Triaxial shear test is the most accurate test for deciding the undrained shear strength of clay. In every test the ratio between the horizontal and vertical stresses, the coefficient of earth pressure at rest (K0′), has to be decided. It’s widely believed that the choice of this parameter will influence the results, but it’s not known to what extent. In this thesis 20 consolidated undrained active triaxial shear tests on clay has been con- ducted with a K0′ at 0.6 and 0.8. The clay was collected with a 54 mm piston sampler at the Norwegian Geo-Test Site in Trondheim, Norway, on depth of 3.0 to 7.8 meters. Besides the triaxial testing, index tests and oedometer tests was conducted on every cylinder to do a gen- eral classification of the clay. The clay has a sensitivity of 9-20, a water content of 35-51 %, a plasticity index of 27-65 % and an over consolidation ratio of 2.6-6.8. The consolidation phase of the triaxial test was conducted in five loading steps with a rest time in-between to monitor the amount of pore water expelled at each stress level. The loading steps was 50 %, 75 % and 100 % of maximum cell pressure and thereafter at 50 % and 100 % of the maximum deviator stress. The shear phase was done at a speed of 1.5 % per hour to a total of 10 % axial strain. It is not possible to reach an unambiguous conclusion from the results, but the maximum shear strength of tests with a K0′ at 0.8 is 17 % higher, while the total amount of pore water extortion is equal between the two values. The amount of creep in the latest steps is on the other hand smaller for a K0′ at 0.8. This indicates that the soil is handling the stress level better than with a K0′ at 0.6.

An  important  task   during  the  construction  process  is  to  validate  the dimensions  and  properties  of  a  given  structure.  The  dimensions  like  for instance the thickness of a construction element should  be measured after finishing  building  it.  The  aim  is  to  compare  the  measured  value  with  the design  value   to  avoid   that   elements  do   not  correspond  to  the  input requirements.  Moreover,  the  measurements  are  helpful  to  analyse  the statistical    distribution    of    the    investigated    geometrical    property    by computing e.g. a histogram, which visualises the dispersion and  enable the calculation of the probability of failure for a specific structure or element.In  this  work,  a  shotcrete  layer  has  been  analysed  in  order  to  provide information  about  the  homogeneity  of  the  shotcrete  thickness  in  a  pre-determined  tunnel  section.  The  calculation  method  is  based  on  two  laser scans,  before  and  after  applying  the  shotcrete.  Due  to  the  construction process, the shotcrete layer will not be totally equal, which might be a safety problem. Especially, when  the shotcrete layer is thinner than  required and hence, the actual variation of the shotcrete must be considered and verified.To determine the statistical distribution, correlograms and histograms have been  computed  for  a  wall  area  in  a  tunnel  in  Southern  Sweden.  The correlogram shows the distance where the values have a correlation to each other  and  usually  this  distance  is  called  scale  of  fluctuation.  For  the  wall section, this scale of fluctuation has been calculated for the length (0.8m) as well  as  the  height  (0.8m).  Compared  to  the  original  sample  distance,  e.g. distance of the rock bolts, the variance for the calculation of the probability of failure might be reduced.

