Effect of Subsurface Soil Conditions on Floodwall Behavior

Abstract

Cantilever sheet piles or sheet piles with concrete cap above the ground surface I-walls are commonly used as floodwalls. The current design practice of cantilever sheet pile walls are based on horizontal force and moment equilibrium using active and passive earth pressures. Conventional methods used in the design of walls do not provide information on soil and wall deformations. Furthermore, the traditional design approach, only considers soils above the bottom of pile, i.e. the soils in direct contact with the wall, and does not take into account the effect of soils below the bottom of pile. However, due to a large area loading during a flooding event soils below the piles are also affected and go through deformations. The soil deformations occurring below the piles consequently affect the wall behavior and deformations. The effect of varying soil conditions below the bottom of piles on the behavior of cantilever walls during flooding were analyzed in this study. The finite element method was used to perform numerical analyses. This paper presents the results and findings of the parametric study performed. ABSTRACT: Cantilever sheet piles or sheet piles with concrete cap above the ground surface I-walls are commonly used as floodwalls. The current design practice of cantilever sheet pile walls are based on horizontal force and moment equilibrium using active and passive earth pressures. Conventional methods used in the design of walls do not provide information on soil and wall deformations. Furthermore, the traditional design approach, only considers soils above the bottom of pile, i.e. the soils in direct contact with the wall, and does not take into account the effect of soils below the bottom of pile. However, due to a large area loading during a flooding event soils below the piles are also affected and go through deformations. The soil deformations occurring below the piles consequently affect the wall behavior and deformations. The effect of varying soil conditions below the bottom of piles on the behavior of cantilever walls during flooding were analyzed in this study. The finite element method was used to perform numerical analyses. This paper presents the results and findings of the parametric study performed.