Geotechnics of Venice and Its Lagoon

Description

Without any protective intervention, the historic city of Venice and its surrounding islands would suffer rapid deterioration due to the increased frequency of tidal flooding, as the gap between land surface and sea levels has reduced due to a coupled effect of climate change-induced sea-level rise and natural and anthropic subsidence. Geotechnics of Venice and Its Lagoon provides a clear and comprehensive illustration of the extensive geotechnical aspects of not only the various environmental problems such as land subsidence and wetland surface reduction, but also solutions such as the design of the tilting gate foundations against high tides and the restoration and improvement of the drainage system of the renowned Piazza San Marco, which have been necessary for the preservation of the extraordinary cultural heritage of Venice. Readers will gain a better understanding of the complex phenomena occurring in the sensitive Venice silts, whose hydro-mechanical behavior has required comprehensive laboratory and site investigations and modeling. The book provides An authoritative analysis of one of the largest and most important geotechnical issues in the world A description of a detailed case study of an ongoing engineering solution The book will be useful for engineers worldwide, and is also an excellent reference for students. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Preface Acknowledgments Chapter 1 The recurrent flooding of the lagoon city 1.1 Introduction 1.2 The tide in the lagoon 1.3 Tidal effects on the lagoon environment and countermeasures taken References Chapter 2 Geology of the lagoon 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Stratigraphic and chronological framework 2.3 The formation of the lagoon 2.4 The evolution of the lagoon and its morphologies 2.4.1 Buried littoral 2.4.2 Buried salt marshes 2.4.3 Buried channels 2.4.4 The buried traces of human presence 2.5 Mineralogy of sediments References Chapter 3 Subsidence of Venice 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Anthropic subsidence in Venice 3.3 Natural subsidence in Venice 3.4 The subsidence-monitoring network of the Venice coastland References Chapter 4 Site and laboratory geotechnical investigations 4.1 Introduction 4.2 The Malamocco test site 4.2.1 Soil profile and basic properties 4.2.2 Stress–strain behavior 4.2.3 The grain size index 4.3 The Treporti test site 4.3.1 Soil properties 4.3.2 Monitoring 4.3.3 Stiffness and compressibility from site monitoring 4.4 Soil properties from CPTU and DMT 4.4.1 Estimate of secondary compression of silts and sands from CPTU 4.4.2 Estimate of OCR for sands and silts from DMT and CPTU References Chapter 5 Venetian soil constitutive modeling 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Constitutive equations 5.2.1 Elastoplastic behavior 5.2.2 Incorporation of viscous effect 5.3 Model calibration 5.4 Back-analysis of settlements occurred at the Treporti test site References Chapter 6 Geotechnical behavior of defense structures 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Geotechnical investigations along the barrier sections 6.3 Main geotechnical aspects related to foundation caissons fabrication sites and installation 6.4 Settlements under the barriers References Chapter 7 Geotechnical monitoring of marshes and wetlands 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Sediment balance, salt marsh erosion, protection, and restoration 7.3 Marshland investigation and monitoring 7.4 Characterization of marshland compressibility 7.4.1 Experimental site testing 7.4.2 Results References Chapter 8 Long-term behavior of historical building foundations 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Wooden pile degradation in anoxic condition 8.3 Pile degradation modeling 8.4 Long-term behavior of wooden pile group References Chapter 9 Safeguarding Piazza San Marco 9.1 Introduction 9.2 The drainage network 9.3 Soil profile of Piazza San Marco 9.4 Tidal-induced porewater pressures in soil References Chapter 10 Concluding remarks Index