A Laboratory Investigation on Functional Parameters of Earthen Dam Breach

Abstract

Embankment dams are constructed for retention of water for irrigation and for protecting people, land, and property from flooding. Failure of any embankment poses risk to people and property nearby. Breaching of embankments has drawn considerable attention as it provides useful information for development of early warning systems in the evacuation plans of people at risk. Many theoretical, laboratory and field studies have been carried out to study and understand the failure phenomenon. The breaches are often modeled in the shape of a trapezoid that is defined by its final height, base width or average width, and side slopes, along with time needed for the opening to form completely. Laboratory experiments were planned and conducted to obtain detailed experimental data on the breaching of homogeneous noncohesive and cohesive embankments due to overtopping. Five embankments, one constructed with pure sand, four with different sand-silt-clay mixtures were tested. The height of the embankment model was 20 cm, length of crest was 15 cm and the outer and inner slope was 1:1 (vertical: horizontal). The dam material is mainly eroded due to the transport capacity of the overtopping water. The tests confirmed that headcut erosion plays a very important role in the process of breach growth in embankments constructed with cohesive materials. Erosion usually initiates at locations close to the toe of the embankment when overflowed. Comparison of the testing durations between the ten tests indicated that the cohesive portion in the sand-silt-clay soil mixtures strongly slowed down the erosion process. Further, the higher the clay proportion in the soil mixtures was, the lower erosion rate was induced.

Authors and Affiliations

Sanjeev Kumar,

Keywords

Related Articles

Ejohwomu IJ. A Study of Risk Management Practices in the Construction Industry. M.Sc Thesis submitted to the University of Wolverhampton. 2014.

Dredging operations are necessary for creation, draft enhancement and maintenance of navigable channels for port and harbor activities, for removal of contaminated sediments, mining from sea, and creation of marine parks...

Urban Planning Strategies for Social and Religious Conventions:Approach for Smart and Temporary Services

India is a country rich in culture and beliefs, we believe in the Idea that communal meetings and gatherings help in enriching our culture and keeping the essence alive, may it be a small wedding function, a kirtan eveni...

Supplementary Cementitious Materials for Green Concrete

Concrete is the second most used material on the earth, after water. It is considered to be one of environmental-friendly materials of construction. Yet producing the Portland cement which binds concrete together is ener...

Experimental Study on Behavior of Bitumen on Partial Replacement with Lignin

In India, bituminous pavements are the most common pavements. So, it is important to increase the life of the bituminous pavements. Flexible pavement is often subjected to problems like rutting, cracking, and other failu...

Modeling Oxygen transfer of Multiple PlungingJets Aerators using Artificial Neural Networks

Aeration is mainly used to remove the undesirable gases dissolved in wastewater. In this article, the experimental data of aeration of the multiple plunging jets having varying jet velocity, jet parameters and no. of ope...

Download PDF file
  • EP ID EP272791
  • DOI -
  • Views 104
  • Downloads 0

How To Cite

Sanjeev Kumar, (2017). A Laboratory Investigation on Functional Parameters of Earthen Dam Breach. JOURNAL OF ADVANCED RESEARCH IN CONSTRUCTION AND URBAN ARCHITECTURE, 2(3), 1-6. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-272791