In Situ Investigation of Liquefiable Gravels

Abstract

A series of dynamic in situ penetration tests was performed in deep alluvial gravel deposits at Seward, Alaska, that were shaken and apparently liquefied by the March 27, 1964, Alaska earthquake. Both a U.S. standard penetration test split spoon and a larger-diameter drive sampler were used, and dynamic cone penetrometers of two sizes were also driven into the gravels near the mouth of the Resurrection River that had exhibited settlement and lateral spreading as a result of earthquake shaking. Two safety hammers were used [nominally 623 N (140 lb) and 1334 N (300 lb)], and the energy delivered with various hammer and penetrometer combinations was measured throughout all tests. Limited measurements of hammer velocity were also made by a radar system developed for that purpose to allow for kinetic energy determination. Soils recovered in the split spoon samplers were sent to the U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station Soils Research Facility in Vicksburg, Mississippi, where they were evaluated for classification (gradation and index properties). The sampling and testing procedures used at the Seward site, as well as preliminary analysis of the various penetration test results, are summarized. Comparisons are made with penetration resistance measurements made by the Alaska Highway Department immediately after the 1964 earthquake. Results of this investigation will be adapted to guide future practice for in situ determination of liquefaction resistance in coarse alluvial soils.