APPENDIX G

FLOOD 2007 GEOTECHNICAL TRIP REPORT

CESWF-EC-DS 07 July 2007
BRANCH/1703

MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD

SUBJECT: Dallas Floodway, Trip Report for Inspections on 3 & 5 July 2007

1. GENERAL INFORMATION. On 2 July 2007, the USACE PM for the Dallas Floodway
project, Mr. Gene Rice, informed me that he had been notified by the City of Dallas that
several slides had developed along the Dallas Floodway levees. Since I had a trip
scheduled the next day to observe damage to the Dallas Floodway Lower Chain of Wetlands
construction project, I told Mr. Rice that I would stop by and inspect the slides at the levees
as well.

At 11:30 on 3 July 2007, I met with the Dallas Flood Control Division (FCD) Manager, Mr.
David Garcia; and the Assistant Superintendent of the Street Service Department, Mr. Kelly
High. Mr. Garcia and Mr. High confirmed that there were slides of the levees along the Elm
Fork and along the main stem of the Trinity River and proceeded to take me to each of the
eleven slides they had identified. Figure 1 shows the locations of these slides.

Figure 1. GOOGLE EARTH aerial view with locations of slides observed on 3 July 2007.
CESWF-EC-DS
SUBJECT: Dallas Floodway, Trinity River – Levee Slide Inspection Trip Report

2. CHARACTERIZATION of SLIDES.

a. Elm Fork. Five shallow slides are located along the Elm Fork of the Trinity River. Each
of these slides is located on the wet side of the levee. The most significant slide, Slide #1
(see Photos 1 and 2), is located upstream of the railroad bridge. Approximately 170-feet
long and as much as 10-feet deep, the toe of Slide #1 exits below the river surface
(approximate Elevation 405 at the time of the inspection).

Photo 1, 01 July 2007, Slide 1. The City of Dallas Flood Control District works to make
temporary repairs to the most serious of the levee slides. Select backfill mixed with
approximately 8 to 10% lime (by volume) was mixed offsite and then placed at the top of
the scarp by backhoe. (Photo courtesy of the Dallas Flood Control District)

Due to the access road down into the floodway, the levee cross-section in the area of Slide
#1 is slightly larger, so even though this slide removed a small portion of the levee’s crest
(approximately 1-foot), the reduction in the crest width is not considered critical.

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SUBJECT: Dallas Floodway, Trinity River – Levee Slide Inspection Trip Report

Photo 2a, 03 July 2007, Slide 1. This photo
was taken less than 24 hours after the repairs
shown in Photo 1 were made. Placement of the
fill material on top of the already failed soils
added weight to the failed mass and drove it
further downslope. The top of the fill material
used for the attempted repair is approximately 3-
feet below the levee crest.
Photo 2b, 03 July 2007, Slide 1. View of the
left side of the scarp looking upslope. The
entire slide was covered with black plastic after
the inspection to limit infiltration of additional
predicted rainfall.

Photo 3, 01 July 2007. Aerial view of

Slides 2 (background) and 3 (foreground).
Both slides are shallow and exit below the
river level. (Photo courtesy of the Dallas
Flood Control District)

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SUBJECT: Dallas Floodway, Trinity River – Levee Slide Inspection Trip Report

Photo 4a, 01 July 2007, Slide 3. Aerial view of Photo 4b, 01 July 2007, Slide 4. Aerial view
Slide #3. (Photo courtesy of the Dallas Flood of Slide #4, located just upstream of the State
Control District) Route #183 Bridge. (Photo courtesy of the
Dallas Flood Control District)

b. Main Stem Trinity River, West Levee. Five slides are located on the West Levee along
the main stem of the Trinity River. Each of these slides is located on the wet side of the
levee. As on the Elm Fork, these slides are shallow (all are less than 9-feet deep) with
widths ranging from approximately 90 to 120-feet.

Photo 5a, 01 July 2007. Aerial view of Slides 6 Photo 5b, 03 July 2007, Slide 7. Close-up of
(right), 7 (center) and 8 (left). (Photo courtesy the top of the scarp for Slide #7. This scarp is
of the Dallas Flood Control District) approximately 90-feet wide and 7-feet deep.

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SUBJECT: Dallas Floodway, Trinity River – Levee Slide Inspection Trip Report

Photo 6, 01 July 2007, Slide 10. Aerial view of the slide at the Coombs Gate structure.
(Photo courtesy of the Dallas Flood Control District)

Similar slides have occurred at the Coombs Gate location before, and it is reported that the
last slide repair included the drilling of a pier to provide support for the bridge. This will be
verified before the repair of this slide is implemented. As shown in Photo 7, this slide
threatens the bridge abutment. If a deep foundation has not been provided, failure of the
bridge could occur if the slide progresses.

