Brief
Client | Kishon River and Drainage Authority
The Kishon River and Drainage Authority is currently engaged in a project to cleanse a five kilometer long portion of the Kishon River riverbed that extends from the Bazan petrochemical facility to the terminus of the Kishon River at the Mediterranean Sea. The project includes dredging of contaminated sediments from the riverbed, cleansing of the sediments in treatment ponds with earth embankments up to 5 meters in height, and stabilization of the treated sediments in Landscaped Hills up to about 20 meters in height. The volume of treated sediments is anticipated to reach about 300,000 cubic meters.
The Landscaped Hills are currently being constructed at a site located adjacent to the Kishon River and across the river from the Bazan petrochemical facility. The soil profile at the site includes layers of soft/weak clay and shallow groundwater.
The treated sediments are a man-made material consisting of highly plastic clay, sand, and a significant quantity of organic material. Compaction of this unusual artificial material is problematic.
Our duties as the project geotechnical engineer include:
- Characterization of soil conditions at the site (including origination of exploration drilling, CPT testing, pump tests, and laboratory testing programs and supervision of implementation of the programs).
- Selection of stable side slopes for the soil embankments of the treatment ponds.
- Evaluation of possible settlement of the Landscaped Hills.
- Selection of stable side slopes for the Landscaped Hills, including during earthquake loading conditions.
- Selection of methods for placement and compaction of treated sediments, including preparation of earthworks specifications.
- Supervision of execution of placement and compaction of the treated sediments.
A newspaper article describing the project (in Hebrew) can be seen at: http://www.haaretz.co.il/gallery/architecture/.premium-1.2153162
