The May 25th 2011 railroad embankment failure in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as a means for teaching geotechnical engineering

A 30-m long railroad embankment failure that occurred on May 25 2011 in the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan, is presented. Emphasis is given on the field observations of the failure, the characterization of the site conditions and the seepage and slope stability analyses, all of which represent importan...

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Main Authors: Zekkos, Dimitrios, Athanasopoulos-Zekkos, Adda, Grizi, Athena, Greenwood, William
Format: Article
Published: International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50912/
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author Zekkos, Dimitrios
Athanasopoulos-Zekkos, Adda
Grizi, Athena
Greenwood, William
author_facet Zekkos, Dimitrios
Athanasopoulos-Zekkos, Adda
Grizi, Athena
Greenwood, William
author_sort Zekkos, Dimitrios
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description A 30-m long railroad embankment failure that occurred on May 25 2011 in the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan, is presented. Emphasis is given on the field observations of the failure, the characterization of the site conditions and the seepage and slope stability analyses, all of which represent important components of the training and practice of a geotechnical engineer. The failure occurred following a record wet season that resulted in ponding water against the embankment and high enough water pressures and exit gradients that resulted in instability of the railroad embankment. Detailed background material and the methodology for using the case history in geotechnical engineering education are presented.
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spelling nottingham-509122020-05-04T18:21:27Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50912/ The May 25th 2011 railroad embankment failure in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as a means for teaching geotechnical engineering Zekkos, Dimitrios Athanasopoulos-Zekkos, Adda Grizi, Athena Greenwood, William A 30-m long railroad embankment failure that occurred on May 25 2011 in the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan, is presented. Emphasis is given on the field observations of the failure, the characterization of the site conditions and the seepage and slope stability analyses, all of which represent important components of the training and practice of a geotechnical engineer. The failure occurred following a record wet season that resulted in ponding water against the embankment and high enough water pressures and exit gradients that resulted in instability of the railroad embankment. Detailed background material and the methodology for using the case history in geotechnical engineering education are presented. International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 2016-11-11 Article PeerReviewed Zekkos, Dimitrios, Athanasopoulos-Zekkos, Adda, Grizi, Athena and Greenwood, William (2016) The May 25th 2011 railroad embankment failure in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as a means for teaching geotechnical engineering. International Journal of Geoengineering Case Histories, 3 (4). pp. 234-245. ISSN 1790-2045 education; embankment; stability; seepage; railroad; site characterization http://geocasehistoriesjournal.org/pub/article/view/IJGCH_3_4_3 doi:10.4417/IJGCH-03-04-03 doi:10.4417/IJGCH-03-04-03
spellingShingle education; embankment; stability; seepage; railroad; site characterization
Zekkos, Dimitrios
Athanasopoulos-Zekkos, Adda
Grizi, Athena
Greenwood, William
The May 25th 2011 railroad embankment failure in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as a means for teaching geotechnical engineering
title The May 25th 2011 railroad embankment failure in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as a means for teaching geotechnical engineering
title_full The May 25th 2011 railroad embankment failure in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as a means for teaching geotechnical engineering
title_fullStr The May 25th 2011 railroad embankment failure in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as a means for teaching geotechnical engineering
title_full_unstemmed The May 25th 2011 railroad embankment failure in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as a means for teaching geotechnical engineering
title_short The May 25th 2011 railroad embankment failure in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as a means for teaching geotechnical engineering
title_sort may 25th 2011 railroad embankment failure in ann arbor, michigan, as a means for teaching geotechnical engineering
topic education; embankment; stability; seepage; railroad; site characterization
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50912/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50912/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50912/