No description available.

The Canadian National Memorial Site, near Vimy, Artois, France, commemorates the WWI Battle of Vimy Ridge; where all four divisions of the young Canadian Corps fought together with the British Forces to liberate the French ridge. Today, trench systems and an extensive subterranean network of tunnels underlie the gentle landscape of the park, which is visited each year by hundreds of thousands of tourists. Failure within these excavations is expressed as local subsidence and is potentially hazardous to the public. The following research identifies the geologic factors that influence instability in the excavations and how these factors vary both with depth and lateral extent. The Artois region of northern France is underlain by Upper Cretaceous chalk with a thin veneer of Paleocene sediments. Structure is dominated by the northwest-southeast trending Weald-Boulonnais anticlinorium. Three principle geological controls govern failure within the excavations at the Vimy site; lithologic variations, structural geometry and carbonate dissolution. An extensive stratigraphic study identified variable horizons such as chalk marls, nodular chalks, hardgrounds and flint seams, which affect the strength, permeability and structure of the rockmass. Structural geometry in the chalk varies with depth and clay content. Orthogonal fracture patterns are typical in pure carbonate rockmasses whereas inclined conjugate sets occur in clay-rich chalk. Three failure mechanisms were observed in the Vimy excavations that vary with structure and lithology. Beam failure via block fall-out is observed in pure chalk with subhorizontal and subvertical structures. Ravelling, the upward propagation of roof failure, is typical of closely spaced inclined jointing, and is also observed in shallow clay-rich lithologies. Finally, dissolution pipes occur at the intersection lineations of conjugate joint sets, and are also typical of clay-rich lithologies. Dissolution by meteoric groundwater is identified as the third geologic control and results in a decrease of intact strength, weakening of joint surfaces and overall loss of confinement in the rockmass, thereby initiating the failure modes described previously. These extensive geologic studies pinpoint the origins and variability of instability in the rockmass at the Vimy site. / Thesis (Master, Geological Sciences & Geological Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2007-12-21 11:08:16.522

The objective of this thesis is to identify the value of geomechanics and engineering geology to mine enterprise value for hardrock underground mines. It was decided that the most effective way to highlight the value of geomechanics and engineering geology was by identifying an increase in expenditure that could be economically justified in the present to mitigate the cost of a future event, thus providing a means for showing the economic value of the work performed. Cost models were generated for several events based on the direct cost, value of ore lost and decline in value of ore due to the event. A cost associated with fatalities was also included. Six rockburst events were developed into cost models from publicly available information. A further 13 were developed from confidential information provided by mining companies, bringing the total number of events analyzed to 19. A probabilistic approach was then taken to identify the probability of a rockburst with a certain magnitude occurring and, if an event occurs, the probability it will cause damage. The former is based on the Gutenberg-Richter Frequency-Magnitude relationship while the latter was derived from Unusual Occurrence Reports provided by the Ontario Ministry of Labour. Three case studies were then developed to show how to use the average cost of a rockburst event in conjunction with the probability analysis to arrive at an increase in expenditure above baseline spending. It was found that the total average cost of a rockburst based on the 19 events analyzed from 13 mines in 4 different countries for events occurring between 1984 and 2009 is $35.4 million (2010 CAD) with a range of $1.1 to $263.5 million (2010 CAD). Using the probabilistic method outlined above and cost models from the specific region involved, the increase in expenditure for the Ontario hard rock underground case study, Mine A and Mine B was found to be $12.1 million (2010 CAD), $5 million (2010 CAD) and $4.0 million (2010 CAD) respectively. / Thesis (Master, Mining Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2011-11-06 14:03:21.589

No description available.

The research presented in this thesis focuses on the spatial variability of the Keswick and Hindmarsh Clays within the Adelaide city area. Keswick Clay is locally significant since many of Adelaide's multi-storey buildings are founded directly on it, and internationally significant, since it has been shown by Cox (1970), that this clay exhibits remarkably similar properties to those of the well-documented London Clay. The assessment of the small-scale variability of the undrained shear strength of these clays is based on measurements obtained using the electrical cone penetration test (CPT), and a micro-computer based data acquisition system, designed specifically for this study. A significant feature of the data acquisition system is that it enables measurements to be obtained at intervals of 5 mm, both reliably and efficiently. The development of the data acquisition system is discussed, and the accuracy of its measurements is examined. The small-scale variability of the undrained shear strength of the Keswick Clay is based on more than 200 vertical CPTs, performed within an area of 50 X 50 metres at a site located in the Adelaide city area. The CPTs were spaced at lateral intervals varying between 0.5 and 5 metres, with each vertical CPT extending to a typical depth of 5 metres. In addition, the small-scale horizontal spatial variability of the Keswick Clay is examined using an electrical cone penetrometer driven horizontally into the face of an embankment, again located within the Adelaide city area. The accuracy of the CPT measurements is examined, and discussion is given of the shortcomings associated with a commonly used technique, by Baecher (1982), for estimating the random measurement error associated with various test procedures. The assessment of the large-scale spatial variability of the undrained shear strength of the Keswick and Hindmarsh Clays is founded on a data base of geotechnical engineering properties, compiled from a number of consulting engineering practices and government instrumentalities. The data base, known as KESWICK, contains approximately 160 site investigations, 380 boreholes, and 10,140 measurements obtained from a number of different laboratory and in situ tests. In addition, KESWICK is used to establish generalised trends and bounds, associated with the various geotechnical engineering design properties contained within the data base. The techniques of random field theory and geostatistics are used to quantify, model and predict the spatial variability of the Keswick and Hindmarsh Clays. These techniques are compared with one another in order to assess the suitability and shortcomings of each, when applied to the study of the spatial variability of geotechnical engineering materials. Furthermore, a number of specifically-written computer programs, which were developed to enable the various spatial variability analyses to be performed, are discussed. It is demonstrated that the lateral undrained shear strength of the Keswick Clay, within the Adelaide city area, exhibits a nested structure; that is, one which is the compound effect of several genetic sources of spatial variation. In addition, it is shown that this nested structure can be adequately modelled by means of a spherical semivariogram model. The nested structure is used, together with the kriging estimation process, to provide preliminary estimates of the undrained shear strength of the Keswick Clay, within the Adelaide city area. The analyses demonstrate that the nested model and the kriging process provide a useful facility for generating preliminary estimates of the strength of the clay. Finally, the significance of the spatial variability of the undrained shear strength of clay soils is examined, with reference to the design of embankments and pile foundations. It is demonstrated that the correlation distance can greatly influence the design of each of these geotechnical systems. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1995.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Australia, 2007.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. W. Virgil Ping, Florida State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 23, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Sc.(Geology))--University of Pretoria, 2002. / Summaries in Afrikaans and English. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Also available in print.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri, School of Mines and Metallurgy, 1947. / The entire thesis text is included in file. Typescript. Title from title screen of thesis/dissertation PDF file (viewed June 29, 2010) Includes bibliographical references (p. 50-51).