Assessment of EPS block geofoam with internal drainage for sandy slopes subjected to seepage flow

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ABSTRACT: Lightweight expanded polystyrene (EPS) block geofoam (geofoam block) is commonly used as a replacement of the heavy in situ soil during slope remediation in order to reduce driving forces. The design procedure requires the use of permanent drainage systems to alleviate hydrostatic pressures in geofoam block slope systems. In this study, small-scale laboratory lysimeter experiments investigated the behavior of a stabilized sandy slope with a geofoam block slope system experiencing seepage. An internal drainage system was incorporated by grooving dual drainage channels (weep holes) on the top and bottom side of the geofoam blocks. A lysimeter with dimensions of 60 cm height, 20 cm width, and 200 cm length was constructed in the laboratory. Slopes were constructed by compacting sand. The geofoam blocks (2.5 cm height, 5 cm width, and 15 cm length) were placed on the sandy slope face with an angle of 45° in ‘one row' and ‘two rows' configurations. The experiments were conducted under constant water pressure heads (25-, 38-, and 50-cm pressure head boundary conditions) in the water reservoir located at the opposite end of the lysimeter from the geofoam blocks. In general, the lightweight geofoam blocks could not resist earth and hydrostatic pressures under seepage. The back-slope was not self-stable under seepage conditions, and deep-seated global stability failures were observed, except for the remediated slope at the 25- and 38-cm pressure head boundary conditions. The internal drainage system was ineffective at dissipating piezometric pressures at the higher seepage gradients investigated at this lysimeter scale. Numerical slope stability modeling confirmed these observations, predicting a factor of safety below the critical value for global stability in cases where failure was observed. More elaborate geofoam block configurations and/or drainage systems should be used to increase resistance against global stability failure caused by higher seepage gradients.