ABSTRACT
In 1984 an embankment instability occured in a dike recently heightened in stages. After the instability, an extensive research program has been set up to back-analyse the settlements and the pore pressures measured during construction, focussing especially on the effects of shear stress and plastic yielding. Back-calculations have been performed using two uncoupled FEM codes in sequence: one to estimate initial stresses and the total stress increments at the undrained loading phases and another to simulate the intermittent consolidation. A simplified cap model has been introduced for undrained loading. The present paper presents the results of back-calculations using the Soft Soil and the Soft Soil with Creep models. Comparing them with those of the first back-calculations allow to overlook the progress made in soil modelling, to indicate the remaining vital input of engineers judgement and to propose some directions for further development.
