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Technical Manual: Conduits through Embankment Dams (FEMA 484)

Technical Manual: Conduits through Embankment Dams (FEMA 484)

Technical Manual: Conduits through Embankment Dams (FEMA 484)

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IntroductionAn embankment dam with a low reservoir water level.The reservoir water level rises, inducing a hydraulic fracture within theembankment dam due to poor construction or defective soils.The hydraulic fracture extends <strong>through</strong> the embankment dam as a result ofarching of the overlying embankment, resulting in low stress concentrations inthe soil and a reservoir level high enough to cause the fracture. <strong>Conduits</strong> oftencreate differential settlement and arching of the earthfill, because settlementof the embankment dam is less above the conduit than on either side of it.Figure 7.—The internal erosion process as a result of a hydraulic fracture.7

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