Risk Assessment of Levee Seepage Failure Based on the Levee Seepage Failure Probability and the Levee Vulnerability Index
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 147, Issue 1
Abstract
This study presents scientific methods for risk assessment of levee seepage failure. First, the levee seepage failure probability, , was calculated by reliability analysis considering muddying and slope sliding due to the development of the seepage line and uncertainty in the soil index. is useful for estimating levee sites with a high seepage risk. Next, the seepage flow number, SFn, which is a dynamic dimensionless number governing general seepage flow, was derived by nondimensionalizing Richards’ equation. Then, the levee vulnerability index, , was obtained by applying SFn to the phenomena of levee seepage and failure. Values of were determined by applying it to damage results of model levees and field levees. Because and corresponded well in the field levees in which considerable damage such as levee breaching and slope sliding or collapse have occurred, the risk of levee seepage failure can be estimated by . Finally, can provide a dynamic similarity condition to describe the phenomenon of levee seepage and failure and can be a useful tool for understanding levee seepage failure.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code generated or used during the study are proprietary or confidential in nature and may only be provided with restrictions (e.g., anonymized data).
Acknowledgments
We received extensive cooperation during the levee and flood data collection from the River Planning Division in Kanto, Hokuriku, Tohoku, Chubu and Kyushu Regional Development Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. In addition, Professor Takeshi Kodaka at Meijo University provided valuable data on model levee experiments. Part of this work was supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) (Grant No. 16K18159).
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© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 26, 2019
Accepted: Jul 16, 2020
Published online: Oct 30, 2020
Published in print: Jan 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Mar 30, 2021
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