Journal of Nevada Water Resources Association

Volume 6, Number 1, Summer 2011

This issue of the journal consists of papers and abstracts that were presented at the 43rd Symposium on Engineering Geology and Geotechnical Engineering (EGGE), which was held in March 2011 at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Some of the papers address local and regional water issues, whereas others focus on geologic or engineering issues. The papers were lightly peer reviewed by the conference organizers.

The Symposium originated in Idaho in 1962, and over the years has expanded to include other academic and technical institutions of the Intermountain West. The goal of the Symposium is to provide a forum for engineers and geologists to discuss common issues through case studies presented by practicing professionals. The Symposium serves to facilitate technology transfer for new ideas from academia and equipment manufacturers, and as a venue for invited presentations from renowned engineers and geologists.

The theme of the 43rd Symposium was “Water, Soils and Sustainability in the Intermountain West”. The papers are grouped here under the following headings. Please access articles from each heading in the buttons to the right on this page.

Western surface and ground water - sustainability, supply, and contamination
Foundation and construction elements
Landslide hazards
Earthquake hazards
Paleoseismic studies
In situ characterization and field observations
Soil and rock properties and modeling

Western Surface and Ground Water

Daniel A Bunk and Thomas C Piechota. Impacts of changing water demands in the Lower Colorado River Basin under different climate scenarios

Eleeja Shrestha, Sajjad Ahmad, Walter Johnson and Jacimaria R Batista. The carbon footprint associated with water management policy options in the Las Vegas Valley

Michael L Strobel. Climate trends in snowpack in the Western US

W Paul Miller and Thomas C Piechota. Assessment of risk and uncertainty under changing climate scenarios over the San Juan River Basin

Robert Sengebush, Richard Jackson and Greg Cross. Characterization and recovery of San Diego’s Mission Valley Aquifer for future reuse

Marc Jensen. New Lake Mead intake for Las Vegas – and new challenges

Norm Carlson, Charles F Feast, Greg L Bushner and Ryan Hoerth. What to drill: red or blue? Using CSAMT and NSAMT in siting groundwater production wells in southeastern Nevada

C. Eric Philips and William A Kitch. A review of methods for characterization of site infiltration with design recommendations

Joseph F Leising. Fate and transport of EDCs and PPCPs through soils on a reuse golf course

Nihad Rajabdeen, Barbara Luke, Dale Werkema and Danny Glaser. Application of piezoceramic elements for the study of seismic body wave propagation in saturated granular media

Xiaoping Zhou, Seth A Shanahan and Peggy Roefer. Sediment quality assessment in the Las Vegas Wash and its tributaries

Foundation and Construction Elements

David E Peterson. Hoover Dam Bypass - Colorado River Bridge geotechnical characterization

Jeffrey R Keaton, Su K Mishra and Paul E Clopper. Scour at bridge foundations on rock: NCHRP Project 24–29 overview

Morteza Esmaeili and Ali Mosayebi. Factors affecting jet grouting applicability in stabilizing loose railway subgrades

Kyle Jones, Tifani White, Kevin Harker and James W Mahar. Design considerations for porous concrete applications above collapsible soils

Walter E Vanderpool, Heinrich Majewski, and Eleazar Sotelo. Drilled foundation and earth retention systems for settlement control in the Las Vegas Valley

Ronald L Lynn. The dynamics of the economy on the built environment in Clark County

Landslide Hazards

James Chinchiolo, Cameron Lobato and Bryan Wavra. Over 40 years of geotechnical research leads to lower cost landslide repair methods

Robert D Joslin and James B Putnam. Expedited landslide remediation

Colby E Barrett. Case studies in shallow landslide repair and severe erosion mitigation in sensitive coastal and riparian areas

Andrew Daggett, Sunil Sharma and Thomas Weaver. A numerical study of displacements in pile-reinforced slopes

Earthquake Hazards

Jonathan G Price and John G Parrish. The present and future roles of state geological surveys in earthquake science and related public policy

John N Louie, William Savran, Brady Flinchum, Gabriel Plank, Graham Kent, Kenneth D Smith, Satish K Pullammanappallil, Aasha Pancha, and Werner K Hellmer. Next-Level ShakeZoning for earthquake hazard definition in the Intermountain West

William H Savran, Brady Flinchum, Gabriel Plank, Colton Dudley, Nicholas Prina, and John N Louie. Comparing physics-based Next-Level ShakeZoning computations with USGS ShakeMap statistics for S NV earthquake scenarios

Suchan Lamichhane, Barbara Luke, and Wanda Taylor. A probabilistic analysis of earthquake ground-shaking hazard in Las Vegas Valley, Nevada using updated source data

Helena Murvosh, Barbara Luke, Wanda Taylor, and Jeff Wagoner. Comparison of three, three-dimensional, shear-wave velocity models of Las Vegas Valley, Nevada, sediments

Richard Jackson and Robert Sengebush. Seismic hazards to fuel tank farms and groundwater contamination

Paleoseismic Studies

James P McCalpin. Changing direction in paleoseismology: Where are faults in their current seismic cycle?

