Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering Aspects of the Design of Foundations of the Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion Project

Abstract eng:
Key geotechnical earthquake engineering aspects of a displacement-based design that was adopted for a waterfront Convention Center in Vancouver, Canada are presented. The site selected for the facility was underlain by potentially liquefiable heterogeneous fills and marine sediments overlying glaciomarine soils and bedrock. Sequential triggering of liquefaction of soils, the resulting lateral displacements and their complex interaction response with foundations were found to be important in the overall seismic assessment. Modeling soil behaviour both before and after onset of liquefaction was important in assessing lateral spreading-induced drag loads on, and displacements of, the deep foundations penetrating the liquefiable soils into bedrock at depth. Two different foundation schemes comprising drilled shafts and driven piles were analyzed and a piled foundation scheme was selected for final design. The results of a number of numerical simulations were used to arrive at an optimum ground densification scheme for the site and to quantify the anticipated range of seismic lateral movements. The paper presents some of the challenges faced by the designers and the results of detailed coupled soil-foundation-structure analyses undertaken to arrive at a design that was acceptable from structural design considerations.

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