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Reliability-based design concepts and their application to load and resistance factor design (LRFD or limit states design (LSD) in Canada) are well known, and their adoption in geotechnical engineering design is now recommended for many soil–structure interaction problems. Two important challenges for acceptance of LRFD for the design of reinforced soil walls are (i) a proper understanding of the calibration methods used to arrive at load and resistance factors, and (ii) the proper interpretation of the data required to carry out this process. This paper presents LRFD calibration principles and traces the steps required to arrive at load and resistance factors using closed-form solutions for one typical limit state, namely pullout of steel reinforcement elements in the anchorage zone of a reinforced soil wall. A unique feature of this paper is that measured load and resistance values from a database of case histories are used to develop the statistical parameters in the examples. The paper also addresses issues related to the influence of outliers in the datasets and possible dependencies between variables that can have an important influence on the results of calibration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geotechnical input to the design, construction, and operations of pipelines in permafrost may differ significantly from that for pipelines in temperate terrain. The general remoteness and terrain fragility of permafrost regions are key issues that challenge the geotechnical input. Specific geotechnical issues that necessitate input include pipeline routing, slope stability, thaw settlement and frost heave, ditching, buoyancy control, upheaval buckling. and others. This paper examines the history of pipeline development in Canada north of the 60th latitude and highlights some key design issues and some of the technical developments over the past 40 years of design, construction, and operations of pipelines in permafrost regions. Advances have been made in areas such as geothermal modeling, slope stability assessments, terrain mapping technologies, thaw settlement and frost heave prediction, and predicting and monitoring pipeline strain demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]