Seepage and uplift pressure

Seepage and uplift pressure

What is it?
Methods
Blighs creep theory
Lanes weighted creep theory
Application

 According to Blighs theory, water creeps along the bottom

contour of the structure.
The length of the path of water is called the length of creep
The loss of head is proportional to the length of creep.
The loss of head per unit of creep length is called the
hydraulic gradient. (HL / L)

Blighs Creep Theory

The loss of head is proportional to the length of
creep
Dissipation of head per unit length of creep is
constant throughout the seepage path.
LBligh = CBligh . H
CB = Blighs coefficient of percolation

Your views on the theory?

Blighs theory makes no discrimination between
horizontal and vertical creeps.

Blighs Creep Theory

Safety against piping or undermining
Sufficient creep length
H/L < 1/C

Blighs Creep Theory

Safety against uplift pressure
If the uplift head at any point is H1 (metres of water),
then uplift head has to be counterbalanced by the
weight of floor thickness.
Weight of water upstream?

Example

Calculate hydraulic gradient and uplift pressure at point C

Specific gravity of concrete is 2.4

Lanes weighted creep theory

Horizontal creep is less effective in reducing uplift
than vertical creep.
Lane suggested a factor of 1/3 for horizontal creep
against 1 for the vertical creep.
Calculate
creep length
using Lanes
theory.

Definitions
Percolation is the flow of water under the ground
surface due to an applied differential head

Percolation length (creep length) is the length to

dissipate the total hydraulic pressure on the structure

Undermining (Piping) is to carry away (wash) soil

particles with flowing water below the ground surface

causing collapse or failure of the above structure

A weir on solid rock (impervious foundation) does not

need long apron (Floor), but needs sufficient width b to
resist soil stresses.

A weir on pervious soil needs length L to:

Cover creep or percolation length,
Resist scour from falling water

L` = 2 t + L
If L` > LB (Design is safe, no possibility of
undermining)
If L` < LB (Design is unsafe, undermining
occurs, leads to failure)

L` = L + 2 t + 2 S1 + 2 S2
L` LB (design is safe, no possibility of
undermining)
L` < LB (design is unsafe, undermining
occurs, leads to failure)

 Distance between sheet piles a-a and b-b > d1 +

d2
Water percolation length takes the right path,
hence is safe

 Distance between sheet piles a-a & b-b < d1 + d2

Water percolation length takes a short cut from a to
b
Actual percolation length is smaller than designed