University of Colorado at Boulder

Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering

 

 

 

15^th Jack W. Hilf Memorial Lecture

in Geotechnical Engineering

 

"Dams and Levees -- Design 101"

 

by

 

Frank C. Townsend

Spangler Professor

Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

 

 

 

University of Colorado at Boulder

Engineering Center, ECCR-245

 

Wednesday, April 11, 2007    

4 pm

 

 

Synopsis:

 

The New Orlean's levee failures due to Katrina are a grim reminder of our design limitations. On Feb 1, 2007, the Corps of Engineers declared 122 levees at risk of failing. The presentation reviews the basic geotechnical design fundamentals (stop, control, and collect the seepage) for successful dam/levee design. Piping theory, and filter requirements are discussed. What went wrong, and the lessons learned from the New Orleans levee failures are presented. Lastly, the design aspects for repair/retrofit of existing levees are examined via case histories.

 

Reception immediately following the lecture