Abstract. Animal burrowing can greatly influence the water pressures in a flood protection embankment and thereby be a cause of breaching of flood defences. However, little guidance and literature is available on this subject. This paper investigates the contribution of badgers, porcupines and foxes to the failure of the levee of San Matteo (Modena, Italy) on 19th January 2014. The proposed method evaluates their influence on the water pressures in the embankment during rainfall and a high water tide. The influence of the burrowing is assessed through a transient FEM flow analysis. Starting from the documented entrances situated in the vadose zone, different scenarios for the internal distribution of tunnels and chambers are proposed. The most likely representative network for the loss of stability of the dike is assessed.
Abstract. Levees offer an ideal environment for the diffusion of European Badgers (Meles Meles), whose burrowing activity can be a main cause of breaching in dikes. This paper evaluates the contribution of burrows dug by badgers to the initiation of a dike failure. For example, a breach in a dike near Modena (Italy), where animal burrowing activity was active, took place on the 19th January 2014. While the distribution of the underground system inside the dike is usually unknown, the burrow entrances are easily identified along the slopes. Different scenarios of burrow entrances located along the outer and inner slope are considered and their contribution to sliding of the inner slope, microinstability and internal erosion is investigated. The most dangerous positions of entrances for the stability of the dike are assessed and presented.
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