• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.245-255
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• 2008

The variation of the electrical property of embankment material was analyzed from laboratory experiments and the result of field survey, in order to enhance the interpretation of electrical resistivity survey frequently used for safety assessment of embankment. At first, the kaolinite, showing similar physical property with core material of embankment, was used to examine the variation of the resistivity value according to degree of consolidation. The test showed that a drop of shear strength induces increase of resistivity value regardless of degree of water content. This result means that porous zones of weak core material in embankment may be appeared as highly resistive part in the electrical resistivity survey. This observation implies that it may fail to detect weak core material by electrical method, if we only try to and zones showing low resistivity value. And, we performed Standard Penetration Test (SPT) to analyze the correlation between electrical property and ground stiffness. Finally, a mechanism to describe the variation of electrical resistivity due to grouting effect was proposed and real field data were analyzed.