FORENSIC STUDY OF ROAD CONSTRUCTION ACROSS AN ORGANIC DEPOSIT, LINDBERG ROAD EXPANSION, ÝWEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA

A multitude of construction problems/errors occurred during road construction to extend Lindberg Road from two lanes to four and raise the embankment across the Celery Bog in West Lafayette, IN. Two major problems occurred during construction, the embankment failed by a slump rotation before it was brought up to grade. Second, grout pier construction through the organic layer to sound material below, was unable to transfer the load of the finished pavement. A wash board condition developed along the asphalt surface. A detailed review of the road construction project was the subject of a Master of Science thesis by the second author (Fairfax, 2007). In this presentation, only the embankment failure will be considered by extending the analysis made during the M.S. study. Problems with subsurface exploration, sampling, testing and design, along with road construction procedures are evaluated. Following failure, the soil was too weak to continue embankment construction when the peak strength of the soil was replaced by residual strength, and grout piers become necessary. The question considered here: If properly undertaken, could the embankment have been constructed without a slump failure?