Erosion control

1 Both faces must be protected against structural damage;

2protection must extend well above and below the
operating range of the reservoir; 3 includes: riprap, precast
concrete, soil cement or water proofing membrane
Filters and Drains
A porous zone in or below a dam designed to intercept and
divert seepage water the flow will converge toward the
filters
Durability requirements
1 provide resistance to 1) breakdown during compaction 2)
chemical action of seepage fluid 3) wetting and drying cycle
2 no tendency to cement
Filter materials criteria 1) ensure prevent piping
D15f/D85s5;2) be substantially more permeable than
protected soilds D15f/D15s5; 3) uniformity and
segregation D50f/D50s25 Cu20; 4) no more than 5% non
plastic fines; 5) base the filter requirements on particle sizes
finer than 4.75 mm
Control of under seepage
1 keep pore pressure low on downstream end to maintain
stability; 2 keep exit gradients low to prevent piping 1)
vertical elimination using complete vertical cut off; 2)
reduction through particle cut off and upstream blanket; 3)
relief well
TSF
Management strategy: open-ending; spigotting; cycloning;
spraying.
Conventional tailings: segregating; no measureable yield
stress; measureable bleed water.
Deposition of tailings: high moisture contentturbulent
flow. On deposition the tailings from a natural grade form
the head of the beach to the pool.
Downstream construction
A: favoured in seismically active area; H density; H strength;
rate of rise is virtually unlimited
DA: materialever expending footing; costly; volume
with each successive lift
Upstream construction
A: use tailing material to build rise; cheapest; preferred
method; relies on solar drying of tailings
DA: rate of rise must be limited; potential liquefaction
Phreatic surface depend on kt tailings; foundation
permeability kf; edge of pool; drainage blanket
(M)List the advantage and disadvantages of ccl
,slurrywallsCCL advantage: high sorptive capacity; low
leakage rate; tick, therefore redundancy; long lifeCCL
disadvantage: construction difficult; thickness-thus reduced
airspace; desiccation; extensive QA/QC; degraded by high
conc.organices.Geomembrane liners advantage: easily
installed; very low leakage rates if no punctures;
flexible..Geomembrane liners disadvantages: UV light
degradation; high leakage if punctured or poorly seamed;
no sorptive capacityGeosynthetic clay layers advantages: it
was possible to order the exact length to liner required
across the channel to be supplied to one roll. This
eliminated the need to cut and paste the liner; the
material is suitable for sited where no clay source was
available. ..Geosynthetic clay layers disadvantages: the
material is very heavy, difficult to handle and labour
intensive to installSlurry walls advantages: provides strong
and watertight wall; provides underpinning; proven
technologySlurry walls disadvantages: high cost; requires
special equipment; utility impacts
(L)there are a number of methods commonly used for
determining in situ the overall properties of
aquifers1,graphical method,2Cooper-jocob straight-line
time-drawdown method3, jocob-straight-line distance-
drawdown method
H) Confined aquifers flow remains horizontal provided the
well is fully penetrating one there are no vertical flow
components in such an aquifer. However, in unconfined
aquifers, water levels in piezometers near well often tend to
decline in slower rate than that described by Theis eq.
hence, time-drawdown curve has usually 3 segments: steep
early time segment UA, flat intermediate time segment,
relatively steep late-time segment UB. UA covers only a
brief period after pumping, reflects effect of dewatering
Permeability
Constant head test K=QL/Ah
Failing head test K=al/At ln(h0/h)



