NEWS 2014

Posted September 2, 2014

Event: September 16, 2014

GSE: Annual Fall Wine & Cheese Event

Location: Papachase Room, Faculty Club, University of Alberta (11435 Saskatchewan Drive)

Time: 5:30pm Registration and Reception, 6:00pm Presentations

Cost: $10 Members/Non-members, $5 Students
(Student cost includes membership for the year)

The 2014/2015 season will begin with the traditional Annual Wine and Cheese event. Come out and connect with students and colleagues in the local geotechnical community.

2014 Morgenstern Award Winner: Alma Ornés, M.Sc., AECOM - Effects of vugs on the strength and stiffness of carbonate samples under uniaxial compression

The Grosmont Formation in Alberta is a heterogeneous carbonate reservoir of current interest for bitumen extraction, specifically within the vuggy porosity unit. This presentation addresses the effects of vugs on the strength and stiffness of carbonate samples under uniaxial compression. A carbonate testing workflow will be presented which combines computed tomography scans, geomechanical testing and computer simulations. Particle Flow Code 3D (PFC3D), a discontinuum modelling technique, was used to evaluate vuggy carbonate samples with different vug volumes, shapes, and locations. The PFC3D models were calibrated and validated with laboratory testing on vuggy carbonate samples from the Grosmont Formation. The workflow developed successfully generates samples with the correct vuggy geometry, but challenges still remain to obtain correct strength and stiffness response.

Alma Ornés graduated in 2009 from the University of Alberta with a Civil-Environmental Engineering degree. She worked for an Oil Sands operator before returning to University of Alberta in 2011. Alma received her M.Sc. in Geotechnical Engineering in Spring of 2014 and has been working in AECOM’s geotechnical group since 2012.

Recipient of the CGC Sponsorship: Alena Zabolotnii, P.Eng., Clifton Associates Ltd. and Graduate Student, University of Alberta - Notes on Long Term Stabiity in Regina Clay Embankments

Long-term surficial instability issues in high embankments built of Regina clays are well documented. In the recent years, numerous slope failures have been observed, which are linked to wet springs and high precipitation events. The failure mechanism of these landslides is reviewed, and both successful and unsuccessful remediation treatments are discussed.

Elena Zabolotnii is a graduate student at the University of Alberta. Elena graduated with Great Distinction from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Regina, and worked for a number of years with Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways prior to joining Clifton Associates Ltd. as a geotechnical engineer in 2011. Elena has done extensive research in the area of road safety engineering and is the recipient of SK Ministry of Highways’ 2009 Innovation Award for her work on the Black Spot Screening Project. Her current research focuses on geoenvironmental and geotechnical issues related to mine closure.