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This paper presents the applications of probabilistic methods to analyze the load-displacement behavior of shallow foundations supported by uncertain and spatially variable soils. The paper describes the types and sources of uncertainties in soil properties that dictate the bearing capacity and settlement of shallow foundations and characterizes their probabilistic distributions. General probabilistic analysis methods that are commonly used in foundation engineering applications such as first order second moment (FOSM) method, tornado diagram method, Monte Carlo (MC) simulation method, random finite element method (RFEM), and reliability-based design (RBD) method are briefly described. A thorough summary of the applications of these methods in determining the probabilistic bearing capacity, settlement, and differential settlement of shallow foundations from the research literature is presented.

The work in this paper presents the use of an in situ erosion evaluation probe (ISEEP) to assess scour depth at bridge piers. Numerical modeling and deployment of the device at a North Carolina Outer Banks site damaged by Hurricane Irene in 2011 demonstrates the applicability of the proposed concept. Computational fluid dynamics software, FLOW-3D, was used to assess the scour depth at a bridge pier, and the results were compared with values based on ISEEP-estimated parameters by using an excess-stream power model. The scour depth was also calculated from empirical equations that assumed the same conditions as those used in the numerical analysis. Parametric analysis using FLOW-3D indicated that of the parameters for defining the scour depth, the entrainment coefficient had the largest effect, whereas the drag coefficient had the smallest effect on the scour magnitude within the range of values included in this analysis. The estimated scour depths that were based on ISEEP data agreed relatively well with the scour magnitudes obtained from the numerical analysis, as the ISEEP data reflected the changes in the properties of the sand layer with depth. In contrast, the scour magnitude calculated from the empirical equations underestimated the scour depth, mainly because these equations had no provision for a layered-soil profile. Further validation of both the field-testing procedure and the data reduction approach, including the assessment of the applicability in soils that contain an appreciable percentage of fines, is recommended.

Work in this paper presents a device and a process for in situ assessment of erosion potential with depth. The proposed device is termed “in situ erosion evaluation probe” (ISEEP), and the process is developed based upon advancing a rod fitted with a truncated cone jet nozzle into the soil. As water exits the nozzle with controllable velocity and flow rate (induced by an external pump) the probe advances into the subsurface profile and the rate of advancement is measured. The jet flow velocity and the advancement rate of the probe are correlated with a stream power value, and used to estimate soil erodibility parameters. Results from laboratory testing show the feasibility of the concept. An approach for the estimation of a critical stream power and a detachment rate coefficient is presented. Numerical modeling and deployment of the device at a North Carolina barrier island site after hurricane Irene are used to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed concept. Correlations between scour magnitudes, estimated by ISEEP parameters, and those estimated through modeling and field observation are presented and illustrate the viability of ISEEP’s soil erosion parameters as defined by a critical stream power and a detachment rate coefficient.

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