Original article
Causes of the catastrophic failure
of an earth dam built on gypsifer-
ous alluvium and dispersive clays
(Altorricón, Huesca Province,
NE Spain)
F. Gutiérrez Æ G. Desir Æ M. Gutiérrez
Abstract This paper analyses the causes of the cat-
astrophic failure of an earth dam that took place on 21
January 2001 during the first filling test in the NE of
Spain (Altorricón village, Huesca Province). The San
Juan reservoir, with a capacity of 850,000 m3, was
built in 1999 on gypsiferous mantled pediment
deposits overlying Tertiary dispersive clay sediments.
The basin of the reservoir was excavated in the alluvial
cover and Tertiary bedrock. An earth dam was con-
structed on the pediment surface along the perimeter
of the artificial basin. The dam has a core of com-
pacted clay material derived from the excavation,
which is indented 1 m in the Tertiary shales of the
bedrock, cutting the highly pervious alluvial mantle.
Field observations, analysis of the basin and dam
materials and eyewitnesses accounts have helped to
infer the processes involved in the failure of the earth
dam. These processes include (1) subsidence and
ravelling (suffosion) processes induced by the disso-
lution of the 4-m-thick detrital cover with a gypsum
content of around 40%; (2) piping processes affecting
the embankments and core of the dam built with
dispersive clays that have high exchangeable sodium
percentage (ESP) and show active pipes; and (3) water
circulation through biogenic burrows in the pediment
deposits. This case study demonstrates the frequently
hidden limitations that evaporite sediments and
dispersive clay materials pose to the construction of
dams. It also shows that highly permeable surficial
deposits should be stripped before the construction of
the dam structure.
Received: 17 June 2002 / Accepted: 26 August 2002
Published online: 16 October 2002
ª Springer-Verlag 2002
F. Gutiérrez (&) Æ G. Desir Æ M. Gutiérrez
Edificio de Geologı́a; Universidad de Zaragoza;
C/. Pedro Cerbuna, 12; 50.009 Zaragoza, Spain
E-mail: fgutier@posta.unizar.es
Tel.: +34-76-761090
Fax: +34-76-761106
842 Environmental Geology (2003) 43:842–851
Keywords Dam failure Æ Dispersive clays Æ
Evaporite dissolution Æ Piping Æ Spain
Introduction
The construction of reservoirs and ponds for the storage of
drinking and irrigation water has been a common practice
for several millennia in the history of humanity (Singh
1996). These hydrological works have undergone a spec-
tacular increase with the availability of machinery capable
of moving large quantities of material. Earth dams are one
of the most widespread hydraulic works because of their
low cost and relatively simple construction. For example,
in the US, it has been estimated that 3,604 earth dams have
been constructed (73% of the total number of dams; Singh
1996).
The large number of failures and subsequent floods doc-
umented from earth dams reveals the vulnerability of these
structures and the risk that they may pose in terms of
mortality and financial losses. The collapse of these dams
may be due to several causes acting individually or jointly
(Garret and Costa 1982; Sherard 1992): piping and kars-
tification are two of the most relevant processes. Lou
(1981, in Singh 1996), in a compilation of several reports,
carried out in different parts of the world, estimates that
piping processes have contributed to the failure of 37%
of earth dams. Von Thun (1996) indicates that in the
western sector of the US 60% of earth dams higher than
15 m have failed due to the process of piping.
The use of soil with dispersive clays in the construction of
earth dams may lead to serious geotechnical problems if
they are not properly treated and their properties go un-
noticed (Knodel 1991; Fig. 1). Piping that affects earth
dams is a widespread hazard because dispersive clays have
a large geographical distribution and occur in a great va-
riety of sedimentary sequences such as lacustrine deposits,
alluvial fan sediments, slope deposits or floodplain facies
in fluvial strata (Sherard and others 1976). Although the
clay soils that undergo dispersion in the presence of fresh
water are highly susceptible to piping, they may be used
to construct earth dams if appropriate precautions are
taken (Sherard and Decker 1977).
DOI 10.1007/s00254-002-0700-2

