Effect of installation geometry on dynamic stability of small earth dams retrofitted with a geosynthetic clay liner

Abstract

Geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs), used to repair small earth dams, are typically installed with the GCL panel placed parallel to the upstream slope of the dam or on the surface of benches cut into the upstream side of the earth dam fill. While the former requires less earthwork, leading to a more cost-effective and rapid construction, it can potentially introduce a plane of weakness if the interface shear strength between the GCL and the cover soil is less than the shear strength of the cover soil. The inclusion of benches in the upstream slope of an earth dam can potentially be an effective strategy for reducing the significance of this preferential failure plane, resulting in an increased seismic performance during earthquakes. However, the expected increase in seismic performance has not yet been quantified in large-scale shaking table tests. In this study, a full-scale shaking table test on an earth dam with a GCL installed parallel to the upstream slope of the dam is reported and compared to previously published results from tests on an identical earth dam with the GCL placed in the benched configuration under the same seismic boundary conditions. The results indicate that, for the configuration tested, the seismic deformation of the benched installation was half of that of the earth dam with the GCL installed parallel to the slope, providing significant motivation for adopting the benched installation method.