Raising the Bar for Levees

Abstract

Engineers have worked for millennia to control natural flooding through dams and levees. While the fundamental principles and challenges of holding back water have not changed, the tools brought to the task continue to evolve. Among other tools being tested and implemented today are elaborate sensors to detect stresses and strains within structures, and impermeable lining materials known as geomembranes, which are laid underneath the structure before it is built to prevent water seepage.