SEDL / STP / STP623-EB / STP26991S

Conditions Causing Piping in Compacted Clay

Landau, HG
Project engineer, Dames & Moore, Consulting Engineers, Seattle, Wash.

Altschaeffl, AG
Professor of civil engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind.

Pages: 20    Published: Jan 1977

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Abstract

Erosion studies were conducted with laboratory apparatus which produced a piping-type failure within compacted cohesive soil specimens. No artificial opening was preformed in the specimens. The erosion potential was found to be strongly dependent upon the soil type and its chemical properties, the compaction water content, and the chemical composition of the eroding water. Interactions among the variables were important. The combination of wet side compaction and low ion concentration eroding water was found to produce extremely low resistance to erosion for some soil.