High pressure dilatometer testing in Dublin Boulder Clay
High pressure dilatometer testing in Dublin Boulder Clay
Geotechnical engineering in Dublin is dominated by work in the Dublin Boulder Clay (DBC) which is a lodgement till formed beneath the ice sheet that covered much of Ireland during the last glaciation. The material is very competent from an engineering viewpoint being strong and stiff with low permeability. However the material is not easy to investigate due to the high content of coarse particles. Cone penetration testing (CPT) is not possible except to very shallow depths and standard penetration tests (SPT) often refuse in the dense material or on the coarse particles. In an attempt to provide detailed design parameters for the Dublin MetroLink project some high pressure dilatometer (HPD) tests were performed in the material. The methods used and problems encountered are described. The angle of shearing resistance (f') and the shear stiffness values derived are relatively consistent with those obtained from other methods. The values of the coefficient of horizonal effective stress (K0) are somewhat greater than those conventionally used in design.
Rob Cooke; Ciaran Deighan; Miles Friedman; Mike Long
8th International Symposium on Pressuremeters (ISP2025)
Site Characterization and parameter determination
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