Fig. 1
Piping-induced subsidence processes affecting an earth dam nearby
Sariñena village. The clay sediments in this earth dam belong to the
same formation (Sariñena Formation) as the materials used for the
construction of the studied reservoir
Adverse conditions in a considerable number of reservoirs
are related to the presence of highly soluble evaporitic
sediments such as gypsum or halite (James 1992). The
solubilities of gypsum and halite are, respectively, 2.4 and
360 g/l (Ford and Williams 1989), about 180 and 25,000
times more soluble than calcite. These problems include
the applications of expensive treatments during con-
struction of the dam and after its completion, leakages
through underground dissolution voids, settlement of the
structure due to dissolution-induced subsidence phe-
nomena and the failure of the dam, which may lead to
catastrophic floods. Pearson (1999) has compiled and
reviewed 34 case histories of dams and reservoirs where
problems (requiring emergency action or major rehabili-
tation) and failures related to gypsum karstification have
been identified. Twelve (35%) of the cases correspond to
failures, 21 (62%) experienced excessive dam or reservoir
leakage, seven (21%) were affected by excess structural
settlement and three (9%) required extensive treatment.
According to Pearson (1999), most of the failures have
taken place catastrophically with little or no warning.
Cooper and Calow (1998) also quote a large number of
reservoirs all around the world that have been damaged by
gypsum karstification and indicate that the most common
problem is seepage beneath the dam site, even with the
presence of a cut-off curtain. It is important to take into
account that the number of examples cited in the literature
may be a small proportion of the world total because
many of them correspond to the US where there is a
greater amount of available information.
Some of the most outstanding dam failures related to
gypsum karstification are the Quail Creek Dike, which
occurred in 1989 (Utah) (Gourley 1992; Payton 1992), and
the St Francis Dam (California), which failed in 1929,
killing 450 people. The failure was partially attributed to
the dissolution of gypsum veins in a conglomerate located
in one of the abutments of the dam. In the southern Rocky
Mountains of Colorado, near Carbondale, a reservoir has
rapidly drained twice through sinkholes that have
Original article
developed in the floor of the reservoir (Kirkham and
others 2002). The Horsetooth and Carter Lake reservoirs
built on the gypsum-bearing Permian–Triassic Lykins
Formation, in the Colorado Front Range, have had seepage
problems since their initial filling (Pearson 1999). Carter
Lake was placed in a karstic enclosed depression. Sink-
holes have formed in the bottom of Horsetooth reservoir.
One of them occurred at the toe of the upstream em-
bankment of one of the four dams that retain the reservoir.
This dam may need the construction of a cut-off screen
(Pearson 1999). In Oklahoma, the proposed Mangum dam
site was recently abandoned because of the intense kars-
tification of the gypsum bedrock (Johnson 2001). In Spain,
the karstification of evaporites causes substantial damage
to infrastructures (Gutiérrez and others 2001) such as
reservoirs. A dam in Estremera (Guadalajara) failed in the
1950s due to the karstification of the gypsum bedrock
overlaid by alluvial deposits. In the Alloz dam (Navarra),
the increasing leakage and enlargement of dissolutional
fissures required the application of costly remedial works.
Finally, the presence of karstified gypsum overlying halite
and glauberite sediments in the foundation trench of La
Loteta dam (Zaragoza) has considerably increased the cost
of this ongoing project (René Gómez, personal commu-
nication).
This paper analyses the causes of the catastrophic failure
of an earth dam that took place on 21 January 2001 in the