Purpose: One of the major soil problems that the construction industry may face is the presence of a certain type of highly sensitive marine clay, known as quick clay. The quick clay possesses properties that allow the clay to move from being relatively stable to on mechanical impact losing virtually all shear strength and act as a viscous mass. The majority of the Swedish, Norwegian and Canadian landslides, caused by quick clay, have caused significant consequences due to lack of bearing capacity of quick clay. In order to prevent these landslides knowledge about where there is quick clay is required. A large-scale mapping work has therefore been ongoing for a long time. The government has for some time been researching how to streamline mapping work and the result has shown a connection between quick clay attendance and increased resistivity. The purpose of this study is to develop a theoretical framework for areas with higher risk for presence of quick clay based on linking the resistivity to geotechnical properties. Method: The study has mainly applied quantitative data collection methods in the form of data analyzes combined with literature studies. Measurement data used in the study comprise of data collected through geotechnical and geophysical surveys. Literature studies have mainly been supported by reports from previous research in the field. Result: The result of the study points to a variety of geological factors that can give rise to increased risk of quick clay existence such as good permeability, artesian groundwater and uneven mountain subsidence etc. The study also shows a possible link between resistivity and sensitivity. Consequences: The study demonstrates the possibility of linking resistivity to the geotechnical property sensitivity to facilitate and streamline the mapping of quick clay through airborne resistivity measuring. Limitations: The study is limited to studying two research areas in south western Sweden, Strömstad and Lödöse. The study intends to examine the evidence from previous surveys and no further supplementary studies are conducted. The work is also delimited to study the geotechnical and geophysical properties of quick clay (in terms of resistivity). Chemical aspects are not taken into account. / Syfte: Ett av de större markproblem bygg- och anläggningsbranschen kan tvingas stå inför är förekomsten av en viss typ av högsensitiv havsavsatt lera, kallad kvicklera. Kvickleran besitter egenskaper som innebär att leran kan gå från relativt stabil till att vid mekanisk påverkan förlora praktiskt taget all sin skjuvhållfasthet och uppträder som en trögflytande massa. Majoriteten av de svenska, norska och kanadensiska lerskred som medfört betydande konsekvenser har varit ett resultat av kvicklerans bristande bärighet. För att förebygga dessa kvickleraskred krävs vetskap om var kvicklera förekommer. Ett omfattande kartläggningsarbete har därför pågått under en lång tid. Staten har under en tid bedrivit forskning för att effektivisera kartläggningsarbetet och resultatet har visat på ett samband mellan kvickleraförekomst och förhöjd resistivitet. Syftet med detta examensarbete är att ta fram ett teoretiskt ramverk för områden med större risk för förekomst av kvicklera baserat på att koppla samband mellan resistivitet och geotekniska egenskaper i form av vattenkvot, sensitivitet och densitet. Metod: I studien har i huvudsak kvantitativa datainsamlingsmetoder i form av dataanalyser tillämpats i kombination med litteraturstudier. Mätdatat som studien omfattar är insamlad via geotekniska och geofysiska undersökningar, litteraturstudierna har främst tagit stöd i rapporter från tidigare forskning inom området. Resultat: Resultatet pekar på en rad olika geologiska faktorer som kan ge upphov till ökad risk för kvickleraförekomst, exempelvis god permeabilitet, artesiskt grundvatten samt ojämn bergunderyta etc. Studien visar även på en möjlig koppling mellan resistivitet och sensitivitet. Konsekvenser: Studien visar på möjligheten att koppla resistivitet till den geotekniska egenskapen sensitivitet för att underlätta och effektivisera kartläggningen av kvicklera genom flygburna resistivitetsmätningar. Begränsningar: Uppsatsen begränsas till att studera två undersökningsområden i sydvästra Sverige, Strömstad och Lödöse. Studien avser granska underlag från tidigare utförda undersökningar och inga ytterligare kompletterande undersökningar har utförts. Arbetet avgränsas till att studera kvicklerans geotekniska egenskaper samt dess resistivitetsegenskaper. Arbetet tar således inte hänsyn till kemiska aspekter.

