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Showing posts from January 8, 2018

Failure and stability of Earth Filled Dams

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    Failure of earth dams may be: Hydraulic Failure Seepage Failure Structural Failure 1. Hydraulic Failure: Types of Rolled filled dams: Overtopping of dams Erosion of the Upstream Surface Erosion of the Downstream Surface Erosion of the Downstream toe i. Overtopping of dams: This type of dam is made up of only one type of material. Usually porous materials is used. These dams are easy and cheap to construct but cannot be used to make multipurpose large dams. For large multipurpose dams zoned type method is used. Over topping failures result from the erosive action of water on the embankment. Erosion is due to un-controlled flow of water over, around, and adjacent to the dam. Earth embankments are not designed to be over-topped and therefore are particularly susceptible to erosion. Once erosion has begun during over-topping, it is almost impossible to stop. A well vegetated earth embankment may withstand limited over topping if its crest is level