proximity of Altorricón village (NE Spain) and highlights
the limitations that evaporitic sediments and dispersive
clays pose to the construction of earth dams.
Geological and geomorphological
setting
The San Juan irrigation reservoir is in the municipality of
Tamarite de Litera (Huesca Province) in the north-east of
Spain, about 2 km north-west of Altorricón village (Fig. 2).
The area is characterized by a semiarid climate with a mean
annual precipitation of around 460 mm. From a geological
viewpoint, the reservoir is located in the central-northern
sector of the Ebro Tertiary Basin; the southern foreland
basin of the Pyrenees which is primarily filled with Eocene–
Miocene alluvial fan and lacustrine sediments. In the studied
sector, the outcropping sediments are composed of shales
and marls with sandstone intercalations of the Sariñena
Formation (Quirantes 1978). The sandstones, locally with
granule-size clasts, are classified as feldspathic and car-
bonate lithic sandstones by Jerez and Gil (1998) and form
tabular beds and channel fills. These authors include these
sediments in a ‘‘compressive cartographic unit’’, Upper
Oligocene–Lower Miocene in age, which comprises the
Torrente de Cinca Unit and the Galocha Unit. Luzón (2001)
assigns these sediments to the tectosedimentary unit UTS T4
and attributes them to distal alluvial fan environments
dominated by unconfined flows.
Geomorphologically, the reservoir is situated in an
erosional depression to the south of the gypsum-cored
Environmental Geology (2003) 43:842–851 843
 Original article
Fig. 2
Geographical setting and geomorphological sketch of the San Juan
reservoir area
Barbastro Anticline and is flanked by the higher terraces
of the Cinca River to the west and the so-called ‘‘high
alluvial levels’’ of Almacellas to the east, which constitute
the divide between the Cinca River and its tributary, the
Noguera-Ribagorzana River. An extensive system of
stepped mantled pediments has developed in this topo-
graphic depression. The two highest (oldest) levels (P8
and P7) are linked to the evolution of the Cinca base
level, whereas the development of the four youngest
pediments (P5–P2) are controlled by the La Clamor
Arroyo (Sancho 1988).
The San Juan reservoir was excavated in the surface of a
mantled pediment, P5, developed at the foot of a promi-
nent relief formed by the Barbastro Anticline (Fig. 2). The
deposits of the majority of the surfaces corresponding to
the lower levels (P5–P2) are formed by rounded and pol-
imictic gravels that have been reworked from the oldest
pediments (P8–P7), which in turn have been derived from
844 Environmental Geology (2003) 43:842–851
the highest terraces of the Cinca River, in the western flank
of the depression (Sancho 1988). However, the deposit of
the pediment in which the reservoir has been excavated
has different lithological characteristics because its source
area was the Outer Pyrenean Sierras and the Barbastro
Anticline, whose core is formed by an extensive outcrop of
the Eocene Barbastro Gypsum (Senz and Zamorano 1992).
The Quaternary cover of this pediment is made up of 4 m
of a silty sand with a high proportion of gypsum (40%),
and channels of rounded gravels with limestone, quartzite,
gypsum, conglomerate and lyddite clasts. The channel
gravel facies, with a mean size of the clasts of around
2–3 cm, has a high proportion of silt–sand matrix with
37% gypsum. This facies shows abundant aggregates of
secondary gypsum crystals, which tend to occur at the base
of pebbles as geopetal vadose cements. The numerous
dissolution gulfs observed in the gypsum clasts, reaching
up to 2 cm in intermediate axial length, suggest that a
large part of this secondary gypsum may come from the
dissolution of the detrital gypsum particles. The sand beds
also display conspicuous nodule-like accumulations of
secondary gypsum.

