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Geophysical investigation for the rehabilitation of a flood control embankment
Author(s) -
Cardarelli E.,
Cercato M.,
Di Filippo G.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
near surface geophysics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.639
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1873-0604
pISSN - 1569-4445
DOI - 10.3997/1873-0604.2010018
Subject(s) - levee , geology , seismic refraction , engineering geology , flood myth , flood control , environmental geology , geophysics , hydrogeology , regional geology , electrical resistivity tomography , geophysical survey , geotechnical engineering , seismic wave , civil engineering , seismology , engineering , metamorphic petrology , volcanism , electrical resistivity and conductivity , tectonics , philosophy , theology , electrical engineering
ABSTRACT To comply with recently published seismic regulations and environmental standards, existing dams and embankments have to be evaluated for safety control, in addition to standard maintenance and repair, which is common practice for aging structures. In either case, engineering geophysics is almost the only viable option for investigating these structures and the underlying soil as a whole. In this contribution, electrical and seismic surveys are performed on an outdated flood control embankment that is expected to be put into service again. Integration of DC resistivity results with those of various seismic prospecting methods (seismic refraction, cross‐hole S‐wave and P‐wave tomography and surface wave analysis) is found to be successful for defining a clear physical representation of the entire structure. The low‐strain elastic properties (from seismic speeds of propagation) as well as the geometrical characteristics of the internal core of the dam and of the foundation soil serve as guidance for the rehabilitation intervention.