The engineering behaviour of fill materials and its influence on the performance of embankment dams

Abstract

This is an abbreviated version of the author's Rankine lecture published in Géotechnique (doi: 10.1680/geot.2008.58.7.541). It contains three main sections dealing with different aspects of the performance of embankment dams: construction deformations of rockfill dams; post-construction deformations of rockfill dams; and deformations of old embankment dams. Work on dams has taken place at the Building Research Establishment (BRE) over many years and in each of these three areas the paper focuses on the results of long-term field monitoring carried out by BRE at a number of dams from which some general conclusions can be drawn.