The hydro-mechanical stability of soil

加拿大依靠水力发电作为清洁和可再生能源的来源。加拿大工程师在水电大坝的创新设计、施工和性能监测方面处于世界领先地位。我们的竞争优势是基于对现有大坝“健康状况”的了解，并利用这些知识为大坝安全和风险管理决策提供信息。从关键水坝基础设施的长期管理中获得的知识也为采矿部门的尾矿库和市政部门的防洪工程提供了最佳实践。不列颠哥伦比亚省圣约翰堡附近的WAC班尼特水坝在近50年前建造时是世界上最大的堤坝。据估计，它的净资产为50亿美元。拟议的研究调查源于1996年班尼特大坝的一次重大天坑事故。这项研究包括实验室测试和伴随的实地考察。实验室调查将推进我们的理解渗流引起的土壤内部侵蚀的水力机械的影响，产生土壤行为的数据库，以指导改进工程实践的发展，并验证两个有前途的方法的“健康”监测土坝的潜力。在不列颠哥伦比亚省雷弗尔斯托克附近的库尔西耶大坝现场进行的一项伴随性实地调查将产生宝贵的土壤样品，作为实验室调查的一部分进行测试。以及（ii）创新的检测方法，为国家和国际大坝安全和风险管理指南提供信息。

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.