Introduction for the 53rd Rankine Lecture

The 53rd Rankine Lecture of the British Geotechnical

Society was given by Professor Michele Jamiolkowski at
Imperial College London on 20 March 2013. The following
introduction was given by Professor Robert Mair, Cambridge
University.
It is a very great pleasure to introduce our Rankine
Lecturer, Professor Michele Jamiolkowski. In 1932 he was
born in Poland where he spent his early years; he studied at
Warsaw Technical University, obtaining a master’s degree in
Soil Mechanics and Engineering Geology in 1959. As a
young geotechnical engineer Michele decided to forge strong
international links, many of which have had a profound
influence on his long and distinguished career. He undertook
postgraduate studies at the University of Kiev, the Technical
University of Torino in Italy, the University of Laval in
Quebec, and at MIT in the USA.
In 1964 he founded the engineering consulting company
Studio Geotecnico Italiano in Italy, which had become his
adopted country. In 1969 he was appointed to a professor-
ship in the Department of Geotechnical Engineering at the
University of Torino, at which he has continued to be based
throughout his career and where he is currently Professor
Emeritus. He still remains very closely involved with Studio
Geotecnico Italiano.
In 1979 he was one of the founders of the first doctorate
programme in geotechnical engineering in Italy, and he
pioneered much of the high-quality research in soil mech-
anics for which Italy is especially well known. His primary
research interests include the mechanical behaviour of soils,
laboratory and in situ testing, soil dynamics, bearing capa-
city and settlements of shallow foundations, and soil im-
provement. He is author of over 250 publications, many of
them state-of-the-art keynote lectures or reports.
He has always combined fundamental soil mechanics with
practical geotechnical engineering. He is well-known for his
early work on preloading of soft clays and the use of vertical
drains for large oil tanks and embankments, and he produced
an influential CIRIA report on the topic. He has always been
a leader in the field of soil behaviour – especially small
strain stiffness – both through laboratory and in situ testing.
There is barely an in situ test for which Michele has not
played a major role in advancing the state of the art,
whether it be cone penetration test (CPT), piezocone, dilat-
ometer, self-boring pressuremeter tests or geophysics; he is
particularly well known for his classical laboratory calibra-
tion chamber tests for investigating CPT behaviour in sands.
He has undertaken pioneering work on important ground
treatment processes such as jet grouting.
Michele has been closely involved with many prestigious
consulting projects around the world. These are too numer-
ous to list them all, but he is of course particularly famous
for his presidency of the International Committee for Safe-
guarding the Leaning Tower of Pisa. For more than a decade
(1990–2001), working closely with Professors John Burland
and Carlo Viggiani, he ensured the safety of the Pisa tower
for a further 300 years through the technique of under-
excavation. This remarkable achievement, more than any
other, has captured the interest of the world in the complex-
ities of soil mechanics – the art and science of geotechnical
engineering being given considerable prominence in the
public domain in a unique and highly effective way. Michele
has always said that the Pisa project was the one that gave
him the most sleepless nights.
He has also been geotechnical consultant for other hugely
prestigious and world-famous projects. To name a few: the
Professor Michele Jamiolkowski
Venice defence system against high water (the MOSE pro-
ject); the proposed suspension bridge over the Messina
Straits; the restoration and strengthening of the bell tower at
San Marco Square in Venice; the reconstruction and
development of the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl. He is
also chairman of the international panel of experts for the
Zelazny Most copper mine tailings pond, about which we
will be hearing a lot more in this evening’s lecture.
Michele is chairman of the technical committee for safe-
guarding the historic monuments of Rome during construction
of the tunnels for the new subway line C. I have had the
pleasure of working closely with Geotechnical Consulting
Group (GCG) and Michele on this project, as well as on a
number of other underground construction projects. He has
many outstanding qualities but I will single out just two. First,
he has a prodigious memory: he is very widely read and will
recall every detail of papers, often published many years ago.
He even enjoys identifying the mood of the discussers when
either attacking or defending a particular paper. There is no
one as well-informed about the worldwide geotechnical re-
search and practice scene as Michele Jamiolkowski. Second,
he is a man who gets his priorities right: excellence in
geotechnical engineering (of course), closely followed by
excellence in restaurants – especially fish restaurants. All
those who have ever worked with Michele will know that he
is expert, wherever he is in the world, in finding simply the
best fish restaurants in town. Many of his colleagues will
testify that it has often been over fish with Michele that the
most informative and challenging conversations on soil mech-
anics have been held. He is as well-known in the kitchens of
Torino’s restaurants as he is in the world of geotechnics.
Over the course of his long and distinguished career,
Michele Jamiolkowski has been invited to present numerous
general reports at international conferences and deliver many
significant lectures throughout the world. His lectures include
the James Forrest Lecture to the Institution of Civil Engineers
in London in 1986; the Manuel Rocha Lecture in Lisbon in
1997; the Terzaghi Oration in 2001 at the 15th ICSMGE
conference in Istanbul; the Szechy Memorial Lecture in

S1
S2 INTRODUCTION FOR THE 53RD RANKINE LECTURE
Budapest in 2002. He was a keynote lecturer at the Skempton
Conference here at Imperial College in 2004, the Ralph B.
Peck Lecturer at the ASCE Geo-Institute in 2006, the Za-
Chieh Moh Lecturer in Taipei in 2010, and the Victor de
Mello Lecturer in Lisbon in 2011.
He holds many awards and honours, among them the De
Beer Award from the Belgium Geotechnical Society; the
Karl Terzaghi Award and the Ralph B. Peck Lecture Award,
both from the ASCE; and the Italian Award ‘Saviour of the
Art’. He is a foreign associate of the US National Academy
for Engineering, the citation being ‘for the design and
engineering of major projects on difficult soils, and for
international leadership in geotechnical education and re-
search’. He is also a corresponding member of the Polish
Academy of Sciences.
But in many ways the most prestigious of all Michele’s
honours was his election to the presidency of the Interna-
tional Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineer-
ing. He served as president from 1994 to 1997. This was a
fitting accolade to one of our most distinguished interna-
tional geotechnical engineers, renowned throughout the
world for his major contributions to so many aspects of
research and practice in soil mechanics and geotechnical
engineering.
Of his many outstanding qualities, his warmth and the
camaraderie that he generates are particularly special. In
many photos you will often see Michele Jamiolkowski with
an arm around a shoulder of a colleague. We are all
delighted to see so many of his friends and colleagues from
Italy, and from around the world, here at Michele’s lecture
this evening.
On behalf of the British Geotechnical Association, I am
very pleased to invite Professor Michele Jamiolkowski to
deliver the 53rd Rankine Lecture.
Jamiolkowski, M. (2014). Géotechnique 64, No. 8, 590–619 [http://dx.doi.org/10.1680/geot.14.RL.002]

Soil mechanics and the observational method: challenges at the Zelazny

Most copper tailings disposal facility
M . JA M I O L KOW S K I 

This paper illustrates the geotechnical aspects of the development of one of the world’s largest copper
tailings disposal facilities, located at Zelazny Most in south-west Poland. Its operation commenced in
1977 and, by the end of 2013, 527 3 106 m3 of tailings had already been stored within a confining
embankment dam (‘ring dam’) of about 14 .3 km in total length. The foundations of the ring dam lie
on Pleistocene deposits, underlain by a thick sequence of Pliocene sediments. The period of operation
of the facility will continue until exhaustion of the ore body, which is estimated to occur in 2042,
when the total volume of tailings stored will reach 1000 3 106 m3. The development and the use of
the Zelazny Most facility is affected by a number of significant geotechnical hazards, including the
phenomenon of flow liquefaction, as is often the case for such structures. However, the most important
geotechnical hazard at Zelazny Most is a consequence of its location in an area that, during the
Pleistocene, experienced at least three major glaciations. The ice sheets, over 1000 m thick, which
overrode the area, induced substantial glacio-tectonic phenomena, the most geotechnically important
of which is the formation of extensive sub-planar shear planes in the Pliocene clays that extend to
depths of around 100 m. The shear strength in these shear zones, which occur mostly in high-plasticity
clays, is close to residual, thus controlling the stability of the confining dams. Moreover, the area of
the disposal is also subject to a moderate degree of mining-induced seismicity. Discussion of this is
omitted from this paper because of its relatively minor influence on the design of the depository.
Given the large scale of the disposal facility, the complexity of the geological and geotechnical
settings, and its anticipated life span, the owners KGHM (the Polish acronym for Copper Mine and
Mill Company), on the advice of the World Bank, appointed an international board of experts (IBE).
The IBE, supported by a Polish geotechnical expert as local liaison, have the responsibility to oversee
the safe development of the tailings dams by applying Peck’s observational method. This paper
describes the monitored behaviour of the dams, with particular reference to the presence of the glacio-
tectonic phenomena and the remedial measures adopted for their mitigation. The geotechnical
characterisation of the foundation soils and of the tailings is described, and the stability analyses of
the tailings dams are discussed in the context of the safe development of the whole facility.

KEYWORDS: clays; dams; glacial soils; liquefaction; mining; remediation

INTRODUCTION
This paper describes the geotechnical aspects of the develop- Gdansk
ment of one of the world’s largest copper tailings disposal N
facilities, located at Zelazny Most in south-west Poland,
close to the borders with the Czech Republic and Germany 0 100 km
(see Fig. 1). KGHM (the Polish acronym for Copper Mine
and Mill Company), the government-owned mining com- Warszawa
pany, started mining the copper ore body in 1972, and plans
to continue until exhaustion of the ore, which is estimated to Lodz
occur in 2042. By the end of 2013, 527 3 106 m3 of tailings
Wroclaw
had been stored in the disposal facility, consistent with an
average storage rate of 17 3 106 m3/year, with a maximum
dam height approaching 63 m. An aerial view of the Zelazny Krakow
Zelazny
Most disposal facility is shown in Fig. 2, together with Most
further data on the confining ring dam.
As with all tailing dams, the Zelazny Most disposal poses
a number of challenges for the geotechnical engineer, in
particular flow liquefaction of the stored tailings, which Fig. 1. Location of the Zelazny Most depository
potentially threatens the stability of the confining dams. This
in turn depends on the height of the dam and on the
mechanical behaviour of the foundation soils. This latter issue, as will be seen, has turned out to be the main factor
controlling the development of the disposal, a consequence
Manuscript received 23 June 2014; revised manuscript accepted 1
of the complex Pleistocene geological history of the area.
July 2014. KGHM, in 1992, appointed a four-member international
Discussion on this paper closes on 1 January 2015, for further details board of experts (IBE): Dr David Carrier (USA); Professor
see p. ii. Richard Chandler (UK); Professor Kaare Høeg (Norway);
 Technical University of Torino, Italy. and Professor Michele Jamiolkowski (Italy). The IBE was

590
 JAMIOLKOWSKI 591
North

Beach

West
Pond

East
Maximum dam height: 63 m
Total volume stored: 527 ⫻ 106 m3
Storage rate: ⬵ 17·5 ⫻ 106 m3/year
Area covered: 12·4 km2
Total length of dam: 14·3 km

Sou
th
Fig. 2. Aerial view of the Zelazny Most depository N

assigned the task, in cooperation with the Polish geotechni- 0 1 km

cal expert, Professor Wojciech Wolski, of overseeing the safe
development of the tailings dams by applying the observa-
tional method (Peck, 1969, 1980; Jamiolkowski et al., 2010). Dam height: m Crest elevation: m asl
Within the framework of this on-going project, for which
North: 39 North: 177·5
the overall period of operation will exceed 70 years, the West: 49 West: 177·5
application of the observational method as conceived by the South: 34 South: 177·0
IBE consists of the following stages East: 63 East: 177·5

(a) continuous enhancement of the monitoring network, and Fig. 3. Dam height and crest elevation (updated December 2013)
of the communication system between the monitoring Spigot pipe
groups and the end users of the results of monitoring Decant Beach Confinement dykes
(b) geotechnical analyses of the observed displacements of pond
the dams so as to predict their further evolution with the Starter
continuing increase of dam height with time dam
(c) modification of the plans for design and construction in Sil Fin
Sa ty e/m
the light of the monitoring results and stability analyses. n sa
nd sa ediu
silt dy nd m

TAILINGS DISPOSAL
The Zelazny Most dam, which completely surrounds the
tailings disposal, will hereafter be referred as the ‘ring dam’.
The original ground surface where the disposal facility is
placed was saddle-shaped, so that the eastern and western
portions of the ring dam are higher than those to the north
and south. The present elevation of the crest of the ring dam
ranges between 177 m and 177 .5 m above sea level (asl). A
plan view to show the dam heights above the original down-
stream ground level is given in Fig. 3.
The Zelazny Most tailings dam is being raised using the
upstream construction method (see Fig. 4). The shell of the
dam is built using the coarser tailings, which are fine sand
with a low-plasticity (IP < 10%) silt fraction, separated from
the remainder of the tailings by spigotting. The construction
of the Zelazny Most starter dam from local earthen material
began in 1975, and the storage of tailings started in 1977.
Since then, the dam crest has risen at a rate of approxi-
mately 1 .0 to 1 .5 m/year, constructed with an average down-
stream slope of 3 .5 horizontal to 1 vertical. Furthermore, the
beach (i.e. the distance from the dam crest to the pond edge)
is maintained with a length of not less than 200 m. These
conservative practices have the effect that the finest tailings,
the softer, weaker ‘slimes’, are deposited closer to the pond,
and a thick, strong dilative dam shell is formed.
To keep the phreatic surface in the shell depressed, in
addition to the toe drain, four levels of circumferential
Fig. 4. Ring dam: schematic cross-sections
drains have been installed as the dam was raised (see Fig.
5). Further circumferential drains will be added as the dam
is raised further. As will be described in the later section on
‘Behaviour of the ring dam’, this drainage system has
proved to be efficient, and has considerably reduced the risk
of flow failure of the tailings, so that the dam stability is
now effectively controlled by the foundation soils.
The tailings disposal facility at Zelazny Most is roughly
half complete. Its further development will be monitored by
a rigorous and continuously enhanced application of the
observational method, combined with a feasibility study
examining different deposition technologies, aimed at redu-
cing the enormous volume (500 3 106 m3) still to be stored
in the disposal.
177·50
170·00
175·00 162·00
152·70 Starter dam
146·91
Tailings
Circumferential Toe drains
drains
Fig. 5. Ring dam: circumferential drains
592 SOIL MECHANICS AND THE OBSERVATIONAL METHOD
⫹149
LOCAL GEOLOGY 0
The Zelazny Most tailings depository is located in a ⫹139
complex geological environment. From the ground surface 10 0

