A MODEL FOR BREACH GROWTH IN A DIKE-BURST

A mathematical model for sand-dike breach erosion is presented. The heart of the model is a modified Bagnold (1963) energetics—based sand transport conception combined with a simplified Galappatti and Vreugdenhil (1985) pick up mechanism for the suspended load. The model has been tested to three laboratory experiments. The agreement between model predictions and experimental results is surprisingly good. Prototype calculations are presented for the 73 m high sand—dike of a proposed pumped—storage plant in the Netherlands.