Effect of Seepage Water through Road Embankments on Their Stability: A Review

Abstract

The seepage water and road embankment stability interaction are one of the key issues in geotechnical engineering. In this paper, the author presents an extensive examination of the involved issue in building embankments over soft ground with emphasis on the effects of water infiltration and hydraulic response. These methods are used to examine the effects of the groundwater level and matric suction on the stability of slopes. The research proves that a slope optimized with smaller cross-section can have the same factor of safety because of higher shear strength and thus reduce construction expenses. The study integrates innovative advances in numerical simulations that analyze most severe physical processes that control seepage, infiltration, and flow-induced deformation. The study critically reviews modeling techniques like Finite Element Method (FEM), Finite Difference Method (FDM), and coupled hydro-mechanical models. Modeling of unsaturated flow behavior, embankment failure mechanisms, and model verification using laboratory or field observations are emphasized. Ground improvement techniques for soft grounds such as preloading with prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) and lightweight fill materials are researched. The study selects important factors that govern embankment behavior, including settlement behavior, slope stability, and bearing capacity, to be geometric design parameters that contribute more to engineering performance. Updated software for modeling, such as HEC-RAS and SWMM in simulating surface water, GeoStudio, and PLAXIS in conducting combined geotechnical and hydraulic analysis, is assessed for their ability to simulate the soil-water interaction that is complex in nature. These devices allow designers to calculate embankment stability under various hydraulic situations and support well-thought-out design decisions.