Geotechnical assessment of marginal soils for sustainable infrastructure

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The sustainable (cost effective, environmentally friendly, and socially viable) management of civilinfrastructure depends on a clear understanding of the engineering properties of the supporting soils. Theinteraction of marginal earthen materials (expansive clays and collapsible silts) with changing meteorologicalconditions poses serious challenges to an uninterrupted use of buried utilities. TransGas Limited providesnatural gas (14,000 km long pipeline) as well as system integrity assessment and service for the distributionnetwork (69,000 km of mains and 390,000 individual services). The main issue associated with buried pipes isthe variable geotechnical pipe failure rate that ranges from 40/year to 110/year. In support of the company'smanagement strategy, the main objective of this collaborative research is to understand and improve thegeotechnical behavior of marginal soils. This is the first time that the company is participating in acomprehensive geotechnical evaluation of indigenous soils deposits. Based on a detailed research program(using laboratory investigation and numerical modeling), a scientific framework will be developed to workwith expansive and collapsible sediments in Saskatchewan. Soil properties will be investigated usingfundamental concepts of saturated and unsaturated soil mechanics under natural and compacted conditions.The resulting innovative technology (characterization protocols and computational predictions) will be pivotalfor the design, construction, operation, and rehabilitation of civil infrastructure systems. The expectedeconomic benefits of understanding and improving local marginal soils for TransGas Limited are minimizingthe number of leak surveys and prioritizing vulnerable areas within the networks. Likewise, the environmentaland safety benefits due to reduced pipe ruptures and gas leaks will ensure public confidence in the natural gasdistribution system. The research results will be critical for the company for ongoing and future pipelinenetwork expansions. Finally, the expected capacity development in technical expertise, recruitment of highlyqualified professionals, and multi-disciplinary interactions are important benefits for the University of Regina