87

Representativeness of measurements in the

interpretation of earth dam behaviour
Luca Pagano, Stefania Sica, and Augusto Desideri

Abstract: The representativeness of measurements monitored in earth dams is analysed to investigate how a given
measured quantity can be used to interpret the dam’s mechanical behaviour. Representativeness is evaluated on the ba-
sis of spatial continuity of the measured quantity and the sensitivity of that quantity to natural mechanical nonhomo-
geneity. The discussion is supported by results from case studies and numerical examples. The study is mainly focused
on pore-water pressure measurements. Spatial continuity of pore-water pressure is analysed with consideration of both
saturation and drainage conditions. The paper discusses how pore-water pressure representativeness can vary over the
lifetime of the dam.

Key words: earth dam, pore-water pressure, monitoring.

Résumé : On analyse la représentativité des données des mesures obtenues dans les barrages en terre pour étudier
comment une quantité donnée mesurée peut être utilisée pour interpréter le comportement mécanique d’un barrage. La
représentativité est évaluée sur la base de la continuité spatiale de la quantité mesurée et de sa sensibilité à la non ho-
mogénéité mécanique naturelle. La discussion est appuyée par des résultats d’études de cas et des exemples numéri-
ques. L’étude se concentre principalement sur les mesures de la pression interstitielle. On analyse la continuité spatiale
de la pression interstitielle en considérant les conditions de drainage de même que de saturation. L’article discute com-
ment la représentativité de la pression interstitielle peut varier au cours de la vie du barrage.

Mots clés : barrage en terre, pression interstitielle, mesures.

[Traduit par la Rédaction] Pagano et al. 99

Introduction measurement points. This is essentially based on the as-

In the field of earth dams, monitoring of typical physical
quantities is a fundamental activity. Measuring internal and
boundary displacements, total stresses, pore-water pressures,
and seepage is important, as it enables the carrying out of a
number of tasks (ICOLD 1982), such as characterizing the
dam’s overall behaviour (e.g., Pagano et al. 1998), checking
the behaviour of specific zones, obtaining information about
the in situ mechanical properties of the embankment soils
(e.g., Marsal and Resendiz 1975), and finally, supporting the
difficult task of evaluating dam safety and efficiency (e.g.,
Gould and Lacy 1993).
If the objectives outlined above are to be reached, various
measurements need to be interpreted by means of simple or
complex models (e.g., Marsal 1958; Poulos et al. 1972;
Alonso et al. 1988; Pagano et al. 2001). The first stages of
the interpretative process often consist in rebuilding spatial
trends of measured quantities by extrapolating data taken at
sumption that measurements are representative or, equiva-
lently, that spatial trends of the physical quantities are
continuous.
Figure 1a shows settlement profiles measured in the core
of the Beliche Dam during the first 5 years of operation, not
including settlements developed during construction. The
measurements refer to three different verticals, monitored by
cross arms installed inside the core during construction; the
degree of continuity of the settlements is high enough that
each trend will remain unchanged, even if some measure-
ments are eliminated. In the case shown here and in the
majority of cases, settlement measurements are highly repre-
sentative.
Figure 1b shows vertical strains at the same verticals and for
the same period as in Fig. 1a. Vertical strains were obtained by
dividing the settlement difference between two successive mea-
surement points by their distance. Trends of the local strains
appear to be quite discontinuous2 and would change signifi-

Received 13 January 2005. Accepted 9 September 2005. Published on the NRC Research Press Web site at http://cgj.nrc.ca on
6 January 2006.
L. Pagano1 and S. Sica. Dipartimento di Ingegneria Geotecnica, Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”, Via Claudio, 21–
80125 Napoli, Italy.
A. Desideri. Dipartimento di Ingegneria Strutturale e Geotecnica, Università di Roma La Sapienza, Via Montedoro, 28–00196
Roma, Italy
1
Corresponding author (e-mail: lupagano@unina.it).
2
Distances between pairs of successive cross-arm plates are high enough to ensure that in the differentiation of settlement with
depth, settlement differences (∆S) are one order of magnitude as high as measurement accuracy (A); the possible scattering
associated with a bad ∆S/A ratio should therefore be negligible.

