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Tag: seepage
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  • Application of Deep Learning for Segmenting Seepages in Levee Systems

    Abstract: Seepage is a typical hydraulic factor that can initiate the breaching process in a levee system. If not identified and treated on time, seepages can be a severe problem for levees, weakening the levee structure and eventually leading to collapse. Therefore, it is essential always to be vigilant with regular monitoring procedures to identify seepages throughout these levee systems and perform adequate repairs to limit potential threats from unforeseen levee failures. This paper introduces a fully convolutional neural network to identify and segment seepage from the image in levee systems. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work in this domain. Applying deep learning techniques for semantic segmentation tasks in real-world scenarios has its own challenges, especially the difficulty for models to effectively learn from complex backgrounds while focusing on simpler objects of interest. This challenge is particularly evident in the task of detecting seepages in levee systems, where the fault is relatively simple compared to the complex and varied background. We addressed this problem by introducing negative images and a controlled transfer learning approach for semantic segmentation for accurate seepage segmentation in levee systems.
  • Deployable Resilient Installation Water Purification and Treatment System (DRIPS): Relief Well Biofouling Treatment of Dams and Levees

    Abstract: The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) conducts regular inspections and maintenance of relief wells to ensure their proper functionality and to identify early signs of malfunction or potential failure. Expenses associated with labor, materials, and transportation are the primary cost drivers of relief-well maintenance. To minimize labor hours and materials, a treatment approach intended to improve logistics and reduce material costs during relief-well treatment was developed and tested. This approach employed external UVC, mechanical brush treatments, and chlorinated-gas-infused water to produce liquid sodium hypochlorite (NaClO). Preliminary bench-scale testing with chlorine, oxalic acid, and UVC informed the selection of field testing methods and optimal amendment concentrations. Field demonstrations were conducted annually over three years. During the demonstrations, the system underwent continuous optimization to enhance its efficiency. Different locations in Mississippi (Grenada Dam, Eagle Lake, and Magna Vista) were selected for testing. Both new and traditional treatment approaches yielded adequate results, achieving microbial reduction at 96% to 100%. The development and refinement of this system demonstrated that relief wells can be treated within a comparable timeframe and with similar efficiency while utilizing fewer purchased chemicals and materials.
  • Contract Award | Seepage Multiple Award Task Order Contract

    This project is a Multiple Award Task Order Contract (MATOC) for seepage projects throughout the Memphis District. Typical construction task orders may include seepage berm construction, relief well construction, and all associated tasks with each of these construction processes as designated in each contract. The work on each task order will consist of furnishing all plant, labor, and materials for the work to be performed.
  • USACE installs temporary pumps to alleviate seepage at Isabella Lake

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District awarded a contract for the installation of a temporary pump system at Isabella Dam in Lake Isabella, California, on Sept. 28, 2023, to increase the capacity of the existing pump system and redirect seepage back into the lake.
  • Big Island Seepage Remediation Project substantially complete

    Congratulations to the Memphis District for completing a seepage remediation construction project on July 16, 2022. This much-needed project reduced seepage along the St. Francis River levee. Seepage remediation berms help prevent water from passing under levees, which can later lead to sand boils and threaten the overall integrity of the flood protection system.
  • $1.8M contract awarded, add’ l protection for agriculture, communities

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Memphis District recently awarded a construction contract for a Seepage Remediation Project in Coahoma County, Sherard, Mississippi. The project will be accomplished in partnership with the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Levee Board of Mississippi and will address four miles of the Yazoo-Delta Levee system’s System 21 – Segment 26.
  • Groundbreaking, ribbon-cutting, to celebrate project start, completion

    The Memphis District held a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a groundbreaking ceremony on Nov. 17, 2021, to celebrate two critical construction projects in Tennessee and Kentucky. District Commander Col. Zachary Miller, district leadership, and the project delivery team members met with project partners in Ridgely, Tennessee, for a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The celebratory event was held to acknowledge the completion of an essential levee restoration and berm construction project. Immediately following the ceremony, district leadership and project team members traveled to the event site and met with the project partner in Hickman, Kentucky, for a groundbreaking.
  • Backward Erosion Testing: Magnolia Levee

    Abstract: Using a confined flume device, an experimental study investigated the critical horizontal gradient of soils obtained from a site identified as potentially vulnerable to backward erosion piping (BEP). Tests were conducted on glacial outwash material obtained from a sand and gravel quarry in the vicinity of Magnolia Levee in the community of Magnolia, OH. The two bulk samples collected from the quarry had similar grain-size distributions, grain roundness, and depositional environments as the foundation materials beneath the levee. Samples were prepared at various densities and subjected to gradual increases of flow in a wooden flume with an acrylic top until BEP was observed. The critical average horizontal gradient ranged from 0.21 to 0.30 for a bulk sample with a coefficient of uniformity of 1.6, while tests conducted on a bulk sample with a coefficient of uniformity of 2.5 yielded critical average horizontal gradients of 0.31 to 0.36. The critical average gradients measured during these tests compared favorably to values in the literature after applying adjustments according to Schmertmann’s method.
  • Backward Erosion Progression Rates from Small-Scale Flume Tests

    Abstract: Backward erosion piping (BEP) is an internal erosion mechanism by which erosion channels progress upstream, typically through cohesionless or highly erodible foundation materials of dams and levees. As one of the primary causes of embankment failures, usually during high pool events, the probability of BEP-induced failure is commonly evaluated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for existing dams and levees. In current practice, BEP failure probability is quantitatively assessed assuming steady state conditions with qualitative adjustments for temporal aspects of the process. In cases with short-term hydraulic loads, the progression rate of the erosion pipe may control the failure probability such that more quantitative treatment of the temporal development of erosion is necessary to arrive at meaningful probabilities of failure. This report builds upon the current state of the practice by investigating BEP progression rates through a series of laboratory experiments. BEP progression rates were measured for nine uniform sands in a series of 55 small-scale flume tests. Results indicate that the pipe progression rates are proportional to the seepage velocity and can be predicted using equations recently proposed in the literature.
  • Memphis District celebrates New Madrid stormwater ditch replacement project with ribbon-cutting ceremony

    The Memphis District held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate a fully functioning stormwater ditch replacement project in the New Madrid, Missouri area, on Apr. 12, 2021. A $3.4 million contract was awarded for two work areas to Tarpan Construction LLC., on Aug. 29, 2019.