Seismic induced flow deformation and remediation study of Sardis Dam

• Main Author: Wu, Guoxi
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/1859

Previous investigations of the seismic stability of Sardis Dam indicated that the entire central silt core and a weak clayey silt layer in the dam foundation are susceptible to liquefaction which could result in large losses of shear strengths in these liquefied soils. The post-liquefaction behaviour of Sardis Dam was evaluated using new flow deformation analysis technique which was developed by Finn and Yogendrakumar (1989). The analysis showed the potential for large displacements including a great loss of freeboard during the design earthquake. A strategy of designing remedial measures to limit deformations to a tolerable amount was adopted over the conventional factor of safety approach. Various levels of remediations were investigated using TARA-3FL. The remediation procedure adopted for field trials was anchoring the upstream slope to the foundation using rows of rectangular prestressed reinforced concrete piles. Estimating post-liquefaction deformations for this remediation scheme posed challenging problems in analysis.