The Effect of an Overburden Layer on the Stability of the Mississippi Riverbanks

摘要

The Empirical Criterion for Riverbank Stability formulated by the US Army Corps of Engineers involves a purely geometrical statement of the relative thickness of overburden and underlying sand layer. This may adequately be explained by a simple interlocking slab mechanism involving arching, which occurs or does not occur depending on the geometrical ratio of the thickness of the two interacting soil layers. The Empirical Criterion describes the borderline between the two modes of behavior. The purpose of this paper is to consider why such a simple criterion should predict with accuracy those areas of riverbank where flowslide failures are known to occur.