Reducing Erodibility of Earthen Levee Using Engineered Flood Wall Sections

Erosion was one of the major causes for the failure of New Orleans levee system during Hurricane Katrina (IPET, 2007). The Protection of flood walls from erosion failure can be performed in many different ways. This study conducted an experimental study to develop the protective surface structure for the flood wall which can reduce the erosion energy of the plunging water before the water hits the levee materials, so the soil erosion is reduced. The test results are also compared to hydrodynamics simulations using FLOW3D. This study revealed that the erosion resistance of levee can be substantially reduced by providing protective structures at the surface of the flood walls. An effectively designed cross section could reduce the erosion depth as much as 40 % in this study