Can. Geotech. J. 43: 87–99 (2006) doi:10.1139/T05-093 © 2006 NRC Canada

88
Fig. 1. The Beliche Dam: (a) settlements and (b) vertical strains developed during operation along three cross arms located within the
core at the main cross section of the dam.
cantly if fewer measurements were considered. In the case
shown and in the majority of cases, local strain measurements
are less representative than settlement measurements.
Experience indicates that measurements of some quanti-
ties, such as displacements and seepage, typically show con-
tinuous trends and are, therefore, representative. Conversely,
measurements of other quantities, such as local strains and
stresses, are often characterized by significant scattering that
makes them poorly representative.
Scattering can be associated with inaccuracies, instrument
and acquisition system noise, and scale problems (when the
size of the zone where the measurement is taken is small,
compared with the size of the soil particles). A main source
of scattering can also be intrinsically related to the specific
quantity that is measured. This issue will be addressed in the
remainder of the paper.
An earth dam is made of one or more macroscopically
Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 43, 2006
homogeneous zones, each containing random
nonhomogeneities, with location and properties undetect-
able. Nonhomogeneities tend to make spatial trends of some
measured quantities discontinuous. The influence of
nonhomogeneities in reducing continuity and representative-
ness of measurements may vary according to the quantity at
hand, the instrument location, and the state of the soil where
the measurement is carried out.
Some quantities, such as local strains and stresses, may be
strongly affected by even small nonhomogeneities such that
the measurement at the point cannot be extended around the
point.
Other quantities preserve a high degree of spatial continu-
ity and representativeness, even in the presence of strong
nonhomogeneities. This, for instance, is the case of displace-
ments and seepage. Their enhanced continuity can be ex-
plained within the framework of continuum mechanics, as
© 2006 NRC Canada
Pagano et al.
Fig. 2. (a) Vertical stresses, (b) vertical strains, and (c) settlements computed along the vertical axis A–A of the reported sample ge-
ometry, containing mechanical nonhomogeneities.
they are integral functions of strains and water flow, respec-
tively.
The theoretical example of Fig. 2 supports what is stated
above. It shows how a difference in sensitivity to mechanical
nonhomogeneity affects some typical monitored quantities.
The example refers to a linearly elastic fill, which deforms
as a result of the dead load. Nonhomogeneities sized 2 m ×
2 m are randomly introduced within the fill. They are arbi-
trarily assumed to be less stiff than the fill. This effect, for
example, could be induced by a different compaction effort
or different physical properties of the placed material. In the
analysis carried out, the difference between the fill stiffness
(Young’s modulus = 2000 MPa) and nonhomogeneity stiff-
ness (Young’s modulus = 500 MPa) corresponds to stiffness
discontinuities measured by the down-hole technique at the
core midheight of the Camastra Dam (southern Italy). Fig-
ure 2 indicates that nonhomogeneities render computed dis-
tributions of stresses and strains strongly discontinuous
(characterized by jumps). In contrast, settlement trends
maintain continuity in presence of nonhomogeneities. The
latter affect only the settlement gradients.
Representativeness of pore-water pressure measurements
may change substantially during the life of the dam as a re-
89
sult of changes in saturation and drainage conditions. This
issue will be addressed throughout the paper by interpreting
pore-water pressure measurements carried out in two se-
lected case histories.
In the following, the essential features of the two case his-
tories are described, and the piezometric head measurements
are shown. Interpretation of measurements is then carried
out in a discussion of measurement representativeness.
Finally, representativeness is used as a criterion to determine
which physical quantities can be used as reference for the
observed behaviour within a back-analysis process.
Case histories of pore-water pressure
distribution
Representativeness of pore-water pressure is discussed on
the basis of the measurements taken for two earth dams that
have been in operation for many years.
The Beliche Dam was constructed in southeast Portugal
between July 1983 and March 1985. Dam behaviour is well
documented in several Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia
Civil internal reports and summarized by Naylor et al.
(1997). The dam’s cross section is shown in Fig. 3; its maxi-
© 2006 NRC Canada
90
Fig. 3. Beliche Dam: main cross section.
mum height is 54 m. The fine-grained core, founded on bed-
rock, was compacted around the optimum of the standard
Proctor test. It is characterized by low plasticity (plasticity
index (PI) ≈ 10%) and by a permeability coefficient (k) of