Fig. 3
General view of the San Juan reservoir during repair works carried
out after the failure. The breach in the background corresponds to the
21 January 2001 failure
Description of the San Juan
reservoir
The reservoir was built in 1999 by the Irrigation Com-
munity of Altorricón. The estimated budget of the project
was 74,226 euros (Castillo 1998). This basin, for the reg-
ulation of irrigation water, has an approximate capacity
of 850,000 m3 (Fig. 3). The reservoir does not have a
spillway because it is connected to a close and previously
existing reservoir that acts as a communicating basin by
means of a pipe in its western side (Castillo 1998). It is
situated next to the scarped edge of a covered pediment
(Fig. 2). The basin of the reservoir results from the exca-
vation of an enclosed depression in the Quaternary cover
and Tertiary bedrock and the construction of the earth
dam on alluvial mantle along the perimeter of the artificial
basin (Fig. 4). The earth dam, resting on the alluvium, is
6 m wide at the top and has a trapezoidal section with a
clay core. The basin, with a maximum depth of 19 m, was
designed to host a water column up to 17.5 m deep.
The geometry of the reservoir perimeter can be assimilated
to a ‘‘sheared rectangle’’ with curved apexes of around
400 m long and 230 m width (Fig. 4). Due to the irregu-
larity of the topography, the characteristics of the dam
vary along the perimeter of the reservoir. On the south
side, where the failure formed, the dam has a watertight
core with a rectangular section indented 1 m into the
Tertiary shales crossing the pervious pediment deposit
(Fig. 4). This core is formed by an agglomerate of com-
pacted clay obtained during the excavation of the bedrock.
Both the upstream and the downstream embankments
have been built on the pediment deposits with the rest of
the Tertiary material (including sandstone blocks) ex-
tracted during the excavation. The embankment slopes are
24 and 30
on the upstream and downstream sides, re-
spectively. On the upstream embankment there is a berm,
2 m wide, coinciding with the top of the bedrock, and the
slope excavated in the Tertiary sediments has a gradient of
45
(Figs. 3 and 4). In other sectors, where drill holes
Original article
detected a sandstone bed close to the base of the perme-
able cover, the clay core has been projected up to 1 m
beneath the base of the sandstone layer to fill a trench 4 m
wide at the bottom. The eastern and southern upstream
embankments of the reservoir were coated with a break-
water of planar blocks to mitigate wave action.
A drainage system was built along the perimeter of the
dam to reduce the detrimental effects that the water
flowing through the alluvial aquifer could cause on the clay
core and the embankments. Irrigation water is the main
recharge of this perched aquifer. In a great part of the dam
perimeter, and specifically at the breakage point, the
drainage consists of a trench dug up to the rock head with
a slotted PVC pipe in the base and filled with granular
material. To control the movements that could take place
subsequent to construction, seven survey benchmarks
were installed (Castillo 1998).
Characterization of the materials
Several analyses of the materials forming the basin and the
earth dam of the reservoir have been carried out to obtain
information about their physical, mineralogical and
chemical characteristics. These analyses include the plas-
ticity index, X-ray diffraction, ionic content of the water
extract and gypsum content. These determinations, to-
gether with field observations, help to infer the processes
involved in the failure of the dam.
The pediment deposit, around 4 m thick and formed by
loose sand (65%) with pebble channels, constitutes a local
and perched aquifer with a high hydraulic conductivity.
The most relevant aspect of this alluvium is the high
proportion of gypsum particles. The analysis of samples
from the sand and gravel facies by gypsum removal with a
NaCl-rich solution and gravimetric methods indicate
gypsum contents of 40 and 37%, respectively. The disso-
lution of this detrital deposit, largely induced by irriga-
tion water, has given rise to subsidence features in the
vicinity of the reservoir such as small sinkholes and
shallow pipes (Castillo 1998).
Three samples of clay materials were taken from the top of
the Sariñena Formation (bedrock) that outcrops in the
reservoir (Alt-3), from the clay core of the earth dam
(Alt-1) and from the upstream embankment of the earth
dam (Alt-2). The mineralogical composition of the clay
material provides information about several aspects rele-
vant to the development of the piping such as the cracking
potential (Parker and Higgins 1990), the dispersion
properties, the erodibility of alkaline soils (Jones 1981) and
the presence of expansive (swelling) clays. Numerous
authors have found a good relationship between the
plasticity index of the clay materials used in civil works
and their mechanical behaviour. Sherard (1953) indicates
that earth dams generally collapse in a few years when they
are built using clay soils with plasticity indexes higher than
5. Reséndiz (1977) established a correlation plot between
the clay percentage and the plasticity index. This graph
indicates a field where the clay soils are susceptible to
Environmental Geology (2003) 43:842–851 845
846
Original article

