ABSTRACT
Breach analysis of earthen embankments has recently been drawing greater attention as in the event of an embankment failure. In the present paper, results of a laboratory work conducted to study the breach analysis of earthen embankments on a typical fuse plug have been given. The erosion process initiated by the over-topping of the earthen embankment has been studied with respect to temporal variation of depth and surface width of flow, depth and width of sediment, profile of breach etc. Five embankments, one constructed with non-cohesive sediment (pure sand, c = 0 ) and the other four with different sand-silt-clay proportions were tested. The height of the embankments and the width at the crest were restricted as per the dimensions of the fuse plug. Examination of the data from the tests indicated that headcut erosion played an important role in the process of breach growth for the case of embankments made of cohesive soil mixtures.
