Closure to 'Analysis of the Stability of I-Walls with Gaps between the I-Wall and the Levee Fill' by Thomas L. Brandon, Stephen G. Wright, and J. Michael Duncan

摘要

The writers thank Bea and O'Reilly for their interest in the paper. Their review of the behavior of I-walls in the New Orleans area during Hurricane Katrina confirms the writers' conclusion that gaps formed behind I-walls in many locations when the walls were loaded by the pressure of rising water on the flood side of the wall. Because gap formation cannot be predicted with certainty, it is prudent always to assume that a gap will form on the flood side of an I-wall, because that results in more severe loading on the wall.rnAlthough gaps can form behind I-walls, there is no indication from the E-99 field tests that a gap formed behind that wall, or from the results of the analyses of that test, that a gap formed behind the wall in that case.