Instrumented Health Monitoring of an Earth Dam

Abstract

This work evaluates the stability of the Boostan earth dam by investigating its long-term performance and interpreting the measured data. To measure the dam response, several sensitive locations are instrumented. This process includes measuring various quantities such as pore water pressure, water level, and internal stress ratios using inspection devices such as ordinary and Casagrande piezometers, and total pressure cells. The recorded data shows that the pore pressure is in good agreement with the initial (stable) design condition. The installed piezometers show that the drainage is efficient, and the water table in the body is adequate. The instrument also shows a reasonable horizontal stress in the dam body. Overall, the condition of the case study dam is assessed to be normal. The results of this case report can be used as a guide in similar dams for instrumented health monitoring.

Keywords

• stability assessment
• instrumentation
• earth dam
• health monitoring