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An optical fiber-based monitoring system to study the seepage flow below the landside toe of a river levee

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Abstract

The development of innovative monitoring systems to mitigate the risk associated to river levee failure is a recent challenge involving synergic effort of public institutions, specialized companies and academics. The present study examines a 350 m stretch of Adige river levees, located in the Province of Bolzano (Italy) close to the village of Salorno, interested in the recent past by moderate piping phenomena and subjected to subsequent interventions for seepage control (cut-off diaphragm wall). As is customary, the levee body and its foundation soil were investigated through geophysical and geotechnical surveys. The arising results provided a multi-dimensional characterization of the levee and the nearby soil water-meadows likely to be affected by preferential paths for piping. The detection of those paths entailed the joined use of piezometers and distributed optical fiber sensing (DFOS) system, the latter installed in a shallow trench on the landside. In the last days of October 2018, Northeastern Italy was hit by a tremendous storm and the Adige river was subjected to a relevant double flooding event. This exceptional circumstance, entirely recorded by the monitoring system, gives the chance to provide insight into the seepage process undermining the levee stability.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Mountain Water Authority of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano for the economical contribution to this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Padua, Via Ognissanti 39, Padua, Italy

    Simonetta Cola, Veronica Girardi & Paolo Simonini

  2. CRUX Engineering, Phoenixstraat 28c, Delft, Netherlands

    Silvia Bersan

  3. Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection, National Research Council, Corso Stati Uniti 4, Padua, Italy

    Luca Schenato

  4. Mountain Water Authority, Province of Bolzano, via Cesare Battisti 23, Bolzano, Italy

    Fabio De Polo

Authors
  1. Simonetta Cola
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  2. Veronica Girardi
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  3. Silvia Bersan
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  4. Paolo Simonini
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  5. Luca Schenato
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  6. Fabio De Polo
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Correspondence to Veronica Girardi.

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Cola, S., Girardi, V., Bersan, S. et al. An optical fiber-based monitoring system to study the seepage flow below the landside toe of a river levee. J Civil Struct Health Monit 11, 691–705 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13349-021-00475-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13349-021-00475-y

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