Weak rocks of Southern Florida

The geotechnical properties of the young calcareous rocks of Southern Florida are presented on the basis of literature survey and a series of field and laboratory tests. The rocks covered are Miami, Key Largo and Fort Thompson limestones. The paper describes briefly the geology and lithography of the calcareous rocks and the successful methods of sampling them. The field tests included seismic refraction studies, uphole and crosshole wave velocity studies and Menard Pressuremeter tests. The laboratory tests comprised, of index tests and the strength-deformation evaluation tests. In addition to the usual un-confined compression tests usually utilized for evaluating the rigidity of rocks, this investigation provides the results of K Q -triaxial tests. The range of values for porosity, compressive strength and modulus from various tests are presented. The discussion provides a reasoning of the difference in values obtained from various tests. The suitability of various tests in providing a representative mechanical behavior is discussed.