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Brownsville Levee Instability
The U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) discovered cracks and a partial slope failure on a newly refurbished levee section and adjacent floodplain along the Rio Grande River in Brownsville, TX. The partial failure followed a significant drop in water level in April 2014. A geotechnical investigation was performed by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) to determine what caused the partial levee failure. The site investigation was conducted using cone penetration tests (CPT) and soil borings. Inclinometers and piezometers were installed to monitor the site and establish groundwater conditions. It was found that a series of events, combined with the local geologic conditions, led to the partial slope failure. Events included the 2012 levee construction, fluctuation and rapid drawdown conditions in the Rio Grande River, and a higher elevation of Lake Brown (an oxbow of the Rio Grande) relative to the river. A progressive-type failure mode was identified as the probable mechanism to explain the deformation observed in the field and was confirmed by both seepage and stability analyses.
Brownsville Levee Instability
The U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) discovered cracks and a partial slope failure on a newly refurbished levee section and adjacent floodplain along the Rio Grande River in Brownsville, TX. The partial failure followed a significant drop in water level in April 2014. A geotechnical investigation was performed by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) to determine what caused the partial levee failure. The site investigation was conducted using cone penetration tests (CPT) and soil borings. Inclinometers and piezometers were installed to monitor the site and establish groundwater conditions. It was found that a series of events, combined with the local geologic conditions, led to the partial slope failure. Events included the 2012 levee construction, fluctuation and rapid drawdown conditions in the Rio Grande River, and a higher elevation of Lake Brown (an oxbow of the Rio Grande) relative to the river. A progressive-type failure mode was identified as the probable mechanism to explain the deformation observed in the field and was confirmed by both seepage and stability analyses.
Brownsville Levee Instability
Walshire, Lucas A. (author) / Dunbar, Joseph B. (author) / Stephens, Isaac J. (author) / Corcoran, Maureen K. (author)
Eighth International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering ; 2019 ; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Geo-Congress 2019 ; 67-75
2019-03-21
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
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