الفهرس 
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Soft clays are characterized by their low strength, high compressibility and time-dependency of deformations. The physical and mechanical properties of soft clays depend on the stress history, stress state and environmental conditions. In the recent years, the investments in Port-Said region have increased due to its distinguished location at the crossroad of the most important world sea trade route between the East and Europe via Suez Canal. These investments include construction of new ports and logistic areas. Geologically, Port-Said region is considered a part from El-Tina plain, where deposits of very soft to firm clays known as the Port-Said Clay extend to great depths, exceeding 50 meters. The geological history of the area suggests that Port-Said Clay was deposited in a marine environment. Despite the number of geological studies that investigated El-Tina Plain, the geotechnical engineering behavior of Port-Said Clay did not receive the same level of attention.
This study aimed at performing a complete geotechnical characterization of Port-Said Clay through comprehensive field and laboratory testing programs. The programs included Field Vane Shear Tests (FVST), Standard Penetration Tests (SPT), index tests, one-dimensional consolidation tests and triaxial tests. characteristic (design) values were developed for the different physical and mechanical properties of Port-Said Clay. The results have also enabled developing the required design parameters to numerically simulate the constitutive behavior of Port-Said Clay utilizing both the Hardening Soil Model (HSM) and the Soft Soil Creep Model (SSCM). The developed parameters were utilized to carry out a serviceability assessment for an existing quay wall at East Port-Said Port. The undrained (short-term) and drained (long-term) deformation behaviors of the quay wall were investigated in a three-dimensional (3D) model using the parameters developed for Port-Said Clay. Results of the 3D numerical analyses highlighted the paramount significance of considering not only the undrained and drained properties, but also the secondary consolidation effects while investigating the deformation behavior of the quay wall. The long-term horizontal and vertical movement increments due to secondary consolidation reached 23% and 139%, respectively. Results of the three-dimensional analyses were compared with those of the two-dimensional idealization. This comparison showed that the vertical ground movements can be reasonably estimated by the two-dimensional analyses, while the horizontal wall movements are overestimated in the two-dimensional analyses by up to 22% when considering secondary compression effects.