ABSTRACT
The flow of water within a soil mass depends, by and large, on the soil porosity, in other words on the space between solid particles. A flow of water within a porous medium occurs when there is an energy imbalance, in which case, water flows from the high level energy towards the low level energy. Daniel Bernoulli established that, in the case of an incompressible inviscid fluid, the total energy, often referred to as total head in a steady pipe flow remains constant regardless of the position of the point, within the flow domain, at which it is measured. The flow of water generates seepage forces within the soil mass, thus affecting the effective stresses. The change in effective stresses depends therefore on the orientation of these seepage forces, in other words on the direction of flow. To control seepage pressures, a cut-off sheet pile is driven on the upstream side of the dam to a depth of 4.6 m.