Environmental Geology (2003) 43:842–851

Fig. 4
Plan view of the San Juan reservoir and section showing the characteristics of the earth dam at the failure site
 Original article

piping and failure, although Sherard and Decker (1977)

have refuted this conclusion. The plasticity indexes of the
sampled materials range between 6 and 7, suggesting their
instability (Table 1). However, there are other methods to
determine the behaviour of clay soils for the construction
of earth dams.
The roles of soil chemistry and clay mineralogy have been
emphasized to explain the development of piping pro-
cesses (Jones 1990). Piping is generally associated with
highly expansive (swelling) clays that undergo cracking in
dry periods and favour the inflow of water during rainy
intervals, which weakens the structure of the soil. These
swelling and cracking processes are considered to be
crucial for the development of the piping processes (Jones
1990). The statistic analysis of earth dams in the arid west
of the US reveals that 21% of failures are due to the
presence of materials with a significant amount of ex-
pansive clays that are prone to piping (Von Thun 1996).
Nevertheless, the fact that the presence of expansive clays
is not a universal condition indicates that there are other
relevant factors that control the piping phenomena (Jones
1981).
The X-ray diffraction analysis in oriented aggregates of the
samples indicates that the clay fraction of the bedrock,
embankments and core of the earth dam have a very
similar mineralogy. Mica–illite (detrital muscovite) and
chlorite are the dominant minerals, whereas smectite,
kaolinite, pyrophyllite and interlayered illite–smectite are
minor components (Table 2, Fig. 5). According to Parker
and Jenne (1967), the swelling produced by smectite Fig. 5
minerals in proportions higher than 20% favours the de- Difractograms from the Alt-2 sample
velopment of piping. The low content of smectite minerals
in the analysed samples indicates that smectite-related 1977). The swelling capacity of shales of the Sariñena
swelling has not contributed to the piping phenomenon in Formation in the nearby Lanaja soil water-erosion exper-
the studied structure. However, in Na-rich environments, imental plot, equivalent to the sediments outcropping in
the illites and some clay minerals with a high sodium the study area, reach values of 11.85% (Gutiérrez and
content may expand to produce crack systems (Imeson others 1995). The swelling of these clay sediments
and others 1982) and dispersion (Arualandan and Heizen produces small-scale bulges and depressions similar to
a popcorn morphology.
Table 1 Although in older times argillaceous materials were con-
Atterberg indexes from the samples of the San Juan reservoir sidered by many authors to be relatively resistant to water
(Altorricón, Huesca) erosion, much recent work has demonstrated that some
Sample Liquid limit Plasticity limit Plasticity index clay soils undergo dispersion or deflocculation with the
presence of freshwater to become highly susceptible to
Alt-1 25 17.79 7.21 surface and subsurface (piping) erosion processes (Gu-
Alt-2 26.2 19.37 6.83 tiérrez and others 1988; Knodel 1991). The susceptibility to
Alt-3 26.6 20.41 6.19
piping is related to the dispersion properties of the clay

Table 2
Mineralogical composition obtained by X-ray diffraction
Sample Minerals Clay minerals

Dominant Minor

Alt-1 Calcite, quartz, clay minerals, Mica–illite (detrital muscovite); Smectite, kaolinite, pyrophyllite,
feldspars chlorite interlayered illite–smectite
Alt-2 Clay minerals, quartz, calcite, Mica–illite (detrital muscovite), Smectite, pyrophyllite, interlayered
feldspars chlorite illite–smectite
Alt-3 Clay minerals, quartz, calcite, Mica–illite (detrital muscovite), Smectite, interlayered
feldspars chlorite illite–smectite, pyrophyllite

