Past experience and future demands related to dynamic analysis of soil and rockfill structures and foundations

Presently many large embankment dams and nuclear power plants are being designed for and constructed in regions of the world where high-magnitude earthquakes form a significant design hazard. For this reason, and for the reason of checking the performance of existing structures, the problem of assessing the dynamic response of soil and rock regions has received much attention over the last decade. Attention to this problem was first given by those who required an acceptable short term solution. Thus, dynamic material testing was matched by simplified methods of incorporating the material test results into a mathematical solution. By these means it was possible to assess the performance of foundations and embankments from the point of view of both dynamic strain and pore pressure response.