Protection and provision for safe overtopping of dams and flood banks

Document Status

Current

Supplement

Civil & Structural Supplement

Series

Project Report

Abstract

Presents information obtained by a DTI mission investigating research and practice in the US related to the protection and provision for safe overtopping of dams, road embankments and river flood banks subject to erosion by flow in extreme flood events. It emphasises items which are relevant either to UK industry or to similar problems in the UK, but which are not generally disseminated in the UK. Methods of erosion protection currently favoured in the US are grass, rip-rap, roller compacted concrete and gabion mattresses. Some use has been made of geotextiles and concrete block systems, but these methods are still undergoing evaluation. Significant advances are reported in the development of design methods for grass and rip-rap protection. Little new information was obtained on the use of geotextile or cellular concrete reinforced grass. Full scale tests on the performance of these reinforcing systems used on ungrassed embankments are confirming the importance of soil type and grass root integration on the effectiveness of reinforced grass as developed in the UK.

Subjects

• Reservoirs/dams
• Civil engineering, infrastructure and public utilities
• Public health/water engineering
• Flood defences

Publisher History

CIRIA was formerly known as the Construction Industry Research and Information Association. They are a member-based research and information organisation who publish reports and technical papers covering building and civil engineering as well as transport and utilities infrastructure.