Environmental Geology (2003) 43:842–851 847

 Original article

materials (Sherard and Decker 1977; Benito and others

1993). The dispersion involves the disaggregation of the
clay particles when their attraction forces are reduced by
the presence of sodium between the particles (Sherard
1992). When the dispersive clays interact with relatively
fresh water, a destructive cation exchange takes place in-
volving the replacement of bonding divalent cations (Ca2+,
Mg2+) by monovalent ions (Na+, K+ or HCO3–; Jones
1981). Although the tendency to piping in dispersive clays
is largely related to a high exchangeable sodium percent-
age (ESP; Heede 1971; Sherard and others 1972), there are
other factors that control the dispersion such as pH, the
type of soil and the ionic content of the water (Sherard
1992; Gutiérrez and others 1997). Clay lattices with a high
sodium content undergo dispersion when they come in
contact with water. With proper hydraulic gradients, the
Fig. 6
dispersed individual particles are evacuated in suspension Sherard diagram
giving rise to a network of underground pipes that tend to
advance upgradient. These cavities may weaken, destabi-
Na-rich environments illites and other Na-rich clays may
lize or obliterate the watertightness of the hydraulic
be highly expansive. On the other hand, the downstream
structures.
embankment of this recently built structure and the
The ionic content of the clay soils is evaluated by calcu-
nearby outcrops of shales show active pipes. This
lating the total ionic concentration in the water extract
geomorphic evidence and the analytical studies allow the
from a saturated paste (Richards 1954). These values are
conclusion that the reservoir has been constructed in
used to obtain the exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP;
and with dispersive clays that are prone to piping.
Table 3). Clay materials with ESP values higher than 15 are
considered highly susceptible to piping (McIntyre 1979).
In the studied samples, the ESP values range from 31 to 75.
A plot of these figures onto the Sherard criterion graph The failure of the reservoir
(Sherard and others 1972, 1976) indicates that the sedi-
ments of the Sariñena Formation (bedrock, Alt-3) are and its causes
highly dispersible (Fig. 6). The sample from the clay core
(Alt-1) is close to the dispersion field and the sample taken The failure of the San Juan reservoir occurred at the
in the upstream embankment (Alt-2) falls in the floccula- southern sector of the earth dam in 21 January 2001,
tion field. Probably this variability in ESP values is due to during the first filling test. According to Batalla and
the lixiviation of ions during the filling tests performed Balasch (2001), in the preceding year, farmers detected
before the failure because Alt 1 and Alt-2 come from the leakages and settlement cracks in the failure zone during
bedrock. It is important to note that the clay mineralogy of two tests of partial filling. The locals also recognized
all the samples is almost identical. damage caused by subsidence in the irrigation works
Summing up, the plasticity index, although used in many surrounding the reservoir. Batalla and Balasch (2001)
geotechnical studies, does not supply any definitive estimate that 300,000 m3 of water was spilled in the flood
information about the dispersive character of the clay subsequent to the failure, transporting around 3,350 tons
materials. The mineralogical analyses reveal that swelling of solid material. The failure and flood phenomenon
of the soil related to the presence of smectite minerals generated a breach in the earth dam to form a section of a
must be negligible. The cation analysis of the water extract reversed trapezium 10 m deep and 16·10 m in width
from the saturated paste indicates that the shales of the (Fig. 7). The released material generated a composite
bedrock (Sariñena Fm.) are clearly dispersive. Probably, debris cone formed by several lobes up to 100 m in radius
the dispersive character of the clay core and embankments and with particles larger than 1 m in the proximal zone.
has been reduced by the lixiviation of sodium cations Batalla and Balasch (2001) describe the earth dam in the
during the filling tests. It is important to note that in failure point as a structure resting directly on the pervious
pediment deposit without a clay core built in the bedrock.
Table 3 They did not notice the presence of gypsum particles in
Chemical composition from saturation extract of the samples from the alluvial cover. These authors propose that the failure
San Juan Reservoir of the dam was caused by the circulation of water through
the alluvial deposit producing pipes by subsurface
Sample Ca Mg Na K SO4 ESP
(meq/l) (meq/l) (meq/l) (meq/l) (meq/l) mechanical erosion and the consequent settlement and
cracking of the earth dam.
Alt-1 4.53 2.17 9.03 0.30 7.93 57.40 During field surveys carried out in April and May 2002,
Alt-2 6.47 1.15 3.45 0.44 8.38 31.16 while the reservoir was still being repaired, several seepages
Alt-3 4.17 1.44 15.45 0.15 6.32 73.36
in the upstream embankment of the dam were detected

