Experimental Study of Earthquake-Induced Soil Liquefaction and Lateral Spreading and its Effects on Pile-Supported Port Facilities

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*** 9612233 Dobry Lateral spreading of sloping ground or of soil near a waterfront is a pervasive and costly type of liquefaction induced ground failure resulting from earthquakes. It causes damage to buildings, bridges, embankments, buried lifelines, and, especially, port facilities. Especially important is the distress caused to pile foundations, as illustrated by case histories in a number of earthquakes, including the 1989 Loma Prieta and 1995 Kobe (Japan) and Manzanillo (Mexico) events. Accumulated losses due to lateral spreading, including effects on piles and port facilities, reaches the billions of dollars. Although progress has been made toward predicting, quantifying and mitigating these effects, there is an urgent need for improved evaluation procedures. The project is part of a cooperative research program with the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM). It focuses on (1) geotechnical centrifuge model testing at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) of earthquake-induced lateral spreading and its effects on single piles and pile groups (2) laboratory static and cyclic loading research at UNAM on soil from Puerto Manzanillo (3) numerical analyses of both lateral spreading and its effects on piles, and (4) associated interpretations and recommendations, with particular emphasis on port facilities. It includes centrifuge modeling at RPI of the Puerto Manzanillo case history during the October 1995 earthquake, and further evaluation of this case history based on the centrifuge results and other information at UNAM. The work of the two groups is closely coordinated. The numerical simulations of the centrifuge model tests on single piles and pile groups subjected to lateral spreading are performed at Cornell University.***