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Assessment of embankment slope stability with geomembrane sealing

Conference Paper · September 2015

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Zbigniew Lechowicz Grzegorz Wrzesiński

Warsaw University of Life Sciences - SGGW Warsaw University of Life Sciences - SGGW
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 Proceedings of the XVI ECSMGE
Geotechnical Engineering for Infrastructure and Development
ISBN 978-0-7277-6067-8

© The authors and ICE Publishing: All rights reserved, 2015

doi:10.1680/ecsmge.60678

Assessment of embankment slope stability

with geomembrane sealing
L’évaluation de la stabilité des talus avec géomembrane étanche
Z. Lechowicz*1 and G. Wrzesiski1
1
Department of Geotechnical Engineering/Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
*
Corresponding Author

ABSTRACT The paper discusses the problem of assessing embankment slope stability with geomembrane sealing. It presents the results
of an analysis carried out for the dam embankment of the Nielisz reservoir constructed in stages on soft subsoil consisting of mud and or-
ganic mud layers. Laboratory tests were performed to determine the friction coefficient between selected elements of the slope sealing. The
test results indicate that the lowest value of the friction coefficient was obtained for the contact surface between the smooth side of the ge-
omembrane and the geotextile. Based on laboratory test results, parameter values were selected for the stability analysis. The assessment of
embankment slope stability with geomembrane sealing was carried out using FEM analysis with interface elements. Following the calcula-
tion results, the final design of the slope sealing was carried out, which was approved by field observations.

RÉSUMÉ Dans cet article un problème de l'évaluation de la stabilité des talus avec géomembrane est soulevée. Le rapport présente les
résultats de l'analyse effectuée pour barrage en remblai de réservoir de Nielisz construit par étapes sur un sol mou, se composant de limon
et limon organique. Des essais en laboratoire ont été réalisés pour déterminer le coefficient de frottement entre les éléments sélectionnés de
la pente étanchéité. Les résultats des essais montrent que la plus faible valeur du coefficient de frottement a été obtenue pour la surface de
contact entre la partie plate de la géomembrane et géotextile. Basé sur les résultats des essais de laboratoire les valeurs des paramètres pour
l'analyse de la stabilité ont été sélectionnées. L'évaluation de la stabilité des talus avec géomembrane d'étanchéité a été réalisée en utilisant
l'analyse de méthode des éléments finis (MEF) avec des éléments d'interface. Dès calculs réalisés résulte la conception finale de la pente
d’étanchéité ce qui a été prouvée par les observations de terrain sur place.

1 INTRODUCTION Depending on the dam construction, single geo-

Occasionally, embankments have to be located on
soft subsoil with organic soil layers characterized by
significant spatial variability in thickness and me-
chanical properties (Hartlen & Wolski 1996). In such
cases, embankment loading causes high differences
in the settlement.
The construction of dam embankments often re-
quires the use of special sealing and protection of the
upstream slope as well as the drainage system
(Bergado et al. 2002; Borges & Cardoso 2002; Pinto
2003). Due to significant differences in settlement,
more flexible types of these elements should be se-
lected.
synthetics, the so-called Geosynthetics Lining Sys-
tems (GLS) or Geosynthetic Clay Liners (GCLs) may
be applied. Geosynthetic Lining Systems may com-
prise several geosynthetics of different nature, on
which a soil cover is placed to provide protection for
the geosynthetic system (Briançon et al. 2002), while
Geosynthetic Clay Liners represent manufactured
hydraulic barriers consisting of bentonite clay bond-
ed to a layer, or layers, of geosynthetic material
(Daniel et al. 1998, Fox et al. 1998). The most com-
monly used GLS type includes placement of the geo-
synthetic between the soil cover and the geomem-
brane. The geomembrane ensures water-tightness of
the structure while the geotextile protects the ge-

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Geotechnical Engineering for Infrastructure and Development

