Engineering Commons^™

Assessing The Potential For Seepage Barrier Defects To Propagate Into Seepage Erosion Mechanisms, Ryan G. Van Leuven

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Seepage barriers have been used extensively to mitigate seepage problems in dams and levees. Although the design of many of these dams and levees has been based on intact barriers, seepage barriers have been shown to be susceptible to deformation and cracking when high differential hydraulic pressures act across the barrier. Under certain conditions, these cracks can lead to serious seepage problems, which could potentially lead to the development of a low-resistance seepage pathway. Three scenarios have been identified where there is the potential for erosion to occur adjacent to a crack in a barrier: 1) erosion at the interface …