Chimney Drains to Control Seismic Pore Pressures

Abstract

To control the earthquake‐induced pore pressures in earth dams with pervious gravelly shells, a method is presented to design chimney drains to be installed in the upstream submerged part of the embankment. It has been developed using the theoretical work of Seed on the determination of the pore pressure buildup in a material in which simultaneous generation and dissipation take place, the experimental work of Lee and Albaisa on the reconsolidation volume change from an induced excess pore pressure condition and Terzaghi's theory of consolidation. An example taken from an actual case is presented to explain the different steps as well as conclusions on the characteristics of the materials to which the proposed solution might be successfully applied.