Pl

Q
downwards, the foundation soils consist of Pleistocene de- 20 10
posits, including silty lake clays and out-wash sands, rare
Q ⫽ Quaternary deposits

Q
sandy gravel inclusions and silty sands. These are underlain

Pl
30 20
Pl ⫽ Pliocene deposits
by thick layers of freshwater, medium- to high-plasticity
40 30
Pliocene clays, which incorporate thin, brown coal and sand

Depth: m
Man-made
strata. The Pliocene deposits overlie Triassic strata, which

Q
50 40

Depth: m
include beds of halite, below which the copper ore body is
encountered. 60 50 Q Coarse grained
The complexity of these deposits is the consequence of 70 60
Q Fine grained

Pl
the Pleistocene history of the area, when a succession of ice

Borehole XVIN-1
sheets moved from north to south over central Europe. At 80 70
Pl Coarse grained

Borehole XVIN-2
least six major ice advances are recognised in south Poland,

no less than three of which have passed over the Zelazny
Most area (see Fig. 6). The various ice sheets, which are
believed to have been at least 1000 m thick, have induced
widespread glacio-tectonic phenomena (see Fig. 7), probably
extending to depths of about 100 m, which in particular have
greatly affected the Pliocene deposits.
As a consequence, they are intensely sheared, folded and
generally severely disturbed. In places, the initially horizon-
tally bedded freshwater Pliocene sediments have Pleistocene
deposits thrust within them (see Fig. 8).
These glacio-tectonic phenomena have left a permanent
imprint on the Zelazny Most geotechnical environment, in
particular the frequent and extended shearing and folding of
the Pliocene deposits. The passage of the ice sheets must
have imposed a stress field resembling that of simple shear.
This has generated several sub-planar shear surfaces that are
Poland
Germany Zelazny
Most
Pl
90 80 Pl Fine grained
100 90
100
Fig. 8. North dam, section XVIN: borehole log of two nearby
borings
highlighted by the inclinometer surveys carried out beyond
the toe of the East dam, shown in Fig. 9. Laboratory tests
show that these shear surfaces occur particularly in high-
plasticity clay and that they have a drained shear strength
that is close to the residual. The horizons containing the
glacio-tectonic shear planes are probably thin ‘zones’ of
high-plasticity slickensided clay. Overall, as a result of the
glacio-tectonic disturbance, the Pliocene deposits exhibit an
extremely pronounced spatial variability, which makes the
formulation of realistic geological and geotechnical models
extremely difficult, if not completely impracticable. As an
example, Fig. 10 shows an extremely simplified model of
Original ground level
120

110
24 August 2004

100
Czech N
Republik
0 25 50 km
90

Glaciations
16 December 2013
Elevation: m asl

Elsterian Wartanian 80
Drenthe Vistulian

Fig. 6. Pleistocene glaciations: maximum extent in south-west 70

Poland

60
Front
moraine
50
16E2-3 A
⭓1000 m

al
Ice co
w n al 40
sheet o o
Br n c
r ow Glacio-tectonic shear planes
B
30
0 80 160 240 320
Cumulative displacement: mm

Fig. 7. Deformations ahead of an ice sheet Fig. 9. Inclinometer surveys beyond the East dam toe
 JAMIOLKOWSKI 593
Inclinometer
180 ⫹167·5 XVIIIE1-3
⫹165·0
⫹160·0
160 ⫹150·0
⫹140·0 Starter
Tailings ⫹135·0 dam
140
Berm
120
Elevation: m asl

Qp
Qp
100 Pla Qp
Qp
Qp
80 Pla
Pla
60

40 Pl
Pl
20
0 100 200 m
0

Qp Fluvio-glacial sand Pla High-plasticity clays, shear surfaces Silty sands Glacio-tectonic shear surface
Qp Moraine clays Pl High-plasticity clays Silt Qp ⫽ Quaternary, Pl ⫽ Pliocene

Fig. 10. East dam: simplified soil profile

geotechnical cross-section XV1E, which neglects many stra- Nor th

dam
tigraphy details, and was developed for use in finite-element
stress–deformation analysis. XVIN VIIIN

N4
BEHAVIOUR OF THE RING DAM N1 N2 N3 N5
W3
N6
m

Having set the scene, this paper now examines how the W2
a
West d

geology comes to be the major factor controlling the design Beach

E0
and the construction of the Zelazny Most tailings facility. W1 XVIIIE
This will be done by applying the observational method W5 E1 XVIE
based on an extensive monitoring system, the most relevant
components of which are listed below. W6 Pond E2
S6

East dam
(a) Over 450 surface bench marks and the heads of more S5
E3
than 55 inclinometers are used; these are surveyed two to S4 E4
four times a year; since 1990 this has included the use of
S3 E5
global positioning systems (GPS).
(b) More than 300 vibrating wire piezometers are used, E6
So

S2
installed in fully grouted borings, up to 150 m deep (e.g. S1
uth

E7
S0
Vaughan, 1969; Mikkelsen & Green, 2003; DiBiagio & N
da
m

Strout, 2013). Many are installed in boreholes which also

contain an inclinometer casing, so that it is possible to
compare piezometer records with displacement, particu-
larly in the vicinity of active shear planes.
(c) Fifty-six inclinometers up to 150 m deep are used. The
life of the inclinometers is often limited owing to the
large localised shear displacements on the glacio-tectonic
shear surfaces. Moreover, in spite of the substantial depth
of many of the inclinometer casings, it is now being
recognised that the toes of the casings generally are not
fixed. Consequently, the interpretation of the inclinometer
surveys is carried out ‘top-down’, based on GPS
monitoring of the horizontal displacements of the top of
the casings.
Figure 11 shows a plan view of the ring dam, which is
approximately 14 .3 km long, subdivided into spigotting
cross-sections (Arabic numerals) and 85 geodetic (Roman
numerals) cross-sections.
The four sections shown are on the East and North dams,
and all exhibit major glacio-tectonic shear surfaces in the
dam foundation.
East dam
The East dam (note that the original elevation of the
ground level at the East dam was between 111 and
117 m asl; the elevation of the starter dam was 136 m asl;
0 1 km
Spigotting
W–N–E–S...
cross-sections
Selected geodetic
W–N–E–S...
cross-sections
Fig. 11. Tailing disposal plan view, selected geodetic cross-sections
and the depth to ground water level was 1–4 m), the highest
portion of the ring dam (presently 63 m high) and which
was constructed over an old river bed, was the first portion
of the dam to show significant horizontal surface displace-
ments. These have been observed over a distance of 1 km
along the dam axis, centred on cross-section XVIE. Fig. 12
shows in plan the horizontal displacements of the eastern
starter dam, relating to the period 2003–2013. The maximum
movements occur near bench marks BM-208 and BM-208 .1,
located on dam cross-section XVIE. Bench mark BM-208
has been monitored since 1981, and by the end of 2013 had
shown a total horizontal surface displacement of  655 mm.
The construction history of the East dam, and the horizontal
surface displacements of BM-208 since 1981, are shown in
Fig. 13. Towards the end of 1995, when the dam crest had
594 SOIL MECHANICS AND THE OBSERVATIONAL METHOD
Horizontal distance: m
1600 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 0
⫺50

BM 208·1
BM 208
S N
Sept. 2003
0 Sept. 2004

Sept. 2005
50
Sept. 2006
Horizontal displacement: mm

Sept. 2007
100
Sept. 2009 Sept. 2008
Sept. 2010
150
Sept. 2011
IXbE

Sept. 2012
200 Sept. 2013

XXIE
XXaE
XIaE

XVIIIaE
250

XVIIaE
XIVbE
300
XIIIE

Maximum displacement Cross-sections

since 1981: 646 mm XVIE
350

Fig. 12. Eastern starter dam: plan view of horizontal surface displacements

190

177·5
176·5
Updated as of
September 2013

171·5

174
180

166·5
169
162·5

165
Dam crest elevation: m asl

170 157·5

160
152·5

155

160

Dam height 63 m
150
145

150
140
135

140

130
114
114

120 114·0 Original ground level

110

600

BM-207 – Section XVI-E Downstream of dam toe

Horizontal displacement: mm

500
BM-208 – Section XVI-E
400 BM-208·1 – Section XVI-E
} Starter dam
Dam crest moved

300
Relief wells

200
Berm

100

0
1981

1991

2001

2011
1982

1992

2002

2012
1974

1977

1980

1984

1987

1990

1994

1997

2000

2004

2007

2010

2014
1976

1978
1979

1983

1986

1988
1989

1993

1996

1998
1999

2003

2006

2008
2009

2013
1975

1985

1995

2005

2015

Year

Fig. 13. Cross-section XVIE: construction history and horizontal surface displacements

reached the height of  40 m, the rate of horizontal surface The deep inclinometers that were installed after 2003 have
displacement increased, so that during 2001–2009 displace- provided evidence that most movements in the dam founda-
ment rates were between 40 and 50 mm/year (see Table 1). tion are concentrated along sub-horizontal glacio-tectonic
Fig. 14 shows the general pattern of the horizontal surface shear planes.
displacements and of the settlements of cross-section XVIE, Figure 15 shows the surveys of the inclinometers installed
as well as the numbers of the bench marks. in the starter dam, indicating the shear planes re-activated in
 JAMIOLKOWSKI 595
140
Table 1. Horizontal surface displacement rates of BM-208

mm/year Year
120
28 .3 1999–2000 11 Dec. 2013
19 .5 2000–2001
24 Aug. 2005
41 .5 2001–2002
37 .1 2002–2003 100
37 .8 2003–2004
38 .0 2004–2005
58 .9 2005–2006
21 .8 2006–2007

Elevation: m asl
80
41 .4 2007–2008
42 .3 2008–2009
48 .6 2009–2010
15 .3 2010–2011 60
13 .0 2011–2012
9 .0 2012–2013

Note: Total displacements from 1981 to December 2013: 646 mm. 40

 Start of stabilisation measures.
BM 208·62

20
BM 208·7

BM 208·6

BM 208·5

Updated as of
BM 208·3

180 January 2013

BM 208

0
(38/2007) 0 100 200
170 (121/2008) Cumulative displacement: mm
(⫺727/2007)

(197/2002) (a)
(⫺274/2008)

160
(⫺552/2002)
Elevation: m asl

(377/1994) 140
150
(⫺673/1994)

(577/1985) 10 Sept. 2013

BM 207

140 (646/1981)
(⫺603/1985)
(⫺84/1981)

130
120
120 Berm
Starter
(28/1977) 28 Jan. 2004
dam
110
Not to scale (⫺96/1977)
100
100
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Distances: m

Horizontal displacement (mm) since year

Elevation: m asl

80
Settlement (mm) since year

Fig. 14. Cross-section XVIE: horizontal surface displacements

and settlements 60

cross-sections XVIIE and XVIIIE. In cross-section XVIE two

active shear planes occur, at elevations 75 m and 45 m asl. 40
Figure 15 shows that in both inclinometer casings the
majority of the observed movements occur along the deeper
shear surface. This figure presents clear evidence that the
20
toes of the two inclinometers are not fixed. The observed
movements beneath the deepest active shear plane can
probably be attributed to consolidation and shear deforma-
tion of the foundation soils under the load of the dam, 0
although there is just the possibility that there are active 0 40 80 120 160 200
Cumulative displacement: mm
shear planes below the inclinometer casing. (b)
The 26 deep inclinometers in this length of the East dam
indicate the presence of shear planes at a range of elevations Fig. 15. Eastern starter dam, response of deep inclinometers:
extending both north and south from cross-section XVIE (a) 17E-5 A; (b) 18E1-3 A
(Fig. 12), and spread at least 200 to 300 m beneath the
width of the dam.
Together, the geodetic and the inclinometer data surveys elevations than that on which main shearing movement is
show that the starter dam and the foundation soil above observed. In addition, the maximum horizontal displacement
45 m asl move virtually as a single, rigid body. This behav- at depth is appreciably larger than that shown by bench
iour changes, however, at higher elevations within the dam, marks located on the upper parts of the dam, indicating a
where there is a more complex mechanism of movement rotational component of displacement.
with depth, as shown in Fig. 16. The inclinometers also Given the large horizontal displacements and the corre-
exhibit a number of glacio-tectonic shear surfaces at higher sponding displacement rates (see Table 1) during 1999–2010
596 SOIL MECHANICS AND THE OBSERVATIONAL METHOD
160
pervious horizons encountered in the wells. The discharge
of the 14 wells in the region of cross-section XVIE
(measured once continuous pumping started in 2008)
140 06 Sept. 2013 varies considerably between 0 .5 m3/h and 8 m3/h, with a
trend to decrease slowly with time.

