Porewater Pressures Due to Overburden Removal

Abstract

A mathematical model describing the behavior of a fully saturated sediment subjected to a uniformly eroding load is developed on the basis of Terzaghi's classical consolidation theory. The model is used to analyze simultaneous generation and dissipation of deficient pore water pressures. A moving boundary erosion/swelling problem results from this formulation. Analytical solutions are obtained for several cases of practical interest. The computed results are presented in dimensionless quantities. It has been found that the deficient pore water pressure normalized with respect to the (soil) weight removed at any instant is a function of: (1) The ratio of the depth to the thickness of soil removed up to that instant; and (2) the ratio of the rate of soil removal to the swelling coefficient of the soil.