The gel-push sampling technique was developed to try to provide an economic technique capable of obtaining high quality specimens of silty sands and sands. This paper describes two of the gel-push samplers which are now commercially available and describes their performance on recent projects carried out on…
This session report provides an overview of papers the presented at the conference that were related to liquefaction assessment. Aspects related to the current research and practice are also addressed by the reporters to provide an indication of the current state-of-the-art and of areas requiring further investigation….
The simplified liquefaction evaluation methods reasonably predicted the severity and extent of liquefaction in Christchurch during the 2010-2011 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence, however there are important cases where moderate-to-severe liquefaction was predicted yet no liquefaction manifestation was observed. These high levels of conservatism have been identified…
Pumiceous deposits exist in many areas of the North Island, and pose a particular challenge to engineering projects due to the difficulties associated with characterizing these materials. Key characteristics of pumice grains are their high crushability, their low density and the presence of voids, both…
Pumice materials, which are problematic from engineering viewpoint, are widely spread in many parts of North Island. Following the 2010-2011 Christchurch earthquakes, a clear understanding of their properties under earthquake loading is necessary. For example, the 1987 Edgecumbe Earthquake showed occurrences of localised liquefaction in…
We are delighted to present the ongoing research activities within QuakeCoRE, a recently inaugurated Centre of Research Excellence (http://www.quakecore.nz/). QuakeCoRE is a national network of leading New Zealand Earthquake Resilience Researchers. Clearly, geotechnical hazards play an important role in the earthquake resilience, and hence the…
Three different approaches for assessment of seismic performance of pile foundations (and soil-structure systems in general) are discussed in this paper. These approaches use different models, analysis procedures and are of vastly different complexity. All three methods are consistent with the performance-based design philosophy according…
