Winnipeg, Manitoba experiences annual flooding and has a history of major floods that have exceeded its permanent flood protection infrastructure. During these major flood events, sandbag dikes have been used to temporarily protect the community, with little knowledge of how they work. These dikes, like all flood fighting techniques have an inherent risk associated with their use. This thesis provides an understanding of the engineering behaviour of these structures that aims at reducing the risk of their use. Specifically this thesis examines the effects of wave action on dike stability and the effects of building dikes on foundations affected by Manitoba’s environment. The testing program included both full-scale and large-scale testing. The full-scale testing consisted of wave testing of 5 ft (1.524 m) sandbag dikes, built according to the City of Winnipeg standard dike cross section, to examine the effects of wave height on dike stability. The full-scale dikes were built and loaded with waves in a 100 foot (30 m) long hydraulic wave flume. The large-scale testing comprised of large-scale direct shear tests carried out in an environmental chamber to establish the effect of the environmental factors such as moisture, temperature and snow, on the dike-foundation interface strength. The wave results showed that as significant wave heights were increased to the range of 0.41 m to 0.45 m, that the dikes built according to the City of Winnipeg cross section became unstable. The thesis recommends modifications to the dike construction and material for dikes that are to be built in areas prone to waves of similar height. The direct shear tests provided Mohr-Coulomb shear strength parameters for the dike-foundation interface when exposed to environmental conditions typical to Manitoba. The results show that snow in the interface provided the lowest capacity to resist lateral movements. Recommendations are provided for the use of these parameters and include the removal of snow from the sandbag dike corridors prior to their construction. Overall, the thesis provides an understanding of the behaviour of sandbag dikes exposed to wave action and environmental effects. This knowledge can be used to create policies for reducing the risk of using sandbag dikes during flood events. / May 2009

Winnipeg, Manitoba experiences annual flooding and has a history of major floods that have exceeded its permanent flood protection infrastructure. During these major flood events, sandbag dikes have been used to temporarily protect the community, with little knowledge of how they work. These dikes, like all flood fighting techniques have an inherent risk associated with their use. This thesis provides an understanding of the engineering behaviour of these structures that aims at reducing the risk of their use. Specifically this thesis examines the effects of wave action on dike stability and the effects of building dikes on foundations affected by Manitoba’s environment. The testing program included both full-scale and large-scale testing. The full-scale testing consisted of wave testing of 5 ft (1.524 m) sandbag dikes, built according to the City of Winnipeg standard dike cross section, to examine the effects of wave height on dike stability. The full-scale dikes were built and loaded with waves in a 100 foot (30 m) long hydraulic wave flume. The large-scale testing comprised of large-scale direct shear tests carried out in an environmental chamber to establish the effect of the environmental factors such as moisture, temperature and snow, on the dike-foundation interface strength. The wave results showed that as significant wave heights were increased to the range of 0.41 m to 0.45 m, that the dikes built according to the City of Winnipeg cross section became unstable. The thesis recommends modifications to the dike construction and material for dikes that are to be built in areas prone to waves of similar height. The direct shear tests provided Mohr-Coulomb shear strength parameters for the dike-foundation interface when exposed to environmental conditions typical to Manitoba. The results show that snow in the interface provided the lowest capacity to resist lateral movements. Recommendations are provided for the use of these parameters and include the removal of snow from the sandbag dike corridors prior to their construction. Overall, the thesis provides an understanding of the behaviour of sandbag dikes exposed to wave action and environmental effects. This knowledge can be used to create policies for reducing the risk of using sandbag dikes during flood events.

Winnipeg, Manitoba experiences annual flooding and has a history of major floods that have exceeded its permanent flood protection infrastructure. During these major flood events, sandbag dikes have been used to temporarily protect the community, with little knowledge of how they work. These dikes, like all flood fighting techniques have an inherent risk associated with their use. This thesis provides an understanding of the engineering behaviour of these structures that aims at reducing the risk of their use. Specifically this thesis examines the effects of wave action on dike stability and the effects of building dikes on foundations affected by Manitoba’s environment. The testing program included both full-scale and large-scale testing. The full-scale testing consisted of wave testing of 5 ft (1.524 m) sandbag dikes, built according to the City of Winnipeg standard dike cross section, to examine the effects of wave height on dike stability. The full-scale dikes were built and loaded with waves in a 100 foot (30 m) long hydraulic wave flume. The large-scale testing comprised of large-scale direct shear tests carried out in an environmental chamber to establish the effect of the environmental factors such as moisture, temperature and snow, on the dike-foundation interface strength. The wave results showed that as significant wave heights were increased to the range of 0.41 m to 0.45 m, that the dikes built according to the City of Winnipeg cross section became unstable. The thesis recommends modifications to the dike construction and material for dikes that are to be built in areas prone to waves of similar height. The direct shear tests provided Mohr-Coulomb shear strength parameters for the dike-foundation interface when exposed to environmental conditions typical to Manitoba. The results show that snow in the interface provided the lowest capacity to resist lateral movements. Recommendations are provided for the use of these parameters and include the removal of snow from the sandbag dike corridors prior to their construction. Overall, the thesis provides an understanding of the behaviour of sandbag dikes exposed to wave action and environmental effects. This knowledge can be used to create policies for reducing the risk of using sandbag dikes during flood events.

The basis of this work is to find how varying the grain size of materials contained in sandbags (sand and crumb rubber) effects the ballistic penetration of the projectiles from both the 7.62x39mm (308-short), and 9mm Luger cartridges. The sandbags were stacked in a pyramidal stacking configuration according to military specifications in order to simulate a section of a sandbag barrier or redoubt as would be seen on the battlefield. The projectiles were fired at the targets, and the velocity and penetration data was recorded. The results concern both military and civilian applications alike. The 7.62x39 round was found to experience more fragmentation as grain size increased, and was also found to have, on average, the least amount of penetration into the largest grains. The 9mm round was found to suffer negligible deformation in all of the various sizes of materials, and when fired at the two types of materials, showed a steady trend of decreasing penetration depth with increasing grain size. The sand had a wearing effect on the projectiles leaving them scared or fragmented and deformed while the rubber kept the rounds in pristine condition.

The three-dimensional behavior of geotextile tubes is studied using finite element modeling. Two initial shapes are investigated, one with a flat length-to-width ratio of 2:1 and the other with a flat length-to-width ratio of 5:1. The tubes are modeled resting on elastic foundations. For each initial shape, the elastic foundation is modeled using two different stiffnesses; one allows a minimum amount of "sinking" into the foundation and the other allows a considerable amount. The weight of the geotextile is included. Hydrostatic pressure is applied internally to each initially flat tube to model the pumped slurry. The shape of the tube is studied along with the contact region between the tube and its foundation, the stresses which develop in the geotextile along the planes of symmetry, and the relationship between the height of the tube and the amount of applied hydrostatic pressure. / Master of Science