Using Geotextiles to Repair Cracked Earth Dams

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has made innovative use of geotextiles to repair several cracked earth dams. This paper presents how geotextiles were used to repair three dams in Texas, Arizona, and Colorado, respectively. The geotextile performs different functions in each of these three dams, all of which are dry structures. In the Texas dam, the geotextile acts as a chimney filter and was located in the downstream portion of the dam. In the Arizona dam, the geotextile is designed to span existing or future cracks in the earth face on the downstream side of the chimney filter and to prevent loss of drainfill material into the cracks. In the Colorado dam, a structural filter of rock and sand fill sandwiched between two layers of geotextile is used to stop the propagation of cracks from the existing fill and foundation into the newly reconstructed upstream zone of impervious earthfill, as well as to provide a filter layer downstream of this impervious zone.