omembrane during placement of the soil cover and
the service of the structure, as well as contributes to
increased stability of the soil cover. Sometimes, a
layer of geotextile under the geomembrane and
drainage geocomposite is also used.
Designing such systems for slopes requires defin-
ing the friction coefficient between selected elements
of the slope sealing (Koutsourais et al. 1991). Incor-
rect friction determination may contribute to the for-
mation of a preferential slip surface between particu-
lar materials both during installation and operation
(Girard et al. 1990; Stamatopoulos & Kotzias 1996).
The paper analyses the influence of the application
of a geomembrane sealing on the slope dam em-
bankment stability in the Nielisz reservoir. For this
purpose laboratory tests were performed to determine
the friction coefficient between selected elements of
the slope sealing. Based on laboratory test results,
values of parameters for the stability analysis were
selected. Assessment of embankment slope stability
with geomembrane sealing was carried out using the
finite element method (FEM) in plane strain condi-
tions. Interface elements were used in the calculation
to describe friction between elements of sealing.
nally, the main dam embankment was constructed in
2 stages with preloading fills (Figure 2). To ensure
low costs, a one-sidedly textured geomembrane was
applied as a sealing. The geomembrane was placed
with the smooth side up and covered with a geotex-
tile. As a result, an unfavorable interface between the
smooth side of the geomembrane and the geotextile
was created. The use of such type of interface be-
tween two geosynthetics caused the formation of a
preferential slip surface and thus led to failure.
Figure 1. Cross-section of the main dam embankment of the
Nielisz reservoir: 1 – riprap on geotextile, 2 – sealing by geomem-
brane on geotextile covered by sand layer, 3 – stone toe, 4 – seal-
ing by geomembrane covered by sand layer and crushstones,
5 – stone toe drain surrounded by geotextile, 6 – road.
A

2 SITE CHARACTERISTICS

The Nielisz dam is located in south-eastern Poland in

B
the Wieprz river valley where an extensive testing
program including laboratory and in situ tests was
carried out in the 1990s (Lechowicz et al. 1998; Ra-
barijoely 2008).
Due to the occurrence of soft soils, the main dam
C
embankment of the Nielisz reservoir was constructed
in stages utilizing increased shear strength due to
consolidation. Calculations performed at the design
stage indicated that the use of preloading technology
should reduce post-construction settlement and limit
the time of upstream slope construction. The need to
finish the dam construction in three years forced very Figure 2. Dam embankment constructed in 2 stages with preload-
ing: A – construction schedule, B – first stage with preloading fills,
close cooperation between the designer and the ge- C – second stage with removal of preloading fills and increase of
otechnical engineers. Due to spatial variability in embankment crest; 1 – existing embankment, 2 – removal of exist-
thickness and mechanical properties of the soft soils, ing embankment to the elevation of 194.0 m, 3 – preloading fill,
high differences in the settlements caused by em- 4 – increase of embankment crest up to the final elevation of
199.0 m, 5, 6 – settlement gauge, 7 – sandy silt, 8 – organic mud,
bankment loading were expected. Significant differ- 9 – silt, 10 – organic mud, 11 – sand.
ences in the settlement implied the selection of a
more flexible sealing and protection of the upstream At the Nielisz site, the soft subsoil consists of
slope, as well as the drainage system (Figure 1). Fi- mineral and organic sediments. The original thick-

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 Lechowicz and Wrzesinski

ness of the soft soil at the site varied from 1.0 to 5.0 modified to be able to carry out such research. A di-
m. The upper 0.5–1.0 m consists mainly of sandy silt rect shear apparatus seems to be the most suitable
or silt. Further down, there is the layer of mud or or- experimental device to characterize the friction of
ganic mud with a thickness of 1.0–4.0 m, usually geosynthetic interfaces subjected to low normal
sub-divided into two layers by a silt horizon. Below stress (Izgin & Wasti 1998; Jones & Dixon 1998;
occurs a sand horizon. Results of the index properties Wasti & Ozduzgun 2001). The friction coefficients
of organic soils from the site are given in Table 1. were defined for different interfaces both between the
two geosynthetics, as well as between the geosyn-
Table 1. Index properties of organic soils. thetic and the soil (Lechowicz & Bkowski 2012).
Properties Organic mud Mud
One-sidedly textured geomembrane with a thickness
Water content wn [%] 120 – 200 65 – 120
of 1.5 mm and a geotextile with a thickness of 5.0
Unit density  [t·m-3] 1.2 – 1.3 1.3 – 1.5 mm were used in the research. Particular tests were
Specific density s [t·m-3] 2.1 – 2.3 2.3 – 2.5 performed for three values of vertical stress v, i.e.
Liquid limit wL [%] 130 – 220 70 – 130 17, 32 and 52 kPa. The test friction results are exem-
Organic content [%] 21 – 35 8 – 20
plified in Figure 3 for the smooth side of the ge-
omembrane and sand. Test results for particular types
At the site, slightly organic soils occur as mud of interfaces are listed in Table 2.
with organic content between 8−20 %. Organic soils
classified as organic mud have an organic content be-
tween 21−35 %, with higher values in the upper layer
and lower values in the lower layer.
Beyond the existing embankment, under the
downstream berm and the upstream slope, the soft
soils are overconsolidated with an overconsolidation
ratio OCR decreasing from 3 to 2 with depth. At the
end of the first stage, the effective vertical stress was
higher than the initial preconsolidation pressure. Dur-
ing the second stage, effective vertical stress exceed
the initial preconsolidation pressure several times in
the soft subsoil under the embankment crest. Figure 3. Example of the results of friction tests – sand and
smooth side of geomembrane (Lechowicz & Bkowski 2012).
The use of such methods accelerated the consoli-
dation of the subsoil. As a result, the application of
Table 2. Test results of the angle of friction  between elements of
geomembrane sealing as well as crushstones to seal slope sealing in the Nielisz dam (Lechowicz & Bkowski 2012).
the geomembrane enabled the reduction of 1 m of the
No. Type of interface Angle of friction 
dam height, thereby reducing the cost of its construc-
1 Sand–geotextile 31º
tion. 2 Sand–textured side of geomembrane 41º
3 Textured side of geomembrane 29º
3 LABORATORY TESTS OF INTERFACE FRIC- –geotextile
TION 4 Sand–smooth side of geomembrane 24º
5 Smooth side of geomembrane 12º
–geotextile
Laboratory tests were carried out to determine the
values of the friction coefficient between different el- Results of the measurement of friction between
ements of slope sealing. They allowed to select the
particular elements of slope sealing were used in the
optimal interface between different elements of the
assessment of embankment slope stability to define
seal determining the embankment stability.
interface elements in the finite element method
The tests were performed using a 250 mm x 250
(FEM).
mm direct shear apparatus, whose construction was

