Consolidation and shear failure leading to subsidence and settlement. Final report
Subsidence and settlement are phenomena that are much more destructive than generally thought. In shallow land burials they may lead to cracking of the overburden and eventual exposure and escape of waste material. The primary causes are consolidation and cave-ins. Laboratory studies performed at Los Alamos permit us to predict settlement caused by consolidation or natural compaction of the crushed tuff overburden. We have also investigated the shear failure characteristics of crushed tuff that may lead to subsidence. Examples of expected settlement and subsidence are calculated based on the known geotechnical characteristics of crushed tuff. The same thing is done for bentonite/tuff mixes because some field experiments were performed using this additive (bentonite) to reduce the hydraulic conductivity of the crushed tuff. Remedial actions, i.e., means to limit the amount of settlement, are discussed. We finally discuss our field experiment, which studies the influence of subsidence on layered systems in general and on biobarriers in particular. The share of the produced cavities is compared with cavities produced by idealized voids in an idealized environment. Study of root penetration at subsidence sites gives us an indication of the remaining degree of integrity. 30 refs., 24 figs., 19 tabs.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 6082905
- Report Number(s):
- LA-10576-MS; ON: DE86008575
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Subsidence and settlement and their effect on shallow land burial
Consolidation and compaction as a means to prevent settlement of bentonite/sandy silt mixes for use in waste disposal sites. [Low permeability mixture for caps and lining of waste disposal sites]
Related Subjects
58 GEOSCIENCES
BENTONITE
COMPACTING
HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY
SWELLING
GROUND SUBSIDENCE
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
GROUND DISPOSAL
SOILS
TUFF
STRESSES
DENSITY
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
MOISTURE
PERMEABILITY
PORE PRESSURE
SHEAR PROPERTIES
VOIDS
CLAYS
DATA
INFORMATION
MANAGEMENT
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
NUMERICAL DATA
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
052002* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage
580300 - Mineralogy
Petrology
& Rock Mechanics- (-1989)