Prediction of Pore Water Pressures in Several Embankment Dams by Normal and Back Analyses

This paper describes the prediction of seepage in the impervious zones of six embankment dams by seepage analysis. In addition, by making use of the available monitored pore water pressure data of the first filling of reservoir, back analysis was carried out to estimate the best fit seepage parameters. The estimated parameters were used for further prediction of pore water pressures in subsequent monitored durations with reasonable accuracy. The accuracy of prediction was evaluated quantitatively by the prediction difference and error index. The results show that the error indices in the upstream sides of the impervious zones are smaller than those in the downstream sides.