Resilience of dikes after initial damage by wave attack

Abstract

The resilience of a dike is quantified in this research as the residual strength, which is the time between initial damage to a dike and dike breach. Unique experiments have been carried out in the Delta Flume of Deltares with a 8.5 m high dike with a clay liner and sand core. Below the still water level the dike was protected with a concrete block revetment and above the water level there was grass on the clay. The tests were carried out with large waves: H s = 1.6 m. A formula to quantify the erosion of the clay layer as a function of time is derived by combining present and previous experimental results. A f ormula to quantify the erosion rate of the sand core is derived by combining the present experimental results with existing dune erosion models. The derived formulas make it possible to calculate the probability of failure of the typical Dutch coastal dike with wave attack. This is an important step in the understanding of dike safety.