Study of the stability of small earthfill dams compacted in three diferent moisture contents

Abstract

Aiming to provide necessary parameter for earthfill dam’s preliminary design¬ing, this paper presents the determination of the safety factor for embankments compacted with diabase’s residual soil, very common in great areas of Brazil’s Southeast Region. For determining these factors, two dams’ hypothetic sections (5 meters [m] in height and equipped with draining and filtering elements) were simulated. Aiming to simulate conditions of low compactness control, common in rural areas, the sections were studied in their best compactness content and with 4% above and under this value. The stability analysis were performed at Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (USP), using the technical softwares Slope/W, for determining security factors, and Seep/W, for determining the water table contained in each simulated embankment. The results showed a variation in the stability of the studied embankments, according to the compactness moisture, and that the slope’s inclination recommended by the theory is too conservative.