The hydro-mechanical stability of soil

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Canada relies on hydroelectricity as source of clean and renewable energy. Canadian engineers are world-leaders in the innovative design, construction and performance monitoring of hydroelectric dams. Our competitive-edge is based on understanding the "health" of existing dams, and use of that knowledge to inform decisions on dam safety and risk management. Knowledge-transfer from long-term stewardship of critical dam infrastructure also informs best-practices for tailings impoundments in the mining sector and flood protection works in the municipal sector.**The WAC Bennett Dam near Fort St. John, British Columbia, was the largest embankment dam in the world when constructed nearly 50 years ago. It has an estimated net-worth of five billion dollars. The proposed research investigation arises from a major sinkhole incident at the Bennett dam in 1996. The research involves laboratory testing and companion fieldwork. The laboratory investigation will advance our understanding of hydro-mechanical influences on seepage-induced internal erosion in soil, yield a database of soil behaviour to guide the development of improved engineering practices, and verify the potential of two promising methods for "health" monitoring of earth dams. A companion field investigation at the site of the Coursier dam near Revelstoke in British Columbia, which experienced a number of sinkhole incidents and was decommissioned in 2003, will yield invaluable soil samples for testing as a part of the laboratory investigation.**The anticipated outcomes of the work are (i) advances in a science-based understanding of seepage-induced erosion in earth dams, and (ii) innovative methods for its detection that will inform national and international guidelines on dam safety and risk management.