Assessment of an empirical equation to predict long-term pore-water pressures in the clay shale at Gardiner Dam

September 26, 2024

Numerous curve-fitting methods have been developed for the prediction of the long-term settlement of foundations. An advantage of these empirical approaches is that they provide the ability to predict the long-term settlement without the requirement of obtaining parameters associated with more theoretical methods. The measured dissipation of construction induced excess pore-water pressures in clays often follows a similar (but mirrored) trend compared to the accumulation of settlement. As such, in this study, a hyperbolic curve-fitting method originally developed to predict settlements was applied to predict the long-term pore-water pressure dissipation in the clay shale foundation of the Gardiner Dam where pore-water pressures have been measured continuously for over sixty-years. The results show that the method of hyperbolic curvefitting also works well for the estimation of pore-water pressure dissipation. A modification to the method is introduced for predicting pore-water pressures which are also impacted by fluctuating reservoirs.

Gelleta, K., V. Nguyen, J. Quinn, D.G. Bertrand, K. Mathison and K. Henry. 2024. “Assessment of an Empirical Equation to Predict Long-Term Pore-Water Pressures in the Clay Shale at Gardiner Dam,” in Proceedings of GeoMontreal 2024. Resilient Geosciences for Future Generations, 15-18 September 2024, Montreal, QC.