February ASCE Virtual Meeting

TOPIC:                 Fundao Tailings Dam Failure in Brazil

SPEAKER:           Timothy D. Stark, Ph.D., P.E., D.GE

LOCATION:         Microsoft Teams (Invite will be included in confirmation email and sent to registrants)

COST:                  Free

PRESENTATION:   

Join us to for a discussion of an ongoing study of the November 5, 2015 Fundão tailings dam failure that caused a significant release of tailings release and 19 deaths. This presentation will discuss a re-evaluation of this failure that considers directly the effect(s) of three (3) earthquakes that occurred within fifteen (15) to thirty (30) minutes of the failure. The results of cone and standard penetration tests are used to assess the pore-water pressure development in the tailings sands due to these ground motion events. The resulting excess pore-water pressures are used in limit equilibrium analyses to estimate the decrease in factor of safety with each ground motion event.  The field penetration data indicate a zone of loose sandy tailings near the left abutment at shallow depth, which is the area of first slope movement. This re-evaluation provides insights to some of the factors that could have contributed to this failure as well as guidance design of these facilities.

BIO:             

Timothy D. Stark is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with an expertise in Geotechnical Engineering. Dr. Stark has been conducting research and teaching on the static and seismic stability of natural and manmade slopes, embankments, and earth structures for over twenty-five (25) years. Dr. Stark has received a number of awards for his research, teaching, and service activities including: 2019 George H. Norman Medal, ASCE, 2019; Best Paper in Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, ASCE, 2017; Best Paper in Geosynthetics International Journal, 2016; 2015 James M. Hoover Lecturer at Iowa State University; Thomas A. Middlebrooks Award, ASCE, 2013 and 1998; Associate Editor Award, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE, 2012; and Best Scholarly Paper in Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering, ASCE, 2011.