Validation Experiment on Internal Barrier Wall Made of Polypropylene Compound in Levee

Abstract

In Korea, levees are the fundamental countermeasure for floods caused by torrential rain in summer. In levee construction, loam is recommended instead of bed sediments because of problems like soil piping. A levee constructed with bed sediment requires the installation of a water barrier or an impervious core whereas the difficulty in procuring and transporting loam to the construction site creates an economic issue. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to verify the effectiveness of installing a barrier wall made of a polypropylene compound inside a levee. The wall helps increase the stability of the levee using bed sediments and can make levee construction economically feasible. When the water barrier was installed, a relatively slow increase in the water level was observed, and the behavior of the infiltrating line was also suppressed. In addition, there was no degradation or destruction till the end of the experiment. From these results, it is expected that the installation of the composite polypropylene water barrier will improve the stability of the embankment without the need to add quality soil.