NEWS 2006

Posted April 08, 2006

Event April 10, 2006

4th Annual Applied Geotechnical Engineering Design Contest Reinforced Soil Wall

Location: L2-020 Markin/CNRL Natural Resources Engineering Facility
Time: Wall Constructions Starts at 4:30 PM sharp, Wall testing will commence at 6:00PM
Date: Monday, April 10, 2006

Using Only 5 sheets of Newsprint, 2 sheets of 15 X 60 cm geotextile and a box of 100 paper clips. Walls must be constructed within the 1 hour time limit.
Judged by Guest consultants

• First Prize: $75 for Strongest Wall and Bragging Rights for 1 Year
• Second Prize: $50 for best prediction of wall strength, Closest to predicted load at failure
• Third Prize: $50 for Most Innovative Design

Rules

1. All students currently enrolled the Geotechnical Grad lab are eligible. There are 5 load frames available so please work in groups
2. Each group will have to give a 5-10 min presentation on why their wall is the best design and how they predicted the wall strength
3. Only materials allowed are sand, newsprint (5 sheets of the Edmonton Journal), 2 sheets of 15 X 60 cm geotextile, a box of 100 paper clips and water. All materials will be supplied
4. No load testing of walls prior to contest day allowed
5. Predicted strength values and wall design due the morning of the contest and will be posted prior to the start of the contest
6. Walls will be loaded initially to 150 kPa then in 25 kPa increments. Each load increment must be sustained for 10 seconds
7. Failure of the wall occurs when sand exits from the face of the wall. Dr. Donahue's Call
8. The strongest wall is the maximum load sustained on the wall for 10s in kPa.
9. The winner of the closest prediction of wall strength is actual measured wall strength in kPa minus the predicted value
10. Most innovative wall design is for the wall design that shows the most creativity but not necessarily the highest strength. It will be judged by guest consultants and based on the presentation by the design group
11. Dr. Donahue has final say in all maters of adjudication