120 Four other wells were installed close to section XVIIIE,

and another close to cross-section XVIIE. Since mid-2012
19 Feb. 2008
the discharge from individual wells has varied between
0 .1 m3/h and 4 .0 m3/h. This range of well discharge reflects
100 the complexity of the local geology, with the efficiency of
26 Sept. 2008 the relief wells depending on the continuity of the pervious
Elevation: m asl

horizons and their contrast with the very low permeability

80
60
40
20
0
0 40 80 120 160
Cumulative displacement: mm
Fig. 16. East dam, response of deep inclinometer located on the
dam
in the region of cross-section XVIE, the following stabilisa-
tion measures were implemented.
(a) Construction of a stabilisation berm at the toe of the dam. In
view of the observed mechanics of the movement, the
effectiveness of the berm is mostly controlled by the residual
shear strength (6 .58 , 9r , 88) available on the glacio-
tectonic shear surface on which most shear displacements
occur.
(b) Relocation of the dam crest 150 m towards the pond. This
remedial measure was implemented when the dam crest
was at 165 m asl; it only became effective after further
impounding above this elevation (see Fig. 17).
(c) Drilling of 20 relief wells, 105–150 m deep, located at the
starter dam and on the side-slopes of the dam, at elevations
up to 165 m asl. These wells are screened over the entire
thickness of the Pliocene deposits to intercept any
(k , 1 3 109 m/s) of the Pliocene clay.
The stabilisation measures described above were imple-
mented during 2007–2009. In spite of some doubts regarding
the precise mechanisms involved, the stabilisation of the
East dam has been effective, resulting in a reduction of
movement measured on the starter dam of between 10 mm/
year and 15 mm/year, about one third of the rate observed
previously (see Fig. 13 and Table 1).
The response of 32 selected vibrating wire piezometers
located in the area influenced by the relief wells allows the
following tentative conclusions. Since commencing the in-
stallation of the relief wells in mid-2008, although most of
the vibrating wire piezometers show a trend of either
reduced or constant pressures, some piezometers display
200 increasing pore pressures. During this period the dams have
increased in height by 1 m to 1 .5 m per year, which will
have increased the stresses on the foundation soils; the
increased pore pressures are therefore presumably the result
of local stress increases experienced by the piezometers.
Other uncertainties are linked to the considerable spatial
variability of the foundation soils, which makes it almost
impossible to know the location of each piezometer with
respect to the drainage boundaries. Table 2 shows the
response of 14 East dam piezometers located between cross-
sections XIVE and XVIIIE where the relief wells are in use,
showing those with the most significant decrease of pore
pressure (DiBiagio & Strout, 2013). This table gives the
elevation of the static ground water level at natural ground
level prior to dam construction, and thus indicates the excess
pore pressure due to dam construction. Each piezometer has
its filter embedded in Pliocene clay.
Figure 18 shows examples of three vibrating wire piezo-
meters which are responding to two nearby relief wells.
Despite the complex stratigraphy of the Pliocene sediments
it can be seen that these piezometers provide encouraging
examples of the effectiveness of the relief wells in reducing
the excess pore pressure under the dam. Regardless of all
the uncertainties linked to the random response of the wells
in terms of their yield, and of the piezometers in terms of
the pore pressure changes with time, the reduction of the
displacement rate of the East dam can probably be largely
ascribed to the operation of the relief wells.

North dam
Although only about half as high as the East dam, the
North dam (original ground level between 137 and
141 m asl; starter dam elevation ffi 145 m asl, ground water
table 3–5 m deep) started exhibiting horizontal displacements
in 2006/2007, a trend that has increased with time. Fig. 19
shows the movements of the northern starter dam since
2008. These displacements are localised along two lengths
of the dam between cross-sections VaN-IXN and XIVN-
Dam crest moved 150 m towards pond XIXN. The intervening length of dam, near cross-section
XN, is subject to much smaller movements. Fig. 20 shows
Fig. 17. East dam, relocation of dam crest the history of the North Dam construction, together with the
 JAMIOLKOWSKI 597
Table 2. East dam – response of 14 vibrating wire piezometers to relief wells operations according to NGI report by DiBiagio & Strout
(2013)

Cross-section Piezometer Groundwater level elevation: m asl Filter elevation: m asl ˜u: kPa

XVIIIE 7A 168 .4(D) 60 .4 200 Pliocene clay

XVIIIE 7B 168 .4(D) 81 .4 120 Pliocene clay
XVIIIaE 1A/1 157 .7(D) 66 .7 100 Pliocene silty clay
XVIIIaE 1A/2 157 .7(D) 66 .7 100 Pliocene silty clay
XVIIIE 1A 166 .3(D) 37 .3 80 Pliocene clay
XVIE 5B/2 136 .6(SD) 85 .6 40 Pliocene silty clay
XVIE 5B/2 115 .3(SD) 89 .3 40 Pliocene silty clay
XVIIIaE 2B/1 136 .6(D) 85 .6 30 Pliocene clay
XVIE 6A/1 115 .3(SD) 41 .3 30 Pliocene clay
XVIE 6A/2 115 .3(SD) 41 .3 30 Pliocene clay

Note: Original ground level elevation: 116 m asl; starter dam elevation: 135 m asl; groundwater level, depth 1 m to 3 m below ground level;
(D) ¼ dam; (SD) ¼ starter dam.

220 180

Piezometric head:

Piezometric head:
Pz1A Pz7A
210 170
Well 2

m asl
m asl
200 160
190 150
n
Pz7A Sectio Pliocene clay Pliocene clay
Pz7B XVIIIE 180 140

2011
2012
2010

2014
2008
2009

2013

2011
2012
2010

2014
2008
2009

2013
Year Year
Pz1A
165

Piezometric head:
Pz7B
155
WV piezometer PZ Elevation: m asl

m asl
Ground level Filter 145
Relief wells
Well 1 1A 166 37 135
N Start of pumping 7A 168 61 Pliocene clay
7B 168 82 125

2011
2012
2010

2014
2008
2009

2013
Year

Fig. 18. East dam, cross-section XVIIIE: example of vibrating wire piezometers response to relief wells operation (adapted after DiBiagio
& Strout (2013))
Horizontal distance: m
BM 312·04

BM 302·03

0 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400

⫺50
BM 304
BM 312

E W
Sept. 2008
0
Sept. 2009

Sept. 2010
50
Horizontal displacement: mm

Sept. 2011

100 Sept. 2012

Sept. 2013
150
XIXN
IVN

VN

200
XN
IXN
VIN

XNIIIN
XVIIN
XIVN

XVN
VIIIN
VIIN

250
XVIN

Cross-sections
300

Fig. 19. Northern starter dam: plan view of horizontal surface displacements

time history of horizontal displacements of BMs 304 and displacements (and the displacement rates) of cross-section
312, located on the starter dam, from 1987. IXN (Fig. 19) remain lower than those of adjacent cross-
Table 3 summarises the horizontal surface displacement sections VIIIN and XVIN, although with a slight trend to
during the period 2010–2013 for the two benchmarks shown increase with time.
in Fig. 20. During the same period the corresponding Unlike the East dam, the horizontal displacements of the
598 SOIL MECHANICS AND THE OBSERVATIONAL METHOD
200
Updated as of
September 2013
190
Dam crest elevation: m asl

179
175·5
175
180

170
167·5
165
162·5

Dam height 39 m
170

157·5

160
152·5

155
160

150
145
150
142

142

142·0 Original ground level

140

500

BM-312, 312·4 – Section VIII-N

Horizontal displacement: mm

400 BM-304, 304·03 – Section XVI-N

300

200

100

0
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Year

Fig. 20. Cross-sections VIIIN and XVIN: construction history and horizontal surface displacements

Table 3. North dam horizontal surface displacements rates of
benchmarks quoted in Fig. 20
Section VIIIN
mm/year
32 .9
22 .0
29 .7
90 .0
41 .0
Note: Total displacements (section VIIIN) from 1987 to December
2013: 283 mm; total displacements (section XVIN) from 1987 to
December 2013: 408 mm.
North dam are accompanied by heave of the crest of the
starter dam and of the adjacent area downstream of the dam
toe (see Fig. 21), which in correspondence with the cross-
section VIIIN, at the end of 2012, reached 66 mm. The
geodetic surveys carried out in 2013 suggest that the rate of
heave of cross-section VIIIN has reduced to a few mm/year
or has even ceased, while cross-section XVI has maintained
a rate of about 9 .5 mm/year, where the total heave is, how-
ever, smaller, about 35 mm. Table 3 gives the impression
that the movements of cross-sections VIIIN and XVI tend to
alternate with time, which displays the greater displacement
rate. However, the results of the inclinometer measurements
given in Fig. 22 (inclinometers 16aN-7A and 7N-7A), show
that the horizontal displacements at depth on the glacio-
tectonic shear planes are greater than those measured at the
starter dam. This trend is common to all ten inclinometers
located in the area of cross-sections VIIN and XVIN (see
Table 4).
The inclinometer data shown in Fig. 22 indicate that
neither inclinometer casing is fixed at the toe, which is
typical for all inclinometers in the East and North dams. As
Section XVIN stated earlier, all inclinometers have been interpreted using
the ‘top-down’ approach.
Year mm/year Year Both Table 4 and Fig. 22 demonstrate that the mechanism
of the movements of the North dam is different and more
2008–2009 27 .9 2008–2009 complex than that of the East dam. Although horizontal
2009–2010 21 .8 2009–2010 displacements occur on glacio-tectonic shear planes, the
2010–2011 51 .7 2010–2011
inclinometers indicate that there is also rotational movement.
2011–2012 38 .0 2011–2012
2012–2013 83 .0 2012–2013
This is consistent with the data in Table 4, which show that
the horizontal movement of the top of the inclinometers is
less than at the depth of the active glacio-tectonic shear
planes. This trend is more pronounced for inclinometers
installed within the dam at higher elevations, compared to
those in the starter dam.
As a consequence of the high displacement rates of the
North dam, and the observed heave of the starter dam,
stabilisation measures are presently being implemented. In
view of the positive response of the East dam to remedial
measures, similar stabilisation measures have also been
adopted for the North dam.
In 2012 the crest of the entire length of the North dam,
then at elevation of 175 m asl, was realigned 100 m inwards
towards the pond. Of the 36 relief wells planned as remedial
measures for the North dam, six have already been installed,
three near cross-section VIIIN, and three in the region of the
cross-section XVIE. These wells have been in operation
since March 2013. The remaining relief wells will be
installed and brought into operation over the next 12–18
months. The small number of wells, and the limited time
over which they have been in operation, has not yet had an
effect on the movements of the North dam, although a few
of the vibrating wire piezometers are exhibiting a reduction
in pore pressure.
 JAMIOLKOWSKI 599
Horizontal distance: m
0 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400
100

BM 304·02
BM312·6

BM 304
BM314
E W

Sept. 2013
Vertical displacement: mm

50
Sept. 2012
Sept. 2013
Sept. 2011
Sept. 2012
Sept. 2010
Sept. 2011
Sept. 2009

0 Sept. 2010
Sept. 2008
Sept. 2009

XVIIN
XVIN
XN
VIIN

XVIIIN
IXN

XVN
VIN

XIXN
VIIIN

XIVN
IVN

VN

⫺50 Cross-sections

Fig. 21. Cross-sections VIIIN and XVN: heave of the nothern starter dam, benchmarks (BMs) 314, 312 .06, 304, 304 .03

