Proceedings of the 1stAUN/SEED-Net Regional Conference on Natural Disaster Yogyakarta, 22-23 January 2014

Stability of Concrete Blocks Pavement under Tsunami Attack

Radianta Triatmadja
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia,
Tsunami Research Group Universitas Gadjah Mada, email: radiantatoo@yahoo.com

Kuswandi*, Nurul Azizah**

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Tsunami Research Group Universitas Gadjah Mada, email :*kuscoastal@yahoo.com, ** E-mail: nururu.azizah@gmail.com

Abstract: Concrete block as road pavement is commonly used at beach area. The blocks may be lifted up during tsunami
attack when the lift force combine with the buoyancy force is greater than the weight of the blocks. Research shows that
normal loose blocks are vulnerable to even relatively small tsunami attack. The concrete blocks may then move as debris and
may hit people during evacuation. For this reason, a research is required to enhance the knowledge of concrete block stability
under tsunami attack. The research was carried out in the Hydraulics and Hydrology laboratory of Center for Engineering
Science Universitas Gadjah Mada. Dam break surges were generated in a medium size flume to simulate tsunami surge on land
by opening a gate that divided the flume into two parts. As the gate was opened, the water in the upstream part of the flume
surged downstream where the concrete blocks model were located. The velocities and surge heights were recorded using video
camera and wave gauges. Loose concrete blocks, concrete blocks with sand as filler between the blocks, and concrete blocks
that was slightly higher than the surrounding were tested under various tsunami surge heights. The result shows the effect of
the filler and slightly higher block surface level on the stability of the blocks.

Keywords: concrete block, pavement, tsunami, Lift up force

1 BACKGROUND may hit structures and cause significant effect

Tsunami attack varies considerably depending on the
size and the depth of the dislocation, the condition of
the tsunami during propagation (diffraction, refraction
and reflection) and the characteristic of the coastal
area. Large tsunami attacks such as those in Aceh in
2004 and in Japan in 2011 definitely brought about
many casualties. Not only that the tsunami surge
destroyed infrastructures, they also inundated
significant part of the cities and drowned a lot of
people. In such huge tsunami cases even relatively
strong infrastructures may be destroyed. In other
cases, when the tsunami is not very large, it may not
destroy strong infrastructures. In such cases although
the effect of tsunami attack is marginal yet they may
still kill people that seek for a save place but are
caught by tsunami surge. Yeh (2008) evaluated the
effect of marginally significant tsunami on people of
different gender and height. It was found that fatality
differences based on gender and age are pronounced.
He further suggested that additional safety factors
should be applied for siting elementary schools.
Similar situation happen when a tsunami of marginal
size attacks a certain beach where road pavement are
made of concrete block. The tsunami surge may lift up
the blocks and turns them in to debris. Such debris
depending on the type and strength of the structures.
More importantly, concrete block debris may hit
people during their effort to find a save place. Even if
the people survive from inundation, if they are hit by
such debris the injuries may directly or indirectly
endanger their lives.
In Indonesia, concrete blocks of various types and
sizes are commonly used for pavement. The blocks
are both easily installed and environmentally friendly
as it accommodates the infiltration of raining water.
Azizah et. al (2013) showed that loose concrete blocks
may be lifted up very easily by tsunami surge
although the lift up coefficient was found to be
relatively small. Their experiment however was
limited to concrete blocks with uniform density. In
addition, no sands were placed within the space
between the blocks. Possibility of irregularity where
one block surface is higher than the other was not
taken in to consideration. Hence further study should
be conducted to seek more comprehensive situation of
initial concrete block movement under tsunami surge
attack.