10–8 m/s. The shells were constructed from two different
coarse-grained materials. Weathered schists, characterized
by poor mechanical properties, were placed close to the
core, and a stiffer rockfill material constituted the outer
zones. This geometry was intended to avoid core arching,
which might have caused hydraulic fracturing.
The piezometric head, measured from construction until
the early stages of operation, is shown in Fig. 4 in terms of
both time histories (Fig. 4a) and isochrones of spatial distri-
bution (Fig. 4b).
During construction, saturation of a given zone within the
core takes place soon after a few metres of overburden mate-
rial is put in place, as indicated by positive pore-water pres-
sures (piezometric heads higher than the piezometer
elevation). After saturation, the dead load produces signifi-
cant increments in pore-water pressure throughout the entire
construction process. Piezometric heads at the central line
are observed to be higher than those at the lateral piezo-
meters (Fig. 4a; Fig. 4b, curve 1). This distribution is consis-
tent with that predicted by simple behavioural models that
place piezometric heads higher at the central piezometer as a
result of both maximum load and maximum distance from
drainage boundaries.
After dam completion and before first impounding, piezo-
metric heads decrease as the consolidation process takes
place (Fig. 4a; Fig. 4b, curves 2, 3, and 5–7).
During and after the first impounding, piezometric head
distributions decrease from upstream to downstream consis-
tently with the seepage process from upstream to down-
stream (Fig. 4a; Fig. 4b, curves 12–14).
The Polverina Dam is a zoned earth dam 27.5 m high,
Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 43, 2006
built in central Italy from March 1964 to November 1965.
The dam’s cross section is shown in Fig. 5. The core is a
clayey sandy silt (PI = 12%–18%), compacted around the
optimum of the standard Proctor test. The permeability coef-
ficient is between 5 × 10–11 and 1·× 10–10 m/s. The down-
stream shell is made of sandy gravel (30% sand). The
upstream shell is made of sandy gravel near the core and a
coarser material in the outer zone. Around the center of the
valley, foundation soils consist of a 20 m deep fluvial de-
posit, which lies on a marly bedrock. A lacustrine clayey silt
deposit (PI = 20%–26%; k ≈ 10–10 m/s; compressibility in-
dex (Cc) = 0.17–0.26) is included within the sandy gravel
layer. It is around 8 m thick at the valley center but then
thins out and disappears toward the two abutments. A 0.5 m
thick concrete cutoff wall provides water tightness inside the
foundation soils. The wall runs from the foundation level of
the core down to the marls crossing the sandy gravel and
clayey sandy silt.
The piezometric heads measured at the Polverina Dam
during construction and the early stages of operation are
shown in Fig. 6 in terms of both time histories (Fig. 6a) and
isochrones of spatial distribution (Fig. 6b). For this dam as
well, saturation of a given zone within the core takes place
soon after the addition of a few metres of overburden mate-
rial. Significant increments in pore-water pressure were ob-
served throughout the entire construction process. During
the early stages of construction, pore-water pressures were
higher in the upstream piezometer (Fig. 6a; Fig. 6b, curve
1), whereas from mid-construction they increased signifi-
cantly on the downstream side, until they reached the highest
value, at the end of the construction (Fig. 6a; Fig. 6b, curve
3). In this case, the observed behaviour is inconsistent with
what might be expected. Pore-water pressures at the piezo-
meter installed at the central line are expected to be higher
than those at the lateral piezometers, for the same reason as
© 2006 NRC Canada
Pagano et al.
Fig. 4. Piezometric head measured across the core of the Beliche Dam during construction and the first stages of operation: (a) time
histories; and (b) isochrones at the selected times indicated in (a).
discussed earlier for the Beliche Dam and because the rigid
cutoff wall may attract stresses that generate further incre-
ments in pore-water pressures.
After dam completion and before the first impounding,
piezometric heads decrease progressively during the consoli-
dation process (Fig. 6a; Fig. 6b, curves 4 and 5).
During the first impounding, measurements indicate that
changes induced by the rapid rise in the water table were
more significant at the downstream piezometer (Fig. 6a;
Fig. 6b, curves 6 and 7). Upstream increments were instead
expected to be higher than downstream increments. In con-
trast, some months after the complete impounding, the spa-
tial distribution of the piezometric heads became consistent
with a typical upstream–downstream seepage process, with
measured piezometric heads decreasing from the upstream
to the downstream piezometers (Fig. 6a; Fig. 6b, curve 10).
In short, at the Beliche Dam the spatial distribution of
pore-water pressures is consistent with that expected
throughout the entire dam life. At the Polverina Dam, the
