy to have the papers from distinguished investigators from China, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan. Many thanks for their contribution.

This special issue covers some important aspects of urban geotechnical construction. One of the biggest issues for underground construction in a densely built-up urban environment is the potentially adverse impact on buildings adjacent to deep excavations. Thanks for Mr. Goh and Prof. Mair who present the influence of building stiffness in the assessment of adjacent building safety. Excavation instability sometimes causes catastrophic collapse of the projects. Prof. Zheng and his group introduce the concept of redundancy into the design of retaining structure and develop a design methodology based on the concept of redundancy. Prof. Jeng and his colleagues give a very interesting case study of the largest excavation in Shanghai soft clay. In urban areas, excavations may have a significant impact on the stress and deformation of existing tunnels. Several construction techniques have been developed to reduce the movement of excavations in soft clay. Prof. Wang and his group made a comprehensive study of the effectiveness of these different methods and the interactive impact of the two adjacent excavations in Shanghai soft clay on the crossing tunnel using the numerical method. In the past studies of ground movement induced by deep excavations mostly focus on those due to main excavation, for example, excavation of soil, dewatering, strut installation and demolish and so on. Ground movement induced by diaphragm wall construction is seldom taken into account. Prof. Ou and his group present the behavior of ground movement induced by construction of diaphragm wall based on the monitoring results of the construction of the Taipei metro system. The envelope due to diaphragm wall construction is established in the paper. In the traditional pneumatic caissons, workers have to conduct excavation inside the working chamber under high pressure, temperature, and humidity while in the new pneumatic caissons, soil excavation and removal are completed by remotely controlled equipments. Prof. Peng and his colleagues report the monitored results for the new pneumatic caisson conducted in Shanghai soft clay and numerical approach considering the soil disturbance during construction. The agreement between field monitoring and numerical analysis results are discussed. In densely popular cities, construction of underground tunnels should be kept minimal impact on existing buildings. Instead of shield machines, use of hydraulic jacks to push pipes through the ground is an economic and minimal impact on the existing buildings. Prof. Ding and his coworkers introduce the technologies of pipe-jacking methods to reach micro disturbance to existing buildings. Inje Tunnel, an 11 km-long twin-tunnel, still under construction, will be the longest road tunnel in Korea. Director Cho introduces the details of the tunnel design, including geotechnical consideration, crosssection of the excavation, reinforcement, drainage, ventilation operation, safety facility corresponding with a tunnel fire, and portal planning.

Finally, I would like thank all of the reviewers, who gave excellent and in-depth reviews on the papers. Thanks to the editor-in-chief, Prof. Balasubramaniam, for his gracious invitation as the guest editor of this special issue.

Prof. Chang Yu Ou
Guest Editor

Acknowledgement

This September Issue of the Journal is on Urban Geotechnical Construction. This Issue has papers from China, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan. The Guest Editor of this Issue is Prof. Chang Yu Ou, who received his Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering in 1977 from National Cheng-Kung University in Taiwan and his Masters and Doctoral Degrees from Stanford University in 1984 and 1987 respectively. Prof. Ou has focused on studies of soil behaviour and excavation problems since beginning to teach in a university and has published many journal and conference papers concerning the subjects. At the same time, working with industrial builders, he has also taken part in many large-scale excavation projects and accumulated experience in analysis and design. Supported by study results and analysis experience, he has opened a course on deep excavation at the university. He is currently the Dean of engineering at the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan. He was also the Director of Ecological and Hazard Mitigation Engineering Research Centre of the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan. He was also a Visiting Professor at University of California, Berkeley. His areas of interest are deep excavations, soil behaviour, and soft ground tunnelling and ground improvement. We are most grateful to have such an eminent person as Prof. Ou to be the Guest Editor of this Issue.

There are eight technical papers from: K.H. Goh and R.J. Mair; G. Zheng, X.S. Cheng, Y. Diao, and H.X. Wang; Y. M. Hou, J. H. Wang and D-S. Jeng; J. J. Chen, J. H. Wang, G. W. Xiang, S. L. Wen, and Y. Du ; C.Y. Ou and L.L. Yang; F.L. Peng and H.L. Wang; W. Q. Ding, B. Li, S. L. Yuan and J. K. Ge; S. M. Cho, S. D. Lee, and Y. J. Kwon. We are confident that this special issue would be of great interest to all those who are interested in urban geotechnical construction. The most valued help and the untiring efforts and meticulous work of the Guest Editor Prof. Chang Yu Ou and the authors are gratefully acknowledged.

