Experimental Studies on the Stability Assessment of a Levee Using Reinforced Soil Based on a Biopolymer

Ko, Dongwoo; Kang, Joongu

doi:10.3390/w10081059

Cited by 15 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 14 publications

(13 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This study focused on compounds of two gel-type polysaccharide biopolymers; xanthan gum (XG) and starch (ST). Specifically, XG and ST compounds (XS) are a 3:7 mixture of XG and ST, and this formulation has suggested and verified as a slope-soil reinforcing material in the previous studies [8][9][10]29 , considering their soil strengthening, vegetation promotion, and cost-effectiveness 9 . Combining XG (strengthening purpose) with ST (economic feasibility purpose), this recipe addresses fieldapplicability enhancement of XG-based soil treatment.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Improved geotechnical engineering properties allow BPST to be an environmentally friendly ground improvement method for soil erosion/scouring prevention and slope surface protection 9 , 10 . However, climate-related weathering processes such as cyclic wetting–drying (W–D) and freezing–thawing (F–T) are suspected to reduce the strength of BPST-reinforced soils 11 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Durability and strength degradation of xanthan gum based biopolymer treated soil subjected to severe weathering cycles

Lee

Kwon

Park

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Biopolymer-based soil treatments have shown effectiveness in soil improvement, with successful field-scale implementation. In this study, we explored the effect of cyclic wetting–drying (W–D) and freezing–thawing (F–T) on the strength durability of biopolymer-treated soils. The results indicate that cyclic W–D and F–T gradually degrade soil strength owing to water adsorption and local biopolymer dilution. Poorly graded sand was highly vulnerable to these weathering effects; however, this problem was mitigated when the soil contained a fines content of 15–25%. These biopolymer-treated soils effectively resisted numerous cycles of both W–D and F–T, indicating that biopolymer-treated soils are suitable for earthen slope reinforcement.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Durability and strength degradation of xanthan gum based biopolymer treated soil subjected to severe weathering cycles

Lee

Kwon

Park

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Instabilities on the landside may also be initiated by surface erosion during overflow. The resistance against such action can be increased by placing a reinforcing layer of standard geosynthetics or other specific products [68] such as biopolymers [69,70] over the slope, but in this case, there is no such additional protection. The same applies for the riverside slope where surface erosion might be caused by the flow of the river and during the rapid decrease of water level in the river (RDD).…”

Section: Case Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Fragility Curves for Slope Stability of Geogrid Reinforced River Levees

Rossi

Bačić

Kovačević

et al. 2021

Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

When constructing flood protection structures such as river levees, oftentimes due to various factors engineers must design composite structures, i.e., reinforced earthen structures which comply with all the stability criteria. The most common way of reinforcing such structures is the usage of geosynthetics, or mostly geogrids when talking about stability. Since geosynthetics are man-made materials produced in a controlled environment and go through quality control measures, their characteristics contain a negligible amount of uncertainty compared to natural soils. However, geosynthetic handling, their installation in the levee, and their long-term degradation can all have significant effects of variable magnitude on geosynthetic characteristics. These effects and their variability can be considered as random variables, which can then be used in probabilistic analyses together with soil properties. To investigate the effects of the geogrid’s resistance variability on slope stability compared to soil properties variability, probabilistic analyses are conducted on a river levee in northern Croatia. It is found that the geogrid’s variability generally has very little effect on the total uncertainty compared to the friction angle’s variability, but out of the three geogrid layers used the top grid has the most influence.

show abstract

“…Previous studies on levees can be grouped into three research trends: (1) investigations of the mechanism of overflow-induced levee breach and infiltration characteristics of different levee materials [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12], (2) analysis of seepage and breach behaviors by inserting sensors into a levee [13][14][15][16], and (3) stability analysis of levees with different combinations of reinforcing materials [17,18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biopolymer-Reinforced Levee for Breach Development Retardation and Enhanced Erosion Control

Kang

2020

Water

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study proposes an earthen levee reinforcement method with a new biopolymer-based material to prevent levee scour and breach. It is an eco-friendly method that can efficiently protect the levee slope as it enhances soil strength, even at a very low concentration of biopolymer, and has high resistance to surface runoff in addition to promoting vegetation growth. The function and effectiveness of this method were demonstrated through an overflow-based semi-scale experiment in a previous study. In this study, we examined the effect of biopolymer-mixed soil layer on levee stability against an overflow-induced breach. In these experiments, biopolymer-mixed soils were sprayed on the crest and land-side levee surface. Two full-scale tests were conducted (2.5–2.7 m high and 14 m wide on bottom). Case 1 (control case) consisted of bare sand without any treatment, while Case 2 consisted of a 1.0% biopolymer-mixed soil sprayed on the crest and landside slope of the levee and turf put on it. By applying an image analysis technique, we analyzed the breach phenomenon and breach retardation effect of the levee treated with a biopolymer and covered with vegetation. In this experiment, the slope loss rate of Case 2 was retarded 1.5 to 2.3 times over time as compared to Case 1. During the experiment, we observed that soil erosion followed through the narrow water channel formed by the stripped turfs. This means that the grasses did not root firmly enough to protect the surface. In this regard, although the experimental results may seem unsatisfactory, the biopolymer was found to help improve erosion retardation. In 2020, we will conduct more experiments with different compositions and concentrations of the biopolymer regardless of levee vegetation. With this research, we expect to confirm that the new technology of using biopolymer-treated soils is promising for solving the levee overflow breach problem.

show abstract

Experimental Studies on the Stability Assessment of a Levee Using Reinforced Soil Based on a Biopolymer

Cited by 15 publications

References 14 publications

Durability and strength degradation of xanthan gum based biopolymer treated soil subjected to severe weathering cycles

Durability and strength degradation of xanthan gum based biopolymer treated soil subjected to severe weathering cycles

Fragility Curves for Slope Stability of Geogrid Reinforced River Levees

Biopolymer-Reinforced Levee for Breach Development Retardation and Enhanced Erosion Control

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About