Johnston, I., Murphy, W. orcid.org/0000-0002-7392-1527 and Holden, J. orcid.org/0000-0002-1108-4831 (2023) Alteration of soil structure following seepage-induced internal erosion in model infrastructure embankments. Transportation Geotechnics, 42. 101111. ISSN 2214-3912
Abstract
The flooding of infrastructure embankments has the potential to cause lasting destabilisation through seepage-driven internal erosion development. To understand the effects of such erosion on slope behaviour it is imperative to identify where in slopes material alteration most commonly occurs. Laboratory testing on scale models of transportation embankments was undertaken to identify the locations within slopes where material movement, and likely property alteration occurs, caused by seepage through slopes. Changes in material properties were most commonly found to occur along the base of slopes and in regions of slopes adjacent to water inflow. Slope toes were found to have a greater proportion of fine material than elsewhere, with the mean grain size of the slope toe region 4.5% smaller and the coefficient of curvature 9% higher than in the main slope body, suggesting the development of a low permeability region towards the slope toe. The source zone for material deposited at the toe of slopes was the section of slopes adjacent to water inflow and the base of slopes away from the toe, shown by a coarsening of sediment in these zones. Material alteration following flooding was best identified using a combination of coefficient of curvature and mean grain size data. These results have implications for the stability of earthworks during and after flood events, and for the design of earthwork inspection and maintenance regimes.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Internal Erosion; Embankment; Flooding; Suffusion; Seepage; Rail infrastructure |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Geography (Leeds) > River Basin Processes & Management (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Institute for Applied Geosciences (IAG) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 07 Feb 2024 14:20 |
Last Modified: | 07 Feb 2024 14:20 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.trgeo.2023.101111 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:208803 |