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SUBJECT: Dallas Floodway, Trinity River – Levee Slide Inspection Trip Report

Photo 7, 03 July 2007, Slide 10. Close-up of the slide at the Coombs Gate. The failure
surface of the slide intersects the bridge seat. It is reported that a pier was
incorporated into the bridge foundation the last time a slide in this area was repaired.
This will be verified before implementation of repairs to this slide.

c. Main Stem Trinity River, East Levee. Slide #11 is located on the East Levee. Unlike
the other slides, this slide was located on the dry side of the levee, inside the partially filled
sump area.

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SUBJECT: Dallas Floodway, Trinity River – Levee Slide Inspection Trip Report

Photo 8, 03 July 2007, Slide 11. Slide #11 is located on the East Levee. The
partially filled sump is in the foreground, with the main stem Trinity River in the
background. (Photo courtesy of the Dallas Flood Control District)

3. TRIP FINDINGS.

a. Project Conditions. In spite of the numerous shallow slides that have developed, the
levees are in good condition overall. Due to heavy precipitation over the past several
months, the uppermost foot of the levee surface (side slopes and crest) is saturated and very
soft. This makes access for inspection and maintenance difficult and dangerous, and will
likely contribute to the development of more shallow slides along the floodway.

b. Directions to FCD. Attempted repairs made the day before the inspection had already
failed (see Photo 1), so we requested that the FCD cease to make temporary repairs by
adding fill to the failure surface, and that they:

• use weed-eaters to cut vegetation in the slide areas to improve ground surveillance
• cover the slides with plastic to prevent further infiltration of rainfall
• locate a potential borrow source in the event that the situation continues to worsen so
that additional fill can be added to the dry slide of the levee if warranted
• make daily inspections of the slide areas and dry side toe to see if seepage problems
are developing, with additional inspections after any heavy downpours

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SUBJECT: Dallas Floodway, Trinity River – Levee Slide Inspection Trip Report

The FCD agreed to this request. In a follow-up call to David Garcia the morning of 4 July
2007 to check on the condition of the project, Mr. Garcia confirmed that they had
successfully completed or were in the process of completing:

• vegetation removal with weed-eaters (50% complete)

• covering the slides with plastic (80% complete)
• locating a potential borrow source (completed: 5,000 CY of borrow was located at a
construction site in nearby Seagoville)
• daily inspections (ongoing)

c. Aerial Surveillance. The levees were last mowed in May 2007. Heavy rains since then
have accelerated vegetation growth and made it unsafe to mow again. The high vegetation
makes ground inspection of the project and identification of slides very difficult, so the FCD is
commended for coordinating with the Dallas Police Department Helicopter Unit to provide
aerial surveillance during this time.

d. USACE Follow-Up
Inspection. On 5 July
2007, Mr. Les Perrin
(CESWF-EC-DG), Mr.
Mark Sissom (CESWF-
OD) and the undersigned
made a brief inspection
of the floodway,
observing conditions at
Slide #4 (see Photo 9),
and the Coombs Gate
slide, Slide #10 (see
Photos 6 and 7). During
the inspection, the FCD
crew reported that two
additional slides had
developed along the Elm
Fork of the Trinity,
approximately 200 yards
downstream of Slide #4
(see Figure 3). We were
Photo 9, 05 July 2007, Slide 4. The FCD had done a good job unable to inspect these
covering up the slides with plastic to stop further infiltration from new slides due to heavy
heavy rains that moved into the area the morning of 5 July. Total
reported rainfall on this date was 0.88-inch.
vegetation growth.

4. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE.

a. Levees. Originally constructed by the City of Dallas in the 1930’s with 2.5H:1V side
slopes, and a maximum height of 35-feet; the levee system was modified by USACE in the
late 1950’s by flattening the side slopes from between 3H:1V to 4H:1V, and increasing
the crest width from 6 to 16-feet.

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SUBJECT: Dallas Floodway, Trinity River – Levee Slide Inspection Trip Report

While the overall performance of the modified levees has been good, hundreds of shallow
infinite slope failures requiring repair have developed in the highly plastic clay embankments.
Records maintained by the Dallas Flood Control District (FCD) show that more than 300
such slides have been repaired since 1966, so the current slides are neither unprecedented
nor unexpected. Most of these slides have occurred in the same general areas that slides
are currently being observed: on the East Levee along the Elm Fork and on the West Levee.
It is interesting to note that nineteen shallow slides are clearly visible in the Google Earth
satellite imagery (see Figure 4). That imagery is believed to have been obtained during
2004, another year in which precipitation was substantially above normal.

b. Comparison of the Current High Water Event with Previous High Water Events.
Since the Dallas levees were modified by USACE in the 1950’s, the Flood of Record for
the Dallas Floodway occurred on 3 May 1990 when a discharge of 82,300 cfs was
recorded. Although flood levels were high, the maximum flood height for this event,
Elevation 415.1 (gauge height of 47.1-feet), was more than 14-feet below the design crest
elevation. The Flood of Record has an estimated probability of annual occurrence of 0.022,
roughly equivalent to a ‘45-year’ storm. Photo 10 shows the Flood of Record height relative
to the top of the East Levee, while Photo 11 shows the flood height existing along the East
and West Levees during this current flood event. The location of the jail is annotated in both
photos for reference purposes.

