Evaluation of Levees under Compound Flood-Earthquake Loadings
Publication: Geo-Extreme 2021
ABSTRACT
This study highlights the need for evaluation of levees’ functionality under compounding hazards in a changing climate. For this purpose, this paper presents a methodology to investigate the performance of a levee subjected to the sequence of flood and earthquake loadings. The Elkhorn Levee in Sacramento, CA, is considered as a case study and the effect of flood event superimposed by seismic activities on the levee’s integrity is evaluated. Results from climate models are used to determine the changes in flood levels with different intervals in a changing climate. A ground-motion data of a major earthquake in the area is used to apply seismic loading to the levee structure. The integrity of the levee is then evaluated against slope instability, deformation, and liquefaction using a set of finite element simulations. Results show that flooding increases the probability of soil liquefaction and generation of excess pore-water pressures when the earthquake shakes the levee structure. Excess pore-water pressures and reduction of soil strength due to liquefaction decrease the stability of the levee and cause considerable deformations, which may lead to levee’s failure. Results demonstrate the poor performance of the levee when subjected to flooding followed by a seismic event, which necessitates the evaluation of levees under compound extreme events.
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Geo-Extreme 2021
Pages: 69 - 78
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© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Published online: Nov 4, 2021
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