distribution of pore-water pressure appears to be somewhat
anomalous from the beginning of construction until the end
of the trial fills, but a more typical trend was observed a few
months following the complete impounding.
91
Interpretation of pore-water pressure
distribution
General aspects
Representativeness of pore-water pressure measurements
due to a major or minor spatial continuity of the actual dis-
tribution may change substantially during the life of the dam
as a result of changes in saturation and drainage conditions.
When a soil is in an unsaturated state, negative values of
pore-water pressure are strongly affected by the retention
characteristics of the soil. For this reason, small spatial
changes in grain-size distribution and (or) in compaction wa-
ter content may produce significant scattering in negative
pore-water pressure values. Poor representativeness of mea-
surements may occur, especially when the water phase is
composed of isolated menisci. If the water phase becomes
continuous, reequilibrium processes are likely to increase
spatial continuity of pore-water pressures. This means that if
a soil is in an unsaturated state, pore-water pressure mea-
surements would have a “point-based” validity while the de-
gree of representativeness increases with the increasing
degree of saturation.
Under saturated conditions, representativeness of positive
© 2006 NRC Canada
92
Fig. 5. Polverina Dam: main cross section.
pore-water pressure measurements depends essentially on
the stage reached by the hydraulic reequilibrium process
around the measurement point.
Under nearly undrained conditions (rapid construction
process or quick and significant changes of the impounding
level), pore-water pressure changes are induced by total
stress increments. Mechanical nonhomogeneities may make
total stress discontinuous (see Fig. 2a), so pore-water pres-
sures may also result in discontinuous trends. Pore-water
pressure scattering may also be due to hydraulic
nonhomogeneities in the period during which they produce
different rates of hydraulic reequilibrium. Pore-water pres-
sure differences may increase between zones characterized
by higher permeability, where reequilibrium rapidly takes
place, and zones characterized by lower permeability, where
reequilibrium is still inhibited.
Under nearly undrained conditions, pore-water pressure
scattering produced by both mechanical and hydraulic
nonhomogeneities may be relevant. Because at these stages
measurements are poorly representative, it is preferable not
to use few measurement points to rebuild the spatial distri-
bution of pore-water pressure.
Significant reequilibrium processes in the water phase
tend to relate pore-water pressure only to hydraulic proper-
ties and boundary conditions and to reduce pore-water pres-
sure sensitivity to mechanical nonhomogeneities, along with
the associated scattering. If the construction process is slow,
if long consolidation periods occur after construction, or if
changes in the impounding level are slow, pore-water pres-
sures are expected to be influenced essentially by nonhomo-
geneities in permeability. Under drained conditions,
nonhomogeneities in permeability cannot produce disconti-
nuities in the pore-water pressure distribution but only
Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 43, 2006
changes in pore-water pressure gradients. Under such
conditions, measurements should therefore be sufficiently
continuous to allow a rebuilding of spatial trends of pore-
water pressures.
Sensitivity of pore-water pressure to mechanical
nonhomogeneities
The presence of mechanical nonhomogeneities and the
sensitivity of pore-water pressure to the latter may be crucial
in determining the degree of pore-water pressure representa-
tiveness over the dam life. The two following examples pro-
vide a deeper insight into factors enhancing pore-water
pressure sensitivity with regard to mechanical nonhomo-
geneities during the construction and impounding stages.
The dam geometry in Fig. 7 is analysed by assuming lin-
early elastic behaviour for the fill materials. A coupled un-
saturated approach is adopted for the vertical core (see
Appendix A for details), whereas an uncoupled approach is
assumed for the shells. Nonhomogeneity is quite idealized,
with a stiffer zone located inside the core. Its Young’s modu-
lus is four times as high as the core Young’s modulus. The
nonhomogeneity is placed nonsymmetrically with respect to
the core axis.
Differences between calculations carried out with and
without nonhomogeneity are used to evaluate the sensitivity
of pore-water pressures with regard to nonhomogeneity. The
comparison between the homogeneous and the nonhomoge-
neous cases is made along a horizontal axis placed just
above the mechanical nonhomogeneity (Fig. 7) at the end of
a simulated construction process.
During construction of an earth dam, hydraulic
reequilibrium processes are enhanced if the construction rate
is low or if the permeability coefficient is high; for a given
© 2006 NRC Canada
Pagano et al. 93

