Geomorphological and Geotechnical Issues Affecting the Seismic Slope Stability of the Duwamish River Delta, Port of Seattle, Washington

Robert E. Kayen¹, Walter A. Barnhardt¹ and Stephen P. Palmer²

¹U.S. Geological Survey
²Washington Department of Natural Resources

Reprinted from:
Optimizing Post-Earthquake Lifeline System Reliability
Proceedings of the Conference
American Society of Civil Engineers
Held August 12-14, 1999, Seattle, Washington
This abstract is reproduced by permission of the publisher, ASCE

ABSTRACT

Young Holocene deposits of the Duwamish River valley underlie a highly developed transportation-industrial corridor, extending from the City of Kent to the Elliott Bay Harbor Island marine terminal facilities. The deposits have been shaped by relative sea-level rise, but also by episodic volcanism and seismicity. A geologic and geotechnical investigation of these river-mouth deposits indicates high initial liquefaction susceptibility during earthquakes, and possibly the potential for unlimited-strain disintegrative flow failure of the delta front.

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