Arthur Casagrande moved from Austria to the U.S. in 1926 at
age 24. He was a professor of soil
mechanics who started the Soil Mechanics program at Harvard University and
conducted research on soil classification, seepage through the earth, and shear
strength. It's likely that the "A-Line"
on the plasticity chart is named after him.
Casagrande earned a civil engineering degree from the
Technische Hochschule in Vienna, Austria in 1924. He continued to work there after graduation
as a full-time assistant in the hydraulics laboratory.
Researcher
Casagrande's first American appointment was to Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1926.
He was a research assistant with the U.S. Bureau of public roads. His work focused on improving apparatus and
techniques for soil testing. In 1929 he
worked again in Vienna, Austria helping to set up a soil mechanics laboratory.
He made several fundamental contributions to the
understanding of soil mechanics:
- Point pressure is induced during undrained
shearing
- Significant differences in mechanical
characteristics between undisturbed and remodeled clay
- Procedures for identifying the preconsolidation
pressure in an overconsolidated soil
- Worked on Atterberg limits (it's possible the
"A-line" on plasticity charts is named for Arthur)
Teacher
The Soil Mechanics program at Harvard University was started
by Casagrande in 1932. It served as a
model for other programs because it emphasized laboratory courses and included seepage
as an inherent part of the curriculum. Casagrande
was promoted to chief of soil mechanics and foundation engineering at Harvard in
1946.
Other Work
Casagrande consulted for the Army Corp of Engineers, helping
them to understand soil mechanics for airfield construction. He trained about 400 army officers in the
program.
He also participated in the design and construction of earth
dams around the world. This was related
to his research on seepage and soil liquefaction.
Casagrande organized the first International Conference on
Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering in 1936. It helped legitimize his work in soil
mechanics as an essential part of civil engineering.
Resources:
New
York Times - Arthur Casagrande, Teacher And Innovator in Dam Design
Wikipedia
- Arthur Casagrande
World Wide Web of
Geotechnical Engineers - Arthur Casagrande
http://gsl.erdc.usace.army.mil/gl-history/Chap11.htm
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