ASCE MN February Joint Section Meeting with MGS 

ASCE-MN will hold its February Section Meeting on Thursday, February 21, 2019, in conjunction with the Minnesota Geotechnical Society (MGS).

LESSONS LEARNED FOR GROUND MOVEMENTS AND SOIL STABILIZATION FROM THE BOSTON CENTRAL ARTERY

T.D. O'Rourke - Professor of Civil Engineering - Cornell University

Meeting Schedule:

6 PM - 7 PM, Social Hour

7 PM - 8 PM, Dinner Buffet

8 PM - 9 PM, Presentation

Registration closes on February 18, 2019.

Presentation Abstract:

The Boston Central Artery and Tunnel (CA/T) was the largest and most complex U.S. construction project in the last 25 years, for which new technologies were developed and applied at an unprecedented scale. One of these technologies involves mass stabilization of weak clay by systematic deep mixing with cementitious products. On the CA/T over 500,000 m³ of marine clay and organics were stabilized with the deep mixing method (DMM). The method was used under difficult conditions that include reinforcement of basal clay at an ongoing, unstable excavation and widespread application on a crowded site with especially deep, low-strength clays and many surrounding facilities.

 Professor O’Rourke will provide an overview of the CA/T including its cost and contributions to the urban regeneration of Boston. His presentation includes a case history covering ten years experience with ground stabilization on the CA/T. Topics addressed include water pressure distribution behind DMM walls, statistical characterization of soil-cement properties, quality control/quality assurance procedures, comparison of measured and numerically simulated deformation in clay stabilized with various configurations of soil-cement elements, and shear modulus degradation characteristics of in situ soil-cement.  Recommendations are made for soil-cement properties, installation procedures, analytical modeling, design, and inspection.

About the Speaker:

Professor O'Rourke is the Thomas R. Briggs Professor of Engineering in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University. He holds a Ph.D. and M.S. degree in Geotechnical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.S.C.E. from Cornell. Professor O'Rourke has been a member of the teaching and research staffs at Cornell University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His teaching and professional practice include geotechnical engineering for earth retention systems, foundations, and soil/structure interaction; earthquake engineering; underground construction technology, and engineering of large, geographically distributed systems, such as water supplies, gas and liquid fuel systems, electric power, and transportation facilities. He authored or co-authored over 360 publications on geotechnical, underground, earthquake engineering, and impact of extreme events on civil infrastructure. He was principal or co-principal investigator on more than 75 research projects, and has supervised 24 Ph.D. and 22 M.S. theses. Since 1995 he delivered 150 invited lectures, keynote, and conference presentations worldwide.

He is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering, International Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Distinguished Member of American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He received numerous awards from professional societies, including ASCE, Institution of Civil Engineers (United Kingdom), and the American Society for Testing and Materials.

He has served as chair or member of the consulting boards of many large underground construction projects, as well as the peer reviews for projects associated with highway, rapid transit, water supply, and energy distribution systems. He holds US Patent No. 5713393 for "frictionless pipe", Feb. 1998, and jointly holds US Patent No. 8701469 for flexible substrate sensor system for environmental & infrastructure monitoring, Apr. 2014.