A project report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering, University of the
Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of Master of Science in Engineering. / The project report deals with the relationship between the undrained shear
strength and the moisture content of Red Berea sand tailings. The tailings were
obtained from the Red Berea sand dunes near Richards Bay, Kwa-Zulu Natal,
South Africa. The geology of the area consists of Miocene deposits of red
clayey sand, classified as Berea Formation.
A method for determining stability of a tailings dam for Red Berea sand
tailings, was investigated. The general method of using the degree of saturation
of the tailings to specify the rate of rise, is not applicable to this type of tailings.
It was found that a relationship exists between the undrained shear strength of
the tailings, and the moisture content. The moisture content can easily be
measured and the undrained shear strength can then be calculated. The
calculated undrained shear strength can be used in a total stress analysis to
determine a factor of safety against failure.
This project report consists of a discussion of the literature, which was used as
the basis for the assumptions made, as well as a description of the tests
performed to prove the above-mentioned relationship. Test results are given,
interpreted and used in an illustrative example of a stability analysis. / Andrew Chakane 2020
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/28749 |
| Date | January 2001 |
| Creators | Du Plessis, Albertus |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | Online resource (xii, 87 leaves), application/pdf |
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