Geotechnical engineering works are part of almost all construction and infrastructure projects. The geotechnical engineering work contributes to the impact on the environment and gives rise to costs throughout its life cycle. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) are established methods for evaluating a product's environmental impact and costs. However, the use of these methods is not extensive for geotechnical engineering works. A literature review showed that there is published research, but as the research topic is relatively new, there are many research gaps. A few topics in geotechnical engineering are better investigated than others and the entire life cycle is often not evaluated, usually only the production and construction stages. Although LCA and LCCA are established methods, the methodology for evaluating geotechnical engineering works needs further development to increase the evaluation work of sustainability aspects. In this licentiate thesis, a methodology is presented of how LCA and LCCA can be integrated into the geotechnical design process. The integration enables changes to the geotechnical design to further reduce the LCA and LCCA result, which is presented in the methodology. The methodology also presents a way to evaluate the possible geotechnical designs to select the most sustainable design based on the LCA and LCCA results. The thesis also presents the performance of LCA and LCCA for geotechnical engineering works and solutions to several difficulties that the geotechnical engineer may encounter during the evaluation of environmental impact and costs. / Geotekniska konstruktioner är en del av i stort sett alla konstruktions- och infrastrukturprojekt. Den geotekniska konstruktionen bidrar till påverkan på miljön samt ger upphov till kostnader under hela sin livscykel. Livscykelanalys (LCA) och livscykelkostnadsanalys (LCCA) är etablerade metoder för att utvärdera en produkts miljöpåverkan respektive kostnader. Användningen av dessa metoder är dock inte stor för geotekniska konstruktioner. En litteraturgenomgång visade att det finns publicerad forskning men då forskningsämnet är relativt nytt finns det många forskningsluckor. Ett fåtal ämnen inom geoteknik är bättre utredda än andra och hela livscykeln är oftast inte utvärderad utan vanligtvis endast produktions- och konstruktionssteget. Trots att LCA och LCCA är etablerade metoder behöver metodiken för utvärdering av geotekniska konstruktioner utvecklas för att öka utvärderingsarbetet av hållbarhetsaspekter. I denna licentiatuppsats presenteras en metodik för hur LCA och LCCA kan integreras i den geotekniska designprocessen. Integreringen möjliggör ändringar av den geotekniska designen för att ytterligare reducera LCA- och LCCA-resultatet vilket presenteras i metodiken. Metodiken redovisar även ett sätt för att utvärdera de möjliga geotekniska designerna för att utifrån LCA- och LCCA-resultaten välja den mest hållbara designen.  Uppsatsen redovisar även utförandet av LCA och LCCA för geotekniska konstruktioner och lösningar på ett flertal svårigheter som geoteknikern kan påträffa under utvärderingen av miljöpåverkan och kostnader. / <p>QC 230313</p>

Vid beräkning av grundkonstruktioner tillämpas ofta Winkler-modellen där jorden ersätts med en fjäderbädd som motsvarar jordens styvhet, en så kallad bäddmodul. Samverkanseffekter försummas ofta i dagens sätt att ansätta bäddmoduler och konsekvensen av detta blir att oförutsedda dragspänningar uppstår. Syftet med undersökningen är att ge konstruktörer ett underlag så de kan välja en beräkningsmodell som ger beräkningsförutsättningar vid dimensionering av grundkonstruktioner som tar hänsyn till samverkanseffekter. Målet är att påvisa hur samverkanseffekter och ansättning av bäddmodul påverkar delar av grundkonstruktionen med hänsyn till moment. Tre olika metoder för att beräkna bäddmoduler och två olika sätt att ansätta dessa har studerats med avseende på hur moment uppträder i grundkonstruktionen. Sex modeller har analyserats i datorprogrammet FEM-Design genom fyra valda sektioner i grundkonstruktionen. Resultatet visar att val av bäddmodul inte påverkar formen på momentkurvan men att det maximala momentet kan variera stort. Resultatet påvisar även att det uppstår zoner med dragspänning i konstruktionens överkant som en effekt av samverkan. / The Winkler-model is often applied when calculating foundation slabs. The model intend to replace the subgrade with a bedding of vertical springs that corresponds with the stiffness of the soil. The integration of the foundation slab is often neglected in todays approved methods of implementing subgrade modulus. The consequence of this overlook may cause unforeseen tensile stress in the foundation. The purpose of this study is to support engineers in their decision of choosing a model and provide proper conditions designing slabs taking into account for interplay of the whole foundation structure. The aim is to demonstrate how the interplay in the construction and the application of the subgrade modulus affects parts of the foundation regarding bending moment. Three different methods of calculating subgrade modulus and two ways of application have been studied with purpose to illustrate how bending moment appear in the structure. Four sections have been selected to represent the structural behavior to analyze six model cases in the FEM-Design program. The result indicates the choosing of subgrade modulus affect maximum value of bending moment although the appearance of the momentum curve are not affected. Results also show that zones of tensile stress occur at the top of the foundation as an effect of integration effects of the whole structure.

