Bridging Process Threshold for Sediment Infiltrating into a Coarse Substrate
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 136, Issue 2
Abstract
Sand infiltration into gravel frameworks poses significant engineering and ecological difficulties. Ten flume experiments were conducted to quantify a sand bridging threshold in a static gravel bed. The ratio was computed for each of 37 unique sand-substrate pairs and the data were plotted, with previously published flume data, to determine the threshold between bridging and unimpeded static percolation. The process threshold boundary between bridging and unimpeded static percolation fell in the range of , substantially higher than predicted by standard geotechnical filter criteria. Plotting the results against the critical constriction size of the substrates provided a more definitive process separation along the line .
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This work was funded through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ System-Wide Water Resources Program (SWWRP). Bill Katzenmeyer and John Evans assisted with flume maintenance and experimental setup. The manuscript improved significantly as the result of the careful work Editor Labuz and of two anonymous reviewers.
References
Beschta, R. L., and Jackson, W. L. (1979). “The intrusion of fine sediments into a stable gravel bed.” J. Fish. Res. Board Can., 36, 204–210.
Carling, P. A. (1984). “Deposition of fine and coarse sand in an open-work gravel bed.” Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci., 41, 263–270.
Cunningham, A. B., Anderson, C. J., and Bouwer, H. (1987). “Effects of sediment laden flow on channel bed clogging.” Irrig. Drain., 113(1), 106–118.
Einstein, H. A. (1968). “Deposition of suspended particles in a gravel bed.” J. Hydr. Div., 94(5), 1197–1205.
Frostick, L. E., Lucas, P. M., and Reid, I. (1984). “The infiltration of fine matrices into coarse-grained alluvial sediments and its implications for stratigraphical interpretation.” J. Geol. Soc. (London), 141, 955–965.
Gibson, S. A., Abraham, D., Heath, R., and Schoellhamer, D. (2009). “Vertical gradational variability of fines deposited in a gravel framework.” J. Sedimentology, 56(3), 661–676.
Honjo, Y., and Veneziano, D. (1989). “Improved filter criterion for cohesionless soils.” J. Geotech. Engrg., 115(1), 75–94.
Kenney, T. C., Chahal, R., Chiu, E., Ofoegbu, G. L., Omange, G. N., and Ume, C. A. (1985). “Controlling constriction sizes of granular filters.” Can. Geotech. J., 22, 32–43.
Kleinhans, M. G. (2002). “Sorting out sand and gravel: Sediment transport and deposition in sand-gravel bed rivers.” Netherlands geographical studies 293, Royal Dutch Geographical Society, Utrech, The Netherlands, 317.
Letherwood, F. N., and Peterson, C. F. (1954). “Hydraulic head loss at the interface between uniform sands of different sizes.” Trans. Am. Geophys. Union, 35(4), 588–594.
Lone, M. A., Hussain, B., and Asawa, G. L. (2005). “Filter design criteria for graded cohesionless bases.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 131(2), 251–259.
Myogahara, Y., Morita, S., and Kuroki, H. (1993). “Piping stability in the filter material of rock-fill dams. In Filters in geotechnical and hydraulic engineering.” J. Brauns, M. Heibaum, and U. Schuler, eds., Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 107–111.
National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI). (1981). “Factors affecting changes in the percent of fine sediment in gravel bedded channels.” Technical Rep. No. 0354, National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, New York, 81.
Schuler, U., and Brauns, J. (1993). “Behavior of coarse and well graded filters.” Proc., 1st Int'l Conf. Geo-Filters, Karlsruhe, Germany, 3–17.
Sherard, J. L., Dunnigan, L. P., and Talbot, J. R. (1984). “Basic properties of sand and gravel filters.” J. Geotech. Engrg., 110(6), 684–718.
Terzaghi, K. (1922). “Der grunden an stauwerken und seine verhütung [The failure of dams by piping and its prevention].” Die Wasserkraft, 17, 445–449.
Tomlinson, S. S., and Vaid, Y. P. (2000). “Seepage forces and confining pressure effects on piping erosion.” Can. Geotech. J., 37, 1–13.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). (1948). “Laboratory investigation of filters for Enid and Grenada dams.” Technical Rep. No. 3:245, Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, Miss.
Witt, K. (1993). “Reliability study of granular filters.” Proc., Filters in Geotechnical and Hydraulic Engineering, J. Brauns, M. Heibaum, and U. Schuler, eds., Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 35–41.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 136 • Issue 2 • February 2010
Pages: 402 - 406
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Aug 7, 2008
Accepted: Aug 5, 2009
Published online: Aug 15, 2009
Published in print: Feb 2010
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.