Difference in Liquefaction Damage Between Roadway and Sidewalk due to Differences in Impermeable Roadbed Thickness

Abstract

Centrifugal model experiments were conducted to investigate the cause of the difference in liquefaction damage to roadways and adjacent sidewalks. A water film is formed under the roadway’s roadbed during the dissipation of excess pore water pressure after liquefaction. For thick liquefaction layers, water in the film flows under the sidewalk’s roadbed, causing an uplift of the ground surface owing to heaving of the sidewalk. In contrast, when the liquefied layer is thin, the water film formed under the roadbed is thin, and the amount of water flowing into the sidewalk is small; thus, no uplift of the sidewalk area occurred.