The overall intent of this research is to develop numerical models of erosion of levees, dams and embankments, validated by physical models. The physical model tests were performed at 1-g and at high g’s using a geotechnical centrifuge facility. The erosion was modeled in detail, from beginning to end, that is from the time the levee was overtopped until the levee was breached. Typical quantiti...

To re-establish the intertidal wetlands with full tidal exchange and improve salmonid rearing habitat in the Skagit River estuary, State of Washington, USA, a diked agriculture farm land along the Skagit Bay front is proposed to be restored to a fully functional tidal wetland. The complex and dynamic Skagit River estuarine system calls for the need of a multi-facet and multi-dimensional analysi...

Numerical limit analyses have been used to evaluate the stability of the 17th Street Canal I-wall levee during Hurricane Katrina. The potential formation of a water-filled gap along the canal-side soil-wall interface at failure is included in both the lowerand upper-bound formulations. The analyses replicate published two-dimensional (2D) cross sections and soil properties developed in forensic...

The woody communities of seven of the most intact bottomland hardwood forests of southeastern Louisiana are described. The seven forests are on old levee ridges associated with past distributaries of the Mississippi River. The communities were divided by diameter size class into overstory (~10.0 cm dbh) and understory (3.0 cm 2 10.0 cm dbh). The overstory (27 species) and understory (24 species...

Geostatistical modeling methods for deep-water depositional systems, which provide a framework to characterize spatial uncertainty, have generally focused on channel-levee-overbank-lobe models. However, these models do not fit all deepwater depositional settings. For example, irregular surface topography of subaqueous mass-transport-deposits (MTDs) played a primary role in controlling the depos...

This paper examines the spatial variability in the social vulnerability of residents to potential levee failures in the Sacramento Delta region. To determine the likely flood exposure, levees of concern to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and California’s Department of Water Resources were mapped. The HAZUS-MH loss estimation software and 100-year protection standard were used to hypothetically...

Foreword The purpose of the Delta Risk Management Strategy (DRMS) Initial Technical Framework (ITF) is to guide the analysis of specific technical topics as they relate to assessing potential risks to Delta levees and assets resulting from various potential impacts (e.g., floods, earthquakes, subsidence, and climate change). These ITFs are considered " starting points " for the work that is to ...

The tropical storm, floodwater, and the floodplainsediment layer of a 100-year recurrence flood are examined to better understand characteristics of large monsoon floods on medium-sized rivers in northern Thailand. Storms producing large floods in northern Thailand occur early or late in the summer rainy season (May–October). These storms are associated with tropical depressions evolving from t...

When constructing flood protection structures such as river levees, oftentimes due to various factors engineers must design composite structures, i.e., reinforced earthen which comply with all the stability criteria. The most common way of reinforcing is usage geosynthetics, or mostly geogrids when talking about stability. Since geosynthetics are man-made materials produced in a controlled envi...