Numerical simulation of the groundwater flow leading to sand boil reactivation in the Po River: (Paper and Abstract)

The reliability of river embankments is essential for flood risk management. The Po River, which flows through the North of Italy, is safeguarded over half of its length by major river embankments. Performance assessment of such water-retaining structures has become a major concern following some significant flood events in the past. Among the...

Historical information and advanced tools for flood protection and structures management: (Paper and Abstract)

The river Po is the main river of Italy, and crosses the entire North Italy from the Western Alps to the Adriatic sea. Its middle-lower course is characterized by an imposing levees’ system, which origins go back to the XVI Century, and which size has been continuously increased until nowadays. As it often occurs, when dealing with earth dykes,...

Backward erosion piping: Initiation and progression

Backward erosion piping is an internal erosion mechanism during which shallow pipes are formed in the direction opposite to the flow underneath water-retaining structures as a result of the gradual removal of sandy material by the action of water. It is an important failure mechanism in both dikes and dams where sandy layers are covered by a...

Determination of Spatial Variability in d70 Grain Size Values Using High Density Site Measurements

Research to the failure mechanism piping (internal, backward erosion) in the Netherlands shows that the dikes require costly berms to meet the required safety standards. According to the Sellmeijer piping-formula, the d70 (70%-quantile of the grain size distribution by weight) is an important parameter in the resistance against piping. Therefore...

Technisch rapport zandmeevoerende wellen

Hoofdstuk 2 bevat een leeswijzer waarin het gebruik van dit rapport vanuit diverse invalshoeken wordt belicht. Tevens bevat dit hoofdstuk een begrippenlijst en een paragraaf over de rekenmodellen samenhangende veiligheidsfilosofie voor waterkeringen. De verschijnselen opbarsten piping, heave en achterloopsheid worden in hoofdstuk 3 beschreven....

Technical report on sand boils (piping)

Piping and hydraulic fracturing (heave) are phenomena which can threaten the stability of flood defences. These phenomena can arise when, in the case of large-scale hydraulic head, particles of soil in layers of earth which are susceptible to erosion are transported underneath the flood defence by the seepage flow, as a consequence of which...