Professors Brandenberg and Stewart shake fragile levee on peaty organic soil

The nees@UCLA mobile field shakers were mounted on the crest of a model levee in the Sacramento - San Joaquin Delta to study the influence of earthquake ground motion on peaty organic soil. The Delta provides fresh water to over 23 million California residents, and a moderate earthquake in the seismically active region would be projected to disrupt water delivery for a period of 28 months. Little is known about the seismic response of the extraordinarily soft peaty organic soils that underlie many of the levees.

Model embankment with MK-15 eccentric mass shaker mounted on crest.