Date of Award

12-2003

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.S.

Degree Program

Engineering

Department

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Major Professor

McManis, Kenneth

Second Advisor

Grieshaber, John

Third Advisor

Nataraj, Mysore

Abstract

This thesis presents analyses of the results of a geotechnical instrumentation program performed by Eustis Engineering Company for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) during the construction of two covered canals in New Orleans, Louisiana. At each site, a cast-in-place concrete culvert was constructed within a sheeted and braced excavation. Information provided by Eustis Engineering Company to the USACE is presented describing the existing soil conditions, the construction schedule, the geotechnical testing apparatus and instrumentation, and the data produced from the geotechnical instrumentation program. In this thesis, several theoretical approaches available for estimating the strut loads in braced excavations were examined and used to predict the strut loads at the two construction sites. These theoretical approaches included Coulomb pressures diagrams, Terzaghi pressure diagrams, and soil-structure interaction. The results of the theoretical strut load prediction methods are presented and compared with the results of the geotechnical instrumentation program data.

Rights

The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.

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