The earthquake sequence that occurred on 6 February 2023 in T & uuml;rkiye, Kahramanmara & scedil;, had a significant impact on 140 dams, most of which are located within a distance of 50 km from surface projection of the fault rupture. These dams experienced moderate to high levels of seismic intensity, with peak ground acceleration (PGA) estimated to vary between 0.1 and 1.3 g during the Pazarc & imath;k earthquake and 0.15 to 0.45 g during the Elbistan earthquake, depending on their proximity to the fault rupture. Although all dams were able to maintain water-retaining capabilities, some of them suffered from moderate to large permanent deformations. As part of the emergency response measures, the water levels at two of these dams, namely Sultansuyu and Ar & imath;kl & imath;ka & scedil;, were lowered in a controlled manner. Following the earthquakes, a comprehensive survey of all hydraulic structures within the influence zone was conducted, and the findings are represented in this study. These findings revealed that earthfill and rockfill dams sustained more significant damage compared with concrete dams, particularly in areas close to the fault rupture, where the shaking intensity was most pronounced. The amount of permanent displacements was observed to consistently increase with the height of the dam's transverse section.

This paper presents the effects of October 30, 2020 Samos-Aegean Sea earthquake on hydraulic structures, lifelines and industrial facilities which mainly located in the western cost of Turkey, within the borders of Izmir and Aydin Cities. These two highly populated cities are known for their importance in contributing country’s economics by their industrialized areas. In addition, Izmir is the third largest city of Turkey with its high seismic hazard zone. Although some disruptions in the aftermath of the earthquake were occurred in gas and electricity services, these issues immediately identified, and all systems were managed to reoperate. Damages to the infrastructures were mainly due to the collapse of buildings and tsunami effects. No significant damages were reported on lifeline systems, large industrial facilities, and dams due to relatively low shaking intensity.

Despite extensive research on bridge scour and channel erosion, predicting the occurrence and rate of cohesive soil erosion remains problematic. The lack of standard procedures for sample preparation and testing has resulted in wide variations in testing conditions, devices, and soil properties across erosion studies, ultimately preventing the synthesis of cohesive erosion studies and progress in understanding the fundamental processes of cohesive soil erosion. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of sample holding time on the fluvial erosion of remolded cohesive soils to inform the development of standard testing procedures. Three different soils (fat clay, lean clay, and silty sand) were tested in a flume following multiple sample holding times. Results show that erosion rate can decrease 85-95% within 72 h of soil wetting, depending on clay mineralogy. These results highlight the importance of maintaining a consistent soil preparation protocol in cohesive soil erosion experiments and reporting soil sample holding durations when conducting cohesive erosion research using remolded samples. (C) 2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.

The importance of applying unsaturated soil mechanics concepts to geotechnical engineering design has been widely recognized. Soil water characteristic curve (SWCC) and hydraulic conductivity function (HCF) are vital soil properties that govern engineering behavior of unsaturated soils. In this study, a transient water release and imbibitions method (TRIM) is used to measure the SWCC and HCF under drying and wetting states, which accommodates integrated experimental and modeling techniques. The results of saturated hydraulic conductivity tests through flexible wall method are then used as input parameters for simulating experimental data. In general, the model provides a satisfactory fit to experimental data. Soil water characteristic curves (SWCCs) and hydraulic conductivity functions (HCFs) are presented for a variety of soils that were prepared at different molding water contents and compactive efforts. The influences of dry density, molding water content, and hysteresis have been investigated. Dry density affects soil-water characteristic in terms of its air-entry value (AEV), rate of drying, and size of the hysteresis loop. The test results indicate that the SWCC and HCF obtained in terms of volumetric water content is more sensitive to the changes in dry density than molding water content. Based on cohesive soil results, some statistical relations are proposed to estimate wetting-path SWCC and HCF parameters from more easily measured drying curves. Changes in the van Genuchten’s fitting parameters and residual volumetric water content are investigated for both drying and wetting conditions, with changes in the kaolin clay content. An Experimental Study on Soil Water Characteristics and Hydraulic Conductivity of Compacted Soils

This session explored the evaluation and characterization of the sustainability of thermoactive geotechnical systems. Thermoactive geotechnical systems take advantage of shallow geothermal energy by using the foundation of a structure as a heat source and sink for use with a ground source heat pump. Methods for their evaluation within a sustainability framework still need to be developed. This can be done within larger regulatory frameworks such as the Code for Sustainable Homes. The Life Cycle Analysis methodology has been used to examine non-thermoactive geotechnical systems using both embodied carbon and embodied energy as metrics. Life Cycle Analyses have also been performed on ground source heat pumps and can provide valuable insight into the indirect operational environmental impacts of thermoactive geotechnical systems.