The discharge rate given by the wells is as random as boreholes drilled to depths between 90 m and 100 m,
experienced at the East dam, ranging between about 0 .5 m3/h and were sent to three geotechnical laboratories: Geoteko
and 4 m3/h. (Warsaw, Poland), Ismgeo (Bergamo, Italy) and Norwegian
Because of the intensity of the glacio-tectonic disturbance Geotechnical Institute (NGI, Oslo, Norway). The following
experienced by the dam foundation, the success of the tests were carried out, concentrating on the Pliocene clay
stabilisation measures at the North dam cannot be taken for
granted. (a) index properties and grading curves
In comparison with the behaviour of the East dam, a (b) in-situ stress state
period of at least 12–18 months may be necessary before a (c) shear strength: undrained (not discussed here), drained
reduction of the displacement rate is observed, the only and residual strength tests
criterion that can be used to assess the effectiveness of the (d ) stress–strain–time behaviour.
stabilisation measures. Given the behaviour of the East and
North dams it is worth recalling a statement by Hutchinson Figures 23–26 summarise the results of the index proper-
(1995): ‘In any stability problem the most important ques- ties and grading of the clay samples. The ranges of the
tion is generally whether or not pre-existing discontinuities, depth over which the inclinometers indicate the presence of
especially shears, are present.’ The behaviour of the Zelazny glacio-tectonic shear planes are indicated.
Most ring dam is an excellent example that confirms fully Figure 23 reports the variation of the bulk unit weight, ªt
the wisdom of this statement. Since KGHM intend to raise with depth, which ranges between 20 .5 kN/m3 and 22 .0 kN/m3.
the ring dam to provide eventual further storage capacity of Somewhat lower values, 19 .5 kN/m3 to 20 .0 kN/m3, are found
about 500 3 106 m3 of tailings until the ore body is ex- within the zones containing intensely slickensided clay.
hausted in 25–30 years, the Zelazny Most development The specific gravity, GS, of the Pliocene clay, is
strategy needs to be carefully re-examined. 2 .70  0 .02. The clay fraction (CF) varies as a function of
wl and typically falls in the following ranges: for wl , 70%,
CF ¼ 50  12%, and for wl . 70%, CF ¼ 66  15%. Fig. 24
GEOTECHNICAL SITE CHARACTERISATION shows the values of the natural water content wn, together
Foundation soils with the values of the Atterberg limits.
The characterisation of the foundation soils considered In spite of the scatter, the data shown in Fig. 24 seem to
here refers mainly to the East dam, where movement was suggest that the zones containing intensively slickensided
first observed. A representative soil profile is exhibited by clay layers are characterised by fairly high values of wn (e.g.
cross-section XVIE as shown in Fig. 10. The upper strata Skempton & Petley, 1967) and very high values of wl. This
are of mainly sandy deposits, with a combined thickness of is particularly evident in the deeper slickensided zone, which
about 10 m. Below, well beyond the maximum depth ex- is the most active shearing plane under the East dam. Fig.
plored of about 100 m, are Pliocene deposits, consisting 25, shows that the values of liquidity index (LI) vary be-
mainly of fresh water medium to very high-plasticity clay. tween 0 .0 and 0 .2, and that the values of clay activity (Ac)
As previously stated, the extreme spatial variability of the range between 1 .0 and 1 .4. To complete the review of the
Pliocene sediments makes it very difficult to develop a index properties, Fig. 26 shows the variation of initial void
satisfactory geotechnical model. ratio, e0, of the Pliocene clay, which ranges between 0 .40
For this reason, the soil investigation was carried out and 0 .75. Again, note that there is a concentration of higher
downstream of the dam, more than 100 m downstream from values in the zones of intensely slickensided layers.
the toe of the starter dam, to ensure that laboratory and in- With respect to the degree of saturation, the clay can be
situ test results were not affected by the presence of the regarded as fully saturated (Sr ¼ 1), the values .1 .0 result-
dam. Undisturbed samples were retrieved from a series of ing from measurement errors in the values of wn and/or GS.
600 SOIL MECHANICS AND THE OBSERVATIONAL METHOD
160
Table 4. Response of inclinometers on the North dam

Incl. no. Head: Toe: Shear plane: sh max =sh0

m asl m asl m asl
140
Starter dam:
14 Nov. 2013

29 July 2008
5aN-7 145 57 98 1 .07
5aN1–9 145 85 113 1 .08
120 9N1–9 146 52 67 1 .43
16N-7 146 82 89 1 .22
16aN7 146 60 80 1 .29
Elevation: m asl

Dam:
100
5aN-8 165 65 74 2 .31
7N-7 151 95 62 1 .92
9N2–9 160 68 82 1 .43
16aN-8 165 65 91 1 .74
80 9N4–10 178 49 120 2 .78
 Active shear plane.
Sh0
Casing head
60

40
0 100 200 300 Sh max
Cumulative displacement: mm Shear
(a) plane

Depth
160

2 Dec. 2013
140

28 July 2008 Note: sh0 ¼ inclinometer head horizontal displacement; sh max ¼ maxi-
mum displacement at shear plane elevation.
120

γt: kN/m3
Elevation: m asl

15 17 19 21 23 25
0
100
10

20
80
Depth below original ground level: m

30

60 40

50

Intensely
40 slickensided
0 100 200 300 60
layers
Cumulative displacement: mm
(b)
70
Fig. 22. Northern starter dam, response of deep inclinometers:
(a) 16aN-7 A; (b) 7N-7 A
80

Permeability of the Pliocene clay. Figure 27 reports the 90

values of the coefficient of permeability, k, deduced using the
empirical correlation approach of Feng (1991). However,
100
since there are randomly spaced sandy and gravelly layers of
variable extent in the Pliocene clay, these laboratory values of Fig. 23. Pliocene clay: bulk unit weight
 JAMIOLKOWSKI 601
wn: % wl: % wp: % Ip
0 20 40 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 0 20 40 0 20 40 60 80 100
0 0

10 10

20 20
Intensely
Depth below original ground level: m

slickensided
30 30
layers

40 40

50 50

60 60

70 70

80 80

Intensely
90 slickensided 90
layers

100 100
(a) (b) (c) (d)

Fig. 24. Pliocene clay: water content and Atterberg’s limits: (a) natural water content; (b) liquid limit; (c) plastic limit; (d) plasticity
index

Activity, Ac Liquidity index, IL e0 Sr

0 1 2 ⫺2 0 2 0 0·4 0·8 1·2 0·8 1·0 1·2
0 0

10 10

20
20
Depth below original ground level: m

30
Depth below original ground level: m

30

40
40

50
50

60
60

70
70

80
80 Intensely
Intensely slickensided
slickensided 90 layers
90 layers

100
100
Fig. 26. Pliocene clay: void ratio and saturation degree
Fig. 25. Pliocene clay: activity and liquidity index

pore pressure measurements. For these reasons the assess-

k do not represent the bulk permeability of the foundation ment of equivalent field scale k values was made by trial
soils at the field scale. The bulk value of k in the field is and error procedure, using a coupled effective stress con-
certainly higher than the laboratory values. Consequently the solidation finite-element analysis (FEA). In this analysis the
extreme spatial variability of the soils at Zelazny Most makes best estimate of field equivalent k was taken as that which
any in-situ or large-scale laboratory tests difficult to carry out gave the best fit to the observed horizontal displacements
and of only local validity. and excess pore pressure measured in cross-section XVIE.
This conclusion is supported by the observed randomly The range of field scale results, also given in Fig. 27, can
variable discharge from the relief wells, and by the variable be, to a first approximation (at least for cross-section XVIE),
602 SOIL MECHANICS AND THE OBSERVATIONAL METHOD
k: m/s
1 ⫻ 10⫺13 1 ⫻ 10⫺12 1 ⫻ 10⫺11 1 ⫻ 10⫺10 1 ⫻ 10⫺9 1 ⫻ 10⫺8 1 ⫻ 10⫺7
high negative pore pressures upon removal of the in-situ
0 total stresses when sampling.
Figure 28 also shows the initial in-situ state of the
Pliocene clay at the end of melting of the ice sheet (EIM),
10 as simulated in the FEA. The FEA simulation generates in-
Laboratory tests situ states, which are in agreement with the laboratory tests.
The results of this analysis are discussed in the next section.

Equivalent permeability of Pliocene clay deposits at field scale

20
An example of the suctions measured in the Pliocene clay,
using the Ridley and Burland suction probe (Ridley & Bur-
30 land, 1993, 1995), is shown in Fig. 29, taken from Chandler
Depth below original ground level: m

et al. (2011). The measurements were made in a field

laboratory shortly after sampling, on selected clay samples
40 lacking any significant amount of silt. The favourable condi-
tions for sampling enabled an assessment of the coefficient
of earth pressure in Pliocene clay using these suction meas-
50
urements.
The evaluation of the coefficient of the earth pressure at
60
rest (K 0 ¼  h90 = v90 ) based on suction measurements origi-
nates from Skempton (1954). Assuming that the soil is
isotropic, elastic and fully saturated, and assuming that
70 Skempton’s pore pressure coefficient AS is 1/3 (Skempton,
1954), K0 can be computed by means of the following
formula.
80
K 0 ¼ (3pk   v90 )=2 v90
where pk is the measured suction,  v90 is the effective
90
vertical stress, and  h90 is the effective horizontal stress.
The values of pk measured on the Pliocene high-plasticity
100 clay samples, ignoring the samples containing silty lenses,
Fig. 27. Pliocene clay: permeability coefficient Coefficient of
Suction measured, pk: kPa earth pressure, K

regarded as the ‘equivalent’ bulk coefficient of permeability 0 400 800 1200 1600 2000 0 2 4
0
for the Pliocene deposits, obtained as described above.
10

In-situ initial state and stress history. This is examined using

the results of tests on undisturbed specimens of the Pliocene 20
clay. Fig. 28 shows the in-situ initial state of the tested
specimens, plotted in terms of effective overburden stress 30
( v90 ) and void index Iv (Burland, 1990).
The same figure also shows the intrinsic compression line
(ICLoed), the one-dimensional compression curve for recon- 40
SL
Depth below original ground level: m

stituted normally consolidated clay; that is, a clay that has

neither sensitivity nor bonding (Skempton & Hutchinson, 50
1969; Burland, 1990; Cotecchia & Chandler, 1997; Chandler,
2000, 2010). 60
As will be seen, all the undisturbed samples exhibit an
initial in-situ state well below the ICLoed (see Fig. 28). This
condition, together with the low values of k, the negative 70
SL
values of LI and the lack of bonding, is conducive to high-
quality undisturbed sampling, thanks to dilation generating 80
Intensely slickensided layers
2
90

1
Intrinsic compression line 100
Burland (1990)
0
Void index, Iv

110
⫺1
EIM
120
⫺2

3D-FEA, EIM, 130

⫺3 ice sheet 1 km high
Laboratory
K from finite-element analysis
⫺4
10 100 1000 10 000 100 000
Fig. 29. Measured pk and computed K values (SL: intensely
Fig. 28. Undisturbed samples of Pliocene clay: in-situ state slickensided layers; EIM: end of ice melting (FEA))
 JAMIOLKOWSKI
are shown in Fig. 29. Also shown in Fig. 29 are the values
of K inferred from the FEA at EIM. The symbol K is used
rather than K0 as the Pleistocene ice sheets will have
imposed a stress state akin to simple shear to the foundation
soils. This implies that radial stress symmetry in the ground
is very unlikely, so the symbol K0 is inappropriate.
The stress history of the Zelazny Most foundation clays
can reasonably be modelled as a mechanically overconsoli-
dated clay, subjected in the past to a maximum vertical
effective stress  v9 max , considerably higher than the current
 v90 : Based on geological evidence it can be postulated that
during the Pleistocene the foundation soils at Zelazny Most
were subject to at least three cycles of ice sheet transgres-
sion and subsequent melting. The thickness of the ice sheets
probably ranged between 800 m and 1200 m. In the follow-
ing, neglecting the effect of the several loading–unloading
cycles to which the Pliocene sediments must have been
subject in the past, it is assumed that there was a single ice
advance, which provided a maximum effective overburden
stress  v9 max ¼ 10 MPa, equivalent to an ice sheet thickness
of 1000 m.
Shear strength. The development of the Zelazny Most
depository is an on-going construction project, with frequent
analyses of the stability and displacements of the dams, both
with limit equilibrium and finite-elements methods. These
analyses have to be carried out in terms of effective stresses,
whereby the drained soil strength is of primary interest, in
conjunction with the pore pressures measured in the field. For
these reasons the following is limited to discussion of the
results of drained triaxial compression and extension tests on
undisturbed samples, and of drained ring-shear tests carried
out on reconstituted clay specimens in the Imperial College–
NGI apparatus.
The undisturbed samples were obtained using a double-
tube rotary core sampler with an internal spring-loaded
cutting shoe. The samples had a diameter of 80 mm, and a
length between 600 mm and 800 mm, from which triaxial
603
specimens were trimmed to 50 mm in diameter and 100 mm
high.
The triaxial test types used were
(a) isotropically consolidated, drained compression tests
(TX-CID-C)
(b) isotropically consolidated drained extension tests (TX-
CID-E).
The specimens were reconsolidated to the best estimate of
the in-situ mean effective stress (p9) with K in the range of
1 .5 < K < 1 .7 as obtained from the suction measurements
(Fig. 29).
Figures 30 and 31 summarise the results of the TX-CID-C
and TX-CID-E tests respectively. Figs 32 and 33 show the
stress–strain curves in compression and extension typical of
very high-plasticity (wl > 70%) destructured clay. In compres-
sion there is very limited strain-softening. The stress–strain
curves of the extension tests do not show any deviatoric stress
decrease after reaching peak.
This conclusion does not entirely apply to the results of
triaxial tests carried out on clay specimens of medium to
high-plasticity clays (wl , 70%). These samples contain only
small slickensides, and apparently do not have any signifi-
cant shear planes; in the following discussion such samples
will be referred to as ‘bulk’ clay.
Stress–strain curves for the bulk clay, again with TX-CID-C
and TX-CID-E tests, are shown in Figs 34 and 35. In this case,
curves from compression tests show slightly more post-peak
strain-softening than do the high-plasticity clays, while the
extension test curves do not show any sign of deviatoric stress
decrease after reaching peak.
Figure 36 summarises the effective stress peak friction
angle 9 as a function of wl obtained from triaxial tests on
undisturbed samples of Pliocene clay taken downstream of
the toe of the East dam. These have been interpreted
assuming that, due to the glacio-tectonic disturbance suffered
by the clay, the Mohr–Coulomb strength envelope has an
effective stress cohesion intercept c9 ¼ 0. This disturbance

1800
wl ⭐ 70%: 22·0° ⭐ φ⬘ ⭐ 23·7° 39

1600

44
Compression
wl ⬎ 70%

wl ⭐ 70%

1400 wl 23

1200

59
q
冢 p⬘冢max 6041
1000
q: kPa

q
800 冢 p⬘冢large strain 65 70
66

46 86
47 103
600 54
70 86
77 94
109 85
94 3Mc
400 sin φ⬘ ⫽
51
89 6 ⫹ Mc
105

200 61
wl ⬎ 70%: 13·3° ⭐ φ⬘ ⭐ 17·4°

0
0 400 800 1200 1600 2000
p⬘: kPa

Fig. 30. Drained shear strength from drained triaxial compression test on isotropically
consolidated specimen (TX-CID-C) tests
604 SOIL MECHANICS AND THE OBSERVATIONAL METHOD
1800
wl ⭐ 70%: 26·5° ⭐ φ⬘ ⭐ 27·6°

