History, Performance and Design of Geotextiles in Levees

摘要

Geotextiles are a key element in building levees that will survive catastrophic storms. The geotextile-reinforced earthenrnlevees in New Orleans performed remarkably well during Hurricane Katrina. With the current focus on updating theirrnlevee system to protect New Orleans from a 100-year storm event, the United States Corps of Engineers (USACE) mayrnrely heavily upon geotextiles in their designs.rnIn addition to reinforcing levees and allowing existing levees to be built taller and more robust, geotextiles help reducernconstruction costs and reduce the size of or even eliminate stability berms. Geotextiles are also being used in innovativernways for recovery and immediate repair of damaged levees.rnThis paper will focus on the history, performance and future use of geotextiles in levees. It will include a review ofrnliterature and design methods, an examination of the performance of the geotextile-reinforced levees that survivedrnHurricane Katrina, and USACE design improvements.