Stability of large embankments founded on glaciated soils

冰川土上大型路堤的稳定性

• 批准号: 249589-2008
• 负责人: Sharma, Jitendrapal
• 金额: $ 1.38万
• 依托单位: University of Saskatchewan
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2011-01-01 至 2012-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=479245
• 关键词: Stability; large; embankments; founded; glaciated

The province of Saskatchewan is the world's largest potash producer. There are currently 10 potash mines in operation in Saskatchewan. The Saskatchewan potash industry has been regulated to minimize land use requirements and the environmental footprint of the tailings piles. This means that any future tailings deposition must be done at steeper side slopes and by increasing pile heights in excess of 50 m. It is, therefore, becoming increasingly critical to ensure the stability of these tailings piles. Already, the potash industry is experiencing an increase in the number of incidences of excessive deformations and instability in these piles. The response of the potash industry has been to place greater emphasis on the design and installation of field monitoring systems to guide the placement of tailings and to provide early warning of excessive deformations and potential failures. This, unfortunately, has not resulted in a significant drop in incidences of pile instability. Many of the potash tailings piles in Saskatchewan are founded on glaciated soils, which are quite stiff and have fairly high strength. As such, these soils do not approach failure condition under 'normal' loading conditions such as those imposed by buildings and other similar structures. The loading imposed by a tailings pile, however, is anything but 'normal'. A tailings pile, which is essentially a very large embankment, has the potential to cause failure of the glaciated soil over which it is placed. These tailings piles provide a unique opportunity to study the response of glaciated soils subjected to 'near failure' loading conditions and can be regarded as field-scale testing facilities. The proposed research aims to use the monitoring data from the tailings piles as field-scale tests in conjunction with advanced laboratory tests and sophisticated numerical modelling to provide a better understanding of the pre-failure deformation behaviour of glaciated soils. The outcome of the proposed research will lead to safer design of tailings piles and other large structures (such as dams, bridges, tunnels, etc.) founded on glaciated soils and result in significant savings in construction and operations costs.

萨斯喀彻温省是世界上最大的钾肥生产国。目前萨斯喀彻温省有 10 个钾矿正在运营。萨斯喀彻温省钾肥行业受到监管，以尽量减少土地使用要求和尾矿堆的环境足迹。 这意味着未来的尾矿沉积必须在更陡的边坡上进行，并且堆高必须增加超过 50 m。因此，确保这些尾矿堆的稳定性变得越来越重要。钾肥行业中堆体过度变形和不稳定的情况已经越来越多。钾肥行业的应对措施是更加重视现场监测系统的设计和安装，以指导尾矿的放置，并对过度变形和潜在故障提供早期预警。不幸的是，这并没有导致桩不稳定发生率的显着下降。 萨斯喀彻温省的许多钾肥尾矿堆建在冰川土壤上，这些土壤非常坚硬，具有相当高的强度。因此，这些土壤在“正常”载荷条件下（例如建筑物和其他类似结构施加的载荷条件）不会接近破坏条件。然而，尾矿堆所施加的载荷却绝非“正常”。尾矿堆本质上是一个非常大的路堤，有可能导致其所在的冰川土壤破坏。这些尾矿堆提供了一个独特的机会来研究冰川土壤在“接近破坏”载荷条件下的响应，并且可以被视为现场规模的测试设施。拟议的研究旨在利用尾矿堆的监测数据进行现场规模测试，并结合先进的实验室测试和复杂的数值模型，以更好地了解冰川土的破坏前变形行为。拟议研究的成果将导致尾矿堆和其他建在冰川土壤上的大型结构（如水坝、桥梁、隧道等）的设计更加安全，并显着节省建设和运营成本。