Fig. 6. Piezometric heads measured across the core of the Polverina Dam during construction and the first stages of operation: (a) time
histories; and (b) isochrones at the selected times indicated in (a).

Fig. 7. Geometric scheme of a zoned earth dam, used for simulating construction and impounding stages under plane strain conditions.

© 2006 NRC Canada

94
Fig. 8. Pore-water pressure distributions computed at the end of construction in the core along a horizontal axis under different drain-
age conditions: (a) in the presence of a dishomogeneity in the core; and (b) under the hypothesis of a homogeneous core.
dam geometry and stiffness properties, a parameter that in-
fluences hydraulic reequilibrium is the nondimensional ratio
v/k between the average rate at which the fill level increases
(v) ([L/T]) and the permeability coefficient (k) ([L/T]).
The construction process was simulated with different val-
ues of the ratio v/k. Figure 8 shows pore-water pressures pre-
dicted for six values of v/k. With increasing v/k, that is,
moving toward undrained conditions, the pore-water pres-
sure predicted for the nonhomogeneous case tends to diverge
more and more from that computed for the homogeneous
case. Above a given threshold of v/k (v/k = 1 × 105), when
nearly undrained conditions are reached, results remain un-
changed. In contrast, the effects of nonhomogeneity tend to
disappear progressively with decreasing v/k, thus enhancing
hydraulic reequilibrium inside the core. Pore-water pressure
distributions of the homogeneous and nonhomogeneous
cases are equal for a second threshold of v/k (v/k = 7 × 103),
below which nonhomogeneity does not induce any apprecia-
ble effect.
The case of v/k = 1 × 105 is also analyzed during the im-
pounding stages, which are simulated by assuming that the
impounding level rises up instantaneously, just after con-
struction, and does not change with time (Fig. 9). Significant
differences in pore-water pressures between the nonhomoge-
neous and the homogeneous cases arise at the end of con-
struction (Fig. 9a). Discrepancies persist during the early
Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 43, 2006
stages of impounding (Fig. 9b, curves b and c). Subse-
quently, pore-water pressure changes indicate that with time
hydraulic reequilibrium reduces pore-water pressure sensi-
tivity to nonhomogeneity, until distributions obtained with
and without nonhomogeneity nearly coincide (Fig. 9b,
curves d and e).
The above examples clearly show that sensitivity to me-
chanical nonhomogeneity depends on the degree of hydrau-
lic reequilibrium, which during construction is essentially
controlled by the ratio v/k.
The Polverina and Beliche dams
The above discussion helps to explain why difficulties en-
countered in interpreting pore-water pressures measured at
the Polverina Dam (v/k = 2 × 104) were greater than those
encountered in interpreting pore-water pressure measure-
ments at the Beliche Dam (v/k = 2 × 102).
For the Polverina Dam, the v/k value of two orders of
magnitude greater than that of the Beliche Dam (the greater
value is essentially related to the lower permeability coeffi-
cient) could inhibit the reequilibrium processes substantially,
producing nearly undrained conditions. During construction,
complex stress distributions and evolution are likely to oc-
cur, as a result of nonhomogeneities inside the core due to
the presence of the rigid cutoff wall and to the mechanical
interaction between core and stiffer filters, which may also
© 2006 NRC Canada
