Subsurface Drilling and Sampling This course provides an overview of the equipment and procedures commonly used for the drilling and sampling of soil and rock as part of a geotechnical site investigation. The methods addressed in this course are used to retrieve soil samples and rock cores for visual examination and laboratory testing. The planning,…
Seismic Considerations for Road Tunnels Tunnels, in general, have performed better during earthquakes than have above ground structures such as bridges and buildings. Adequate design and construction of seismic resistant tunnel structures, however, should never be overlooked, as moderate to major damage has been experienced by many tunnels during earthquakes. This course provides general procedures…
Tunneling in Difficult Ground Engineers like to work with materials having defined characteristics that do not change from one location or application to another. However, in many cases special approaches or arrangements must be made to safely and efficiently drive and stabilize the tunnel as it passes through this “Difficult Ground”. The factors that make…
Geotechnical and Structural Instrumentation for Road Tunnels The primary purpose of geotechnical and structural instrumentation is to monitor the performance of the underground construction process in order to avoid or mitigate problems. Advanced and refined types of instrumentation abound, and electronics coupled with computers have made remote monitoring, even from half a world away, practically…
Design and Construction of Cut and Cover Road Tunnels The increased use of underground space for transportation systems and the increasing complexity and constraints of constructing and maintaining above ground transportation infrastructure has created a need for improved understanding of tunnel engineering and tunnel construction methods. This course presents the construction methodology and excavation support…
Slope Stability This course provides guidance for analyzing the static stability of slopes of earth and rock-fill dams, slopes of other types of embankments, excavated slopes, and natural slopes in soil and soft rock. Methods for analysis of slope stability are described and are illustrated by examples in the appendices. Topics include design considerations, design…