Determination of engineering properties of soil on railway track routes (An example of Turkey between the cities of Sivas and Erzincan)

Abstract

Subsurface structure and engineering properties of the Sivas and Erzincan railway route were investigated by using velocities of seismic wave, electrical resistivity, standard penetration test (SPT) data and laboratory results, which were collected from survey sites referred to in this study. For this reason, 62 seismic refraction and vertical electrical resistivity (VES) measurements at 59 points were done along the survey route. Moreover, 11 mechanical boreholes with SPT were drilled. Laboratory tests were applied on soil samples taken from boreholes for geotechnical features. Longitudinal, shear wave velocities and elastic parameters were determined by seismic refraction method, and underground resistivity distribution was calculated by VES and geotechnical data and SPT results were evulated for the subsurface integrity. Engineering properties of a 6.8 km stretch of planned railway alignment in southeastern Sivas were calculated in this study. According to these results, unsuitable segments of the high-speed alignment which have low groundwater level and low bearing capasities which depend on dynamic properties were examined.