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Geotechnical Engineering for Infrastructure and Development

4 SLOPE STABILITY ASSESSMENT
The assessment of upstream slope stability was
performed using the finite element method with inter-
face elements in Plaxis software at plane strain con-
ditions. The linear elastic-perfectly plastic model
with the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion was used
for particular soil layers. Geotechnical parameters for
the soil layers are listed in Table 3.
Values of tensile strength of the geotextile and the
geomembrane used in the calculations were 65 kN/m
and 500 kN/m, respectively (in accordance to the
guidelines provided by the manufacturer).
Plaxis software, related to the use of interface ele-
ments, the actual conditions were reflected by using
the geomembrane and the cover layer with the effec-
tive angle of friction ’ equal to the value of friction
 between the geomembrane and the geotextile.
A finite element mesh used in Plaxis software for
a selected calculation case is shown in Figure 4. To
increase the accuracy of the results, 15-element
nodes and a very fine mesh were used in the calcula-
tions.
Additionally, as case 4, the slope stability of an
embankment dam without using geomembrane seal-
ing was considered.

Table 3. Linear elastic-perfectly plastic model with the Mohr

-Coulomb failure criterion parameters for particular soil layers.
Soil type Parameters
 k E  c’ ’
[kN/m3] [m/s] [MPa] [-] [kPa] [°]
Fine sand 18.5 1·10-4 80 0.3 0 32 Figure 4. Finite element mesh for case 2.
(embankment)
-8
Sandy silt 18.5 1·10 12 0.35 8 24
Organic mud 16.0 1·10-9 8 0.35 5 22 For cases with geomembrane sealing, additional
Fine sand 20.0 1·10-4 90 0.3 0 32 calculations were performed. Stability analysis was
carried out using the sliding block method, assuming
Calculations were carried out for different variants the possibility of sliding at the contact point where
of installing the geotextile and the geomembrane on the angle of friction between elements of the protec-
the upstream slope dam. Three different ways of tion is the lowest. A scheme presenting particular
placing a single geomembrane or different types of a forces used in the slope stability calculations is
geosynthetics lining system (GLS) were examined. In shown in Figure 5.
case 1, the geomembrane was placed with the smooth
side up and covered by a sand layer. Cases 2 and 3
involved the installation of both the geotextile and
the geomembrane. In case 2, the geomembrane was
placed under the geotextile and next the sealing was
covered with a layer of sand and crushstones. In this
case, the textured side of the geomembrane and geo-
textile interface was created. In case 3, the placement
of the geosynthetics and the sand layer was the same
as in case 2, but the geomembrane was placed with
the smooth side up. This resulted in an interface be-
tween the smooth side of the geomembrane and the
geotextile. Figure 5. Calculation scheme used in the sliding block method of
slope assessment.
Interface elements were used in the Plaxis soft-
ware to describe the friction between particular ele-
Based on this method, the safety factor was de-
ments of the slope sealing as well as between the
termined using the following formula:
sealing and the soil. The values of the interface ele-
ments were determined based on laboratory tests re-
F = (TA + TB)/ZA (1)
sults of interface friction. Due to the limitations of

