ABSTRACT
Failure prediction of landslide dams is a very important aspect of landslide disaster reduction. This paper presents the results of a comprehensive study on the prediction of piping-induced failure of landslide dams in the following aspects: (1) Extensive geophysical investigations for understanding the internal structure of landslide dams using the Microtremor Chain Array Survey (MCAS) in the Higashi-Takezawa landslide dam in Niigata, Japan, and Kel-Tor landslide dam in the Kyrgyz Republic, and to evaluate their susceptibility to piping; (2) Large-scale landslide dam model tests to simulate the failure mechanisms of landslide dams in real case scenarios, coupled with transient pore-water pressure variations in the dam models, as well as changes in turbidity of the effluent seepage at the downstream toe in relation to the subsidence that occurred at the dam crest; (3) Parametric study using laboratory model tests to determine the critical hydraulic parameters under steady-state seepage.
