Soil Mechanics for Dam Safety
Tuesday, February 5
7:30 am – 8:00 am
Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:00 am – 8:15 am
Welcome, Introduction and Overview
8:15 am – 9:00 am
Weight-Volume and Mass Density Relations of Soils
9:00 am – 9:30 am
Identification and Classification of Soils: Particle Characteristics and Consistency
9:30 am – 10:30 am
Soil Density and Compaction
Moisture Density Principals
Field Compaction Methods
Compaction Quality Control
10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Permeability (Hydraulic conductivity) and Seepage
Darcy’s Law and Flow Through Porous Media
Two Dimensional Flow (Flow Nets)
Hydraulic Conductivity Test
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Lunch on Own
1:00 pm – 1:30 pm
Special Conditions
Dispersive Clays
Tests for Dispersive Clay: Pinhole Test & Crumb Test
1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Effective Stress
2:30 pm – 3:00 pm
Stress Distribution
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Theory of Consolidation
Normally Consolidated
Under Consolidated
Over Consolidated
Collapsible Soils and Liquefaction
Consolidation Test
5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Dinner Break
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Workshop on Settlement Analyses
Wednesday, Feburary 6
7:30 am – 8:00 am
Continental Breakfast
8:00 am – 11:00 am
Shear Strength of Soils
Stress-Strain Relationships
Mohr Circle
p-q Diagrams
Critical Void Ratio, Volume Change and Pore Pressure Changes
Failure Criteria
Drained vs. Undrained (Total and Effective Strengths)
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Workshop: Mohr’s Circle, Determination of Strength Parameters and Selection of Appropriate Shear Strength.
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Lunch on Own
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
Laboratory Testing
Direct Shear
Triaxial Compression
Unconfined Compression
2:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Lateral Earth Pressures
At Rest, Active and Passive Conditions
Rankin Theory
Coulomb Theory
Effects of Wall Friction
Methods of Analysis
Hand Solutions
Chart Solutions
Thursday, February 7
7:30 am – 8:00 am
Continental Breakfast
8:00 am – 10:00 am
Applications of Lateral Earth Pressures
10:00 am – 11:00 am
Workshop: Selection of Appropriate Shear Strength, Lateral Earth Pressures.
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Field Exploration Methods
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Lunch on Own
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
Field Exploration Methods Cont.
Geologic Mapping
Geophysical Techniques
Soil Borings
Rock Borings
Test Pits
2:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Field Testing
Soil Classification
Soil Consistency
Density/Field Permeability
Strength Testing: SPT and CPT