IMPACT CONTAINMENT DAM WITH GEOTUBES
GEOTUBE, DAM, IMPACT, DEBRIS FLOW
Geotechnical Engineering constantly seeks to develop technologies, update, improve, optimize and secure structures so that different events do not take lives or cause great environmental and financial damage. Recently, tragic ruptures of tailings dams in Brazil and in the world, caused deaths and great destruction. Every engineering work has risk, not unrelated to this possibility, Brazilian tailings dams are in a situation of uncertainty due to new legislation that even requires decommissioning, an activity that involves many problems including the risk of failure.
Impact containment structures downstream of these tailings dams may be able to change consequences. Geotextile tubes emerge as an option and with potential in terms of execution, costs and safety. The technology is versatile and can bring many benefits, such as the reuse of waste or filling with low-energy or reused materials, as well as being resistant to events that other structures would not withstand, such as an overflow.
Geotubes were tested simulating the impacts and behavior characteristics of the system used as a debris flow impact containment structure. The safety factor for the stability of the structure was built with an equation that is the ratio between the own weight of the busbar structure and its coefficient of static friction and the Impact Pressure that can be predicted with an existing model. The data show a good correlation and therefore suitable for determining the safety factor for the impact containment dam with geotubes, which makes the use of technology to mitigate risks feasible and also with the advantages of the possibility of being executed safely on virtually any terrain and filled with the closest material available.