Simulation of seepage flow through an earthen dam with vertical drain and comparison of results with observations data (case study: Harreza dam-Algeria)

Seepage analysis is very important issues that should be considered at designing of an earthen dam. For this purpose, a research study was conducted on Harreza dam, which is an earthen dam located at about 15km, south-west of El-Khmiss city, Algeria. In the study, the amount of seepage through and under body of the main dam is computed; profile of phreatic line is simulated for different scenarios and compared with the observed data. For this study, SEEP/W, the sub-program of Geo-Slope software is used. Data pertaining to design parameters and dam geometry are given as input to the software to compute the unknown parameters. Validation of the model is made by comparing simulated results against the observed ones; this is done to ensure model applicability. The comparison shows a high efficiency and good fitness.