The Effect of a Confining Cover Layer on Backward Erosion Piping Process: Investigation of the initial heave progression

The Netherlands is prone to flooding as more than a quarter of the country lies under sea level. To combat flooding and ensure that the country remains dry structures such are levees and dikes have been installed. However, older water retaining structures are more than ever failing the stringent safety standard assessments. These older...

Deeper piping erosion: Finding how to model it and what contributes to the emergence of a deeper pipe

The Netherlands is a country that is being threatened by water, both from the rivers and from the sea. The Dutch have built dikes to keep their lands from inundation. To ensure the strength and stability of these dikes, they are being assessed on the basis of several failure mechanisms. One of these failure mechanisms is...

Enhancing reliability of dikes: An approach for assessing benefits of pore pressure monitoring and pressure relief wells in spatially variable soils

The Netherlands is a country prone to flooding. Recent assessments led to the insight that protection levels of many flood defences should be increased. Integrating reinforcement measures is a difficult task as many dikes are situated in densely populated areas. Conventional reinforcement measures include berm construction or the implementation...

The effect of leakage on backward erosion piping: A modelling study in 2D and 3D

In the Netherlands, dikes are the most commonly used structures to retain water and provide safety against flooding. In order to ensure the safety of these dikes against a number of different failure mechanisms such as backwards erosion piping, wave overtopping and macro stability, a detailed safety assessment has been created. The focus of this...

Backward erosion piping: Experiments on erosion and progression rate

Backward erosion piping is a form of internal erosion where small pipes are formed below a dike. These pipes are formed in a direction opposite to the flow that transports sand particles. Piping is a very important failure mechanism in the protection of dikes, which can be unpredictable due to the different soil characteristics. Piping is well...