(a) Movement of contaminants in water flowing through the ground is
affected by a number of processes. Some flows are said to be conservative,
and some are non conservative. Describe/discuss the processes involved in
conservative flow, and the additional processes involved in non conservative
flow, and describe how each of these additional processes will increase or
decrease the concentration of a contaminant in a flow system compared to
the equivalent conservative flow system.ANS Conservative: adsorption:
solute clings to soil grams; absorption: solute can diffuse into porous
particles and be absorbed into interior surface; chemisorption: solute
incorporated on surface of soil particles by chemical reaction.Non-
conservative additional process: biological reactions-microbial or bacterial
action can break down solute very important for hydrocarbons; radioactive
decay; oxidation and reduction reactions; precipitation: changes in pit can
bring this about
(b) In a pseudo one-dimensional advective flow field (i.e. where stream-lines
are parallel and straight), the concentration of a contaminant at some
distance downstream from the source of the contamination will depend on
the lateral extent (normal to the stream lines) of the contaminant source,
and on the dispersive properties of the system. Explain. ANSWhen transverse
length of the source and the lateral dispersion coefficient increase, the
concentration at points downstream would decrease.
(c) If the pollutant in (c)was hydrocarbon-based, what effect might this have
on the movem ent and concentration at the front end of the pollutant
plume? ANS BTEX is a good example hydrocarbon contaminant. These
contaminants are volatile and will undergo reactions so that the contaminant
is no longer conservative, which could reduce the concentration.
(d)You have been asked by a client to calculate the thickness of a clay
barrier at the base of a waste storage area. Explain how you would
determine the design thickness of the clay barrier. Make sure you note
clearly (a) the calculationsyou would make (including your assumptions) and
(b) what data you would need to perform the calculations.
A,The data needed 1,permeability hydraulicconductity (k)2hydraulic
gradienti3 effective porosity e4,diffusion coefficient D* 5DL B, the
calculation would make 1,seepage velocity Vs=ki/n 2 from the equation
DL=D*+LVs and longtudinal dynamic dispersivity L=0.0175L
1.46
for L<3500m
therefore we can find the value L that is the thickness of a clay barrier .
(e)Provide four reasons why tailings storage facilities experience rates of
failure that are many times greater than the rates of failure of facilities such
as water retaining dams. erosion; increasing system; gas; poor foundation
(f)Sketch the various stages employed in the upstream method of tailings
storage facility (TSF) construction and describe some of the major design and
operation considerations associated with this type of TSF in Western
Australia(+upstream downstream ). Describe at least three
factors affecting the location of the phreatic surface for this type of TSF(5
)
(f) A stage capacity curve for a TSF provides a relation between time, volume
of tailings deposited, area of TSF, height and rate of rise. Provide plots of a
stage curve for the following two scenarios. (a)An above ground TSF to be on
the ground surface, which can be considered to be completely flat
(horizontal)/ The slope of the TSF will be uniform and constant and you can
ignore the beaching profile of the tailings (assume horizontal surface results).
The TSF will be built using the upstream method of construction.(b)A cross-
valley TSF built using the downstream method of construction.
Tailings are deposited at a solids concentration of 60% solids, with a
resulting 3 degree beach slope angle, terminating at the edge of the
supernatant pond. How would you classify these tailings? List 5 factors which
effect the phreatic surface position in a tailings dam and sketch how these
control the location.5
(i)State how you would minimise potential erosion of the clay core of an
earth dam and describe the basis for two commonly adopted grading
requirements of natural granular filters.ANS riprapprecast concretesoil
cement water proffing membrane 7.The criteria of filter materials:1. To
ensure that filters will prevent piping:15/855 Note: subscripts f= filter
soils and s=protected soils.2. To be substantially more permeable than
protectedsoils:15/155 3. Uniformity and segregation :50/5025
andCu = (60 )/(10 )204. No more than 5% non plastic
fines i.e., passing sieve 0.075 mm (2% in critical applications). 5. Base the
filter requirements on particle sizes finer than 4.75 mm.6. Limit the
maximum filter particle size to 50 mm.7.
JFor a soil such as fine sand suction volumetric water content
hydraulic Kmolecular diffusionD*At water content of (o=n) the soil is
saturated and the suction start at 0. The air entry value point is cohering
significant volume of air appear in soil pores. At very high soil suction, the
curve becomes nearly vertical, reflecting residual water content held tightly
to soil grains. As soil unsaturated, pore space that previously filled with water
start being filled with air. At very low water content, water may exist only as
films at particle to particle contacts. The hydraulic conductivity can vary
many orders of magnitude as water content decrease (and suction increase).
For fine sand, the value of hydraulic conductivity is very low as seepage
velocity is 0 hence D* governs.
KWhat is the difference between hydraulic conduticity (k)and intinsic
permeability K? k=Kpg/u=K*g/v. K is intinsic permeability is the
intrinsic,absolute,or specific permeability. k is hydraulic conduticity ,from the
equation,k is also related to the density of the liquid and the absolute
viscosity of the liquid
(g) nconfined aquifers K is bigger(k=T/b)T is bigger, S is bigger
T=4Tut/r2





Water balance
Evaporation
Freeboard
Decants
Effect of pond location

Maintain beach slope
Control flow rates
Limit RoR where required
Decant/discharge water as appropriate
Control discharge locations
Allow time for settlement and drying
Prevent erosion
Discuss the various considerations that need to be dealt with in the
design of a TSF in an environment such as PNG, compared with the
Pilbara region of WA. Consider elements such as construction and
deposition method, water management etc.
Environmental and health issues
Water borne Air borne
Regulatory requirements
Department of Mines and Petroleum
Department of the Environment
Wind erosion and dust generation
Is it worse for sand, silt or clay sized particles?
Public perception vs. Reality
Lack of understanding about the range of tailings types and their
potential impact
The ecological rucksack