Output details
15 - General Engineering
University of Southampton
Factors controlling the seasonal variation in soil water content and pore water pressures within a lightly vegetated clay slope
Significance of output:
Earthworks make up £20B of the estimated £60B asset value of Britain’s major highway infrastructure, and slope failures across road and rail networks cost at least £50M per annum to repair (CIRIA report C591). Seasonal variations in soil water content caused by climate and vegetation exacerbate a number of complex modes of failure in these assets. The data set has been used by the group at Southampton and other researchers to calibrate advanced numerical models that are being used to understand development of strain and ultimate failure (e.g. Rouainia et al, 2009: Proceedings ICE: Engineering Sustainability, 162: ES2, 81-89).