Experimental study of seepage in levee with transverse structure and water barrier

Abstract

A quasi-real-scale experiment was conducted to understand seepage in levees with internal transverse structures. The experiment involved fabricating levees with transverse structures in the same location and using the same method as that in sand levee experiments previously conducted to examine the feasibility of the optical-fiber-distributed temperature system. Levees with internal structures are susceptible to internal erosion and piping risks, which necessitates the installation of water barriers to mitigate these issues. However, conventional concrete water barriers require curing time, leading to potential secondary damage from flooding during construction. As a countermeasure, a compounded polypropylene (PP) water barrier was developed, which is easy to construct and cost-effective. The performances of both concrete and compounded PP water barriers were verified and compared. Water pressure changes inside the levees were tracked, and to monitor temperature changes inside the levees and gain a deeper understanding of seepage, distributed optical fiber cables were employed. The experimental results revealed that levees with transverse structures had a higher risk of internal erosion and piping due to seepage compared to those without such structures, and such levees require continuous monitoring. Furthermore, internal temperature measurements demonstrated the effectiveness of water barriers in mitigating seepage and backward erosion piping.