TY - GEN
T1 - Simplified reliability-based geotechnical investigation and design of transmission lines
AU - Heim, Zack
AU - Kandaris, Peter
AU - Houston, Sandra
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - By virtue of their intended purpose, electrical transmission projects traverse large distances across widely varying geologic and geotechnical settings. Thus, the methods by which the geotechnical investigation and design of such projects should be conducted have been a long-standing question by practitioners. Transmission foundation engineers tasked with the investigation and design of projects measured in miles must balance cost effective field investigation with the production of sufficient data for foundation designs that are economical and reliable. A study of the Browning-Pinal Central (BPC) 500/230kV transmission line near Phoenix, AZ, provides insight into a practical approach toward the geotechnical investigation and design of large transmission projects. Paramount to the successful geotechnical investigation of BPC was the careful selection of field investigation locations for soil sampling and in-situ testing based primarily on geologic strata categorization. The subsequent data recovered was used to develop design soil parameters based on simplified reliability concepts. Investigation and statistically based parameter selection concepts utilized on the BPC resulted in a significant foundation cost savings over traditional design practice.
AB - By virtue of their intended purpose, electrical transmission projects traverse large distances across widely varying geologic and geotechnical settings. Thus, the methods by which the geotechnical investigation and design of such projects should be conducted have been a long-standing question by practitioners. Transmission foundation engineers tasked with the investigation and design of projects measured in miles must balance cost effective field investigation with the production of sufficient data for foundation designs that are economical and reliable. A study of the Browning-Pinal Central (BPC) 500/230kV transmission line near Phoenix, AZ, provides insight into a practical approach toward the geotechnical investigation and design of large transmission projects. Paramount to the successful geotechnical investigation of BPC was the careful selection of field investigation locations for soil sampling and in-situ testing based primarily on geologic strata categorization. The subsequent data recovered was used to develop design soil parameters based on simplified reliability concepts. Investigation and statistically based parameter selection concepts utilized on the BPC resulted in a significant foundation cost savings over traditional design practice.
KW - Design
KW - Electric transmission lines
KW - Geotechnical engineering
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79956348485&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=79956348485&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1061/41165(397)304
DO - 10.1061/41165(397)304
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:79956348485
SN - 9780784411650
T3 - Geotechnical Special Publication
SP - 2968
EP - 2977
BT - Geo-Frontiers 2011
T2 - Geo-Frontiers 2011: Advances in Geotechnical Engineering
Y2 - 13 March 2011 through 16 March 2011
ER -