Application of GPR to the monitoring of river embankments

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) can assist decision making in a number of fields by enhancing our knowledge of subsurface features. Non-destructive investigations and controls of civil structures are improving day by day, however the scientific literature reports only a few documented cases of GPR applications to the detection of voids and discontinuities in hydraulic defense structures such as river embankments and levee systems. We applied GPR to the monitoring of river levees for detecting animal burrows, which may trigger levee failures by piping. The manageability and the non-invasiveness of GPR have resulted to be particularly suitable for this application. First because GPR is an extensive investigation method that enables one to rapidly cover a wide area, locating voids that are difficult and costly to locate using other intrusive methods. Second, GPR returns detailed information about the possible presence of voids and discontinuities within river embankments. We document a series of successful GPR applications to detect animal burrows in river levees.

[1]  A. P. Annan,et al.  Measuring Soil Water Content with Ground Penetrating Radar: A Review , 2003 .

[2]  A. P. Annan,et al.  Ground-penetrating radar for high-resolution mapping of soil and rock stratigraphy , 1989 .

[3]  Vijay P. Singh,et al.  Determination of Critical Head in Soil Piping , 2003 .

[4]  Sami Eyuboglu,et al.  A Controlled Experiment to Determine the Water Table Response Using Ground Penetrating Radar , 2008 .

[5]  Attilio Castellarin,et al.  Probability-weighted hazard maps for comparing different flood risk management strategies: a case study , 2009 .

[6]  D. Steeples,et al.  Cavity detection using high-resolution seismic reflection methods , 1988 .

[7]  H. S. Lien,et al.  Measurement radius of reinforcing steel bar in concrete using digital image GPR , 2009 .

[8]  F. P. Haeni,et al.  Application of Ground‐Penetrating‐Radar Methods in Hydrogeologie Studies , 1991 .

[9]  D. Butler Microgravimetric And Gravity-Gradient Techniques For Detection of Subsurface Cavities , 1983 .

[10]  Lawrence B. Conyers,et al.  Ground Penetrating Radar, 2nd Edition , 2006 .

[11]  C. G. Gardner,et al.  High dielectric constant microwave probes for sensing soil moisture , 1974 .

[12]  J. Hugenschmidt,et al.  Concrete bridge inspection with a mobile GPR system , 2002 .

[13]  D. Daniels Ground Penetrating Radar , 2005 .

[14]  Johan Alexander Huisman,et al.  Measuring soil water content with ground penetrating radar , 2003 .

[15]  J. Santamarina,et al.  Soils and waves:Particulate materials behavior, characterization and process monitoring , 2001 .

[16]  A. Neal Ground-penetrating radar and its use in sedimentology: principles, problems and progress , 2004 .

[17]  J. H. Bungey,et al.  SUB-SURFACE RADAR TESTING OF CONCRETE: A REVIEW , 2004 .

[18]  U. Wollschläger,et al.  Continuous and simultaneous measurement of reflector depth and average soil-water content with multichannel ground-penetrating radar , 2008 .

[19]  Application of Ground Penetrating Radar on the Void-Detection in Levee , 2002 .

[20]  Marco Bittelli,et al.  Correction of TDR-based soil water content measurements in conductive soils , 2008 .

[21]  Vincenzo Barrile,et al.  Application of radar technology to reinforced concrete structures: a case study , 2005 .

[22]  Matthew W. Frost,et al.  Ground-penetrating radar investigations for urban roads , 2006 .

[23]  Dwain K. Butler,et al.  Microgravimetric and gravity gradient techniques for detection of subsurface cavities , 1984 .

[24]  F. D. Shields,et al.  EFFECTS OF WOODY VEGETATION ON SANDY LEVEE INTEGRITY , 1992 .

[25]  Timo Saarenketo,et al.  Electrical properties of water in clay and silty soils , 1998 .

[26]  John M. Reynolds,et al.  An Introduction to Applied and Environmental Geophysics , 1997 .

[27]  Adam Szynkiewicz GPR monitoring of earthen flood banks/levees , 2000, International Conference on Ground Penetrating Radar.

[28]  Mansor Nakhkash,et al.  Automatic detection of buried utilities and solid objects with GPR using neural networks and pattern recognition , 2000 .

[29]  L. Conyers Ground-Penetrating Radar for Archaeology , 2004 .

[30]  Makino,et al.  Effects of pH on Dielectric Relaxation of Montmorillonite, Allophane, and Imogolite Suspensions. , 1999, Journal of colloid and interface science.

[32]  M. Roth,et al.  A case study of the reliability of multielectrode earth resistivity testing for geotechnical investigations in karst terrains , 2002 .