Pagano et al.
Fig. 9. Pore-water pressure distributions computed in the core along a horizontal axis for v/k = 1 × 105 (a) at the end of construction;
and (b) during the impounding stages, in the presence of core nonhomogeneity and under the hypothesis of a homogeneous core.
be nonhomogeneous. Nearly undrained conditions in the
core could have made actual pore-water pressures dependent
on complex stress distributions. As highlighted before, under
such conditions even hydraulic nonhomogeneities may have
enhanced the complexity of the pore-water pressure distribu-
tion. Simple behavioural models seem therefore to be unsuc-
cessful in interpreting measurements. During the life of the
dam, significant reequilibrium processes make pore-water
pressures progressively insensitive to mechanical nonhomo-
geneities. Predictions provided by simple behavioural mod-
els become consistent with the distribution and evolution of
pore-water pressure. In short, from the beginning of con-
struction until the end of the trial fills, the piezometric head
distribution appears to be somewhat anomalous, but then it
takes on a more predictable trend. Rather than assuming that
measurement reliability changes over time, it seems more
reasonable to consider an increase in representativeness of
the data with time.
For the Beliche Dam, the low construction rate and the
high permeability render possible significant hydraulic
reequilibrium processes; pore-water pressures are then repre-
sentative, and their distributions are always consistent with
what might be expected.
Representativeness and back analysis
The interpretation of measurements may require more
complex approaches based on mathematical and numerical
modelling of the problem. Model parameters are determined
95
either from results of laboratory tests carried out on the con-
struction materials or from back analyses of the observed
behaviour. A back-analysis procedure requires a reference
period, within which results from analysis prediction are ad-
justed to those coming from dam monitoring. As previously
pointed out, the models typically adopted for the analyses
usually assume that wide zones of the dam are made of ho-
mogeneous material so that inside each zone all physical
quantities are characterized by a continuous distribution. As
a consequence, these models may succeed only in interpret-
ing representative measurements.
From the above discussion, it emerges that measurements
of total stresses or local strains may not be appropriate as
reference quantities because of their poor representativeness;
boundary and internal settlement measurements should in-
stead be strongly considered in simulating dam behaviour.
Pore-water pressure measurements should be considered
as reference data in a back-analysis process, essentially
when hydraulic reequilibrium processes make these mea-
surements representative.
To clarify these concepts, some results of the back analy-
sis of the Polverina Dam are presented. The discretized ge-
ometry of the dam shown in Fig. 10 was adopted to predict
piezometric heads and settlements of the Polverina dam
through a back-analysis procedure. The dam is made of dif-
ferent zones, each considered homogeneous. The mathemati-
cal model used for the back analysis is that described in
Appendix A. The modified Cam clay model was adopted to
describe the mechanical behaviour of the silt layer in the
© 2006 NRC Canada
96 Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 43, 2006

Fig. 10. Finite-element mesh used for the Polverina Dam.

