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* GEOTECHNICAL
OBSERVATIONS


Geotechnical Contact: Steve Kramer,
kramer@u.washington.edu

(*) Got recon?
Fill out the geotechnical reconnaissance form.

>  Images
Capitol Lake, Olympia
Sunset Lake, Olympia
Martin Way, Olympia
Port of Olympia
Nisqually Wildlife Refuge
Highway 101

*   Facts and Figures

>   Links

Earthquake Damage Facts and Figures: Geotechnical Observations

The following table presents a list of sites at which geotechnical effects were observed or implied at meetings of the geotechnical reconnaissance teams on the evenings of March 1 and March 2. All observations are preliminary, but serve as the basis for more detailed investigations and descriptions that are currently being undertaken by the reconnaissance team.

Location Damage Feature Comments
Capitol Lake

Liquefaction
Lateral spreading
Landslide
·    Need improved mapping of failures
·   
Inclinometer
·    S&W has video of sand boil
·    Shifted abutment on RR bridge
Port of Seattle

Terminal 5







Terminal 18




Terminal 25




West Marginal Way
·    North end
   o  
Sand boils on APL property
   o  
MSE wall movement
        o   Ground cracks – 1-2” wide, 300’ long, up to 1” vertical offset
   o  
2” settlement near buildings

·   
South end
   o  
2-3” settlement near bridge piers
        o   Evidence of pier movement relative to soil

·   
Similar to Terminal 5
·   
Sinkhole
·    To the south – PM Ag – soil improvement performance

·   
Cracking, sand boils
·   
Not much to see – some cracks and sand boils
·   
Sand boils off E. Marginal Way, south of Spokane St.

Seattle waterfront

Myrtle Edwards Park

·    Hydraulic fill improved by ??? – no damage

Port of Olympia

  ·    Sand boils
·   
Crack (small) at boundary between fill and pile-supported wharf structure
Port of Tacoma

Puyallup River levees


ASARCO

·    No damage observed
·   
Possible damage claimed by ???
·    Could be worth follow-up visit Embankment on soils improved by dynamic compaction – Mark Koelling to get info

Nisqually Delta

Central area


Perimeter dike


Fish hatchery

·    Remarkably little evidence of liquefaction or movement
·    Some sand boils, but not many
·   
Sand boils adjacent and parallel to draw along central road

·   
Minor cracking in some locations – up to ~1”
·   
No vertical offsets
·    Minor cracking adjacent to Nisqually River ·    Minor cracking

Puyallup River Valley

  ·    No damage observed
·    Worth closer look based on historical liquefaction
Kent-Auburn Valley

  ·    Same as Puyallup River valley
·   
Some minor cracking in Renton (S&W)
Lower Duwamish River Valley

Boeing Field

·    East side
   o  
Extensive liquefaction
   o  
300’ long zones of ejecta
   o   Up to 9” settlement

·    West side
   o  
Less liquefaction, few scattered sand boils
   o  
Cracking, joint separations
   o  
4’ wide, 6’deep sinkhole on north side of runway

·    Need to map spatial distribution of liquefaction features w/r/t old river meanders

16th Ave S & E. Marginal Way

  ·    Half a dozen 2 cm cracks

Seattle Chocolates at First Ave S and Holgate

Sand boils

·     

Coleman Dock

Settlement

·    2” of settlement over few hundred feet
·    adjacent to pile supported section
Pioneer Square to Jackson

Cracking
Settlement
·    12” settlement
·   
slabs pulling away from pile cap
West Seattle, Walnut Street

Landslides

·    On private property
·   
East facing slope
·    Cracks at top of slope
·    4-5 properties affected
·    11” vertical, 8” lateral displacement
Martin Way, Olympia

Partial Embankment Failure

·    350’ length
·   
On north side
·   
Vertical displacement 10 feet
·   
Snapped communication line poles
·    Next to Bailey’s
Tumwater @ Crosby and Mottman

Aztec Wall Failure

·    15 blocks high (9 to 12 feet)
·   
100’ long
·    Slope factor – 3:1; 14’ to 18’ sloe height
·   
Shannon and Wilson to get drawings
I5 South of Olympia

MSE Supported Abutments

·     

Sunset Lake, Tumwater

Later Spreading




Sand boils

·    4’ vertical
·   
5’ horizontal
·    Mobile homes shifted
·    Gas pipe break
·    Sand boils away from lake
North Creek, Woodinville

Not much

 
Marriott Residence Inn, Bothell/Woodinville

Settlement

·    6” vertical
·   
4” lateral
East Sammamish Parkway and Thompson Hill Road, Sammamish