K.Y. Yong
D.T. Bergado
T.A.Ooi
A.S.Balasubramaniam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Special Issue on DEEP EXCAVATIONS
Guest Editor: Prof. Chang-Yu Ou

SEAGS-AGSSEA Journal – December 2011

Dr. Dariusz Wanatowski is currently a lecturer in the Nottingham Centre for Geomechanics at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.

Dr. Wanatowski obtained his Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering in 1999 from the Poznan University of Technology (PUT) in Poland and his Doctoral Degree in Geotechnical Engineering in 2006 from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. Prior to joining the University of Nottingham in February 2006, he worked as a lecturer and researcher in PUT in Poland and NTU in Singapore, respectively. In 2010, he was a Visiting Fellow at the University of New South Wales at Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra and a Visiting Lecturer at NTU in Singapore. Most recently, in October 2011, he was also a Visiting Professor at University of Bologna in Italy.

Dr. Wanatowski’s general research interests are focused on experimental geomechanics, particularly strain softening and instability behaviour of granular soils, strain localization in sands, strength and stiffness anisotropy of geomaterials, and effects of intermediate principal stress on the strength and deformation characteristics of soils. He has published several journal and conference papers on these subjects. He has also consulting experience in the areas of advanced laboratory and in situ testing of soils.

Dr. Wanatowski is a Member of two Technical Committees of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, TC-208 on Stability of Natural Slopes and TC-303 Coastal and River Disaster Mitigation and Rehabilitation. He is a Member of American Society of Civil Engineers, Institution of Civil Engineering, Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society and Polish Geotechnical Society. He also serves as an Honorary Secretary for the East Midlands Geotechnical Group in the British Geotechnical Association.

Preface

Despite a remarkable research progress made in the last few decades in various aspects of geomechanics, understanding of soil as an engineering material is still a very challenging task. Consequently, our ability to model and predict the behaviour of geomaterials in slopes, foundations, and earth structures is still limited. On the other hand, an enormous improvement in technical capabilities of soil mechanics laboratories in last few years allows researchers and engineers to investigate soil behaviour with greatest ever accuracy. As a result, advanced laboratory soil testing is more frequently used in geotechnical practice. For example, an accurate measurement of small strain stiffness is essential in the analysis of many geotechnical problems.

This Special Issue covers some very interesting aspects of soil behaviour and includes papers from Poland, Singapore, United States, Greece, Japan, Hong Kong, United Kingdom and Hungary. The Issue starts with the contribution of Prof. Sawicki from the Institute of Hydro-Engineering in Poland. His paper discusses possible links between pre-failure instability behaviour of sand and plastic dilation. The analysis presented by Prof. Sawicki is supported by high-quality experimental data obtained from triaxial compression tests. The second paper is written by Dr Meng from the University of Wollollong in Australia and Prof. Chu from Nanyang Technological University, who has recently taken up the Chair in Geotechnical Engineering at the Iowa State University in the United States. The authors present an experimental study on strength anisotropy of the intact residual soil of Bukit Timah granite in Singapore. The results obtained from K0 consolidated undrained triaxial and simple shear tests carried out on specimens cut from large blocks of undisturbed samples are used to discuss the effects of inherent and induced anisotropy on the strength parameters of the residual soil in Singapore. Prof. Lade from the Catholic University of America in the United States and Dr Wang, his former PhD student at the Johns Hopkins University, present their work on shear banding in sand. The authors discuss several series of true triaxial tests performed on cubical and rectangular prismatic specimens of Santa Monica Beach sand. The analysis carried out by Prof. Lade and Dr Wang indicates that the occurrence of the critical conditions for shear banding in sand may be delayed in short specimens. The authors suggest that true triaxial experiments should be performed on tall specimens in which the shear banding occurs freely and strain softening behaviour is more pronounced. A very interesting study on behavioural patterns of fine sands is presented by Prof. Georgiannou from the National Technical University of Athens in Greece. In her paper, Prof. Georgiannou presents several series of hollow cylinder, triaxial compression and extension tests. She discusses the influence of various parameters such as particle shape, grading, addition of fines, consolidation history, stress level and loading conditions on the undrained behaviour of sand. Next paper of the Issue is written by Prof. Shibuya from Kobe University in Japan and his former researcher, Dr Jung, currently with the Korean Institute of Construction Technology. They discuss the effects of strain rate on undrained shear behaviour of seabed Holocene clay from the Kobe airport based on a few series of triaxial compression and extension tests carried out with different shearing rates. Prof. Yin and Mr Tong from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University together with Prof. Zhu from Wuhan University of Technology in China present an experimental investigation on sedimentation and self-weight consolidation behaviour of marine deposits from Hong Kong carried out in settling columns. Dr Ibraim and his colleagues from the Bristol University in the United Kingdom present their new hollow cylinder torsional apparatus equipped with an accurate strain measurement system. The authors demonstrate that their hollow cylinder apparatus is capable of measuring soil’s stiffness in a wide range of strains and stresses. Two of my PhD students at the University of Nottingham and I contribute to the Special Issue with a paper on laboratory investigation of fibre reinforced sand at high pressures. We discuss results of drained compressions tests carried out in a high pressure triaxial cell and demonstrate that the effectiveness of fibre reinforcement at high confining pressures is very limited. Finally, Prof. Imre from Szent Istvan University and Budapest University of Technology and Economics in Hungary with her colleagues presents a technical note discussing the ratio of the maximum and minimum dry density for sands.

