EROSION RESISTANCE OF COMPACTED CLAYS

Abstract

Differential settlements in earth dam embankments can cause transverse cracks at the crest if the embankment material lacks the necessary flexibility. The transverse cracks in earth dams can be potentially dangerous due to the fact that progressive erosion can develop in the crack leading to complete failure. The resistance to erosion for different soils varies and the embankment material with low erosion resistance may develop progressive erosion in cracks or in other seepage paths. In some cases transverse cracking may not have adverse affects and progressive erosion may not develop. Experiments were conducted to study the erosion resis-tance of four cohesive soils and to find the relationship between the plasticity index, percentage of particles finer than 0.001 mm by weight, compaction moisture content, coeffi-cient of permeability and unconfined compression strength.