Author
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WU, WEIMING - University Of Mississippi |
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ALTINAKAR, MUSTAFA - University Of Mississippi |
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AL-RIFFAI, MAHMOUD - University Of Ottawa |
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BERGMAN, NATHANIEL - Israel Institute Of Technology |
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BRADFORD, SCOTT - Naval Research Laboratory |
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CAO, ZHIXIAN - Wuhan University |
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CHEN, QIN - Louisiana State University |
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CONSTANTINESCU, SERBAN - University Of Iowa |
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DUAN, JENNIFER - University Of Arizona |
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GEE, D - Us Army Corp Of Engineers (USACE) |
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GREIMANN, BLAIR - Us Bureau Of Reclamation |
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Hanson, Gregory |
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HUDDLESTON, DAVID - Tennessee Technological University |
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HUGHES, STEVEN - Us Army Corp Of Engineers (USACE) |
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IMRAN, JASIM - University Of South Carolina |
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JIA, YAFEI - University Of Mississippi |
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JORGESON, JEFFREY - Us Army Corp Of Engineers (USACE) |
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KLUMPP, CASSIE - Us Bureau Of Reclamation |
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LAI, YONG - Us Bureau Of Reclamation |
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Langendoen, Eddy |
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MOREDA, FEKADU - National Weather Service |
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MORVAN, HERVE - University Of Nottingham |
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PAK, JAY - Us Army Corp Of Engineers (USACE) |
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PETERS, PATRIK - Flanders Institute Of Biotechnology (VIB) |
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SANDERS, BRETT - University Of California |
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SCOTT, STEVE - Us Army Corp Of Engineers (USACE) |
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SOARES-FRAZAO, SANDRA - Catholic University Of Leuven |
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SONG, CHUNG - University Of Mississippi |
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TEAL, MARTIN - West Consultants |
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TSUBAKI, RYOTA - University Of Hiroshima |
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WAHL, TONY - Us Bureau Of Reclamation |
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WESTON, DAVID - Us Army Corp Of Engineers (USACE) |
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ZECH, YVES - Catholic University Of Leuven |
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ZHANG, LIMIN - Hong Kong University Of Science |
Submitted to: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 10/15/2011 Publication Date: 12/1/2011 Citation: ASCE/EWRI Task Committee on Dam/Levee Breaching. 2011. Earthen embankment breaching. Journal of Hydraulic Engineering. 137(12):1549-1564. Interpretive Summary: Dams, levees, dikes, and barriers play very important roles in flood defense. Many are also used for water supply, power generation, transportation, sediment retention, etc. Since these structures can sustain only limited safety levels and are subject to decay, they may fail due to various reasons. Failure of these structures poses significant flood risks to people and property downstream. Therefore, understanding and prediction of embankment failure processes are crucial for water infrastructure management. In the last few decades, a number of laboratory experiments and field investigations have been carried out and many empirical, analytical, and numerical models have been developed to first understand and then simulate the earthen embankment breaching processes. This paper provides an overview of the state of the art of several important issues in this area including; earthen embankment breaching processes, data collection, breach modeling, flood routing, model limitations and uncertainties, and potential future development. Technical Abstract: A large number of embankment structures, including dams, levees, dikes, and barriers, have been built by humans. These structures play a very important role in flood defense, while many are also used for water supply, power generation, transportation, sediment retention, etc. Since these structures can sustain only limited safety levels and are subject to decay, they may fail due to various triggering mechanisms particularly with a high probability of failure under extreme conditions. Failure of these structures poses significant flood risks to people and property in the inundation area and cause interruption of services provided. Therefore, understanding and prediction of embankment failure processes are crucial for water infrastructure management. Great progress has been made recently to investigate embankment breaching processes through laboratory and field experiments and real-world case studies. A number of parametric simplified, and detailed multidimensional physically-based embankment breach models have been established in the past decades, but the prediction with these models involves significant uncertainties. The biggest limitation of the existing breach models is quantifying erosion rates or erodibility of cohesive soils and sediment entrainment under embankment break/breaching flows. A number of laboratory experiments and field investigations have been carried out and many empirical, analytical, and numerical models have been developed to first understand and then simulate the earthen embankment breaching processes. This paper provides an overview of the state of the art of several important related issues, including the earthen embankment breaching processes, data collection, breach modeling, flood routing, model limitations and uncertainties, and potential future development. |