The development of centrifugal models to study the influence of uplift pressures on the stability of a flood bank

A series of small-scale two-dimensional models has been tested on the Cambridge geotechnical centrifuge. The models represent a clay flood embankment built on a clay foundation layer that overlies a pervious granular layer. High water pressures in the pervious layer represent the uplift pressures that are known to act on Thames flood embankments. The models have shown that the uplift pressures may modify the nature of the most critical failure mechanism, but do not appear to affect greatly the factor of safety against collapse. The mechanism of failure observed is thought to have contributed to the breach at Dartford Lock in 1953. A simple analysis is proposed, derived from consideration of the failure mechanism observed in the models, which promises to afford a rational design approach for landside loading berms where uplift-interaction failure is thought to be a danger. Une serie de modeles bidimensionnels d'echelle reduite a ete sur la centrifugeuse geotechnique de Cambridge. Les modeles representent u...