2040

where: TA, TB – sliding forces , ZA – resisting forces.
The values of TA and TB were determined based on
the following formulas:
TA = QA · cos · tg
TB = QB · cos · tg
where: QA – weight of the cover layer (sand and
stones), QB – weight of the crushstones,  – angle de-
fining the slope inclination.
The resisting force ZA was defined as follows:
ZA = QA · sin
The performed calculations allowed to compare
the safety factors determined on the basis of the finite
element method and the sliding block method, and to
choose the most appropriate way of constructing a
slope sealing of the Nielisz dam.
5 CALCULATION RESULTS
Both performed calculations using the finite element
method and the sliding block method allowed to de-
termine the values of safety factors for individual de-
sign solutions of the slope embankment in the Nielisz
dam. Selected calculation results using the finite el-
ement method in Plaxis software presenting total dis-
placements are shown in Figures 6, 7 and 8.
Figure 6. Total displacement for calculation case 1 for the Nielisz
dam.
Figure 7. Total displacement for calculation case 2 for the Nielisz
dam.
Lechowicz and Wrzesinski
(2) Figure 8. Total displacement for calculation case 4 for the Nielisz
(3) dam.
The safety factors determined from the calculation
results using the finite element method are listed in
Table 4. The results for cases, in which the calcula-
tions were performed using the sliding block method
are summarized in Table 5.
(4)
Table 4. Calculation results of embankment stability for the
Nielisz dam using the finite element method.
Case No. Safety factor F
1 1.43
2 1.69
3 <1.0
4 1.86
Table 5. Calculation results of embankment stability for the
Nielisz dam using the sliding block method.
Case No. Safety factor F
1 1.44
2 1.80
3 0.68
Good agreement has been obtained between the
particular calculation results received by the finite el-
ement method and the sliding block method.
The performed stability analysis using both the fi-
nite element method with interface elements and the
sliding block method has shown that the construction
according to scheme 3 causes sliding of the seal ele-
ments at the upstream embankment slope with an in-
clination at 1:3. The best type of sealing construction
of this slope is the use of the solution presented in
case 2, i.e. placing of the geotextile on the textured
side of the geomembrane and having a smooth side
of the geomembrane-sand interface. In this case, the
stability of the embankment slope was sufficient. As
a consequence, the upstream slope sealing of the
Nielisz dam was carried out according to case 2.
2041
 Geotechnical Engineering for Infrastructure and Development

6 CONCLUSIONS Girard, H. Fischer, S. & Alonso, E. 1990. Problems of friction

The main dam embankment of the Nielisz reservoir
is an example of staged construction with preloading
in difficult geotechnical conditions. A short time pe-
riod for the dam construction with significant varia-
bility in the settlement has caused the necessity to use
more flexible sealing as well as protection system of
the upstream slope.
The results of slope stability for the upstream dam
embankment of the Nielisz reservoir with a geomem-
brane sealing are presented. Based on laboratory test
results of the friction coefficient, several options for
the sealing construction are considered. The test re-
sults indicate that the lowest value of the friction co-
efficient was obtained for the smooth side of the ge-
omembrane-geotextile interface. The performed
stability analysis using both the finite element meth-
od and the sliding block method has shown that plac-
ing the geotextile on the smooth side of the geomem-
brane causes sliding of the sealing and a protection
system along the slope. The best solution is to place
the geotextile on the textured side of the geomem-
brane and the smooth side of geomembrane-sand in-
terface on the opposite side. In this case, the safety
factor is much higher than in the previous variant.
Stability analysis results with different variants of
the sealing influenced the final design of the Nielisz
dam. The conducted observations confirmed the cor-
rectness of the type of sealing and appropriate inter-
faces.
posed by the use of geomembranes on dam slopes – examples and
measurement, Geotextiles and Geomembranes 9, 129-143.
Hartlen, J. & Wolski, W. 1996. Embankments on organic soils,
Elsevier, Amsterdam.
Izgin, M. & Wasti, Y. 1998. Geomembrane-sand interface fric-
tional properties by inclined board and shear box tests, Geotextiles
and Geomembranes 16, 207-219.
Jones, D.R.V. & Dixon, N. 1998. Shear strength properties of ge-
omembrane/geotextile interfaces, Geotextiles and Geomembranes
16, 45-71.
Koutsourais, M.M. Sprague, & C.J. Pucetas, R.C. 1991. Interfacial
friction study of cap and linear components for landfill design,
Geotextiles and Geomembranes 10, 531-548.
Lechowicz, Z. & Bkowski, J. 2012. Laboratory testing of friction
between elements of slope sealing of Nielisz, Inynieria Morska i
Geotechnika 4, 500-503. [in Polish].
Lechowicz, Z. Bkowski, J. & Rabarijoely, S. 1998. Analysis and
performance of an embankment on organic subsoil. Proceedings of
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Geotechnical Engineering (Eds: Mari, B. Lisac, Z. & Szavits-
Nonan, A.), 223-226. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam.
Pinto, M.I.M. 2003. Applications of geosynthetics for soil rein-
forcement, Ground Improvement 7, 61-72.
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tion of undrained shear strength in organic soils. Annals of Warsaw
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