Jail

Photo 10. Photo was taken during the modern Flood of Record, 3 May 1990. View is of
the downtown area along the mainstem Trinity River, looking to the North-Northwest.
Upstream is to the left. The maximum flood height for this event was Elevation 415.1 (gauge
height of 47.1-feet), roughly equivalent to a ’45-year’ storm.

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SUBJECT: Dallas Floodway, Trinity River – Levee Slide Inspection Trip Report

Jail

Photo 11, 01 July 2007. View is looking downstream along the mainstem Trinity River.
The river level at this time was approximately Elevation 404.5 (gauge height of 36.5-feet), more than
10-feet below the record high river stage shown in Photo 10. The current event is less than a ’10-
year’ storm. (Photo courtesy of the Dallas Flood Control District)

5. INSPECTION INFORMATION.

a Weather During Inspections.

1. 3 July 2007. During the initial site inspection, the weather was humid and overcast,
with occasional sunshine and a temperature of approximately 85°. There was no
precipitation during the site visit.

2. 5 July 2007. Weather during the follow-up site visit was overcast with heavy rain.
The temperature was approximately 85°.

b. Antecedent Conditions. Thus far this year, precipitation for 2007 is nearly 13-inches
above normal. After two years of serious drought in 2005 and 2006, this amount of rainfall is
more than sufficient to fill cracks that developed in the levee embankments during the
drought period. This makes it likely that shallow slides will continue to develop throughout
the Floodway.

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SUBJECT: Dallas Floodway, Trinity River – Levee Slide Inspection Trip Report

c. Gauge Readings During Inspections. Gauge readings from the Commerce Street
Gauge at the beginning and end of each inspection were obtained from the USGS website
(http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis) and are provided in Table 1. These readings are available
in real-time, and had not been corrected by the USGS at the time of this report. Plots of the
uncorrected data since 15 June 2007 are provided as Figure 2.

Date / Time Gauge Reading Elevation (NGVD29) Discharge (CFS)

03 July 2007 / 11:30 36.42 404.44 23,800

03 July 2007 / 16:30 36.48 404.50 24,000
05 July 2007 / 10:30 36.24 404.26 23,200
05 July 2007 / 13:00 36.35 404.37 23,600

Table 1. Uncorrected tabular Commerce St. gauge data (source: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis)

Figure 2. Uncorrected (i.e. ‘provisional’) gauge data from the Commerce Street Gauge
(source: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis).

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SUBJECT: Dallas Floodway, Trinity River – Levee Slide Inspection Trip Report

d. Photographs. Although high vegetation obscured most of the slides, making it difficult to
obtain good record photos from the ground, a RICOH camera with GPS was used to
document and map the location of each slide. Additionally, the Dallas Flood Control District
provided aerial photographs for our use. Aerial and land photos are available on the swf-
fs1bgis server:

(\\Swf-fs1bgis\userdirs\Geotechnical Section\Photos\Civil Projects\Dallas Floodway).

6. CONCLUSIONS.

a. Although the number of slides is substantial, none of the slides is considered to present a
high risk of failure of the Floodway at this time. The most serious slide (Slide #1) is located
on the Elm Fork. This slide was ~170' long at the time of the inspection, and was
approximately 10' deep. The failure surface intersected the embankment crest, and exited
below the water surface. Because the cross-section of the levee in this area is slightly wider
due to the location of the levee access road, the loss of a portion of the crest is not critical
unless the river level rises to SPF level (more than 25-feet above the current river stage).

Under normal conditions, the slides that have developed along the Floodway would be
considered a recurring maintenance issue; however, due to the continuing heavy
precipitation, the situation is considered to be serious. It is not, however, dangerous or
critical at this time. CESWF will continue to assist the Dallas Flood Control District in
monitoring the floodway and will provide guidance for additional corrective actions if
warranted.

b. Additional shallow slides on the levees should be expected.

c. Repairs of the slide at the Coombs Gate should include evaluation of the foundation of
the service bridge.

Anita Branch, PE
Civil Engineer
CESWF-EC-DG

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 Approximate
Location of
New Slides

Figure 3. Larger View of the Slide Location Map presented in Figure 1 Showing Location of New Slides

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 Figure 4. Location of 19 Slides Clearly Evident on the Google Earth Satellite Imagery

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