Foundations for Housing on Reclaimed Mined Lands
Ground conditions in coal-mining regions require special attention when residential development is considered. Today, surface-mining operations can alter landforms through mining and reclamation, thus increasing land suitability for housing and related development. Such “made land,” however, is typically composed of deep soil and rock fills. Such fills undergo long-term settlement under their own heavy weight. Subsurface-mining operations can also affect surface structures by causing land subsidence.
Appalachia's Coal-Mined Landscapes: Resources and Communities in a New Energy Era
The Appalachian coalfield occurs within the eastern United States (US). This mountainous landscape is formed from natural dissection of sedimentary geologic strata with interbedded seams of coal and serves as headwaters for multiple rivers. The region’s natural ecosystems, with a primary vegetation of mostly deciduous forest, are among the non-tropical world’s most biodiverse. After first humans arrived more than 10,000 years ago, the first Europeans came to Appalachia as fur trappers and traders; agriculturalists and merchants came soon after. The region’s diverse forests and richmineral resources supported economic development as settlements expanded and populations grew. Coalmining began in themid-1700s to supply commercial and residential users. Large-scale timber harvesting and coal mining stimulated railroad expansion in the mid-1800s, which improved transportation linkages to more populated areas and further increased coal demand. The American nation’s industrial development increased usage of iron and steel, further expanding coal demands. Coal was essential to American electrification during the twentieth century. With numerous and thick coal seams accessible by both surface and underground mines, Appalachia was the US’s primary coal-producing region from the 1800s through the 1970s. Appalachian coal mining has influenced the region’s landscapes, forests, water, and people over more than two centuries.
On the use of the Hardening Soil Small Strain model in geotechnical practice
This article highlights the importance of using advanced constitutive soil models in numerical modelling as daily geotechnical practice. In this context, the Hardening Soil (HS) model is presented as the most advanced soil model implemented in the ZSoil finite element code. The article recalls the basic features of the HS model and it explains their role in numerical simulations. The role of pre-failure non-linear behaviour of soils is also discussed. An application of the HS model is illustrated on typical geotechnical problems such as retaining wall excavation, tunnel excavation and undrained loading followed by consolidation.