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2 THEORETICAL CONSIDERATION the deck where small velocity may also occur in
Concrete blocks pavement may undergo lift up force certain parts of the bottom of the bridge deck.
when a tsunami surges above it. Water may easily
In Azizah’s case the Froude numbers of the surge
flow through the sand in between the blocks and exert
were between 1.89 and 2.38. The value is close to that
hydrostatic force beneath the blocks. Upon applying
recommended by FEMA (2008) and US EWES-
Bernoulli equation, the lift up force may be seen as a
CERC (1990) that is 2.0 representing tsunami surge
function of surge velocity above the block surface.
near the coast line.
Equating between the uplift force and the weight of
If the block under investigation is lifted slightly and
the block underwater Azizah et al (2013) indicated the
becomes higher than the surrounding, it will
following relation to calculate lift up force coefficient
experience both drag force and lift up force. The
(Cl).
velocity above the block is expected to change and
2 𝑔𝑔 𝐷𝐷 𝜌𝜌𝑐𝑐 − 𝜌𝜌𝑤𝑤 additional uplift force may occur as water flow up
𝐶𝐶𝑙𝑙 = � � (1)
𝑈𝑈 2 𝜌𝜌𝑤𝑤 against the edge of the block. These actions may yield
higher lift up force coefficient that make the blocks
where g is the gravitational acceleration, D is the can be easily moved up.
block thickness, U is the surge velocity, ρc and ρw are
density of concrete and water respectively. On the other hand, filling the gap between the blocks
with sand may hinder slightly the penetration of water
The critical velocity in which the block start to move underneath the blocks and more importantly add
may be expressed as friction factor to the block movement. It is expected
that the sand stabilize the blocks to a certain extend.
2 g D ρc - ρw
Uc = � � ρ � (2) 3 EXPERIMENTAL SET UP
Cl w

The hydraulic experiment was conducted at the

Equation (1) suggests that the size (width and length) Hydraulic and Hydrology Laboratory, Research
of the blocks is not relevant to the blocks stability. Centre for Engineering Science, Universitas Gadjah
Only the thickness and the relative density are Mada, Yogyakarta. The physical model simulations
affecting the blocks stability besides the surge height. were carried out in the wave flume of 16.80 m long x
In this case Cl depends on the blocks surface 0.60 m width x 0.45 m high. The flume was divided in
roughness, slope and irregularity such as whether to two parts. The upstream part was used as the basin
there is a different surface level between the block to generate the surge once the gate that divided the
under investigation and the surrounding blocks. flume is lift up quickly by releasing a 100-kg weight
almost instantly. The water flows as a tsunami surge
Azizah et al (2013) combined all the data and did not downstream when the gate is opened.
take into consideration the irregularity during the
experiment. They found that Cl was approximately
0.08. During their experiment the bottom of the blocks
was not directly under surge attack and that the
velocity of the water under the block may be
considered as zero as it was very small compared with
the surge velocity. In order for the block to move up,
water has to penetrate through the gaps and fill up the
gap under the bottom of the block. The relatively
small value of Cl is because Azizah et al calculated Cl
based on Equation (1) and used Uc equals the velocity
of the surge. In reality turbulent boundary layer exist
close to the blocks surface which may result in Figure 1 The Flume with tsunami wave generator
significantly smaller velocity above the block surface.
Shoji et.al (2012) found that the lift up force of surge The surge heights in this study were based on
bore on bridge decks ranges very largely from zero up Azizah et al (2013) measurements, as the flume and
to 1.0. In Shoji’s cases, the surge can be both under other facilities related to the surge generation is
and above the bridge deck which was very different to entirely the same. They measured the surge heights
the present study. However the bottom of the bridge using a series of wave probes downstream of the gate
deck was not flat due probably to beam location along

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at four stations. The arrival time of the surges were The models were installed as depicted in Figure 3.
used to calculate the celerity of the surge as follows. A camera was used, to record the proces of block
movement.
∆𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖
𝑈𝑈𝑖𝑖 = ∆𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑖
(3)

where 𝑈𝑈𝑖𝑖 is the velocity of the surge, ∆𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 is the Gate

distance between the wave probes, and ∆𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑖 is the
arrival time lag between the adjacent wave probes. Wave probe

The surge heights were also measured using camera

video. The surge height and celerity are given in Table
Block Model
1.

