ABSTRACT
The objective of this research is to develop tools that would improve the understanding of the process of levee failure due to erosion and reduce the risk of failure. Detailed results of the project have been presented else-where. This paper deals with one part of the research, the determination of the amounts and rates of sediment transport due to the soil erosion. Hydraulic erosion is a complicated phenomenon and depends on many different parameters. This project dealt with the study of surface erosion of levees, earth dams and embankments. To improve design criteria of these structures, development and verification of realistic computer models that can simulate the erosion process is necessary. In this research, a large number of physical levee erosion tests were performed at 1-g and at high g’s using a geotechnical centrifuge. The erosion was modeled physically in detail. A Kinect device was used to scan and evaluate the volume of eroded soil. The variation of the shape of the channels as a function of time along with the amount of eroded soil was measured using implementing this method.
