Economic applications of geology are by no means confined to mineral resources (including water and soils). The earth is used by the human race in many other ways. Human habitations and constructions rest on it and penetrate it. It is the basis for transportation, both by land and water. Its water powers are used. In these various relations the applications of geology are too numerous to classify, much less to describe. While only a few of these activities have in the past required the participation of geologists, the growing size of the operations and increasing efficiency in their planning and execution are multiplying the calls for geologic advice. The nature of such applications of geology may be briefly indicated.[64]

FOUNDATIONS

The foundations of modern structures such as heavy buildings, especially in untried localities, require much more careful consideration of the substrata than was necessary for lighter structures. In planning such foundations, it is necessary to know the kinds of rocks to be excavated, their supporting strength, their structures, the difficulties which are likely to be caused by water, and other geologic features. Failure to give proper attention to these factors has led to some disastrous results.

The planning of foundations and abutments of bridges requires similar geologic knowledge. In addition, there must be considered certain physiographic factors affecting the nature and variation of stream flow and the migration of shore lines.

SURFACE WATERS

Construction of great modern dams is preceded by a careful analysis of sub-surface conditions, in regard to both the rocks and the water. It is necessary to know the supporting strength of the rocks in relation to the weight of the dam; to know whether the rocks will allow leakage around or beneath the dam; and to know whether there are any zones of weakness in the rocks which will allow shearing of foundations under the weight of the dam in combination with the pressure of the ponded water. It is necessary to know whether the valley is a rock valley or whether it is partially filled with rock dÉbris; if the latter, how deep this dÉbris is, and its behavior under load and in a saturated condition. Here again physiographic factors are of vital importance, both in relation to the history of development of the valley, and to questions of stream flow and reservoir storage.[65]

Construction of dams is only an item in the long list of engineering activities related to surface waters. River and harbor improvements of a vast range likewise involve geologic factors. Problems of wave action, shore currents, shifting of shores, erosion, and sedimentation, which are of great importance in such operations, have long occupied the attention of the geologist. They belong especially in the branch of the science known as physiography.

Geology in relation to underground water supplies is discussed in Chapter V.

TUNNELS

The digging of tunnels for transportation purposes, for aqueducts, and for sewage disposal requires careful analysis of geologic conditions in regard to both the rocks and the underground water. Knowledge of these conditions is necessary in planning the work, in inviting bids, and in making bids. It is necessary during the progress of the work. Too often in the past disastrous consequences, both physical and financial, have resulted from lack of consideration of elemental geologic conditions.The building of the great New York aqueducts and subways through highly complex crystalline rocks has been under the closest geological advice and supervision. The detailed study of the geology of Manhattan Island through a long series of years has resulted in an understanding of the rocks and their structures which has been of great practical use. In the aqueduct construction the kinds of rock to be encountered in the different sections, their water content, their hardness, their joints and faults, were all platted and planned for, and actual excavation proved the accuracy of the forecasts. An interesting phase of this work was the tunneling under the Hudson at points where the pre-glacial rock channel was buried to a depth of nearly a thousand feet by glacial and river deposits,—this work requiring a close study of the physiographic history of the river.

SLIDES

Slides of earth and rock materials, both of the creeping and sudden types, have often been regarded as acts of Providence,—but studies of the geologic factors have in many cases disclosed preventable causes. A considerable geologic literature has sprung up with reference to rock slides, which is of practical use in excavation work of many kinds.

The cause of such movements is gravity. The softer, unconsolidated rock materials yield of course more readily than the harder ones, but even strong rocks are often unable to withstand the pull of gravity. The relative weakness of rock masses on a large scale was graphically shown by Chamberlin and Salisbury,[66] in a calculation indicating that a mass of average hard rock a mile thick, domed to the curvature of the earth, can support a layer of only about ten feet of its own material. The structural geologist, through his study of folds, faults, and rock flowage, comes to regard rocks essentially as failing structures.

Disturbances of equilibrium, resulting in rock movements under gravity, may be caused by local loading, either natural or artificial. Natural loading may be due to unusual rainfall, or raising of water level, or increased barometric pressure. Artificial loading may come from construction of heavy buildings or dams. Movement may also result from excavation, which takes away lateral support—and such excavation again may be caused by natural processes of erosion or by artificial processes involved in construction. Movement may be caused by mere change in the moisture content of rocks, or by alterations of their mineral and chemical character, affecting their resistance to gravity. In still other cases, earthquakes are the initiating cause of movement.

In unconsolidated rocks, a frequent cause of movement is the presence of wet and slippery clay layers. The identification and draining of these clay layers may eliminate this cause. In certain sands, on the other hand, water may actually act as a cement and tend to increase the strength of the rock. Planes of weakness in the rock, such as bedding, joints, and cleavage, are also likely to localize movement.