1600
42

wl ⬎ 70%

wl ⭐ 70%
1400
wl 39

1200

Extension
q 34
1000 冢 p⬘冢max 41 81
q: kPa

84
q 52
800 冢 p⬘冢large strain
49

600 75
85
74
3Me
94 sin φ⬘ ⫽
400 112 6 ⫺ Me
103
51 94
86
200
wl ⬎ 70%: 15·8° ⭐ φ⬘ ⭐ 20·4°

0
0 400 800 1200 1600 2000
p⬘: kPa

Fig. 31. Drained shear strength from drained triaxial extension test on isotropically
consolidated specimen (TX-CID-E) tests

450

400

350

300

250
q: kPa

200

150
Compression
100 East dam – depth ⫽ 70·9 m;
wl ⫽ 114%; Ip ⫽ 81%;
50 CF ⫽ 85%; φ⬘ ⫽ 12·3°

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22
εa: %

Fig. 32. Stress–strain curve of very high plasticity clay from TX-CID-C tests

has affected the Zelazny Most Pliocene sediments in two Both these phenomena will have destroyed the original
ways structure of the Pliocene clay, triggering, particularly under
large overburden stresses, a high degree of face-to-face align-
(a) by inducing enormous shear forces to depths of at least ment of the platy clay particles along the direction of shear,
100 m during the ice advance which is particularly pronounced in very high-plasticity clays
(b) by subjecting the Pliocene clay during the various (Morgenstern & Tchalenko, 1967; Skempton & Petley, 1967;
glaciations to several vertical stress load–unload cycles Lupini et al., 1981; Skempton, 1985; Burland et al., 1996;
in the range  10 MPa, so that swelling during and after Anantanasakul et al., 2012).
ice melting will have changed significantly both the For these reasons the range of 9 values for clays with
mechanical characteristics and the in-situ stress state of wl > 70% (Table 5) is significantly lower than those at the
the Pliocene clay (Chandler, 2010). critical state 9cv , which relate to unstructured, mechanically
 JAMIOLKOWSKI 605

0
Extension
⫺50 East dam – depth ⫽ 74·8 m;
wl ⫽ 94%; Ip ⫽ 71%;
⫺100
CF ⫽ 55%; φ⬘ ⫽ 13·2°
⫺150

⫺200
q: kPa

⫺250

⫺300

⫺350

⫺400

⫺450
0 ⫺2 ⫺4 ⫺6 ⫺8 ⫺10 ⫺12 ⫺14
εa: %

Fig. 33. Stress–strain curve of very high plasticity clay from TX-CID-E tests

1200

1000

800
q: kPa

600

400
Compression
East dam – depth ⫽ 68·0 m;
200
wl ⫽ 60%; Ip ⫽ 39%;
CF ⫽ 37%; φ⬘ ⫽ 25·1°
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22
εa: %

Fig. 34. Stress–strain curve of high plasticity clay from TX-CID-C tests

overconsolidated clays of comparable plasticity. The lower
plasticity clays (40% < wl , 60%) are similarly affected,
although less dramatically, as also seen in Table 5. In this
case, the upper bound of 9 values at the peak falls between
228 and 268, equal to or slightly lower than 9cv of unstruc-
tured clays with comparable plasticity.
The residual shear strength (Skempton & Hutchinson,
1969; Lupini et al., 1981; Skempton, 1985; Wedage et al.,
1998; Georgiannou & Burland, 2001; Toyota et al., 2009)
was assessed at Imperial College London and at NGI using
drained multi-stage ring-shear tests. The ring-shear speci-
mens were consolidated under vertical stresses between
150 kPa and 1000 kPa, and cover the range of wl from 70%
to 100%. The residual friction angle (9r ) values are sum-
marised in Fig. 37.
The use in design of 9r from ring-shear tests is not
directly applicable at Zelazny Most. The reasons for this are
given below.
(a) At both East and North dams the horizontal movement
along the glacio-tectonic shear planes occurs at 908 and
1808, respectively, to the approximate north–south
direction of the ice sheets during the Pleistocene. It
seems likely that, where the direction of movement on
pre-existing shear planes has changed, a higher value of
606 SOIL MECHANICS AND THE OBSERVATIONAL METHOD

⫺200 Extension
East dam – depth ⫽ 95·5 m;
⫺400 wl ⫽ 42%; Ip ⫽ 25%;
CF ⫽ 41%; φ⬘ ⫽ 26°
⫺600
q: kPa

⫺800

⫺1 000

⫺1 200

⫺1 400

⫺1 600
0 ⫺1 ⫺2 ⫺3 ⫺4 ⫺5 ⫺6 ⫺7 ⫺8
εa: %

Fig. 35. Stress–strain curve of medium plasticity clay from TX-CID-E tests

40 12

TX-CID extension
35
Residual friction angle, φ⬘r : degrees

10
TX-CID compression

30 8

25 6
φ⬘cv range
φ⬘

20 4

15 2 Imperial College: 64·2 ⭐ wl ⭐ 74·8%

NGI: 79·5 ⭐ wl ⭐ 98·5%
10 0
φ⬘r range 0 200 400 600 800 1000
Effective normal stress: kPa
5
Fig. 37. Residual shear strength: tests in ring shear apparatus
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Liquid limit, wl: % example Chandler (1977) and Gibo et al. (2002). For
similar reasons it is presumed that values of 9 relating to
Fig. 36. Summary of the drained triaxial tests results extensive glacio-tectonic shear zones will also be larger
than the ring-shear value of 9r :
9 than 9r will be mobilised, at least until substantial
displacement has occurred in the ‘new’ direction. The FEA discussed in the following section considers only
(b) It has been known for some time that when existing the effects of a single ice sheet advance on the shear
landslides are re-activated, the shear strength (9, c9 ¼ 0) strength. The finite-element simulation, however, shows that
inferred from back analysis is often somewhat higher a single cycle of ice melting is enough to reduce the
than measured in the ring-shear apparatus; see for mobilised bulk value of 9 of the intensely slickensided

Table 5. Range of triaxial tests results in terms of M value and 9peak at failure

wl: % TX-CID-C TX-CID-E

M c 9c : degrees Me 9e : degrees

>70% 0 .427 4 0 .664 13 .3 4 17 .4 0 .499 4 0 .625 15 .8 4 20 .4

, 70% 0 .857 4 0 .928 22 .0 4 23 .7 0 .777 4 0 .802 26 .5 4 27 .6
 For the meaning of M and M see Figs 31 and 32, respectively.
c e
 JAMIOLKOWSKI 607
plastic clay (wl > 70%), from peak (228 < 9cv < 248, Cl. Silt Sand Gravel Cobbl.

c9 ¼ 0), to values ranging between 98 to 118. 100

Stiffness at small strains. The shear modulus of the Pliocene 80

sediments at very small strains, G0, including slickensided

Percent passing: %
layers, was measured in situ using shear wave velocities (Vs)
60
in advanced cross-hole tests (CHT) at locations downstream
of the toe of cross-section XVIE [(Jamiolkowski, 2012;
Callerio et al., 2013)], as shown in Fig. 38.
40
Moreover, Vs was also measured in the laboratory, using
bender element tests, on the same undisturbed specimens as
used for triaxial tests. The values of Vs obtained from these 20
tests were, where appropriate, corrected to account for the Specific gravity
differences between the mean effective consolidation stress 2·72 ⭐ Gs ⭐ 2·79
imposed in the laboratory and the best estimate of the mean 0
effective stress at the depth of sampling. 0·001 0·01 0·1 1 10 100
It will be seen that the values of Vs resulting from the Mean grain size: mm
bender elements compare fairly well with those in the field
cross-hole tests. This comparison, considering the geological Quartz 73·0 ⫾ 4·6%
Mineralogical Dolomite 12·8 ⫾ 3·1%
setting and the in-situ initial state (see Fig. 28), suggests that Calcite 3·6 ⫾ 0·5%
composition
the Pliocene clay in situ is destructured, with no or negli- Feldspar 6·1 ⫾ 0·8%
gible bonding between particles. Bassanite ⬍2%
According to the classification proposed by Rocchi et al.
(2012, 2013) the Zelazny Most Pliocene clay can be classi- Fig. 39. Range of tailings grading (used to build the ring dam)
fied as mechanically overconsolidated, with an initial state and mineralogical composition
located below the oedometer intrinsic compression line
(ICLoed), defined by Burland (1990).
Because of the difficulties in sampling the tailings in their
undisturbed state, their characterisation was carried out using
Tailings a variety of in-situ tests, aimed at determining
Since the commencement of their involvement in the
(a) spatial distribution of grading and index properties
Zelanzy Most project in 1992 the IBE has routinely paid
(b) depth of the saturation line below the beach and its
special attention to the geotechnical characterisation of the
changes as the dam is raised
tailings, particularly the possibility of flow liquefaction. The
(c) undrained and drained shear strength, although the latter
coarse tailings from two of the KGHM mines (Rudna and
is not discussed here.
Lubin) are used to raise the ring dam, and are deposited by
spigotting on the beaches of the confining dams. The much Hundreds of static cone penetration tests, both with
finer tailings from the third mine (Polkowice) are deposited (CPTU) and without pore pressure measurements (CPT),
hydraulically directly into the pond. The range of particle have been carried out. Examples of CPTU tests carried out
size distribution of the coarser tailings was investigated by on the beach of the East dam showing profiles of cone
Lipinski (2000), and is shown in Fig. 39, together with the resistance (qc) at various distances from the dam crest are
mineralogical composition and the range of specific gravity, shown in Fig. 40. This also illustrates that the value of qc of
Gs. The plasticity index of the fines from the tailings used to the tailings generally decreases with the distance from the
raise the dam does not exceed 10%. dam crest, a result of the increasing fines content (FC) as
the test location approaches the pond. Similar conclusions
Vs: m/s
can be drawn regarding the distribution of shear wave
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
0 velocity, Vs, measured during seismic cone (S-CPTU) and
seismic Marchetti (Marchetti et al., 2008) dilatometer
10 (S-DMT) penetration tests.
Overall, the down-hole geophysical methods, including the
20 two types of seismic penetration test, have proved particu-
larly useful for the characterisation of the tailings. In
30 particular, the geophysical tests were of great help in asses-
sing the risk flow failure of the tailings.
40 The measurement of compression wave velocity Vp in the
Depth: m

Intensely slickensided CHTs enabled a simple and reliable distinction to be made

50 between fully saturated and near-saturated tailings. This has
layers
become a standard approach, which, having been repeated
60
periodically, enables the location and evolution of the satura-
Intensely slickensided tion line in the tailings to be established.
70
layers Systematic measurements of Vs, when normalised with
respect to the ambient effective stress (Vs1), are a useful
80
index for coarse-grained soils at risk of liquefaction (Robert-
90
son et al., 1992, 1995; Andrus & Stokoe, 2000; Olson,
Cross-hole test 2001; Liu & Mitchell, 2006; Idriss & Boulanger, 2008).
Bender element test – corrected values Measurements of Vp and Vs have been made periodically.
100
Figs 41 and 42 present the results of CHTs carried out at
Fig. 38. East dam: shear waves velocity of Pliocene deposits the East and North dams, showing the position of the
608 SOIL MECHANICS AND THE OBSERVATIONAL METHOD
D ⫽ 40 m D ⫽ 80 m D ⫽ 120 m D ⫽ 160 m D ⫽ 200 m D ⫽ 240 m
40 m 40 m 40 m 40 m 40 m 40 m

qc: MPa qc: MPa qc: MPa qc: MPa qc: MPa qc: MPa

Pond
Dam

10
20
30
40
50

10
20
30
40
50

10
20
30
40
50

10
20
30
40
50

10
20
30
40
50

10
20
30
40
50
0

0
crest 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 2 2 2 2 2
4 4 4 4 4 4
6 6 6 6 6 6
8 8 8 8 8 8
10 10 10 10 10 10
12 12 12 12 12 12

Depth: m
Depth: m
14 14 14 14 14 14

Depth: m

Depth: m

Depth: m
Depth: m

16 16 16 16 16 16
18 18 18 18 18 18

Tailings
20 20 20 20 20 20
22 22 22 22 22 22
24 24 24 24 24 24
26 26 26 26 26 26
Tailings 28 28 28 28 28 28
30 30 30 30 30 30
32 32 32 32 32 32
34 34 34 34
36

Fig. 40. East dam: example of static cone resistance profiles

CH-XIX-7E CH-XIX-1E CH-XIX-4E

CH-XIX-8E CH-XIX-2E CH-XIX-5E
17 m 225 m 96 m

D ⫽ 242 m D ⫽ 338 m

Pond
Dam Elev. ⫽ 170·2 Elev. ⫽ 169·8
D ⫽ 17 m crest 0 0
Elev. ⫽ 165·0 Vp
Dam 0
crest 10 Vp 10

8
20 20
Vp
Depth: m

Depth: m
16
Depth: m

30 30
n line
PH ? ratio
24 Satu
40 40
Tailings
0 32
Vertical scale

50 50
Vs Tailings Vs
5 40 Vs
0 800 1600 60 60
400 1200 2000 0 800 1600 0 800 1600
10 m Vs, Vp: m/s 400 1200 2000 400 1200 2000
0 25 m Vs, Vp: m/s Vs, Vp: m/s
PH ⫽ perched water table
Horizontal scale

