The predominant mode of distress for unbound pavement layers is the permanent deformation of the layer either through gradual deformation or rapid shear failure of the layer. Several researchers have related both these forms of permanent deformation to the ratio of the imposed stress over the shear strength of the material. Conventionally, the shear strength of the material was characterised wi...

The velocities of shear waves Vs in two soils, a loamy sand and a sandy clay loam, were measured at various matric potentials and confining pressures. We used a combination of Haines apparatus, pressure plate apparatus and a Bishop and Wesley tri-axial cell to obtain a range of saturation and consolidation states. We proposed a single effective stress variable based on a modification to Bishop’...

Gravitational forces acting on in situ bank material act in concert with hydraulic forces at the bank toe to determine rates of bank erosion. The interaction of these forces control streambank mechanics. Hydraulic forces exerted by flowing water on in situ bank-toe material and failed cohesive material at the bank toe are often sufficient to entrain materials at relatively frequent flows and to...

Water is arguably the most important constituent of microbial microhabitats due to its control of physical and physiological processes critical to microbial activity. In natural environments, bacteria often live on unsaturated surfaces, in thin (micrometric) liquid films. Nevertheless, no experimental systems are available that allow real-time observation of bacterial processes in liquid films ...