GEOTECHNICS IN CHANGING CLIMATE

[tvika]

Dear Readers,

Climate change is one the burning issues in this centrury.
How shall be think about adoption of the chaning climate in geotechnical practice? Why geohazards have increased due to changing climate? or is it simply a fuss for us?

May be we should have this issue on table )

 

[concretemasonry]

What is the life of the structure?

The concept of "global warming" or climate change is really a very long term subject - thousands of years. The weather variations (wind, temperature, rain, snow, etc.) are limited to the history of past records and most construction is based on the tradition and performance under the recorded conditions. Granted, the short term history has degraded some weather effects from 100 year storms to 50 year storms, but this can be handled easily with professional judgement.

There have been some dramatic (but really minor) occurances in the past 5000 years. - The mini ice age in the Middle ages, etc.

I would be more concerned with the geological(stability, seismic, etc.) factors for most structures since the climatic variation are less important and do not an major effect on a structure.

 

[msucog]

here's one for you...what about dropping ground water levels? (see another thread of mine

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=209239&page=1

). i've got some additional info i'll post on that thread. due to the drought, it's apparent that the ground water is dropping significantly (5'-15') on a few of my projects in a very short period of time which in turn causes additional loading that may result in additional settlement. how do you defend such issues if it were ever to go to litigation other than language in the report that we don't know where future groundwater levels will be?

 

[tvika]

Good point msucog,

We have a few evidence that certain part of the area is experiencing highest water level ever measured and and some other palces where the ground water layer is rapidly decreasing with more than 15 cm each year! With respect to climate change I am more worried about the frequency of natural disasters which has increased ten fold in past few years.

 

[CarlB]

Some claimed examples of geohazards in the northern arctic:

-loss of foundation support due to thawing permafrost
(that connection may be impossible to prove, but there some designs were modified due to concerns the permafrost may be warming)

-increased coastal erosion due to less sea ice. Supposedly wave action has been more severe than in the past without the sea ice to mitigate the storm's effect.

 

[BigH]

The one geohazard that most definitely needs to be addressed if, in fact, there really is a global warming (I note that there is a recent conference being held to debate this) - is the potential for floods of the coastal areas - the need for more levees and shore protection - most especially in a country like Bangladesh. Is the huge dump of snow in the midwest on Saturday/Sunday part of global warming? . . . . - in March . . .