Client: Howard County Department of Public Works
Location: Columbia, Maryland
Services: Geotechnical Engineering
The dam located along Red Clover Lane is a 30-foot high, 200-foot long earthen structure. Over two consecutive winters, the slope on the dam failed. The County called in KCI to perform a safety inspection of the failed dam, determine the cause of the failure and design remedial action.
KCI visually inspected the dam and identified needed repairs in accordance with the Maryland Dam Safety Inspection Checklist. Engineers conducted a subsurface investigation, drilling in the dam embankment, to explore the cause of the slope failure. Direct shear testing and global stability analyses of embankment soils helped determine shear strength properties.
KCI determined that the very soft/very loose condition of the upper few feet of material caused of the slope failure. Recommendations involved removal of the top three feet of micaceous silty sand soils and installation of clayey sand material to prevent shallow slope failures in the future.
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