Fig. 41. East dam: location of saturation line from Vp measurements

saturation line. Since the compression wave velocity in water  320 m from the initial dam crest at an elevation of
is  1450 m/s, Vp becomes a very accurate indication by 165 m asl (see also Fig. 41).
which to recognise fully and near-saturated tailings, as seen Together with the measured values of Vs, Fig. 44 also
in Fig. 43. For further details see Ishihara et al. (1998, shows Vs1 values normalised with respect to the current in-
2004), Tsukamoto et al. (2002), Nakazawa et al. (2004) and situ effective stresses,  v90 and  h90 : The values of Vs1 below
Takahashi et al. (2006). It can be seen from Figs 41 and 42 the saturation line, which is 6 m below the beach, are all
that, thanks to the effectiveness of the internal drainage greater than 160 m/s, the value which is approximately the
system in the depository, the position of the saturation borderline between contractive and dilative responses to
surface in the tailings, particularly close to the dam crest, is shearing for tailings-like material during monotonic un-
well the below beach level. Table 6 summarises the monitor- drained triaxial tests (Robertson et al., 1995). These rel-
ing results related to the saturation line for the period 1997– atively high values of Vs1 indicate that the likelihood of a
2011. flow failure within the saturated tailings is low. Although not
Figure 44 shows typical Vs profiles obtained from tests strictly pertinent to the issue of static liquefaction, Fig. 45
carried out below the beach of the East dam at a distance of shows an example of the beneficial effects that even slightly
 JAMIOLKOWSKI 609
CH-Va-1N CH-Va-4N CH-Va-7N
CH-Va-2N CH-Va-5N CH-Va-8N
40 m 80 m 80 m
D ⫽ 40 m D ⫽ 120 m D ⫽ 200 m

Pond
Elev. ⫽ 171·1 Elev. ⫽ 170·8 Elev. ⫽ 170·4
0 0 0

Dam
5 5 5
crest

10 10 10

Vp Vp Vp
15 15 15

Depth: m

Depth: m
Depth: m

20 20 20
PH
25 25 25

Tailings
Tailings
ation
0 Satur 30 30
30 li e
Vertical scale

5 35 35 35
Vs Vs Vs
10 m 40 40 40
0 400 800 1200 1600 2000 0 400 800 1200 1600 2000 0 400 800 1200 1600 2000
0 50 m Vs, Vp: m/s Vs, Vp: m/s Vs, Vp: m/s
Horizontal scale

Fig. 42. North dam: location of saturation line from Vp measurements

Compression and shear wave velocities, Vp, Vs: m/s

1800 1800
σ⬘m ⫽ 35 kPa
Wash mortar sand
Compression wave velocities, Vp: m/s

1500 Vp Ottawa sand

1500

1200 1200

900 900

600 600

Vs
300 300

0 0
0 0·1 0·2 0·3 0·4 0·5 0·6 0·7 0·8 0·9 1·0 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 100
B coefficient Degree of saturation, Sr: %

Fig. 43. Saturation degree plotted against compression waves velocity (Valle-Molina, 2006)

Table 6. Monitoring of saturation line location in tailings by Vp measurements (updated

to October 2011)

Dam Year HD: m Lc /DS: m Lc /DS: m Lc /DS: m

VIW 1993 22 NA NA 152/12 .0

VIIIW 24 NA NA 155/10 .5
VIIIW 1997 31 40/14 .0 120/10 .5 200/7 .5
XVIIIE 41 40/31 .5 120/21 .0 200/11 .0
XIXE 2011 62 17/37 .0 242/16 .0 338/8 .0
VaN 38 40/31 .0 120/25 .0 200/21 .0
VIIIW 50 41/31 .0 132/25 .0 217/21 .0

Note: HD ¼ dam height; Lc ¼ distance from the dam crest; DS ¼ saturation depth.

unsaturated states have on the resistance to cyclic liquefac- Dyvik & Høeg (1999); and Høeg et al. (2000)), ‘undis-
tion of Toyoura sand. turbed’ sampling of the tailings has been carried out from
The classification and the index property tests shown in hand-dug pits located in the beach, at varying distances from
Table 7, the only other laboratory testing of the tailings has the dam crest. Thin-wall, sharp edged stainless steel sam-
been undrained triaxial tests. Since 1998 ((Dyvik (1998); plers, 70 mm diameter and 140 mm height, were pushed into
610 SOIL MECHANICS AND THE OBSERVATIONAL METHOD
Shear wave velocity, Vs, Vs1: m/s
the base of the trial pits to take ‘undisturbed’ samples at
0 100 200 300 400
0 depths 1 to 3 m below beach level. These samples were sent
to three different geotechnical laboratories, where after
saturation they were subjected to undrained triaxial tests.
Vs Vs1
The ‘undisturbed’ samples were reconsolidated both isotropi-
CH cally (TX-CIU-C) and anisotropically (TX-CK0U-C).
10 S-DMT
Although the sampling method adopted does not guaran-
tee truly undisturbed specimens, the test results were very
different from those obtained using reconstituted specimens
(see Fig. 46).
Most ‘undisturbed’ specimens initially exhibited contrac-
20 tive behaviour, passed through the phase transformation
(Ishihara, 1993) threshold, before showing continuous dila-
Depth from ground level: m

tion. In contrast, all the reconstituted specimens, apart from

a few prepared by slurry sedimentation, either exhibited flow
collapse, or yielded at an undrained residual strength, Sur
30 (normalised with respect to  v90 ) less than 0 .2.
Moreover, as seen in Table 8 where the behaviour of
undisturbed and reconstituted specimens is compared, not
only is the strength of the ‘undisturbed’ samples greater, but
the values of the small strain shear modulus G0 are also
40 consistently higher. Thus, it appears that the ‘undisturbed’
sampling procedure has at least partially preserved the in-
situ fabric of the tailings. Encouraged by these positive
results (from Lipinski, 2012), two further similar series of
these tests were carried out (Lipinski, 2012), which yielded
50 similar results for ‘undisturbed’ compared to ‘reconstituted’
specimens. The undrained shear strength Su of the ‘undis-
turbed’ tailings obtained from the TX-CKoU-C tests, normal-
Vs1
Vs ised with respect to the axial consolidation stress  a9 , is
given in Fig. 47. Finally, Fig. 48 shows frequency histo-
60 grams, subdivided depending on the value of consolidation
stress  a9 , for all the TX-CKoU-C tests reported by Lipinski
Fig. 44. East dam: shear waves velocity of tailings (2012). The results are classified according to the three
possible modes of behaviour during undrained shear: dila-
tive, contractive–dilative and contractive. This figure con-
3·0 Toyoura sand firms that fully saturated Zelazny Most tailings are barely
Sr ⫽ 0·90 Nc ⫽ 20 cycles susceptible to flow failure, even under effective axial stresses
εs ⫽ 5%, D. A. as high as 1 MPa.
2·5
CRR at partial saturation
CRR at full saturation

FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ZELAZNY MOST

2·0
TAILINGS DISPOSAL FACILITY
Dr ⫽ 40% and 60% As indicated in the section entitled ‘Behaviour of the ring
1·5 dam’, the construction period for the Zelazny Most disposal
facility, which commenced in 1977, is planned to continue
Sr ⫽ 1
until 2042. Thus construction is at present about half
1·0 complete, with the need for additional storage capacity for
Dr ⫽ 40%  500 3 106 m3 of tailings in excess of the 518 3 106 m3
Dr ⫽ 60% Sr decreases presently deposited. However, in light of the continuing
0·5 horizontal displacements along the deep re-activated glacio-
0 500 1000 1500 2000
Vp: m/s
tectonic shear planes below the East and North dams, and
the high construction pore pressures observed in the Plio-
Fig. 45. Effect of partial saturation on the cyclic resistance ratio cene clay, and because of the presence of other shear zones
(CRR) of Toyoura sand (Ishihara et al., 1998; Tsukamoto et al., shown by the inclinometers, a review of the disposal
2002); D. A., double cyclic shear strain amplitude development plans was considered to be mandatory.

Table 7. Index properties of Zelazny Most tailings

328 < 9cv < 348 26 .9 < Gs < 27 .2

Lc: m FC: % e0 emax emin Dr: %

40 14 .5  4 .9 0 .798  0 .055 1 .023  0 .028 0 .531  0 .028 46 .4  8 .2

100 18 .9  7 .5 0 .797  0 .032 1 .034  0 .037 0 .513  0 .036 45 .6  8 .2
140 24 .7  11 .2 0 .847  0 .032 1 .076  NA 0 .510  NA 36 .3  5 .8
200 24 .8  6 .3 0 .897  0 .077 1 .076  0 .049 0 .513  0 .034 29 .3  7 .5
 Fine content, low-plasticity silts.
 JAMIOLKOWSKI 611
γd ⫽ 15·06 kN/m3; D50 ⫽ 0·96 mm; Uc ⫽ 5·2; FC ⫽ 38%; Ip ⫽ 9%

320 320
G0(U)
⫽ 1·24* Dyvik (1998)
G0(R)
240 240
t⬘ ⫽ 1/2(σ⬘a ⫺ σ⬘r): kPa

t⬘ ⫽ 1/2(σ⬘a ⫺ σ⬘r): kPa

*Vs measured during TX tests

e0 ⫽ 0·825
160 160
σ⬘ac ⫽ 250 kPa
σ⬘rc ⫽ 125 kPa

80 80 Undisturbed

Reconstituted

0 0
0 4·0 8·0 12·0 16·0 20·0 0 80 160 240 320 400 480
Axial strian, εa: % s⬘ ⫽ 1/2(σ⬘a ⫺ σ⬘r): kPa

Fig. 46. Undrained triaxial compression tests on specimen consolidated in K0-condition (TX-CK0-C tests) on undisturbed and
reconstituted tailings specimens (Dyvik, 1998)

Table 8. Undrained triaxial tests results on saturated tailings (Dyvik, 1998)

Lc: m FC: % e0 Test B range (G0)1: bar (G0)1U/

type (G0)1R

40 22 0 .811 U 0 .968–0 .991 849 1 .23

0 .809 R 0 .976–0 .996 691
120 24 0 .806 U 0 .950–0 .987 851 1 .20
0 .821 R 0 .971–0 .994 709
200 28 0 .810 U 0 .967–0 .995 857 1 .27
0 .808 R 0 .980–0 .995 674
 TX-CAU-C,  9 : 50, 250 and 500 kPa;  9 = 9 ¼ 0 .5; (G ) ¼ G at  9 ¼ 1 bar; FC: fines
ac rc ac 0 1 0 m
content, low-plasticity silt; U: undisturbed specimens; R: reconstituted specimens.

1200 Furthermore, the idle period will allow time to examine

200 ⭐ σ⬘a ⭐ 1000 kPa
e0 ⫽ 0·92 ⫾ 0·06 the feasibility of plans for the future development of the
1000 FC ⫽ 20 ⫾ 5·4% Zelazny Most facility. This future development requires the
170 ⭐ Vs1 ⭐ 201 m/s
Deviator stress q: kPa

800
600
400
200
0
0 100
Fig. 47. Undrained strength of undisturbed tailings (adapted
after Lipinski (2012))
Because of the large horizontal displacement experienced
by the North dam, the first important decision was to adopt
a 3–5-year idle period, during which the dams will be not be
raised above elevation 180 m asl. This idle period, which is
scheduled to start in 2017, will allow a partial dissipation of
the excess pore pressures in the foundation below the ring
dam, and will provide time to observe the effectiveness of
the stabilisation measures being adopted for the North dam.
Meanwhile, to allow tailings deposition to continue during
the idle period, a new storage facility, the ‘southern exten-
sion’ will be built. This is to be located adjacent to the
South dam, and will have a capacity of  115 3 106 m3 (see
Fig. 49).
Su /σa ⫽ 0·32 ring dam to be raised to 195 m asl, and to store the tailings
K0 ⫽ 0·5 as paste, in cones up to an elevation of 212 m asl.
Given the considerable geotechnical problems at Zelazny
Most, the future development is a significant challenge for
0·32
the engineers responsible for the stability of the dams. Of
paramount importance is to explore the stability of the ring
0·31
dam foundation. Until 2010 this was evaluated solely by
means of the limit equilibrium method. In that year KGHM
0·40
commissioned the NGI to carry out a series of FEAs to
200 300 400 500 600 700 800
explore the stability of the East dam. This was done by
Mean effective stress p⬘: kPa modelling the soil behaviour through constitutive laws of
increasing complexity.
As described in various NGI reports (NGI, 2010, 2011,
2013a, 2013b), in addition to static FEAs, a dynamic
analysis was also carried out to explore the effects of
mining-induced seismicity on the stability of the East dam
and of the tailings. This analysis of mining seismicity is not
covered here as it has limited impact on the stability of the
ring dam, and only a minor influence on the susceptibility of
tailings to flow failure.
The results of the NGI static analyses, summarised in the
following section, take into account the observed excess
pore pressures, the stabilisation measures that have already
been implemented and the active glacio-tectonic shearing
planes encountered in cross-section XVIE.
(a) The analyses, particularly when using the more advanced
constitutive models of soil behaviour, yield computed
horizontal surface displacements, measured at the starter
612 SOIL MECHANICS AND THE OBSERVATIONAL METHOD
σ⬘a: kPa

50 200 400 700 1000

100

Frequency of occurrence: %
80

60

40
TX-CK0U – K0 ⫽ 0·5, 84 tests

7·2%
20

90·8%

58·4%

39·9%

65·5%
2·4%
100%

100%

7%
28%
2%
0%

0%

0%

0%
0

Dilative Contractive–dilative Contractive

q q q
SS
Su(ss)
Yield

Yield Su(ss)
Su(pt)

p⬘ss p⬘ p⬘ss p⬘ p⬘ss p⬘

Fig. 48. Histogram of the undrained triaxial tests results (adapted after Lipinski (2012))