Fig. 11. Measured versus computed piezometric heads of the Polverina Dam during construction and early stages of operation: (a) time
histories; and (b) computed (dashed lines) and measured (continuous lines) isochrones at the selected times indicated in (a).

foundation soil and the core. For the remaining zones, an
elastic perfectly plastic nondilatant soil behaviour was
adopted, assuming a Drucker yield surface.
Figure 11 shows predicted versus measured piezometric
heads in terms of both time histories (Fig. 11a) and isoch-
rones (Fig. 11b).
Referring to pore-water pressures, Fig. 11 shows how con-
sistency between measurements and predictions was ne-
glected during construction and until the first impounding,
as measurements were considered to be poorly representa-
tive during this period. In Fig. 11b, measured and computed
values are in poor agreement (see curves 2–8). A fair agree-
ment was instead obtained some months after the first im-
pounding, when hydraulic reequilibrium processes rendered
the pore-water pressure distribution more continuous and the
pore-water pressure measurements more representative

© 2006 NRC Canada

Pagano et al.
Fig. 12. Measured versus computed piezometric heads of the Polverina Dam during construction and operation.
(Fig. 11b, curve 10). In the back-analysis work, this was
found to be the key to obtaining a satisfactory agreement be-
tween predicted and measured pore-water pressures over the
30 years of dam operation (Fig. 12).
Figure 12 shows that modern analysis tools could interpret
observations quantitatively, even if a number of factors (dead
load during construction, consolidation process, impounding
conditions) affect measurement evolution and spatial distri-
bution. This, however, is possible only if measurements are
representative and factors affecting predictions are the same
as those affecting measurements.
Conclusions
The mechanical behaviour of earth dams can essentially
be characterized by interpreting monitored physical quanti-
ties. Assessments of measurement reliability and measure-
ment interpretation are two different aspects of the same
activity, which consists in comparing measurements with the
expected behaviour provided by a mathematical model. Lack
of measurement reliability or anomalous dam behaviour is
often invoked when inconsistencies between the predicted
and the observed behaviour occur. Malfunctioning of instru-
ments, drawbacks during instrument installation, or inaccu-
racy during the carrying out of measurements often represents
the source of such inconsistencies. However, inconsistencies
may derive from the inadequacy of the interpretative process
as well.
97
The measurement of displacements and seepage is charac-
terized by high representativeness, with spatial trends that
are similar to those predicted by behavioural or mathemati-
cal models. Stress and strain measurements may be discon-
tinuous and therefore poorly representative.
Pore-water pressures may be poorly representative under
low degrees of saturation or under nearly undrained condi-
tions; their representativeness rises with increasing degrees
of saturation and enhancement of hydraulic reequilibrium
processes. For these reasons, pore-water pressure representa-
tiveness may change over the lifetime of the dam. The engi-
neer should make the effort to characterize these state
conditions in order to understand representativeness, before
attempting to interpret measurement trends.
The analysis of the representativeness of measured quanti-
ties can help in determining the number of instruments re-
quired to characterize the actual distribution of a given
quantity. Since they are characterized by poorly representa-
tive measurements, stresses and local strains in any state
conditions of the soil, together with pore-water pressures in
strongly unsaturated or nearly undrained conditions, should
be experimentally detected on the basis of many measure-
ment points; in contrast, settlements and seepage in any state
conditions of the soil and pore-water pressures when signifi-
cant reequilibrium processes take place can be detected on
the basis of a few measurement points because these quanti-
ties are characterized by highly representative measure-
ments.
© 2006 NRC Canada
98
Measurements that are less representative or, in other
words, more sensitive to mechanical nonhomogeneity tend
to be sensitive even to the nonhomogeneity caused by the
presence of the measurement instrument itself and to differ-
