Evaluation of the Land-Climate Interface Boundary Condition on Levee Response Using SEEP/W Software

The focus of this research is to demonstrate the capability of Transient Seepage Analysis and Land-Climate Interface (LCI) to predict the levee response for a short duration and extreme hydraulic loadings. A levee segment named Buck Chute Levee located in between Eagle Lake and the Mississippi River in Eagle Lake, MS is used in this research as a case study. Weather and soil field measurements at this levee have been collected a few years ago as part of a previous study on the levee. For the study presented in this report, the data collected from the period of June 2014 to May 2015 data was used. The weather data recorded included precipitation, temperature, humidity, average wind speed, and total solar radiation. We used the program SEEP/W which is a part of the GeoStudio suite to simulate the seepage flow and the pore water pressure (PWP) response within the levee embankment and, foundation soils to the boundary conditions, and the two bodies of water surrounding it; the Mississippi River and Eagle lake. Using the collected data, we created a LCI boundary condition that was applied to the embankment surface of the model to simulate the weather impact on the levee. The calibration of the seepage model was achieved by comparing the model total head results to the measurements of three piezometers installed on the landside of the levee. The major outcome of this research study is that the conventional use of the river and lake water level alone is not sufficient to predict the PWP in the levee embankment. LCI should be used in all transient seepage analyses to accurately predict accurate PWP.