When building a house or similar the stress on the ground increases and deformations can arise. The deformations create a foundation that the building is not constructed for and damages on the building arise. The increased stress on the ground can be derived back to the building, but it is possible that the increased stress may well derive from different sources such as other buildings or trees.         The building is an older property, built in the late 19th century alternatively early 20th century, and is today used for rental housing and has suffered severe damages due to subsidence. The goal of the thesis is to find possible causes for these subsidences.   The thesis was executed as a combination between literature- and casestudie.   After careful studies it has been found that a probable cause for these subsidences is trees. Through field- and lab studies it has been found that the trees has effected the ground through there accumulation of water. This has caused the soil to dry up and subsidence’s has probably arisen through the decrease in pore pressure due to the disappearing of water. This, however, needs to be proven by further studies of pore pressures in the area.

Numerical analyses are presented in this thesis to address potential stability problems that may occur during gradual raisings and under seismic loading conditions of Aitik tailings dam in northern Sweden. The dam is mainly raised using upstream construction method. It is planned to raise the dam gradually in several stages. Two dam parts were studied. The first dam part is a straight dam portion, and the second dam part is a corner. The main concerns associated with future raisings of the straight dam part were: (i) the stability of the dam could be affected by an increase in excess pore pressures during sequential raisings, (ii) how to gradually strengthen the dam by using rockfill berms as supports in such a way that required slope stability can be achieved with a minimum volume of rockfill berms, and (iii) if the dam is subjected to seismic loading, whether or not an increase in excess pore pressures could lead to extensive liquefaction which may cause a failure. The problems related to the dam corner were that tension zones and/or low compression zones could develop because of the horizontal pressure of the stored tailings on the inside of the curvature of the dam corner.Numerical analyses were conducted on both the dam parts using finite element method. Two dimensional (2D) plane strain finite element model was utilized to analyse the straight dam. The dam corner was analysed with both the three dimensional (3D) finite element model, and the 2D axisymmetric finite element model. Coupled deformation and consolidation analyses, and slope stability analyses were performed on both the dam parts to simulate gradual raisings, and to compute safety factors. In addition to this, dynamic analyses were carried out on the straight dam part to evaluate the potential for liquefaction, and seismic stability of the dam. The seismic behaviour of the dam was analysed for two cases: (i) a normal case (earthquake of 3.6 Swedish local magnitude), and (ii) an extreme case (earthquake of 5.8 moment magnitude).The results of the straight dam part, with only previously existing rockfill berms, indicate that stability of the dam was reduced due to an increase in excess pore pressures during raisings. Rockfill berms were utilized as supports to raise the dam with enough safety. An optimization technique was utilized to minimize the volume of rockfill berms. This technique could result in significant saving of cost of rockfill berms.The results of the dam corner show that tension zones and/or low compression zones were located on the surface of the dam corner, mainly above the phreatic level. It is interpreted that there is no risk of internal erosion through the embankments because no seepage path occurs above the phreatic level, and a filter zone exists along the slope of the dam. It is suggested to gradually strengthen the dam corner with rockfill berms. The results of the 2D axisymmetric analyses of the dam corner were in a fairly good agreement with those of the 3D analyses. This implies that the 2D axisymmetric analyses are valid for this dam corner. This is an important finding as 2D axisymmetric analyses require much less computational time compared to 3D analyses.The results of the dynamic analyses performed on the straight dam (including additional rockfill berms) suggest that, for the extreme case, liquefaction