Figure 3. Experimental set-up (plan view)

Table 1 Wave Surge properties for various reservoir
depths (Azizah et al, 2013) Table 2. Thickness and density of the blocks model
Experiment Based on Chanson (2006)
Model Thickness (cm) Density (ton/m3)
1 1.6 1.572
ℎ0 Average Average Calculated Calculated 2 1.4 1.847
surge surge surge surge 3 1.5 1.679
height velocity height velocity 4 1.3 1.960
5 1.0 2.474
40 cm 9.8 cm 2.33 m/s 9.6 cm 2.24 m/s 6 1.3 1.922
35 cm 8.6 cm 1.97 m/s 8.8 cm 2.07 m/s 7 1.0 2.129
8 1.5 2.087
30 cm 7.9 cm 1.87 m/s 8 cm 1.88 m/s 9 2.0 1.972
25 cm 7.3 cm 1.68 m/s 7.1 cm 1.69 m/s
The blocks were tested in a horizontal bed flume.
20 cm 6.1 cm 1.47 m/s 6.2 cm 1.48 m/s Plywood of 3 cm was fixed on the flume bed which
represented the pavement model. At 2.2 meter
downstream of the gate, the pavement model was cut
The dimensions of the concrete blocks models were 15.0 cm by 15.0 cm next to the glass wall of the flume
14.7 cm long and 14.7 cm wide, whilst the thickness to prepare for the blocks placement for investigation.
were varied from 1 cm to 2 cm (Figure 2). The
concrete blocks were made using different ratio of Block to be tested
sand, cement and charcoal. There were 4 different
densities and thickness of concrete blocks for the
experiments. In order to vary the density even more, (a) Case 1, the surface of the block is flat with the
square foams of the same area with the block was surrounding pavement
attached to the bottom of the block. Hence the density
δ
of the block reduced depending on the thickness of the Block to be tested
foam. Table 2 shows the density and thickness of the
blocks used in the experiment. Most of the block
densities are smaller than normal concrete density in
(b) Case 2, the block is lifted to either δ = 2 mm or δ
order to fit the flume capacity to produce surge height. = 4 mm
δ
Block to be tested

Sand filled

(c) Case 3, the block is lifted to either δ = 2 mm or δ

= 4 mm and the gap is filled with sand
Figure 2. Concrete block models with various thicknesses
Figure 4. The block to be tested and the surrounding model
pavement.

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Additional small and thin plates were added close to this line it is found that Cl equals 0.06. This
underneath the blocks to make sure that the surface of value is smaller but quite close to that of Azizah et al
the blocks either level with the surrounding or higher (2013).
than the surrounding as planned. The difference
between the surface level of the block being When the blocks under investigation were lifted
investigated and the surrounding model pavement is δ slightly and the surface was 2 mm above the rest of
and is indicated in Figure 4. the pavement surface, Cl increases as expected. Figure
5 shows Cl when the block is lifted 2 mm.
The gaps between the block and the fixed bed are 1.5
mm. The gap was filled with fine sand when 1.6
simulating the effect of sand on block stability against 1.4
tsunami surge attack. 1.2
1.0
Each concrete block models were tested under varying ∆ 0.8
basin depths that generate different surge depths. 0.6
Depending on the stability of the blocks the basin δ/D =0.17
0.4
depth were varied from 10 cm up to 40 cm. Starting 0.2 moved Rest
from high surge depth that destabilize the model of 0.0
concrete blocks, the experiment was continued with
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
lower surge depth and was finally terminated as the
blocks become stable. The blocks are considered as H/D
unstable if they move either slightly or be displaced
Figure 5. Conditions of the loose blocks with δ = 2 mm
entirely.
(average δ/D =0.12) during tsunami surge attack

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Using the data along and close to the dashed line it is
During the simulation it was observed that as the H/D found that Cl = 0.13 at δ = 2 mm or δ/D = 0.17.
was relatively large, the blocks were moved quickly Lifting of the block above the surrounding pavement
upward and flowed with the surge as debris. When H yield significantly higher Cl approximately twice than
was slightly reduced, although the block was still that when δ = 0. Increasing δ to 4 mm or in average
moved and was dragged downstream by the surge, the 27% of the block thickness produces Cl = 0.17. The
speed of the vertical displacement was reduced. condition of blocks stability at δ = 4 mm is given in
Finally the block was moved upward slightly but it Figure 6.
returned to its original place or did not moved at all
when H was relatively small. In reality it is possible that the blocks are not entirely
flat. Due to some reason, there are possibilities that
The experimental data for loose blocks with the one or more blocks are lifted up. Once one of the
surface flat with the rest of the pavement (δ/D =0) are blocks is removed by tsunami surge, the other
given in Figure 4. surrounding blocks become the target of both drag
force and higher uplift force where a lot more
1.2 destruction is expected.
1.0
∆ 1.2
0.8
∆ 1.0
0.6
0.8
0.4 δ/D =0
0.6
0.2 moved Rest 0.4 δ/D =0.27
0.0
0.2 moved Rest
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
0.0
H/D
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Figure 4. Conditions of the loose blocks with δ =0 during H/D
tsunami surge attack

