Design Considerations for Embankment Protection During Road Overtopping Events

This report describes the research conducted by the University of Minnesota and project partners on roadway embankment overtopping by flood water. Roadway overtopping is a major safety concern for Minnesota transportation managers because of the potential for rapid soil erosion and mass wasting resulting in partial or complete failure of the roadway embankment. A robust literature survey was performed to identify research, reports and other published knowledge that would inform the project. A field-based research campaign was developed with the goal of collecting data on the hydraulics associated with full-scale overtopping events. Finally, a series of laboratory experiments were conducted at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota to study the hydraulic and erosional processes associated with embankment overtopping and in particular study of three slope protection techniques under overtopping flow. The full report is available online at http://www.dot.state.mn.us/research/reports/2017/201721.pdf