could occur in a limited zone that is located below the surface near the embankments. For both the normal and the extreme case, (i) seismically induced displacements seem to be tolerable, and (ii) the post seismic stability of the dam is considered to be sufficient.The findings of this study have been practically applied to the Aitik tailings dam. In general, the modelling procedure and the optimization technique to minimize volume of rockfill berms, presented in this study, could be applied to other tailings dams. / Godkänd; 2013; 20130513 (muhauc); Tillkännagivande disputation 2013-05-20 Nedanstående person kommer att disputera för avläggande av teknologie doktorsexamen. Namn: Muhammad Auchar Zardari Ämne: Geoteknik/Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering Avhandling: Numerical Analyses of Stability of a Gradually Raised Tailings Dam Opponent: Professor Daichao Sheng, School of Engineering, The University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia Ordförande: Professor Sven Knutsson, Institutionen för samhällsbyggnad och naturresurser, Luleå tekniska universitet Tid: Torsdag den 13 juni 2013, kl 10.00 Plats: F1031, Luleå tekniska universitet

Ur ett byggtekniskt perspektiv kan en sänkning i grundvattenytan i en sluten akvifer i ett område med lerjordar ge sättningar som kan skada byggkonstruktioner. Kopplingen mellan hydrogeologi och geoteknik är tydlig men oftast görs grova uppskattningar av konsekvenserna av en grundvattensänkning. Detta beror på att sättning vanligen beräknas i enskilda punkter där data finns att tillgå vilket endast ger resultat för sättningsberäkningar i dessa punkter. Ytor emellan punkterna utelämnas ofta. Dessutom är det inte vanligt att grundvattensänkningen beräknas med etablerade mjukvaruverktyg som Modflow för att få en mer detaljerad bild av avsänkningen och påverkansområdet.Denna studie kopplar samman en numerisk grundvattenmodell simulerad med Modflow samt en jordmodell, framtagen och interpolerad med kriging, med sättningsberäkningar. Detta resulterar i en integrerad modell som har till syfte att generera översiktskartor med predikterad sättning som resultat av grundvattensänkningar i utvalt område. Den integrerade modellen och sättningsberäkningarna är programmerade till denna studie med beräkningsverktyget Octave. Den integrerade sättningsmodellen testas på en fallstudie med verkliga geotekniska och hydrogeologiska data från ett område i Mälardalen. I fallstudien har ett hypotetiskt fall av grundvattensänkning simulerats. Grundläggande hydrogeologisk teori för slutna akviferer används för att bedöma vilka laster och ökad effektiv spänning grundvatten-sänkningar ger upphov till i jorden för fallstudien.Resultaten, i form av meter sättning, från den integrerade sättningsmodellen har verifierats mot beräkningar i programvaran Geosuite Settlement som är ett erkänt verktyg för sättningsberäkningar. Det visar sig att den integrerade sättningsmodellen beräknar sättningar med stor noggrannhet. Resultatet från grundvattenmodellen jämförs med en kriginginterpolerad grundvattenyta baserad på mätningar i grund-vattenrör i området. Grundvattenmodellen har i sin tur jordmodellen integrerad samt en vattenbalans som båda är baserade på verkliga data.Resultaten från fallstudien visar att oväntat stora sättningar kan förekomma i områden som ligger relativt långt ifrån källan för grundvattenavsänkningen. Detta motiverar användandet av en sådan metod för att bedöma risken för sättning.Till fallstudien har tre olika jordmodeller använts både i simulering av grundvattenströmning och simulering med den integrerade sättningsmodellen. De tre jordmodellerna skiljer sig åt så till vida att de har olika mängd data som kriginginterpolationen grundar sig på, det innebär också olika datatäthet i jordmodellerna. Detta har till syfte att undersöka hur sättningsbilden påverkas av datatätheten i jordmodellen och även hur grundvattenmodellen respektive sättningsmodellen påverkas. Resultaten i respektive modell påverkas inte mer än försumbart av datatätheten i jordmodellen visar fallstudien. / From a construction engineering point of view groundwater drawdown in a confined aquifer can result in ground subsidence that can damage buildings and constructions. The connection between hydrogeology and soil mechanics is clear, however when estimating ground settlement as a result of groundwater drawdown the estimations are often rough. This is due to that settlement is traditionally calculated with methods that only allow calculations in single