Date
02 Jun 1988, 10:30 am - 3:00 pm
Abstract
Two earthfill dams were constructed on the Wadi Qattarah in Libya between 1969 and 1972 but the filling was never ach1eved for both dams. After a partial filling well below normal water level, Secondary Dam failed in December 1977. Several weaknesses may be found in the features of both dams and have been analyzed by the authors on the basis of dam instrumentation results, measurements and observations of the Secondary Dam failure. Several possible causes of failure of this dam are presented. No one can however be taken as certain. The series of events as reported by eye witnesses appear to point out a typical phenomenon of piping, but the responsible mechanism can be attributed to var1ous causes.
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Meeting Name
2nd Conference of the International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering
Publisher
University of Missouri--Rolla
Document Version
Final Version
Rights
© 1988 University of Missouri--Rolla, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
File Type
text
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Binquet, Jean and Zappi, Ugo, "Wadi Qattarah Dams Case History" (1988). International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering. 57.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/icchge/2icchge/2icchge-session3/57
Wadi Qattarah Dams Case History
Two earthfill dams were constructed on the Wadi Qattarah in Libya between 1969 and 1972 but the filling was never ach1eved for both dams. After a partial filling well below normal water level, Secondary Dam failed in December 1977. Several weaknesses may be found in the features of both dams and have been analyzed by the authors on the basis of dam instrumentation results, measurements and observations of the Secondary Dam failure. Several possible causes of failure of this dam are presented. No one can however be taken as certain. The series of events as reported by eye witnesses appear to point out a typical phenomenon of piping, but the responsible mechanism can be attributed to var1ous causes.
