| Summary: | The research presented in this Thesis was carried out at the University of Sheffield under the supervision of Dr I. C. Pyrah and Dr W. F. Anderson, and Mr G. Leach at British Gas Engineering Research Station (ERS). The research was financially supported by a British Gas Research Scholarship and by the Overseas Research Students Awards Scheme. The Author would like to express his sincere gratitude to his supervisors for their invaluable help, guidance and encouragement during the development of the research. The Author is also grateful to Dr S. R. Mi for his interest and assistance throughout the research. Special thanks also go to Dr S. J. Wheeler for his supervision during the first year of the research and sound advice in the initial stage of the work. The Author would like to express his gratitude to all members of the geotechnics group at the University of Sheffield for the useful discussions and comments. Special thanks and appreciation are extended to the staff at the ERS, particularly Mr E. Middleton for providing the data of the field tests and constructive comments. The laboratory tests were performed at ERS Soils Laboratory for which the Author is thankful to the laboratory staff. The Author must also thank British Gas for providing the computer hardware and software for performing the numerical analyses, and the printing facilities to produce the Thesis. Thanks also go to Mr D. Reay and Mr B. Bellwood at the Gas Research Centre of British Gas for ensuring continuous financial support throughout the award period. Finally, the Author wishes to thank his family and friends for their endless support and encouragement throughout the period of study in the UK. Without them, this Thesis may never have been completed.
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