Introduction to Environmental Geotechnology

Hsai-Yang Fang, Ronald C. Chaney

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781439837306
• eBook ISBN: 9781439837313
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Environmental Science
• Index: Technology & Engineering

This new edition of a bestseller presents updated technology advances that have occurred since publication of the first edition. It increases the utility and scope of the content through numerous case studies and examples and an entirely new set of problems and solutions. The book also has an accompanying instructor's guide and presents rubrics by which instructors can increase student learning and evaluate student outcomes, chapter by chapter. The book focuses on the increasing importance of water resources and energy in the broader context of environmental sustainability. It's interdisciplinary coverage includes soil science, physical chemistry, mineralogy, geology, ground pollution, and more.

1

Introduction

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Environmental geotechnology can be defined as an interdisciplinary science that covers soil and rock and their interaction with various environmental cycles, including the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere as well as the geomicrobiosphere (Fang, 1986), which includes characteristics of tree and vegetation roots and bacterial activities in the ground soil and subsequent response to the engineering behavior of the soil–water system, as illustrated in Figure 1.1.

1.2 DEVELOPMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL GEOTECHNOLOGY

1.2.1 GENERAL DISCUSSION

There are two major reasons for the development of environmental geotechnology. First is population growth, and second is rising living standards. When population increases, more land is needed; many soil deposits previously claimed to be unfit for residential housing and other construction projects are now being used. In a progressive society, rising living standards indicate an increase in industrial growth. As a consequence, hazardous pollution of air, water, and land and urban refuse production become inevitable, thereby endangering the global environment. To cope with these problematic soil deposits and adverse environmental conditions, the present conventional construction technology has to take, by necessity, a new direction.

Problematic soil deposits on one hand and ground pollution problems on the other have challenged the current soil mechanics concepts and methods of analyzing soil behavior under varied environmental conditions. For this reason, the environmental aspects of geotechnology have been expanded, and their subsequent response to engineering behavior has paved the way for the emergence of environmental geotechnology. Further explanation of population growth and industrial progress is presented as follows.

1.2.2 POPULATION GROWTH AND RISING LIVING STANDARDS

At the present time (2016), the estimated worldwide population is in excess of 7.4 billion. According to the United Nations’ prediction, conservative estimates give a population of 11.1 billion by the year 2100. Approximately 80% of this growth will be in developing countries.

Depletion of productivity of agricultural land is directly related to population growth. Uncontrolled urban expansion, conversion of agricultural lands for other purposes, desertification, and loss of productivity all combine to reduce agricultural productivity. Consequently, more land is needed and many soil deposits previously claimed to be unfit for residential housing or other construction projects are now being used. Such areas include landfills, wetlands, collapsible soil regions, and mining subsidence areas. To overcome these natural or man-made problematic soil conditions, additional techniques are required to use conventional construction applications.

When society progresses, the living standard rises and, along with industrial progress, much of the air, water, and land become polluted. Open dumps and chemical and industrial wastes cause these problems as well as others listed in Table 1.1. The pressures of uncontrolled urbanization, industrial growth, and living standard have contributed to minimal environmental waste management practices, increasing the overall threat to a sustainable environmental resource base.

Environmental geotechnology has grown quickly since the first international symposium was organized in 1986 at Lehigh University. Subsequently, during this short interval of time, several international, national, and regional conferences and symposia on this and other related subjects have been promoted. Both theoretical and practical concepts have been developed. Recognizing the impact of this development, many universities took the lead and have instituted environmental geotechnology as a standard course within their curricular framework.

FIGURE 1.1 Environmental cycles and their interactions.

TABLE 1.1
Some Causes of Land and Groundwater Pollution in the U.S.

Industrial wastes

Hazardous chemical wastes

Nuclear wastes

Oil field brine

Acid mine drainage

Acid rain

Highway deicing salts

Saltwater intrusion

Abandoned oil wells

Agricultural wastes

Animal wastes

Irrigation return flow

Dry farming land

Disposal well

Evapotranspiration from vegetation

Urban solid wastes

Landfills

Septic tanks

Sewage treatment plant discharges

Waste lagoons

Surface impoundments

Others

Water from fault zones and volcanic origin

Radon gas (Rn-222)

Petroleum exploration and development

1.3 AIMS OF ENVIRONMENTAL GEOTECHNOLOGY

Environmental geotechnology is an emerging discipline that consists of a balance of the following subjects:

• Geotechnical engineering
• Environmental science and engineering
• Soil science (agriculture).

