Dike Failure Mechanisms and Breaching Parameters
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 141, Issue 9
Abstract
Dike risk management requires breaching parameters that can be estimated rapidly to support the prediction of inundation zones and decision making. The objectives of this paper are to compile a database of dike breaching cases, study common dike failure mechanisms, and develop a set of empirical equations for estimating breaching length, depth, and peak discharge. A database of over 1,000 dike failure cases was collected, with information on pre-breach dike geometry, materials, type of dike, failure mechanisms, breaching length, depth, and peak discharge. A set of regression models are formulated using five control variables: dike height, width, material, type of dike, and failure mechanism. The standard error is set as a selection criterion and the Akaike information criterion is used to optimize the proposed empirical models. The new models are validated using independent cases and compared with available empirical equations for dikes and man-made dams.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Dr.-Ing. Torsten Heyer from TU Dresden for sharing his unpublished dike breaching cases during the 2002 Elbe floods. This research was substantially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51129902) and Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong SAR (No. 16212514).
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Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 141 • Issue 9 • September 2015
Copyright
© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 16, 2014
Accepted: Mar 17, 2015
Published online: May 6, 2015
Published in print: Sep 1, 2015
Discussion open until: Oct 6, 2015
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