The dashed line in Figure 4 indicates the approximate Figure 6. Conditions of the loose blocks with δ = 4 mm
position of the initial motion of the blocks. Using data (average δ/D =0.27) during surge attack

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The effect of the sand filler is relatively significant. 5 CONCLUSION

The experiment with sand filler in the gap was started
with δ = 0. It was found that the sand has slowed
down the process of lifting up of the blocks. It was
observed that the surge has to scour the sand within
the gap to be able to finally lift up the block. It seems
that the surge ability to scour determine the ability of
the surge to lift the block. For δ > 0, the lift up force
increases and scouring of the sand become less
significant. Figure 6 shows the condition of the blocks
with sand filler within the gap. Figure 6 indicates that
the initial motion of the blocks shifted to the right
indicating a higher value of H/D is required to
destabilize the block at the same value of ∆. This
means that the sand somehow stabilize the block.
1.6
∆ 1.4 initial motion , δ/D =0.17
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
δ/D =0.17, gap filled with sand
0.4
0.2 moved Rest
0.0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
H/D
Figure 7. Conditions of the loose blocks with average δ/D
=0.17 during tsunami surge attack. The gaps were filled
with fine sand.
Similar condition were observed for δ = 4 mm
although the effect of the filler seems to be less
significant (Figure 8). This is because when δ is
larger, the part of the block that is affected by sand
friction is less. In addition, the uplift force is more
significant when the block is higher than the
surrounding.
1. The lift up force coefficient on concrete
blocks pavement is relatively small.
2. Concrete blocks pavement may be more
vulnerable to tsunami attack when the blocks
surface level are different from one to
another.
3. The sand that tightly filled the gaps between
the block play significant role in stabilizing
the blocks.
4. The duration of tsunami model in this
research is relatively small or the tsunami
model is relatively short. A longer flume that
may generate sufficiently long tsunami may
have enough time to scour the sand within the
gaps more effectively to destabilize the
blocks.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The research was funded by DPPM of the Directorate
General of Higher Education, Ministry of Education
and Culture on Indonesia through Hibah Kompetensi
2013. The authors would like to express their sincere
gratitude for the support. The support from the
Hydraulics and Hydrology laboratory of Research
10
Center for Engineering Science Universitas Gadjah
Mada is highly appreciated.
REFERENCES
Azizah. N., Triatmadja. R., Kuswandi., (2013). “Lift
up Force on Concrete Blocks due to Tsunami”,
Proceedings of The 4th International Workshop on
Multimodal Sediment Disaster, Yogyakarta
Chanson, H. (2006). “Tsunami surges on dry coastal
plains: Application of dam break wave equations,”
Coastal Eng. J. 48(4), 355–370.

1.6 FEMA. (2008). Guidelines for Design of Structures

∆ 1.4 for Vertical Evacuation from Tsunamis, FEMA P646
1.2 initial motion , δ/D =0.27 Publication, Applied Technology Council
1.0
0.8 Shoji, G., Ezura Y., dan Hiraki, Y. (2012). “Modeling
0.6 of Tsunami Fluid Force on a Bridge Deck Subjected
δ/D =0.27, gap filled with sand
0.4 to Plunging Breaker Bores and Surging Breaker
0.2 moved Rest
0.0
Bores”, The 15th World Conference on Earthquake
Engineering, Lisbon
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
H/D USA EWES-CERC. (1990). “Wave Forces on a Wall
Shoreward of the Still-Water Line”, Coastal
Figure 8. Conditions of the blocks with δ/D =0.27 during Engineering Technical Note, United States Corps of
tsunami surge attack. The gaps were filled with fine sand. Engineer.

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Yeh H, (2010). “Gender and Age Factors in Tsunami

Casualties” Natural Hazards Review, Vol.11, No. 1,
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