As a Guest Editor of this Issue I would like to thank all the authors for their valuable contributions. I would also like to thank the Editorial Team of the Journal for inviting me to edit this Special Issue. Last but not least, I would like to thank all the reviewers for assessing the papers in a timely and thorough manner. Their excellent assistance is greatly appreciated.

Dariusz Wanatowski,
Guest Editor
University of Nottingham, United Kingdom

Acknowledgement

This December Issue of the Journal is on Soil Behaviour and include papers from well known researchers as drawn from Poland, Singapore, United States, Greece, Japan, Hong Kong, United Kingdom and Hungary.

The Guest Editor of this Issue is Dr. Dariusz Wanatowski from the Nottingham Centre for Gemechanics at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom. Dr Wanatowski’s general research interests are focused on experimental geomechanics; particularly strain softening and instability behaviour of granular soils, strain localization in sands, strength and stiffness anisotropy of geomaterials, and effects of intermediate principal stress on the strength and deformation characteristics of soils. He has published very widely in most well known journals in Geotechnics and the major conferences held on soil behaviour and its role in geotechnical engineering research and practice. Dr Wanatowski obtained his Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering in 1999 from the Poznan University of Technology (PUT) in Poland and his Doctoral Degree in Geotechnical Engineering in 2006 from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. Prior to joining the University of Nottingham in February 2006, he worked as a lecturer and researcher in PUT in Poland and NTU in Singapore, respectively. In 2010, he was a Visiting Fellow at the University of New South Wales at Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra and a Visiting Lecturer at NTU in Singapore. Most recently, in October 2011, he was also a Visiting Professor at University of Bologna in Italy.

Dr Wanatowski is a Member of two Technical Committees of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, TC-208 on Stability of Natural Slopes and TC-303 Coastal and River Disaster Mitigation and Rehabilitation. He also serves as an Honorary Secretary for the East Midlands Geotechnical Group in the British Geotechnical Association. Dr Wanatowski is a Member of American Society of Civil Engineers, the Institution of Civil Engineers London, and the Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society and the Polish Geotechnical Society.

The nine technical contributions in this issue are from: A. Sawicki G. Meng and J. Chu ;P.V. Lade and Q. Wang V.N. Georgiannou M.-S. Jung and S. Shibuya; F. Tong, J.H.Yin and G.F. Zhu ; E. Ibraim, P. Christiaens and M. Pope ;S. Ud-din, A. Marri and D. Wanatowski ; and E. Imre, S. Fityus, E. Keszeyne and T. Schanz. Soil Behaviour is a most important topic in Geotechnical Engineering and the material contained here from these authors would be of great value to all those who are engaged in geotechnical engineering practice and research. Dr. Dariusz Wanatowski, the guest editor is thanked for his untiring efforts and meticulous work which made this special issue to be possible and released well in time.

K.Y. Yong
D.T. Bergado
T.A.Ooi
A.S.Balasubramaniam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Special Issue on Soil Behaviour
Guest Editor: Dr. Dariusz Wanatowski