Section XVIE

Incl. 16E1-7
BM 208
Starter

Incl. 16E2-3
Existing dam

BM 207·5

BM 207·4
disposal Beach

Pond 800
BM-208 NGI FEA
Horizontal displacement: mm

600
SGI FEA
SE
Measured

400

200
Fig. 49. Southern extension

0
dam crest (BM-208, Fig. 50 (note that this figure also 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190
shows the results of the back analysis carried out by SGI Dam elevation: m asl
and discussed next)), that are in very good agreement
Fig. 50. Cross-section XVIE, FEA: computed plotted against
with the geodetic survey. measured surface horizontal displacements
(b) At a dam elevation of 175 m asl the factor of safety
FS ¼ 1 .45, inferred from the FEAs using an elastic–
perfectly plastic soil model, is in good agreement with shows as a pronounced increase of the horizontal
the value FS ¼ 1 .40 computed by the limit equilibrium displacement rate.
method. (d ) These analyses suggest that a form of ultimate limit
(c) By raising the dam in steps of 1 .0–1 .5 m the FEAs damage state in terms of the total horizontal displacement
predict failure of the dam when the dam crest elevation and of displacement rate, expressed as a function of the
reaches between 190 m and 198 m asl, depending on the dam crest elevation, might be used.
constitutive soil model and the soil parameters that are (e) The FEAs suggest that it is unlikely to be feasible to raise
used. In all the cases that have been considered, failure the crest of the East dam to the planned elevation of
 JAMIOLKOWSKI
195 m asl without relying on both the beneficial effects of
a significant reduction of the excess pore pressure during
the idle period, and also on the effectiveness of
stabilisation measures similar to those at the East dam.
Neither of these beneficial effects can be taken for
granted given the geological complexities, but must be
confirmed through continuous monitoring. To ensure the
continuity of tailings disposal over the next 30 years
many alternative solutions are being examined, including
the re-activation of the decommissioned tailings disposal
Gilow, dry stacking of tailings to reduce significantly
their volume, and increasing the storage capacity of the
southern extension.
If the 2017 idle period and the various stabilisation meas-
ures are not effective in allowing the ring dam to be raised
to an elevation of 195 m asl, there is another alternative.
This would be to install large-diameter, deep, structural
shafts just downstream of the dam toe (see Fig. 51).
Preliminary FEAs of this proposal carried out by NGI
(2013a, 2013b) have explored the effect of cylindrical shafts
of 18 m diameter and with wall thickness of 1 .9 m, with
depths from 115 to 135 m, spaced 50 m apart; this is
feasible thanks to the new generation of hydromills capable
of constructing diaphragm wall panels to a depth in excess
of 200 m.
As with the previous analyses without a shaft, the results
suggest that the stability of the dam is controlled by the
magnitude of the allowable horizontal displacement. Based
on the NGI analyses, the effectiveness of the shafts appears
quite limited. Assuming a horizontal displacement of the
starter dam of 1 .5 m to be the threshold for the ultimate
damage state, such a value is attained at about dam elevation
205 m asl.
However, because this value results from analyses that
involve both simplified constitutive relationships and the use
of a conservative peak 9 value (¼ 14 .58) for the bulk
Pliocene clay, the analyses underestimate the shaft efficiency.
613
consider the same foundation soil profile, dam geometry and
construction rate.
The SGI analyses assumed effective stress coupled con-
solidation, and investigated the dam behaviour without a
shaft in two dimensions, and with shafts in three-dimensional
conditions. The FEA model with the shaft included is shown
in Fig. 52.
Displacement along the bottom boundary is prevented,
while rollers are applied at the vertical boundaries. The
finite-element mesh consists of 61 272, 15-noded tetrahedral
zone elements with 171 009 nodes.
The characteristics of the shaft adopted in the model are
shown in Fig. 52, where D0 is the external diameter, t the
wall thickness, L the length and s the spacing between
shafts. The shaft was modelled by cylindrical shell elements,
and interface elements were employed to avoid refining the
mesh around the shaft. The constitutive model adopted for
the shell elements and related material properties are repre-
sentative of good quality concrete. The constitutive model
adopted for the Pliocene clay was developed by Rocchi et
al. (2012) for mechanically overconsolidated, high-plasticity
clay, taking into account strain softening in shearing.
Strain softening is a result of one or more of the follow-
ing phenomena: loss of dilatancy/interlocking, previous
⫹200 m asl Circular shaft
D0 ⫽ 21 m
t ⫽ 1·5 m
L ⫽ 120 m
1° s ⫽ 2·3 m
2°
48 m

150 m
To add further detail on the use of deep shafts as a potential 950 m
Shear planes
stabilisation measure for the North dam, an FEA carried out wl ⭓ 70%
independently by Studio Geotecnico Italiano (SGI) of cross- 1°, elev. 75 m
section XVIE is described (Rocchi & Da Prat, 2014). Before 2°, elev. 45 m
going into details it is worth pointing out that results of the
analyses by both NGI and SGI are comparable because they Fig. 52. East dam: finite-element model with circular shaft
Incl. XVIE1-3
BM 208·1

Q Quaternary sands

Pl Pliocene sands

Pl Pliocene clay
BM 208·0

W ⫹177·5 E
180 ⫹170 180

160 160
Starter
dam Berm
140 Tailings 140
Shaft
120 120
Elevation: m asl

Elevation: m asl

100 100
Pl
Pl Q ⫹75
80 80
120 m

60 Pl 60
Glacio-tectonic shear surface ⫹42
40 40

20 Pl Glacio-tectonic shear surface 20

0·00
0 0

0 50 100 m

Fig. 51. East dam: cross-section XVIE with shaft

614
consolidation under a very high overburden stress and the
development of preferred orientation of the platy clay parti-
cles on the slip plane along the direction of shearing.
The constitutive model adopted accounts for both volu-
metric and kinematic hardening, allowing the elasto-plastic
strains to be controlled by the kinematic hardening yield
surface bubble, located inside the modified Cam Clay limit
state boundary surface (see Al-Tabbaa & Muir Wood, 1989;
Atkinson & Stallebrass, 1991; Stallebrass & Taylor, 1997).
The strength softening mechanism, owing to the platy clay
particles’ orientation, was modelled with 9cv degradation,
regarded as a function of the cumulative deviatoric plastic
strain invariant (pd ) (Potts et al., 1990, 1997; Kovacevic et
al., 2004, 2013). The functions 9m plotted against pd adopted
in the analyses for both the bulk Pliocene clay and the two
active glacio-tectonic shear planes are shown in Fig. 53.
The coefficient of permeability k was assumed to vary
with the current specific volume (1 + e), in line with recom-
mendations by Taylor (1948) and Tavenas et al. (1983). The
behaviour of the Quaternary sands was modelled assuming a
simple non-associated elasto-plastic constitutive model, by
way of the Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion, according to
Vermeer & De Borst (1984).
Following the conclusion reached in the ‘Tailings’ section
that the risk of flow failure of the tailings is low, and given
that the stability of the ring dam is controlled by the
foundation soils rather than by the tailings, in the analyses
the behaviour of the tailings was modelled adopting the
same constitutive law as for the Quaternary sands.
The FEAs for the dam with a shaft were performed in the
following stages.
(a) Imposition on the Pliocene clay of an overburden stress of
10 MPa, exerted on the ground surface by the ice sheet.
In this phase, two simplifying assumptions were intro-
duced: a single glacial cycle was modelled, and the
Pliocene clay was taken to be in a truly normally
consolidated state, with Iv and  v90 lying on the Burland’s
(Burland, 1990) ICLoed line. The shear strength of the
clay linked to this assumed initial state corresponds to
9m ¼ 9cv and c9 ¼ 0. The possibility of some shear
degradation of 9cv is ignored.
(b) Melting of the ice sheet, that is, removal in drained
conditions of the vertical load due to the ice, resulted in a
stress path that follows the swelling line of the mechani-
cally overconsolidated material, leading to the current
state in terms of Iv and  v90 being located well below the
intrinsic compression line, ICLoed. At this point in the
analysis the in-situ stress state exhibited an increase of K
Slickensided layer 1° (elev. 75 m) rev. 1
26
Slickensided layer 2° (elev. 45 m) rev. 1
24 Bulk Pliocene clay rev. 1
Mobilised friction angle φ⬘m: degrees
22
20
φ⬘cv
18
16
14
12
10
8 Dam elevation ⫽ 180 m asl
6 EIM
4
0 2 4 6
Deviatoric plastic strain, εpd: %
Fig. 53. East dam: 3D FEA, shear strength degradation functions
SOIL MECHANICS AND THE OBSERVATIONAL METHOD
8 10 12 14 16
(¼  h90 = v90 ), which, at the end of ice melting, ap-
proached conditions close to passive failure (see Fig. 29).
During swelling the plastic strain (pd ), Fig. 53, promotes
both dilation and alignment of the platy clay particles in
the direction of shearing, with a consequent progressive
reduction of the available mobilised value of 9m : This
phenomenon is particularly marked within the intensely
slickensided high-plasticity clay horizons, as can be seen
from Fig. 54. This figure shows that on these horizons,
9cv ¼ 208 has decayed to values of 9 .58 and 10 .08 in the
intensely slickensided layers 1 and 2 respectively by the
end of ice melting. What emerges from Fig. 54
corroborates the results reported by Chandler (2010)
regarding the important changes occurring in over-
consolidated sedimentary clays when subjected to sig-
nificant unloading/erosion.
(c) The dam construction was simulated up to crest elevation
180 m asl, including the crest relocation towards the pond
and the construction of the stabilising berm.
(d ) Push-over analyses raising the dam above 180 m asl to
reach the ‘failure condition’ showed a rapid increase in
the horizontal displacement as the dam crest elevation
increased.
Figure 55 shows the pattern of horizontal displacement
within the dam body with the crest at 195 m asl; at this
point the maximum horizontal displacement equals 1 .3 m.
The corresponding distribution of horizontal displacement
with depth computed for three different dam elevations at
the location of BM-208 is shown in Fig. 56. These analyses
are in good agreement with those carried out by NGI, and
confirmed that the further rise of the dam height above an
elevation of 180 m asl does not offer an adequate margin of
safety unless accompanied by appropriate stabilisation meas-
ures.
Assuming that the stabilisation measures now under con-
struction at the North dam yield positive results, and assum-
Mobilised friction angle, φ⬘m: degrees
5 7 9 11 14 16 18 20 23
115
BM-208
95
EIM
75
Intensely slickensided
55
Elevation: m asl
EIM
Intensely slickensided
35
φ⬘r
15
Bulk Pliocene clay
⫺5 Dam elevation ⫽ 195 m asl
φ⬘r
φ⬘r
⫺25
18 20 22
Fig. 54. Cross-section XVIE: 3D FEA model, computed ö9m
degradation
 JAMIOLKOWSKI 615
Shaft axis

0 0·1 0·2 0·3 0·4 0·5 0·6 0·7 0·8 0·9 1·0 1·1 1·2 1·3 1·4
0 0·1 0·2 0·3 0·4 0·5 0·6 0·7 0·8 0·9 1·0 1·1 1·2 Horizontal dispaclements: m
Horizontal displacements: m

Fig. 55. Cross-section XVIE: 3D FEA model, pattern of horizon- Fig. 57. Cross-section XVIE: 3D FEA model, pattern of horizon-
tal displacements, dam at elevation 195 m asl tal displacements with shaft, dam at elevation 210 m asl

Horizontal displacement: m
Horizontal displacement: m
0 0·4 0·8 1·2 1·6
0 0·4 0·8 1·2 1·6 115
115
BM-208
BM-208

95
95

75
75
Elevation: m asl

55
Elevation: m asl

55

35
35

15
15

⫺5
Dam elevation: ⫹195 m asl
Dam elevation: ⫹180 m asl
⫺25
Dam elevation: ⫹170 m asl
Fig. 56. Cross-section XVIE: 3D FEA model, without shaft,
computed total horizontal displacement profiles
ing beneficial results from the idle period, it is intended to
continue to raise the ring dam (including the remedial meas-
ures implemented at the East dam), with rigorous use of the
observational method. However, if the results of monitoring
do not allow safe construction, a possible alternative solution
is the use of deep structural shafts, as shown in Fig. 51.
The feasibility and effectiveness of this possible remedial
solution has also been examined using FEAs. Vertical shafts
120 m deep, with the properties shown in Fig. 52, were
‘wished-in-place’ in the analysis, and the dam was raised up
to an elevation of 210 m asl at the same construction rate as
previously.
Figure 57 shows the corresponding pattern of horizontal
displacements within the dam body, with the shafts in place,
while Fig. 58 shows the horizontal displacement profiles
with depth computed for the location of BM-2008 for
various dam crest elevations.
Both Figs 57 and 58 indicate that the dam, with the shaft
in place, when raised to 210 m asl exhibits a maximum
horizontal displacement of  1 .4 m. To examine further the
performance of the dam with the shafts in place, horizontal
⫺5
Dam elevation: ⫹210 m asl (shaft)
Dam elevation: ⫹195 m asl (shaft)
⫺25
Dam elevation: ⫹195 m asl (no shaft)
Dam elevation: ⫹180 m asl
Dam elevation: ⫹170 m asl
Fig. 58. Cross-section XVIE: 3D FEA model, computed total
displacements profiles
displacement profiles were computed for points A and B
from the start of construction, as shown in Fig. 59. Point A
is located 2 m downstream of the shaft axis, while point B
is midway between two adjacent shafts. The profiles show
the total horizontal displacement for dam elevations 195 m,
200 m, 208 m and 210 m asl.
At a dam elevation of 210 m asl the maximum horizontal
displacement of point A is 1 .1 m, which occurs at ground
level, while at point B the maximum displacement is 1 .2 m,
at elevation 75 m asl at slickensided horizon 1 (see Fig. 52).
As shown in Figs. 57–59, the dam approaches ‘failure’ in
terms of excessive horizontal displacement at elevation
210 m asl; this is confirmed by the lack of numerical con-
vergence in the computation when attempting to raise the
dam height by an additional 1 .5 m. Moreover, to understand
better the role played by the shaft in controlling the move-
ments of the dam, it is necessary to compare the displace-
ment profiles of Fig. 59 with those of Fig. 60, which show
the displacements at point A after shaft installation. There is
616 SOIL MECHANICS AND THE OBSERVATIONAL METHOD
Horizontal displacements: m Horizontal displacements: m
0 0·2 0·4 0·6 0·8 1·0 1·2 0 0·2 0·4 0·6 0·8 1·0 1·2
115 115
105
Point A
105
Point B Dam elevation ⫽ ⫹195 m asl (no shaft)