848 Environmental Geology (2003) 43:842–851

 Original article

perimeter, as was observed by the farmers. The velocity

and discharge of this flow is directly related to the
height difference between both levels (hydraulic gradi-
ent). The flow in both situations produces the dissolu-
tion and transport in solution of a significant volume of
alluvial deposit that supports the embankments of the
dam. The dissolution processes are favoured by the high
solubility of the gypsum (2.4 g/l) and the high specific
surface area of the gypsum components, which are
primarily sand size (Kemper and others 1975; James and
Lupton 1978). The voids and pipes generated by the
subjacent karstification of the detrital deposit in the
geological past or after the construction of the reservoir
may cause the subsidence or settlement of the dam,
resulting in weakening of its structure and reducing its
Fig. 7 water tightness. The existence or development of
View of the breach formed in the San Juan earth dam by the failure dissolutional pipes may also favour the operation of
and flood that occurred on 21 January 2001 subsurface mechanical erosion processes (suffosion,
ravelling; LaMoreaux and Newton 1986; Beck 1988).
(Fig. 4). An important seepage zone, oozing water at about • Piping processes that affect the embankments and core of
6 l/h, was found beneath the eastern flank of the break. This the dam. The cracking of the dam structure caused by
water comes from the alluvial aquifer and drainage works several processes, such as dissolution-induced subsi-
surrounding the reservoir and flows towards the empty dence, swelling of clay materials and differential com-
reservoir crossing or avoiding the impermeabilization core paction, provides inlet and circulation paths for the water
indented in the bedrock. The contrast in the chemical through the clay core. The flow of fresh water across the
composition of the water from this seepage and the water earth dam, including the core, would cause the dispersion
from the aquifer, obtained in an adjacent pit, demonstrates of the clay minerals and the development of pipes. The
the intensity of the dissolution processes affecting the de- enlargement of these pipes and the consequent defor-
trital deposits beneath the embankments (Table 4). Some mation of the dam by subsidence processes obliterate its
other seepages have also been observed in the eastern side imperviousness and weaken its structure.
and north-eastern corner, where the water oozes out from • Biogenic burrows in the pediment deposit. The nu-
several points at about 4.5 m above the bottom of the merous pipes excavated by animals in the sand beds of
reservoir (Fig. 4). the pediment, mainly nests of bee-eaters (Merops api-
The field evidence and the analytical studies indicate that aster), may have also favoured water flow through the
the failure of the earth dam could be related to the alluvial mantle.
following processes:
Eventually, when the mechanical strength of the structure
• The dissolution of the detrital and secondary gypsum in is unable to support the water load and its weight the earth
the pediment deposit. The karstification process is dam collapses. The circulation of water through the dam
caused by the flow of water through the alluvial deposit induces high pore-fluid pressures, reducing the normal
underlying the embankments. The seepages observed effective stresses and the shear strength in potential failure
in the upstream embankments (Fig. 4) reveal the exis- surfaces. The failure of the dam could be envisaged as a
tence of groundwater flows that connect the basin of the complex subsidence-slope movement. Once the water
reservoir with the surrounding alluvial aquifer crossing hosted in the basin starts to spill, it excavates a channel
and/or avoiding the clay core. When the reservoir is like the trapezoidal breach developed in San Juan reservoir
empty, or its water level is below the alluvial aquifer (Johnson and Illes 1976).
water table, the water circulates from the aquifer to-
wards the reservoir. During the filling tests performed in
2000, when the water level in the reservoir was higher
than the water table in the alluvium, the flow reversed Final considerations
its direction to leak water from the reservoir towards the
• The studied earth dam failure demonstrates that highly
Table 4 pervious alluvial deposits are inappropriate materials
Chemical analysis from the water samples taken at one seepage point for the foundation of earth dams, even if an impervious
(Alt-Surg) near the failure and from the irrigation water (Alt-DR) core is built in these sediments. Obviously, it is
Sample Ca Mg Na K SO4 preferable to strip the detrital sediments and rest the
(ppm) (ppm) (ppm) (ppm) (ppm) structure on impermeable bedrock. This adverse
context is aggravated when the alluvium contains a
Alt-Surg 656.00 29.42 43.88 1.72 1,482.62 considerable amount of gypsum. The karstification
Alt-DR 54.20 6.67 17.63 2.36 51.88
processes may lead to the development of dissolutional

