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Embankment overtopping protection systems

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Abstract

For the last decades, the design floods of numerous embankment reservoirs were re-evaluated, and the revised spillway outflows are typically larger than those used in the original designs. As a result, a number of overtopping protection systems were developed for embankments and earthfill dams, with applications encompassing river dykes, coastal barriers for storm surge and tsunami protections. Several design techniques were developed for embankments and earthfill dams. These include concrete overtopping protection systems, timber cribs, sheet-piles, riprap and gabions, reinforced earth, minimum energy loss weirs, embankment overflow stepped spillways and the precast concrete block protection systems. Various designs are reviewed herein and discussed based upon prototype experiences. This review highlights that a safe operation of embankment overflow protection systems relies upon a sound design and a good quality of construction, suitable flow conditions, together with regular maintenance.

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Abbreviations

MEL:

Minimum energy loss

RCC:

Roller compacter concrete

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Acknowledgments

The author thanks all the individuals and organisations who provide him with relevant informations, including Professor Colin Apelt. The author acknowledges some helpful discussion with the associate editors. The financial support of the Australian Research Council is acknowledged (Grants ARC DP0878922 & DP120100481).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Hubert Chanson

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Correspondence to Hubert Chanson.

Appendix: Supplementary video data

Two short movies are included as supplementary digital materials (Table 1). Video 1 (Movie1_IMGP0342.avi) shows a physical experiment of tsunami impacting onto and overtopping a coastal embankment barrier. The movie was shot at Nihon University (Koriyama campus, Fukushima prefecture, Japan).Video 2 (Movie2_IMGP3427.avi) illustrates the breach development of a non-cohesive embankment (Fig. 4). The movie was shot at the University of Auckland (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, New Zealand). Both movies were taken with a PentaxTM K-7 dSLR camera.

Electronic supplementary material

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Supplementary material 1 (MPG 8630 kb)

Supplementary material 2 (MPG 14370 kb)

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Chanson, H. Embankment overtopping protection systems. Acta Geotech. 10, 305–318 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-014-0362-8

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