Abstract
Animal burrowing along riverbanks has a negative impact on the hydraulic performance, and can have severe consequences on the structural integrity, of levees. Hence, as soon as burrows are detected during monitoring activities, it is strongly recommended that interventions are taken within the shortest possible time to mitigate disaster risk. The two most common engineering interventions used to repair the embankments (i.e., the excavation of the area with the following backfill or the injection of a low pressure flowable grout) may cause disadvantages and the weakening of the embankment because of the backfill soil lower compaction—which involves also the uncertainty of the complete filling—or piping and interface problems that may be encouraged by discontinuities of mechanical and hydraulic characteristics after injections of the low pressure grout. In this preliminary study, the possibility of injections of lime treated soil was investigated as a sustainable compromise proposal between the two mentioned interventions; oedometer tests on lime treated specimens of soils from the Po River embankment were carried out in order to study the effects of lime on the compressibility of less compacted soil compared to more compacted raw ones.
Highlights
The presence of badgers, porcupines, and foxes in the proximity of earthen embankments causes the dig of tunnels and holes inside these structures and result in altering external and internal geometry with different impact on their hydraulic performance and structural integrity
The purpose of this work is to investigate preliminarily, by comparison, the behaviour of raw samples and lower compacted treated specimens created from slurries by means of oedometer tests, assessing the effectiveness of lime treatment and the possibility of a new sustainable solution of intervention to repair damages caused by animal burrowing on the peculiar soils coming from the Po River geological environment
For a preliminary investigation, the analysis of the effect of lime treatment on the compressibility of backfill materials was investigated by means of standard oedometer tests on three soils within the typical range of particle size distribution that features Po River embankment soils affected by animal burrowing
Summary
The presence of badgers, porcupines, and foxes in the proximity of earthen embankments causes the dig of tunnels and holes inside these structures (see Figure 1a) and result in altering external and internal geometry with different impact on their hydraulic performance and structural integrity. Attention among levee management boards and maintenance agencies, such as the AIPo (Italian acronym for the Interregional Agency for the Po River embankments), has increased because of the alarming concern on the hydraulic performance and on the structural integrity of levees and earthen dams along the river and its tributaries
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