Earth materials, and even fairly hard rocks, may creep under gravity at an astonishingly low angle. The angle from the horizontal at which loose material will stand on a horizontal base without sliding is called the angle of rest or repose. It is often between 30° and 35°, but there is wide variation from this figure, depending on the shapes and sizes of the particles and on other conditions. It has been suggested that even the slight differences in elevation of continents and sea bottoms may, during long geologic eras, have caused a creep of continental masses in a seaward direction.

In problems relating to slides, the geologist is concerned in determining the kinds of rocks, their space relations, their structures and textures, their metamorphic changes, their water content and the nature of the water movement, their strength, both under tension and compression, and other factors.

In the digging of the Panama Canal, a geological staff was employed in the study of the rock and earth formations to be met. However, had more attention been paid to geologic questions in the planning stages, this great undertaking, so thoroughly worked out from a purely engineering standpoint, would have avoided certain mistakes due to lack of understanding of the geological conditions. It is a curious fact that in these early stages no strength tests of rocks were made, and that no thorough detailed study was made of the geologic factors affecting slides and their prevention. It was only after the slides had become serious that the geological aspects of the subject were intensively considered. The results of the geologic study, therefore, are useful only for preventive measures for the future and for other undertakings. One of the interesting features of this investigation was the discovery that certain soft rock formations were rendered weaker rather than stronger by the draining off of the water. It had been more or less assumed that the water had acted as a lubricant rather than as a cement.

SUBSIDENCE

Not the least important application of geology to slides is in relation to deep mining operations. While the mining geologist has been principally engaged in exploration and development of ores, he is now beginning to be called in to interpret the great earth movements caused by the sinking of the ground over mining openings. For instance, the long-wall method of coal mining has resulted in a slow progressive subsidence of the overlying rock, affecting overlying mineral beds and surface structures over great areas. Detailed studies have been made of this movement, in order to ascertain its relation to the strength and structure of the rocks, its relation to the nature of the excavation, its speed of transmission, and the possible methods of prevention. German scientists have perhaps gone further with this kind of study than anyone else. In an elaborate investigation of subsidence over a coal mine in Illinois,[67] unusually complete data were obtained as to the nature, direction, and speed of the transmission of strains through large rock masses, and as to their effect in producing secondary rock structures.

RAILWAY BUILDING

In railway building, the planning and estimation of cuts and fills is now receiving geologic consideration, in order to make sure that no geologic condition has been overlooked which will affect costs, the stability of the road, or the accurate formulation of contracts. The location of best sources of supply for ballast is also a geologic problem (see pp. 90-91).

The physiographic phases of geology also are finding important applications to railroad building. The physiographer studies the surface forms with a trained eye, which sees them not as lawless or heterogeneous units but as parts of a topographic system, and he is able to eliminate much unnecessary work in the location of trial routes. Further study of some of the older railroads from this standpoint has led to considerable improvements. Physiographic study has also been applied to railway bridge construction, in the appraisal of the difficulties in surmounting stream barriers. A still broader use of physiography or geography, not popularly understood, is illustrated in the case of certain transcontinental railroads, in the study of the probable future development of the territory to be served—many features of which can be predicted with some accuracy from a study of the rocks, soils, topography, conditions of transportation, and natural conditions favoring localization of cities. The location of new towns in some cases has been based on this kind of preliminary study.

In locating an Alaskan railway close to the end of a momentarily quiescent glacier, troubles were not long in appearing, due to the fact that the glacier was really not as stable as it seemed to the layman. A specialist on glaciers, knowing their behavior, their relations to precipitation, their relations to earthquakes, the speed of their movement, and the periodicity of their movement, was ultimately called into consultation on the location of the railroad.

ROAD BUILDING

Road building in recent years has become a stupendous engineering undertaking, which is requiring geologic aid to locate nearby sources of supply for road materials. A considerable number of geologists are now devoting their attention to this work. It relates not only to the hard-rock geology but to the gravel and surface geology. Certain northern states are using specialists in glacial geology to aid in locating proper supplies of sand and gravel.

GEOLOGY IN ENGINEERING COURSES

Many engineering courses include elementary geologic studies, in recognition of the close relationship between geology and engineering. Men so trained, though not geologists, have been responsible for many applications of geology to engineering. With the increasing size and importance of operations, calling for more specialization, the professional geologist is now being called in to a larger extent than formerly. A logical trend also is the acquirement of more engineering training on the part of the geologist, for the purpose of pursuing these applications of his science.

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