The Chi Chi earthquake of September 21, 1999 triggered extensive soil liquefaction in Central Western Taiwan. The earthquake presented research opportunities to advance our knowledge in geotechnical earthquake engineering. The granular deposits in this area included mixtures of sand and gravel and silty sand. Reports on the interpretation of field test data in terms of liquefaction potential, under these strong ground motion and soil conditions have been limited. A series of Large Penetration Tests (LPT) and seismic tests using a Multi-channel Analysis of Surface Wave, (MASW) technique were performed in gravelly soils at a test site (Site A) in Wu Feng Township. Another test site (Site B) was established in Yuan Lin Township, where silty fine sand was present near the ground surface. Field tests performed at Site B included SPT, SCPTU, MASW, and in-hole suspension P-S logging tests. The data were evaluated with reference to the earthquake event and currently available methods in assessing the soil liquefaction potential. This paper describes the details of these field experiments and lessons learned from the post earthquake explorations.
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