As shown in Figure 1.2, each of these currently established disciplines has had its beginnings from easily traceable roots in the 1950s, e.g., sanitary engineering, soil mechanics, and foundation engineering. As seen in Figure 1.2, a veritable revolution took place to forge these disciplines that came from a number of topics all solidly encamped in established areas. Indeed, the revolution from the 1930s to the 1950s was a tumultuous one. The reasons for the emergence of environmental geotechnology are very practical, logical, and noble:

FIGURE 1.2 Environmental geotechnology, an emerging science. (Based on Koerner, R. M. [1987], Proc. 1st Int. Symp. on Environmental Geotechnology, v. 2, pp. 1–3.)

• Better productivity
• Healthier economy
• Safe and secure environment.

They are, indeed, compatible goals and when properly approached via a unified discipline are mutually inclusive ones. Inputs into this new discipline and the reasons for its emergence have to do with natural resources such as ores, fuels, and water and man-made resources such as metals, synthetics, and polymers, how they are processed and transported, and finally how they and their associated wastes are treated, stored, and disposed. These latter aspects, of course, are at the heart of air–water–ground soil pollution and their interactions.

The state of the art of both educational and research programs in environmental geotechnology is given by Meegoda (1996). This program will train engineers to develop environmentally sound solutions to geotechnical problems and to solve environmental engineering problems unique to soil and subsurface conditions. The program is being developed by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology with a grant from the National Science Foundation.

1.4 ENVIRONMENTAL CYCLES AND THEIR INTERACTION WITH GEOTECHNOLOGY

1.4.1 GENERAL DISCUSSION

Natural and man-made environments include a large variety, as illustrated in Table 1.1. Their interactions relating to the geotechnical engineering problems are presented in Figure 1.3. In examining Figure 1.3, indications are that many environmental geotechnical problems require knowledge from other disciplines in order to understand soil response to environments for both short- and long-term performance. In order to link these unrelated groups into a related system, the concept of particle-energy-field theory is introduced in the text, as indicated in Figure 1.3. Details of the concept of the particle energy field will be discussed in Chapter 2.

1.4.2 THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

As indicated in Figures 1.1 and 1.3, the natural environment involving the thin envelope surrounding the planet includes atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. A brief description of each element is presented as follows.

1.4.2.1 The Atmosphere

The atmosphere (Greek: atmos = vapor) is the layer of air surrounding the earth. This layer of air also is divided into three sublayers as

1. Troposphere: the portion of the atmosphere extending out from ground surface to about 12 km
2. Stratosphere: the portion of the atmosphere extending out from 12 km to about 50 km
3. Ionosphere: the portion of the atmosphere above 50 km.

The atmosphere is most dense near the ground surface and decreases in density as it extends into space. This means the density of air in the troposphere is denser than that in the stratosphere, and the air density in the stratosphere is denser than that in the ionosphere. Air is a homogeneous mixtu...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface to Second Edition
• Chapter 1 Introduction
• Chapter 2 Particle-Energy-Field Theory and Its Applications
• Chapter 3 Nature of Soil and Environment
• Chapter 4 Soil Technology
• Chapter 5 Soil–Water–Air Interaction in the Environment
• Chapter 6 Shrinkage, Swelling, and Cracking Characteristics of Soil
• Chapter 7 Hydraulic Conductivity and Mass Transport Phenomena
• Chapter 8 Thermal Properties of Soils
• Chapter 9 Electrical Properties of Soils
• Chapter 10 Radiation Effects on Water, Soil, and Rock
• Chapter 11 Compressibility and Stress–Strain–Time Behavior of Soils
• Chapter 12 Environmental Geotechnical Engineering Applications
• Chapter 13 Problematic Soils and Rocks
• Chapter 14 Wetlands, Coastal Margins, and Soil Erosion Problems
• Chapter 15 Ground Surface Subsidences
• Chapter 16 Slope Stability of Earth Slopes and Landslides
• Chapter 17 Solid/Liquid Waste Control and Utilization of Wastes
• Chapter 18 Arid Lands, Desert, and Antidesertification Measures
• Comments and Conclusions
• Appendix 1
• Appendix 2
• References
• Index