Engr 3150 Principles of Soil Mechanics

Assignment #3
Due date:

Section A Thursday October 3 in class

Section B Friday October 4 in class

1) Given the flow net below with the horizontal ground surface. The hydraulic
conductivity of the soil is 3.5 x 10-6 m/s. Use the 3.05 m depth of the headwater for
scaling purposes. The water table on the downstream side corresponds to the ground
surface.
Determine:
a) the hydraulic gradient in the square element marked with an "X"
b) the quantity of seepage beneath the sheet-pile cofferdam per meter of dam
per day
c) the pressure head at the points marked with a "Y" and a W
d) the pore pressure at the point marked with a "Z".
Note that the sheet pile cofferdam extends to a depth of 4.58 m below the
ground surface.

2) The figure below shows a concrete dam founded on fine sand overlying very low
permeability (considered impermeable) rock. The dam is provided with a 42 m long
impervious apron constructed on the surface of the sand upstream of the dam. The
sand has horizontal and vertical hydraulic conductivity values of 5.4 x 10-5 m/s and 6.0 x
10-6 m/s, respectively.

a) Draw a flow net for a transformed section and determine the steady state seepage
loss beneath the dam.
b) Briefly explain how the impervious apron can improve the hydraulic
performance of the concrete dam relative to not having the impervious apron.
3) Given the flow net below for seepage beneath the masonry dam. All flow net
elements are curvilinear square elements. Use the 3 m height of water in the reservoir for
scaling purposes. Determine the hydraulic uplift force on the base of the dam per m
length of dam into the paper.

4) Two lines of sheet piling, separated by 5.5.m, have been driven to a depth of 6.00 m
below the level of a river bed to form a long (into the paper) sheet pile cofferdam, and
excavation to a depth of 2.00 m below the river bed has been conducted within the
cofferdam. The water level is maintained at the base of the excavation (Level B) by
pumping. The river water level is designated as A. In the flow net shown below all
flow net elements (and partially drawn elements) are curvilinear square elements.

River

River
B

River Bed
Sand

V
S
T

Z
X
W

impervious rock
a) If the flow of water into the cofferdam is 1.5 m3/hr per m length of cofferdam (into the
paper), what is the hydraulic conductivity of the sand in the river bed in m/s?
b) Determine the pore pressure in kN/m2 at point Z.
c) Determine the hydraulic gradient immediately below the excavated surface B.
d) List the correct three answers.
If standpipes were installed with their ends open at points V, W, X, and Y:
a) the pressure head at Point X is the same as the pressure head at Point Y
b) the water level in standpipe X would rise to the same elevation as standpipe Y
c) the water level in standpipe W would rise to a higher elevation than standpipe X
d) the water level in standpipe V would rise to a lower elevation than level B
e) the water level in standpipe V would rise to a higher elevation than level B
f) the water level in standpipe Y would rise to a lower elevation than level A
g) the water level in standpipe Y would rise to the same elevation as level A

e) List the correct two answers.

a) the hydraulic gradient across the element marked S is greater than the hydraulic
gradient across the element marked T
b) the total head loss across the element marked S is lower than the total head loss
across the element marked T because the equipotential lines are closer together
for element S than element T
c) the flow rate through the element marked T is the same as the flow rate through
the element marked S
d) the flow rate through the element marked S is higher than the flow rate through
the element marked T because the flow channel at element T is wider than at
element S

5) Given Figure 7.32 on p. 237 of Das and Sobhan. Using the principles of the
flow net, derive an expression in terms of H (the saturated vertical thickness of
the permeable layer) to calculate the pore pressure at the base of the permeable
layer (at the contact with the lower impervious layer).