Soil Characterisation of Catania Harbour by the Seismic Dilatometer Marchetti Test (SDMT)

The city of Catania, located on the eastern zone of Sicily, is prone to high seismic risk. The Catania harbour is an important tourist, industrial and commercial harbour of Italy. For site characterisation of soil deep site investigations have been undertaken. Borings and Seismic Dilatometer Marchetti Tests (SDMT) have been performed, with the aim to evaluate the soil profile of shear waves velocity (Vs). Moreover the following laboratory tests were carried out on undisturbed samples retrieved with a 86 mm diameter Shelby sampler: Oedometer tests, direct shear tests, triaxial tests and resonant column tests. The available data enabled one to compare the shear waves velocity profile obtained by empirical correlations and Seismic Dilatometer Marchetti Tests(SDMT). The influence of strain level on G-? and D-? curves, as well as on shear strength, was evaluated by means of laboratory tests.