points where geotechnical data is estimated. Areas between these points are often left out of the calculations. Groundwater drawdown is seldom simulated with acknowledged software programs like Modflow when estimating groundwater lowering and the affected area.This study combines a groundwater model simulated in Modflow and a soil strata model, interpolated with Kriging, with settlement calculations. This ends up as a an integrated soil settlement model which has the purpose to generate overview maps over areas that are sensitive to settlement as a result of ground water lowering. The integrated model is programmed in Octave for this study. The model is then tested with a case study that uses data from a real construction project in the area of Mälardalen. A hypothetical case of ground water lowering is simulated for the case study. Fundamental hydro-geological theory is used to estimate loads and effective stresses from the lowering of the water table.The result from the integrated model has been validated against calculations of settlement in the software Geosuite Settlement which is an acknowledged method for settlement calculations. This shows that the integrated model calculates settlement with great precision. The modeled initial ground water table is compared with a kriginginterpolated groundwater table which is based on data from ground water pipes in the area. Based on the comparison the initial ground water conditions simulated in Modflow are accepted. This simulated ground water model has the soil model and also a water balance integrated.The results from the case study show that unexpectedly large ground settlements can occur even far from the source of the ground water lowering.For the case study three different soil models are used, both in the ground water model and in the integrated model. The soil models differ in a way that they are based on different amounts of data from which the kriging interpolation is done. The purpose for this is to investigate what effects this might have on the ground water model and the integrated model respectively. The results from these different simulations show insignificantly small differences.

<p>Today’s climate changes will probably give rise to precipitation in Sweden, which will cause more floods in Swedish rivers. Many of the Swedish rivers are regulated and have lots of hydro-electro power plants. Higher floods in the rivers will give greater water loads on the dams, which mean that a higher discharge through the sluice gates and in the spillway channels is needed. High discharge of water in a spillway channel can create scour of the material in the channel. Usually, for spillways in Swedish hydropower plants, this material is rock and the scour is in form of rock blocks. Scour downstream of dams can in the worst case endanger the dam construction.</p><p>The purpose of this study was to identify the extent and the type of rock scour that may appear in spillway channels of Swedish hydro power plants. The scour in rock material in a spillway channel is usually caused by pressure fluctuations in the water, which can cause large differences in pressure on the top and bottom surfaces of blocks. This pressure difference can be high enough to lift whole blocks. The main factors that affect this kind of scour are the crack pattern of the rock mass, the geometry of the spillway, the discharge of water and the surface fluctuation in the water. In this study a numeric model analyse, a field study and a literature study has been made in order to examine the influence on scour of the orientation of cracks in a rock mass. A rock mass containing a group of cracks with small or no dip is more likely to scour when it is exposed to discharging water. The orientation of the cracks in a rock mass relative to the direction of the water flow has also an impact on the capacity of the rock mass to resist scour.</p><p>In the field study the scour pattern in the spillway channels of the hydro power plants in Ligga, Harsprånget, Porjus, Satisjaure and Seitevare was examined. The scour of rock mass in the spillway channels in Ligga, Harsprånget and Porjus has been extensive. The rock mass in these channels has bedding cracks of small distances. This is probably the reason why these rock masses are sensitive for loads from discharging water. The rock mass in the spillway channel in Satisjaure has lots of cracks and is also very sensitive for loads from discharging water. This channel has been rebuilt during 2004.