Study of contact erosion failure on pavement embankment with dispersive soil

The lack of attention to contact erosion failure below the pavement layers is addressed in this study. The contact erosion failure of dispersive embankment materials is investigated under the vertical fluctuation of water to represent ground-water movement with minimal mechanical influence. An analytical model is developed based on the fundamental relationship to describe dispersive failure under minimal mechanical influence of water. This would be an effective approach enabling geotechnical engineers to quantify the mass loss and the associated settlement failure below the pavement layers. In addition, the effectiveness of BCF for the prevention of clay dispersion is investigated.