Soil Profiling of Pleistocene Deposits in the Athabasca Oil Sands using SCPTu

Mahmoud Elbanna, Margot Lederman, Joseph Quinn, Scott Martens, Christopher Klassen, Paul Cavanagh, Jason Polak

In the proceedings of: GeoSt. John's 2019: 72nd Canadian Geotechnical Conference

Session: Dams and Embankments

ABSTRACT: Pleistocene deposits including glaciofluvial sand, glaciolacustrine clay, and glacial till are commonly encountered within tailings dam foundations in the Athabasca oilsands region north of Fort McMurray, Alberta. These deposits, where present, may control the stability of tailings dams. Over the years, site investigation programs have been carried out in the region to characterize the Pleistocene deposits using in-situ and laboratory testing. The Seismic Cone Penetration Test (SCPTu) is a reliable and a cost-effective tool for profiling soil deposits based on soil behaviour characteristics. Initial screening with SCPTu profiling in combination with understanding the deposition history and loading conditions enables engineers to determine an appropriate combination of in-situ and laboratory testing to obtain design parameters for geotechnical analysis. This paper provides a high-level description of the geologic deposition history for the Pleistocene deposits in the Athabasca Oil Sands region and presents SCPTu profiling for three major Oil Sands sites.

RÉSUMÉ: La stabilité des digues à stériles de la région , au nord de Fort McMurray, Alberta, est parfois gérée par la présence de sables fluvioglaciaires, argiles glaciolacustres, et de tills glaciaires du Pléistocène à leur base. Plusieurs essais en-place et de laboratoire ont été menées p de pénétration au cône sismique (SCPTu) est une méthode économique et fiable pour établir un profil de sol selon ses caractéristiques de comportement. Le dépistage initial des profils des dépôts et des conditions de chargement permet aux ingénieurs de déterminer une sélection laboratoire ion de haut niveau de la déposition géologique des dépôts du Pléistocène et présente les profils SCPTu obtenues pour trois des thabasca.

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Cite this article:
Mahmoud Elbanna; Margot Lederman; Joseph Quinn; Scott Martens; Christopher Klassen; Paul Cavanagh; Jason Polak (2019) Soil Profiling of Pleistocene Deposits in the Athabasca Oil Sands using SCPTu in GEO2019. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Geotechnical Society.

@article{Geo2019Paper502,author = Mahmoud Elbanna; Margot Lederman; Joseph Quinn; Scott Martens; Christopher Klassen; Paul Cavanagh; Jason Polak,title = Soil Profiling of Pleistocene Deposits in the Athabasca Oil Sands using SCPTu,year = 2019}