</p><p>There are different methods to predict the ability of a rock mass to resist scour. The Erodibility Index Method is a semi-empirical method that is verified by field observations in the USA. In this work the ability to apply this method on Swedish channels has been examined with field observations from Porjus, Harsprånget and Seitevare. As the Erodibility Index Method seemed to work in the case of these three spillways, it was also applied on the spillways in Satisjaure and Ligga.</p><p>Measures to reduce the energy in the discharging water in the spillways are very effective to reduce the risk of scouring in the rock mass. Blasted stairs in the rock mass in a channel or a stilling basin downstream the sluice gate is something that can reduce the energy in discharging water. Further documentary of spillway channels, like mapping and laser scanning, would contribute to a further verification of the Erodibility Index Method and to get a general survey of the risk of scour in Swedish spillways.</p> / <p>Dagens klimatsituation ser ut att ge ökad mängd nederbörd i Sverige, vilket innebär att de svenska älvarna kommer att utsättas för allt högre vattenflöden. De flesta av Sveriges älvar är reglerade, d v s längs älvarna finns en mängd större och mindre dammar. Ett högre flöde i älvarna innebär även rikligare tillrinning till dammarna vilket medför att avbördningen från dem måste bli större. Avbördningen från dammarna sker genom utskov och höga vattenflöden i utskovskanalerna kan orsaka erosion på det berg som kanalen vanligen består av. Erosionen är av typen ”blockerosion” där hela bergblock av större eller mindre storlek lösgörs från bergmassan. I värsta fall kan blockerosionen krypa uppströms och erodera dammkroppen bakifrån, vilket skulle kunna innebära att dammen brister.</p><p>Syftet med detta arbete var att identifiera omfattning och typ av bergerosionsproblem som uppkommer i utskovskanaler. Blockerosion uppkommer i regel då forsande vatten skapar tryckskillnader mellan övre och undre ytan på block. Tryckskillnaden kan då skapa tillräckliga lyftkrafter för att block ska lossna. De huvudsakliga faktorerna som styr blockerosionen är bergmassans sprickighet och material, utskovskanalens geometri och vattnets flöde och ytfluktuation. Genom litteraturstudie, numerisk modellanalys samt fältstudie har inverkan på blockerosionen av sprickriktningar utretts. En bergmassa som innehåller sprickgrupper som har liten, nära horisontell, stupning är känslig för vattenbelastning. Stupningsriktningen i förhållande till flödesriktningen har också betydelse för blockerosionen. Stupningsriktning i flödesriktningen gör bergmassan mer känslig för belastning av forsande vatten och gynnar därmed erosionen.</p><p>Utskovskanalerna i Ligga, Harsprånget, Porjus, Satisjaure samt Seitevare har undersökts med avseende på erosionsrisk. Erosionen i Ligga, Harsprånget och Porjus har varit omfattande och detta beror troligtvis på att dessa kanaler har subhorisontella bankningssprickor med litet sprickavstånd. I Satisjaure är bergmassan mycket sprickig, varför denna kanal är mycket känslig för vattnets belastning. Där har dock åtgärder vidtagits så att kanalen ska tåla sitt dimensionerande flöde. I Seitevare är erosionsrisken i kanalens övre del liten.</p><p>Det finns olika metoder för att bedöma erosionsrisken i en bergmassa. Erosionsindexmetoden är en semiempirisk metod som är verifierad med platsobservationer i USA. Med hjälp av observationer från Porjus, Harsprånget och Seitevare har erosionsindexmetodens tillämplighet på svenska kanaler undersökts. För dessa tre observationer verkar metoden fungera bra och har därför även använts i kanalerna i Satisjaure och Ligga.</p><p>Energidämpande åtgärder i kanalerna, såsom energiomvandlargropar och utsprängda trappor i kanalerna, har visats sig vara mycket effektivt för att minska erosionsrisken. En noga dokumentering av utskovskanaler, som t ex kartering och inmätningar, skulle bidra till att erosionsindexmetoden kunde verifieras ytterligare och att en översiktlig bedömning av erosionsrisken i utskovskanaler enkelt kan erhållas.</p>

