ASCE has honored Santiago R. Caballero Olmedo, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE; Tejo V. Bheemasetti, Ph.D.; Anand J. Puppala, Ph.D., P.E., F.ICE, Dist.M.ASCE, and Sayantan Chakraborty, Ph.D., A.M.ASCE, with the 2024 J. James R. Croes Medal for the paper “Geotechnical Visualization and Three-Dimensional Geostatistics Modeling of Highly Variable Soils of a Hydraulic Fill Dam,” Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, September 2022.
This study introduces a novel framework that enhances subsurface characterization by integrating geotechnical in situ test data with geostatistical modeling and visualization techniques, focusing on a detailed three-dimensional (3D) analysis of an aging hydraulic fill dam. Through the analysis of 66 cone penetration tests (CPT) conducted across various sections of the dam, the research highlights the high variability in soil properties and employs anisotropic semivariogram models to address the spatial variability and directional anisotropy in these properties. By applying 3D kriging interpolation based on these models, the study successfully creates detailed 3D visualization models of the dam's subsurface conditions, enabling the identification of critical zones prone to geotechnical hazards and offering a significant advancement in the field of subsurface site characterization.
At the time of publication, Olmedo, a geotechnical engineer, was with AECOM Technical Services; Bheemasetti was assistant professor at University of Arizona; Puppala, newly elected ASCE Distinguished Member, is professor and A.P. Florence Wiley Chair at Texas A&M University; and Chakraborty is assistant professor in the civil engineering department of Birla Institute of Technology and Science in India.
The J. James R. Croes Medal is presented to the author or authors of a paper that is judged worthy of the award and to be next in order of merit to the paper to which the Norman Medal is awarded.
