Seismic Hazard Analysis for the City of Jonesboro and Surrounding Counties within Northeast Arkansas (NEA)

Estimation of liquefaction resistance and shear velocities are key elements in the assessment of potential earthquake ground shaking and damage of existing and new construction sites. The Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) and other agencies in the region need ground motion response analysis (GMRA) data of specific construction sites. As part of recent ARDOT’s Transportation Research Committee (TRC) Projects 1603 and 1901, researchers have surveyed 35 construction sites in northeast Arkansas in the last five years. However, these sites are not enough to cover the entire region. Since site specific GMRA analysis is expensive and time-consuming, the proposed study will use the available data from these sites and develop models to predict earthquake resistance parameters of other locations. The current project is a natural extension of TranSET 19GTASU01, which conducted a limited site specific ground motion response (SSGMRA) analysis of five selected sites based on the data available in the literature. The Project Review Committee (PRC) of 19GTASU01 strongly suggested extending the research and perform additional analysis. Thus, the proposed study aims at analyzing 15 additional critical sites in NEA near the City of Jonesboro. Routine soil test data such as standard penetration test (SPT) values available from historical, current, and future construction projects will be used to predict parameters such as liquefaction resistance, peak ground acceleration, and spectrum velocity profiles. Afterward, seismic risk and hazard maps will be developed. Existing literature suggests that the Bayesian analysis-based risk assessment can quantify the uncertainty in a more meaningful way, thus it will be used to develop an alternative decision support tool. Simultaneously, based on uncertainty analysis of GMRA results, standard ground motion prediction equations will be fine-tuned so that they are applicable for regional scales. Northeast Arkansas (NEA) is part of the New Madrid Fault Zone (NMFZ), and agencies such as the ARDOT in the region are in a need of a better seismic map to reduce losses due to the earthquake. The development of the relationship of critical shear wave velocity of liquefaction with depth and the peak horizontal ground surface acceleration during earthquakes will have significant implications in constructing reliable infrastructure. In terms of broad impacts, this project will provide information that contributes to the improvements in the national hazards maps and assess earthquake hazards and reduce losses. The tools developed from the proposed study are expected to be implemented by agencies in the region. The proposed study is aligned with a regional priority of having sustainable infrastructures. Major benefits of the proposed study are (a) reduce earthquake losses and construction costs in the region, (b) enhance training opportunities for students in the region, and (c) build a future workforce

• Supplemental Notes:
  • 21GTASU02

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $68324
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3551747106

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Transportation Consortium of South-Central States (Tran-SET)

  Louisiana State University
  Baton Rouge, LA  United States  70803
• Project Managers:

  Mousa, Momen

• Performing Organizations:

  Arkansas State University

  Department of Engineering
  P.O. Box 1740
  State University, AR  United States  72467
• Principal Investigators:

  Hossain, Zahid

• Start Date: 20210801
• Expected Completion Date: 20230201
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Earthquakes; Liquefaction; Risk assessment; Seismicity
• Geographic Terms: Arkansas
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Planning and Forecasting; Safety and Human Factors; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01833039
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Consortium of South-Central States (Tran-SET)
• Contract Numbers: 69A3551747106
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Jan 20 2022 2:29PM