Articles

Technical Sessions - November 2015

MORNING SESSION - Hosted by Geotechnical Institute @ 11:15 AM 

Topic: Field Stabilization Methods to Prevent Surficial Slope Failures

Speaker: Dr. Aravind Pedarla, Faculty Research Associate, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Texas at Arlington

High plasticity clay soils are prevalent in the North Central Texas area, a result of weathering products of limestone material and alluvial deposits. Surficial failures are occurring frequently on the slopes of earthfill dams which are predominantly rainfall induced. Desiccation cracks form on the slope surface during dry environment which accelerates infiltration during rainfall. Infiltration causes increase of pore water pressures and saturation of soil mass in top layer resulting in surficial failures. Numerous surficial failures occurred on the slope of earthfill dams maintained by The United States Army Corps. of Engineers. The current research is undertaken at the University of Texas at Arlington with an objective of exploring the best field stabilization method to mitigate these surficial failures. Two sites, Joe Pool Dam and Grapevine Dam located in Fort Worth district were selected for the research. The admixtures used to treat the embankment soil were 20% compost, 4% lime with 0.30% polypropylene fibers, 8% lime with 0.15% polypropylene fibers, and 8% lime. These stabilizers were proven to be promising from a  laboratory study in mitigating desiccation cracking.

Dr. Aravind Pedarla currently serves as a Faculty Research Associate at the Civil Engineering department at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). Dr. Pedarla received his Masters and PhD from UT Arlington in 2009 and 2013. He has been conducting research on expansive soil behavior, chemical stabilization of expansive soils, unsaturated soil behavior and shallow slope stability. Dr. Pedarla’s research is well received by the professional community, as evidenced by his scholarly record of 2 Book Chapters, 8 Journals and 10 Refereed Conference Papers. He is an associate member of American Society of Civil Engineers and a young member of Transportation Research Board - AFP 60 Behavior of Unsaturated Geomaterials committee.  Dr. Pedarla is currently a peer reviewer for American Society of Civil Engineers - Journals of Materials and AFP 60 Behavior of Unsaturated Geomaterials - Transportation Research Board. 

AFTERNOON TECHNICAL SESSION - Hosted by SEI @ 1:15 PM

Topic: Margaret McDermott Bridge

Speaker: Charles E. Quade, P.E.

Charles E. Quade, P.E., has more than 30 years of experience as a structural engineer and project manager. Charlie specializes in bridge and transportation projects that include highway, railroad, light rail, and airport taxiway elements. Locally, Charlie has served TxDOT, NTTA, DART, the “T”, D/FW airport, and a host of Texas cities and counties. Recently, Charlie served as Structural Engineer-of-Record for the Dallas Margaret Hunt Hill and Margaret McDermott bridges. Both bridges span the Trinity River and are significant contributions to the Dallas skyline. Charlie is a Huitt-Zollars Vice President and is based out of their downtown Dallas office.