Liquefaction susceptibility assessment of tailings for upstream dam raising

M. Etezad

In the proceedings of: GeoVancouver 2016: 69th Canadian Geotechnical Conference

Session: CASE HISTORIES - I Tailings Dam Site Characterization & Design

ABSTRACT: Upstream raised tailings dams have an inherent risk of failure due to the potential for static or seismic liquefaction of the foundation tailings. Consequently, a liquefaction susceptibility assessment is an important part of design for this type of tailings dam. Numerous empirical procedures have been developed to assess susceptibility to liquefaction based on the results of CPTu and SPT soundings. A geotechnical investigation program including CPTu and SPT work recently conducted to support upstream dam raise design for a TSF at a gold mine in North America provided an opportunity to analyze and compare some of the most widely used empirical methods of liquefaction susceptibility assessment. The methodologies outlined by Robertson and Wride (1998), Robertson (2009) and Boulanger and Idriss (2016) were applied to the CPTu data, while the SPT data were used in the Youd et al. (2001) procedure. The resulting estimates of liquefaction susceptibility derived from the various methodologies are discussed and compared in detail. The analyses were extended to investigate the effect of the fines content correction factor. Those results indicate that ignoring the fines content correction factor, as has been suggested by some researchers, has a significant effect on the estimated tailings liquefaction susceptibility. The effects of aging (cementation), location of the phreatic surface and overburden pressure are also discussed.

RÉSUMÉ: Les barrages de résidus rehaussés en amont ont un risque inhérent de défaillance dû au potentiel de liquéfaction statique un Robertson et Wride (1998), Robertson (2009) ainsi que Boulanger et Idriss (2016) ont été appliquées aux données CPTu, tandis que la procédure Youd et al. (2001) a été utilisée pour les données SPT. Les estimés de susceptibilité de liquéfaction obtenus, grâce aux diverses méthodologies énoncées, sont discutées et comparées en détail. Les analyses furent élargies facteur de correction de particules fines, e et la pression de surcharge sont également des sujets adressés.

Please include this code when submitting a data update: GEO2016_4191

Access this article:
Canadian Geotechnical Society members can access to this article, along with all other Canadian Geotechnical Conference proceedings, in the Member Area. Conference proceedings are also available in many libraries.

Cite this article: