Geo-Hydro Forensic Investigation of an Earthen Dam Failure

Christopher J. Brown, Raphael Crowley, Nick Hudyma

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Hampton Lake, a recreational reservoir located in northern Nassau County, Florida, USA, was heavily impacted by the effects of Hurricane Irma. A combination of heavy precipitation and hurricane-induced high water stages in the St. Mary's River caused catastrophic failure of the earthen dam containing the reservoir and complete loss of the stored water. The failure was initially documented by a NSF supported Geotechnical Extreme Event Reconnaissance (GEER) reconnaissance site visit. After this initial effort, the investigation was expanded to evaluate the cause of the dam failure. During the storm event, the spillway was overtopped leading to toe erosion. Based on the analyses conducted to date, the most likely cause of the dam failure was erosion of the downstream embankment areas which were not adequately protected by riprap. Failure case studies are useful to design engineers around the world by providing "lessons learned" to improve future design efforts for similar projects.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationGeotechnical Special Publication
EditorsChristopher L. Meehan, Sanjeev Kumar, Miguel A. Pando, Joseph T. Coe
Pages114-126
Number of pages13
EditionGSP 313
ISBN (Electronic)9780784482155
DOIs
StatePublished - 2019
Event8th International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering: Soil Erosion, Underground Engineering, and Risk Assessment, Geo-Congress 2019 - Philadelphia, United States
Duration: 24 Mar 201927 Mar 2019

Publication series

NameGeotechnical Special Publication
NumberGSP 313
Volume2019-March
ISSN (Print)0895-0563

Conference

Conference8th International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering: Soil Erosion, Underground Engineering, and Risk Assessment, Geo-Congress 2019
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityPhiladelphia
Period24/03/1927/03/19

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