Stability Analysis of Semicohesive Streambanks with CONCEPTS: Coupling Field and Laboratory Investigations to Quantify the Onset of Fluvial Erosion and Mass Failure
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 140, Issue 9
Abstract
The overarching goal of this study is to perform a comprehensive bank stability analysis that is phenomenologically sound by considering both mass failure and fluvial erosion. The nature of this study is twofold. First, field and experimental analyses are conducted to generate data for channel cross-section properties, soil index properties, and mechanical and erosional strengths at two sites in a representative, midsize, midwestern stream in southeastern Iowa that is subjected to frequent flash floods and characterized by active fluvial erosion and cantilever failure. Second, the channel surveys and data obtained from the field and laboratory analyses are used as input parameters for an established one-dimensional, channel evolution model, namely, the conservational channel evolution and pollutant transport system (CONCEPTS, version 2.0, Langendoen and Alonso 2008), to estimate the factor of safety for mass failure () and fluvial erosion () and simulate the bank retreat as a result of either fluvial erosion or mass failure or the interaction between the two modes of erosion. In CONCEPTS, a bank profile can be divided into several layers, allowing the user to account for heterogeneity in soil properties. The results show that estimation of must be complemented with the estimation of for not underestimating mass failure. Otherwise, based on mass failure criteria alone, the stability analysis fails to consider the potential for the interconnection between bank toe undercutting and planar failure and may lead to the underestimation of mass failure over time. Second, bank soil heterogeneity plays an important role in bank stability analysis. The variability of mechanical and erosional strengths shown in this study, along the downslope of the banks, highlight the need to acquire both mechanical and erosional strengths for the three layers along a bank profile (crest, midbank, and toe) to improve the commonly adopted protocols that typically assume homogeneous, well-compacted soils along a bank profile. The predicted bank profile obtained from the model compares favorably with cross-sectional measurements obtained for a period of two hydrological cycles.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the USDA-CIG #74-6114-10-012 and by the MATC TRB RiP No. 24483. The latter part of this work is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation EAR-1331906. A collaborative agreement between the USDA-ARS (4th co-author) and the PI of this research (2nd-author) allowed the use of CONCEPTS at Clear Creek Watershed, Iowa. The 1st author has been partially supported by a Fulbright scholarship. The authors would like to recognize the help provided at the inception of this project by Dr. Mohamed Elhakeem, Associate Professor at Abu Dhabi University and former Research Engineer at IIHR-Hydroscience&Engineering. The help provided by Fabienne Bertrand and Post Doctoral Associate, Dr. Filippo Bressan, is highly appreciated. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the above agencies.
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Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 140 • Issue 9 • September 2014
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© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 6, 2013
Accepted: Mar 4, 2014
Published online: May 19, 2014
Published in print: Sep 1, 2014
Discussion open until: Oct 19, 2014
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