Craig M dePolo and David B Slemmons. Quaternary faults in Nevada

Wanda J Taylor, Craig M dePolo, Eric Fossett, Tricia Evans and Barbara Luke. The southern edge of the active fault system, southern Nevada, central Basin and Range

Jonathan Carter, Wanda J Taylor and Barbara Luke. Investigating the seismic hazards of the Pahrump segment of the Stateline fault system

Albert P Ridley and Eric D Elison. Geotechnical and geological site evaluation, Corn Creek Visitors Center, Corn Creek Field Station, Clark County, Nevada

John W Bell. InSAR reveals new insights into the behavior of seismically active faults in the western Basin and Range

Michael D Hylland, Susan S Olig, Christopher B DuRoss and Greg N McDonald. The West Valley fault zone, Salt Lake Valley, Utah — Paleoseismic summary and preliminary results from recent trenching

William R Lund, Tyler R Knudsen and David B Simon. Preliminary results: Paleoseismic study of the northern section of the Washington fault zone, SW Utah and NW Arizona

Graham Kent, Daniel Brothers, Neal Driscoll, Debi Kilb, and Karen Luttrell. Advances in marine paleoseismology: Application to the southern San Andreas Fault

In situ Characterization and Field Observations

Nick Hudyma, Dustin Williams and Alex Saar. Ground characterization using cross-hole radar: ZOP configuration in weathered limestone

Prajwol Tamrakar, Barbara Luke and Carlos Calderón-Macías. Practical considerations for characterizing shallowly buried bedrock using Rayleigh wave data

Pinthep K Kittipongdaja, Barbara Luke, and Helena Murvosh. Comparing Rayleigh-wave dispersion curves from passive and active sources at three sites in Las Vegas Valley, Nevada

Horng-Jyh Yang and Emilio Sanchez. Dynamic cone penetrometer for high alkaline sulfate subsurface soil characterization

Adel Hashem Hammam. Collapse behavior of hard indurated gravelly sand soils

Ying Liu and Michael D Reader. Experience of a large scale unintentionally long surcharge on organic soils

Alan Roos, Lindsay Filler, Noni, Mary MacLaughlin. The effects of thermal strain, permanent strain and mechanical fatigue on strain-sensing fiber optic cable

Soil and Rock Properties and Modeling

G.Norris, S Elfass and H Yang. Internal friction as a function of surface roughness

Magdi El-Emam. Experimental study of at-rest static lateral earth pressure for overconsolidated sand

Rui-Xia He, Jian Chen, Jing-Ru Liu and Siang-Huat Goh. Experimental study on the engineering and geological behaviors of Sanya Holocene marine clay in China

Mousa Attom, Magdi El-Emam and Zahid Khan. Specimen size effect on shear strength parameters of tested clay

Raj V Siddharthan and Saria Bukhary. Characteristics of laboratory-measured saturated soil behavior under multidirectional shaking

Tung Nguyen, Mohamed Ashour, Horng-jyh Yang, Sherif Elfass and Gary Norris. Recovery of liquefied sand with increasing undrained shear strain

Koray Ulamis and Horng-Jyh Yang. Soil permeability related to liquefaction potential under anisotropic cyclic triaxial test

Jeevan Jayakody, Michael Nicholl, and Adam Simon. Spatial and temporal structure of unsaturated flow in porous crushed stone

Mary MacLaughlin, Katherine G Berry, and Nick Hudyma. Unconfined compressive strength of 4-inch plaster cubes containing large voids

Katelyn M Petteys, Mary M MacLaughlin and Nick Hudyma. Influence of spherical voids on the unconfined compressive strength of plaster cylinders: preliminary results

Joey Edgar, Kevin Nguyen, Alan Harris and Nick Hudyma. Interfacing a rotary stage and DSLR camera for an automated core photography system

Robert L Mokwa, Brent Nielsen, Zachary Morris, Bryant Robbins, and Josh Nichols. Nondestructive measurements of geomaterials using X-ray computed tomography, some practical applications