Environmental Geology (2003) 43:842–851 849

 Original article
conduits favouring the circulation of water and suffo-
sion processes. Eventually, the lack of basal support
causes the subsidence of the earth dam structure, re-
ducing its mechanical strength and watertightness. High
pore fluid pressures within the dam facilitate the de-
velopment of failures.
• Generally speaking, evaporites are highly problematic
for the construction of dams. Given the complexity and
the ‘hidden character’ of the karst hydrogeology one
may ‘expect the unexpected’. The application of treat-
ment works is commonly expensive and its effectiveness
may be uncertain. In a large number of cases, the
most cost-effective option may be to avoid or eliminate
these highly soluble materials. In the analysed case, the
stripping of the gypsiferous alluvial mantle would very
likely avoid the failure of the earth dam.
• The earth dams built with dispersive clays, even if
properly designed a priori, may become acutely ineffi-
cient or unstable due to piping processes. The preven-
tion and mitigation of piping-related problems requires
a thorough physical, chemical and mineralogical anal-
ysis of the basin and dam materials. A rigorous geo-
morphological reconnaissance of argillaceous areas may
provide highly valuable information about their piping
susceptibility.
• Since the San Juan reservoir will operate in the future with
the same design, it would be desirable to impermeabilize
the reservoir basin with a geotextile. The gradient be-
tween the alluvial aquifer and the reservoir basin could be
reduced to keep the water level at a similar elevation to the
water table in the pediment deposit. This would help to
prevent water flow beneath the dam.
• Given the large number of earth dams that fail cata-
strophically to produce floods, it would be desirable to
regulate periodic inspection of these structures and
foresee the probable effects of a failure-induced flood.
Flooding hazard maps could be elaborated to indicate
the areas most likely to be affected by a flood when
considering a dam breakage at any sector of the re-
taining structure. These maps should highlight the
vulnerable elements in potential flow paths and would
be very valuable for the elaboration and application of
emergency plans
Acknowledgements The authors would like to express their
gratitude to Mr Francisco Javier Pelegré Macarulla and Mr Miguel
Clavel, the Mayor and Secretary, respectively, of Tamarite de
Litera Town Hall, for facilitating the examination of the reservoir Johnson FA, Illes P (1976) A classification of dam failures. Water
project and to Mr Luis Miguel Casasnovas, from the company
MARCO, for supplying details about the characteristics of the
earth dam. Our thanks also to Ron Pearson (Bureau of Recla-
mation, US Department of the Interior) for reviewing the
manuscript and providing literature about problems caused by
dispersive clays and soluble materials in dams.
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