Due to the findings of extensive damage on geogrids used in a road embankment in northern Sweden, the Swedish Transport Administration (TRV) started to investigate the reason of these damages. Since the geogrids were installed at low temperature, below 0°C, it was suspected that the damages were connected the low temperature. To analyse whether low temperatures have an influence on the extent of installation damages, both a half-scale setup and temperature controlled tensile tests have been carried out on geogrids. In total five different types of geogrids have been tested; 3 extruded polypropylene geogrids, 1 woven PET geogrid, and 1 welded PET geogrid. All geogrids had an aperture size of approximately 35 mm and specified tensile strength of approximately 40 kN/m. The Half-scale tests was conducted by building a small road embankment inside a freeze container, at the Luleå University of Technology (LTU). The embankment contained crushed aggregate, type 0-70 mm, and geogrids. The purpose of the half-scale test was to simulate installation of geogrids at different temperatures and thereby investigate whether low temperatures have an influence on the rate of installation damages. The half-scale test was done for each type of geogrid at the temperatures: +20°C, -20°C and -30°C. First, the geogrid was covered by 150 mm of crushed aggregate. Then a vibratory plate (160 kg) was used to compact the crushed aggregate. After each installation, the crushed aggregate was removed carefully by vacuum suction. The geogrid was removed and then analysed by visual control and tensile tests conducted according to ISO 10319:2008 (wide width tensile test). Results from the half-scale tests indicate that 2 out of 5 of the tested geogrids were affected by the testing procedure. The results indicate that: -        one of the geogrids of polyprophylene (here referred to as G2) was more damaged at lower temperatures compared to installation at +20° C. -        the geogrid of woven PET (here referred to as G5) was less damaged at lower temperatures compared to installation at +20° C. Results for the other geogrids are either inconsistent or shows no significant variation of the measured parameters as function of temperature. Hence, these results cannot be interpreted as damage during installation. Temperature controlled tensile tests were done by tensile testing single strands from the geogrids to failure, inside a temperature controlled chamber. The purpose of these tests was to investigate how the strength properties of the geogrids are affected by low temperature. The test was repeated 5 times for each geogrid and temperature (+20°C, 0°C, -10°C and -20°C). Force and strain was measured during the tests. The results from the temperature controlled tensile tests show that the maximum strain decreases with lower temperature for all tested geogrids. The maximum strain decreased by 16% - 49% when the temperature dropped from +20°C to -20°C. The results show that the tensile strength increases with lower temperature for all tested geogrids except for the welded PET geogrid (here referred to as G1). For G1 the tensile strength decreased by approximately 7% at a temperature drop from +20°C to -20°C. For the woven PET geogrid (G5) and the polypropylene geogrids (G2-G3) the tensile strength increased between 13%-45% at a temperature drop from +20°C to -20°C. The E-modulus increased at lower temperature for all tested geogrids. The secant E-modulus at 2% strain increased by 13%-71% at a temperature drop from +20°C to -20°C. Summarized conclusions from the tests: Strength properties changed for all tested geogrids as the temperature decreased. All tested geogrids got stiffer at lower temperatures. The magnitude of the effects is different for different geogrids. The tensile strength increased with lower temperature for all tested geogrids except for the welded PET geogrid, which got lower tensile strength at lower temperature. The half-scale test indicates that the amount of installation damages at geogrids can be dependent of the temperature at installation. However, these indications can only be seen at two out of five tested geogrids. The effect cannot be connected to a specific step in the installation procedure and cannot be explained by the results from the temperature controlled tensile tests. The results from the half-scale test have a statistically low reliability since only one installation for each temperature and geogrid type was done. The compaction equipment used during the test was small, and had low compaction energy compared to a vibratory roller compactor commonly used in construction work. With respect to the discussion above, further studies should be focusing on developing the half-scale test. It is suggested that the test is scaled up to a full-scale test in order to simulate a real installation as close as possible. The test should also be conducted several times for each geogrid at each temperature in order to enable statistical analyses.