ences in compaction that typically characterize soil placed
around the instrument. Poor representativeness and unreli-
ability may be related to each other.
The assessment of measurement representativeness is fun-
damental in establishing which monitoring data should be
used in back-analysis processes and which periods should be
chosen to obtain satisfactory agreement between predictions
and observations. The first step is to evaluate the representa-
tiveness of the available monitoring data, because only rep-
resentative quantities should be involved in a back-analysis
process.
Acknowledgements
The authors with to thank the Registro Italiano Dighe
(RID) for its financial support for this research project, and,
in particular, engineers Angelica Catalano, Vincenzo
Chieppa, and Claudia Russo for their fruitful discussion and
suggestions. The valuable comments of Prof. Sebastiano
Rampello are also gratefully acknowledged.
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Appendix A. Coupled approach used for the
analyses
The coupled unsaturated approach adopted in this work
consists of the following set of governing equations:
(i) equilibrium; (ii) water continuity equation (with a vari-
Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 43, 2006
able degree of saturation, Sr); (iii) equation of water reten-
tion characteristic curve; and (iv) soil skeleton stress–strain
relationship.
In this approach, air pressure is assumed to be equal to the
atmospheric value, so the continuity equation of air does not
need further consideration.
The ABAQUS code and the finite-element technique were
used to discretize the spatial problem, and the finite-
difference technique was adopted to discretize the problem
in the time domain.
The soil skeleton constitutive law is defined within a
monotensorial Bishop-based approach, following the sugges-
tion by Schrefler (1991) to define the effective stress compo-
nents:
[A1] σ ′ij = σij – δij Sruw
where σij represents total stress components; δij = 1 for i = j;
δij = 0 for i ≠ j; Sr is the degree of saturation; and uw is the
pore-water pressure.
The approach requires that initial conditions in terms of
pore-water pressure, effective stress components, degree of
saturation, and void ratio be defined.
During the simulation of the construction stages, horizon-
tal element layers are progressively activated. All layer acti-
vations develop in three steps.
In the first step, the elements of the layer are introduced
in an undeformed shape, with the proper initial conditions
but without weight. Initial conditions consist of null total
stress components (σij(0)) and an initial negative pore-water
pressure, uw(0), representing, with the initial degree of satura-
tion, the soil state after compaction. Initial conditions in
terms of effective stress components (σ ′ij ( 0) ) are defined in
accordance with eq. [A1], as
[A2] σ ′ij ( 0) = – δij Sr(0)uw(0)
In the second step, the dead weight of the layer is applied
in a very short time.
In the third step, consolidation is allowed over a period
consistent with that obtained from the actual embankment
construction curve.
During both the second and third steps, pore-water pres-
sure boundary conditions at the top of the activated layer are
forced to stay at the uw(0) value, in order to avoid hydraulic
inconsistency when the subsequent layer is activated with its
initial conditions at uw(0).
On the lateral boundaries of the region where a coupled
analysis is assumed, a seepage surface is adopted during
construction. This is applied by forcing a dependency of wa-
ter velocity normal to the boundary (vwb) on pore-water pres-
sure values (uwb) (Pagano 1997):
[A3a] vwb = 0 if uwb < 0
[A3b] vwb = k*uwb if uwb ≥ 0
where k* is a constant that influences the flow rate normal to
the boundary.
When pore-water pressure at the boundary is negative,
eq. [A3a] forces that boundary to be impermeable.
When water pressure at the boundary pore tends to as-
sume a value that exceeds the zero value, eq. [A3b] forces
© 2006 NRC Canada
Pagano et al. 99

water velocity at the boundary, vwb, to increase proportion- References

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almost zero. Such lowering occurs if k* is large, compared Pagano, L. 1997. Steady state and transient unconfined seepage
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values are applied along the wet boundary of the region
where the analysis is assumed coupled. A seepage surface is
instead applied on the dry boundary.

© 2006 NRC Canada