Slide

·    Cleaned up

Highway 101 near Mud Bay

Slide

·    Embankment in ravine
·   
Cut vertical
·    Artesian GW conditions
·    North part of embankment lost
·    Flow slide with rotation
·    > 100 meters of movement
Cedar River

Slide

·    John Bethel
·    Steve Botheim
   
First Ave South and Holgate – warehouse

Sinkhole Inside Building

Pile Foundation Settlement

·    Several tens of feet across
·   
Several feet deep
Puyallup River Valley/Puyallup

No liquefaction whatsoever

·    From Puyallup to Sumner
·   
Minute cracks at ’65 liquefaction location
·   
Liquefaction at one site in Sumner
·   
Chimney damage
Burien

Landslide

·    Eight red tagged residences
·   
Bluff geomorph setting
·   
Already covered
·    1 ft vertical cracking
·    4 to 5’ horizontal
·    Geoengineers has an inclinometer in area
·   
Preexisting slide
Hwy 302 – Tacoma Narrows Bridge

Slide

·    Front page of news weekly
·   
Downward displacement of 1 meter, horizontal displ of 15 cm.
·    Many asphalt overlays (preexisting problem)
Marymoore Park

No liquefaction

·     

Sammamish River Valley

No liquefaction
Cracking near Redhook
·     

Prot of Tacoma

Settlement

·    of one inch in 10 x 10’ area
·   
Port Engineers say only damage
Pier 37

Settlement

·    7 cm over large area
·   
settlement of timber supported pier
Dahl Playfield 78th and 25th Ave NE

Sandboils
Cracking
·    ½ cm cracks

Greenlake

South soccer field – sand boils and fractures

 
West Greenlake Way

Pavement distress/settlement
Sand boils
·    10 cm settlement

Greenlake Path

Lateral Spread

·    near aquetheater
·    80 m extent
·   
6 – 7cm horizontal
·   
5 cm vertical
Lower Most Snoqualmie Valley

No damage

 
E. of Gold Bar, Big Eddy Bridge

Settlement

·    2 inches

Paradise Lake

Driller had problems

 
Lake Union

Cracking along Westlake?

 
Port of Seattle, Terminal 30

Cracking
Settlement
Sand boils
·    250’ long
·   
4 sets of cracks
·    up to 1’ of lateral displacement per crack
·    Vertical irregular
·    Monitoring wells present
·    Abundant sand boils
Pioneer Square

Settlement

·    4 – 6 inches of settlement away from buildings (10’ away from buildings)

AWV

Sand boils
Settlement
Partially collapsed Building
·    at switching substation
·   
one track closed
·    ~2 inches of settlement
·   
Ejecta covered tracks
·    Black sand, some silica sand in ejecta
·    Continued liquefaction along 1st Ave South down to Hanford
·    2 partially collapsed buildings caused by un-reinforced masonry
·   
liquefaction observed on all sides of Sodo Center
·    Sidewalk settlement of 1-1/2 inches next of pier supported Safeco field
Seattle Underground

  ·    No definitive new damage

Terminal 5

Settlement

·    Couple of inches of separation of crane rails
·    Separate support for two rails
·   
Bulkhead probably moved
14th/16th Ave Bridge

Settlement

·    At abutment
·   
Damage not related to soil
·    South abutment
Chambers Creek Road/University Place

Liquefaction
Lateral Spreading
·    At bridge approach
·   
4 – 5 inches of vertical 
SE 1st and 136th Ave NE/Glendale Gold Course

  ·    300 cy of material
·   
Mud slide
·   
500 feet lateral displacement
Duwamish Corridor

Many (~100) liquefaction sites

 
Upper Part of Green River

  ·    North of Green River – nothing
·   
Flaming Geyser Park – nothing
·   
Existing slide covered in plastic
·    Small features (east of Auburn – East Green River Park) – several small sand boils, 1cm lateral spreading per crack
·   
North of Green River Park – significant lateral spreading – long (10s of meters), 10 cm wide lateral spreading
Lake Sammamish State Park

Sand boils

·    At mouth of creek (coal debris)

Lake Union, 2720 Westlake Ave N

Settlement

·    Structure settlement?
·   
Ground crack along railroad right of way
Port of Olympia, Corky and B St.

No liquefaction where it was expected

·     

Salmon Beach

Large Slide

·    Impacted structures

Hwy 202 near fish hatchery

Slide

·    1000 cy into creek
·   
Shoulder of 202 settled 1 feet
West Point Treatment Plant

 

 
Landfills

 

 
Perkins Lane

 

 
West of Pigeon Point

 

 
East of Boeing Field

 

 
Tukwila

 

 
Issaquah (South of Park)

 

 
Lake Union

 

 
Sammamish Slough (W’ville and Bothell)

 

 
SW of Marginal Way and 99/509

 

 
Tacoma Promenade

 

 
White River

   


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