Abstract Description: cientists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Oklahoma and Central Plains Agricultural Research Center (OCPARC), Agroclimate and Hydraulic Engineering Research Unit (AHERU) conducted two overtopping embankment tests in the fall of 2024. The two embankments were approximately 8 ft tall with an upstream reservoir leading to a 10-ft-wide broad crested weir and an embankment section. The downstream embankment section was constructed with a 3(H):1(V) slope vegetated with Bermuda grass. A stability berm was constructed at each embankment toe. One embankment represented a dry state condition, and the other embankment represented a saturated state created by three days of heavy simulated rainfall. Both embankment overtopping tests were conducted with a continual discharge of approximately 80 cubic feet per second. Tests were considered complete four hours after the initiation of vegetal failure (defined by major material erosion at some location on the embankment. Both embankments failed at downstream toe berm. This presentation will discuss the lessons learned and the implications of having a saturated toe berm versus a dry toe berm in the event of embankment overtopping. Design engineers, construction engineers, dam owners, municipalities, and maintenance personnel can apply this understanding to their workflows to better account for potential overtopping erosion.
Learning Objectives:
Describe research conducted on overtopping wet and dry embankments.
Learn about embankment overtopping tests.
Demonstrate the difference between wet and dry stability berms.
