Evaluation of I-wall in New Orleans with back-calculated total stress soil parameters

This study back-calculated moduli and shear strength of soils in London Canal Ave., New Orleans, using full-scale load test data, and re-evaluated the behavior of the I-wall to explore how the existing levees and floodwalls may be reliably retrofitted and future levees and floodwalls may be designed. From the back-calculation, it turned out that the moduli of the field soils were mostly higher (1–12 times) than magnitudes appeared in Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force (IPET). But the shear strength of a water-glazed Marsh layer in the gap turned out to be substantially lower (0.2–0.25 times) than the magnitude appeared in IPET. This much strength reduction was confirmed by field vane shear tests: tests with artificial water infiltration into the field vane hole presented immeasurably low disturbed strength and resulted in very high sensitivity that might contributed to the failure. This study also shows that the gap development and strength reduction in the water-glazed Marsh layer are two main causes of levee failure, which have been predicted in previous research. The stiffer-than-expected moduli of underlain layers did not affect the failure mechanism of the levee substantially because these underlain layers remained elastic. Therefore, retrofitting solutions should be the ones that may prevent the gap development and to reinforce the Marsh layer.