95 95 Dam elevation ⫽ ⫹195 m asl (shaft)

85 85 Dam elevation ⫽ ⫹200 m asl (shaft)
75 75
Dam elevation ⫽ ⫹208 m asl (shaft)
65 65
Dam elevation ⫽ ⫹210 m asl (shaft)
Elevation: m asl

Elevation: m asl
55 55
45 45
35 35 Model symmetry B
25 25

24 m
section
Cross-

XVIE
15 15

Shaft spacing
15 m
5 5 2m
⫺5 ⫺5 A
⫺15 ⫺15 Dam Shaft

⫺25 ⫺25
⫺35 ⫺35

Fig. 59. Cross-section XVIE: 3D FEA model, total horizontal displacements profiles at points A and B since start of dam construction

Horizontal displacement: mm Mobilised friction angle, φ ⬘m: degrees

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
115 115
Shaft

BM-208
95

95
75
Elevation: m asl

55 EIM
75
Intensely slickensided
35

15 ⫹180 ⫼ ⫹195 Without shaft*

Elevation: m asl

55
⫹180 ⫼ ⫹195 EIM
⫺5 ⫹180 ⫼ ⫹200
With shaft Intensely slickensided
⫹180 ⫼ ⫹208
⫺25 ⫹180 ⫼ ⫹210 35

*Shaft installed when dam crest elevation ⫽ 180 m

Fig. 60. Cross-section XVIE: 3D FEA model, increment of

15
horizontal displacements plotted against depth at point A after
shaft installation
Bulk Pliocene clay

⫺5
Dam elevation ⫽ 210 m asl
an almost complete lack of shear deformation along the two
slickensided horizons, which suggests that the presence of Dam elevation ⫽ 180 m asl
the shaft inhibits shear displacements along the slip surface.
⫺25 EIM
Owing to the rigidity of the shaft, horizontal forces from the
weak slickensided strata are transferred to the adjacent,
much stronger, bulk Pliocene clay, which acts as a prop.
Similar situations have been described by Alencar et al. Fig. 61. Cross-section XVIE: 3D FEA model: computed ö9m
(1994) and Wedage et al. (1998) in comparable, although degradation
simpler, geotechnical conditions.
Figure 60 also shows the computed profile of horizontal
displacements when raising the dam from elevation 1 .80 m asl In contrast, the values of 9m of the bulk Pliocene clay
to elevation 195 m asl, in the absence of shaft, which shows with the dam crest at elevation 210 m asl show that after ice
significant displacement along the two active shearing planes. melting the bulk clay did not suffer from any appreciable
This figure also suggests that the large increase of the surface strength degradation.
horizontal displacements when the dam is raised from eleva- The writer is fully aware that the shaft analysis presented
tion 200 m asl to elevation 208 m asl can be attributed mainly here is a very preliminary attempt to explore the feasibility
to the rigid-body rotation of the shaft. As shown in Fig. 61, of the use of deep shafts as a possible stabilisation measure.
even in the presence of shaft, particularly in the deeper Owing to its cost, this is an extreme solution by which to
slickensided horizon 2, there is further degradation of 9m , raise the dam to an elevation of 195 m asl (and to store the
which approaches the value close to 9r : tailings paste to elevation of 212 m asl). However, con-
 JAMIOLKOWSKI 617
sidering the significant challenge of enabling completion of express his sincere thanks. First, the author is grateful to the
the Zelazny Most facility, deep shafts need to be considered mine (KGHM), for making available the Zelazny Most
as a remedial measure in case more conventional stabilisa- information and data. Gratitude and recognition are also
tion measures prove to be inadequate in such a complex owed to IBE and Polish geotechnical expert colleagues,
geological and geotechnical environment. whose expertise, and many discussions and good teamwork,
have been crucial during over 20 years of joint efforts on this
demanding project. Specials thanks and recognition in parti-
CLOSING REMARKS cular are extended to Professor R. Chandler for his inspira-
(a) The Zelazny Most area is affected by a number of tion and continuous back-up. His advice has enriched the
geotechnical hazards and the flow liquefaction of the author from both a professional and a critical point of view.
stored tailings, thus the stability of the confining dams is Of the consultants assisting IBE, special appreciation is owed
certainly the most relevant. to NGI for overseeing the monitoring instrumentation and for
(b) The most important geotechnical hazard to the stability of carrying out many high-quality deformation and stability
the dams is a consequence of their location in an area finite-element analyses. Finally, the author wishes to credit
that, during the Pleistocene, experienced at least three the people of Studio Geotecnico Italiano for their assistance
major glaciations. The ice sheets, over 1000 m thick, that with the research, first and foremost Engr G. F. Rocchi.
overrode the area induced substantial glacio-tectonic
phenomena; the most important from a geotechnical
point of view is the formation of extensive sub-planar NOTATION
shear encountered in slickensided high-plasticity clay As Skempton’s pore pressure coefficient
horizons, which controls the stability of the ring dam. Ac clay activity
(c) Overall, as a result of the glacio-tectonic disturbance, the B Skempton’s pore pressure coefficient
Pliocene deposits exhibit an extremely pronounced c9 effective stress cohesion intercept
spatial variability, making the formulation of realistic D distance in metres from the dam crest
geological and geotechnical models impracticable. This Dr relative density
DS saturation depth
has triggered the KGHM decision to develop the Zelazny
D0 shaft diameter
Most depository, applied during the overall 70 years of its D50 mean grain size
planned operation according to the observational method emax maximum void ratio
(Peck, 1969, 1980). emin minimum void ratio
(d ) At present, the Zelazny Most project is half-way through e0 initial void ratio
its planned operation time. The ring dam elevation is Fs factor of safety
close to 180 m asl. Considering the horizontal displace- G0 small strain shear modulus
ments exhibited by the East and North dams, the high G01 small strain shear modulus at  a9 of 98 .1 kPa
construction pore excess pressure measured in the GS specific gravity
foundation clay and the results of NGI’s FEAs, the mine HD dam height
IL liquidity index
following IBE advice, has accepted 3–5 years of idle Ip plasticity index
period, during which the raising of the ring dam will be Iv void index
suspended. In order to avoid the interruption of the K coefficient of horizontal stress
mining operation, an auxiliary southern depository with a K0 coefficient of earth pressure at rest
storage capacity of ffi 115 3 106 m3 has been designed k coefficient of permeability
and its construction is close to being started. L shaft length
(e) As to the flow liquefaction hazard, its likelihood has been Lc distance from the dam crest
attenuated by evidences that Mc q/p9 at failure in compression tests
(i) the depth to phreatic surface in the tailings, Me q/p9 at failure in extension tests
Nc number of stress cycles
especially in the vicinity of the dam shell, is found
PH perched water table
at relevant depths below the beach level p9 mean effective stress
(ii) the majority of undisturbed specimens of fully pk suction measured on undisturbed sample
saturated tailings, during undrained monotonic p9ss mean effective stress at steady state
triaxial tests, exhibit contractive–dilatant and dila- q deviator stress
tant type of behaviour. qc cone resistance
( f ) The future of the Zelazny Most ring dam, which in 2042 Sr degree of saturation
will reach the elevation of 195 m asl, with the tailings Su undrained shear strength
paste stored on the beaches up to elevation of 212 m asl, Su(pt) undrained shear strength at phase transformation
will require Su(ss) undrained shear strength at steady state
s shaft spacing
(i) continuous enhanced monitoring, within the frame- sh max maximum horizontal displacement at shear plane elevation
work of the continued strict application of the sh0 inclinometer head horizontal displacement
observational method t shaft wall thickness
(ii) consideration of the complex geology, the need to Uc uniformity coefficient
conceive and be ready to implement measures capable Vp compression wave velocity
of mitigating the horizontal dam displacements; this Vs shear wave velocity
will involve considering the already-known active Vs1 normalised shear wave velocity
shear planes, as well as those dormant existing in the wl liquid limit
foundation clay, which may be reactivated after the wn natural water content
resumption of the ring dam raising. wp plastic limit
ªd dry unit weight
ªt bulk unit weight
a axial strain
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS pd deviatoric plastic strain
The author’s work was made possible by the support and r radial strain
assistance of a number of people to whom he would like to s shear strain
618 SOIL MECHANICS AND THE OBSERVATIONAL METHOD
 a9 axial effective stress
 a9c axial consolidation stress
 h9 horizontal effective stress
 h90 horizontal geostatic effective stress
 r9 radial effective stress
 r9c radial consolidation stress
 v9 vertical effective stress
 v90 vertical geostatic effective stress
 v9 max maximum past effective overburden stress
9 peak friction angle
9c friction angle from triaxial compression tests
9cv friction angle at critical state
e friction angle from triaxial extension tests
9m mobilised friction angle
9r residual friction angle
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 Vote of thanks for the 53rd Rankine Lecture
The following vote of thanks was given by Richard Chand-
ler, FICE, FREng, Emeritus Professor of Geotechnical En-
gineering, Imperial College, London.
Mr Chairman, the two presidents, ladies and gentlemen I
must start by declaring an interest – two, even. Like many
in the audience tonight I have known Michele for many
years, perhaps since the 1960s. I’m not sure how long I have
known you, Mike – as I will refer to you from now on – as
you have always been one of the most regular attenders of
international geotechnical conferences, so you are fixed in
my memory from my formative years in soil mechanics, as
our subject was then called. The second ‘interest’ to declare
is that I have been honoured to have been a member of the
Zelazny Most board of experts – or ‘IBE’ – since its
inception.
Mike, we are very much indebted to you for the clear
manner in which you have summarised the geotechnical data
from Zelazny Most, and have drawn attention to the geo-
technical problems of this complex, challenging but fascinat-
ing geotechnical project. To compile so much data, and to
present it so clearly, is a tour de force. We will all look
forward to gaining more insights from the written version.
For me, the highlights of your lecture are numerous, but
from them I will select three examples. First, the sheer scale
of the project, with its more than 14 km length of dam.
When the Zelazny Most IBE commenced its involvement in
1992, at the end of the communist era in Eastern Europe,
the dam at its maximum – at the East dam – was 25 m high.
It has risen at a rate close to 1 .5 m/year ever since, so the
decision that the IBE explicitly took at its inception – at
your instigation, Mike – to use the observational method,
was, at least with the benefit of hindsight, a ‘no-brainer’
The second ‘wow-factor’ is the scale and extent of the
glacio-tectonics, which are quite intimidating and are far
greater than anything comparable in the UK, resulting from
the disturbance to the ground caused by passage of an
unknown number of enormous ice sheets during the Pleisto-
cene. The consequence of this is that the local, small-scale
S3
geology, so important in geotechnics, is extremely complex.
This complexity is such that it is practically impossible to
construct a sufficiently accurate geological model, even
locally where the need is greatest. Most extraordinary is the
apparent extent (and depth) of the near-horizontal shear zone
below the East dam, which seems likely to be continuous
over a distance in excess of 700 m.
These geological conditions make the use of the observa-
tional method imperative – and, incidentally, have resulted in
the installation of some of the deepest inclinometers any-
where in the world.
A third important element of the story, as we have heard,
is the characterisation of the tailings. Careful field and
laboratory testing shows that they are unlikely to be subject
to liquefaction. But in addition, the IBE takes comfort from
the knowledge that the phreatic surface in the tailings close
to the dam, where a failure might be initiated, is surprisingly
deep. This is the consequence of the layered nature of the
tailings, and of the internal circumferential drains which
have been incorporated progressively as the dams have been
raised.
One of the successes of the down-hole geophysics that
have been carried out at Zelazny Most has been the un-
ambiguous location of the phreatic surface. Its position is
not always obvious from piezometric data, given the pre-
sence of perched water tables in the layered tailings.
Mike, your involvement with Zelazny Most fulfils at lest
two roles obvious to me: first, as a chairman of the IBE who
leads from the front, and second, as a link between us, the
IBE, and our Polish geotechnical colleagues who have con-
tinuing, day-to-day involvement with the project and with
our clients at the mine. In both of these roles your diplo-
matic skills are applied to very good effect.
I thank you, Michele, for all your efforts on our behalf,
and for a masterly presentation of a complex geotechnical
construction.
Mr Chairman, I am delighted to propose the vote of
thanks to our 53rd Rankine Lecturer.