D. Avutia - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
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Papers by D. Avutia
Karst landscapes cover 15% of the earth’s topography with an estimated 1.5 billion inhabitants re... more Karst landscapes cover 15% of the earth’s topography with an
estimated 1.5 billion inhabitants residing on the land. Therefore restricting land uses
and preventing infrastructure developments on dolomite land may be deemed highly
impractical. As a result, infrastructure restrictions in karst areas have encouraged
geotechnical professionals into developing geological models to simulate the
magnitude of catastrophic subsidence experienced due to dolomite sinkholes.
Sinkholes in dolomite are triggered by the alteration of the existing groundwater
level within the karstic strata. In this study, the appraisal of sinkhole propagation was
facilitated with the geological data acquired along the Gautrain route through
Centurion, South Africa. This paper presents the conceptualized ‘angle of draw’ of
dolomite overburden layers into cavities, with Terzaghi’s arching in soil equation.
The analytical results illustrated constant vertical drawdown in the weathered altered
dolomite (WAD) and incremental cavity propagation in the frictional chert residuum.
The sinkhole propagation results replicated previous physical modelling and
empirical findings. This idealized analogy of sinkhole propagation compliments the
quantitative assessment of empirical data, limit analysis and expert judgement
applied to estimate dolomite sinkhole hazards.
Karst landscapes cover 15% of the earth’s topography with an estimated 1.5 billion inhabitants re... more Karst landscapes cover 15% of the earth’s topography with an
estimated 1.5 billion inhabitants residing on the land. Therefore restricting land uses
and preventing infrastructure developments on dolomite land may be deemed highly
impractical. As a result, infrastructure restrictions in karst areas have encouraged
geotechnical professionals into developing geological models to simulate the
magnitude of catastrophic subsidence experienced due to dolomite sinkholes.
Sinkholes in dolomite are triggered by the alteration of the existing groundwater
level within the karstic strata. In this study, the appraisal of sinkhole propagation was
facilitated with the geological data acquired along the Gautrain route through
Centurion, South Africa. This paper presents the conceptualized ‘angle of draw’ of
dolomite overburden layers into cavities, with Terzaghi’s arching in soil equation.
The analytical results illustrated constant vertical drawdown in the weathered altered
dolomite (WAD) and incremental cavity propagation in the frictional chert residuum.
The sinkhole propagation results replicated previous physical modelling and
empirical findings. This idealized analogy of sinkhole propagation compliments the
quantitative assessment of empirical data, limit analysis and expert judgement
applied to estimate dolomite sinkhole hazards.