Slope Stability of County Dam in Mt. Vernon, Texas

After a rehabilitation project was conducted on the Franklin County Dam, the slopes comprising the dam showed signs of distress, including erosion, rills, rivulets, tunnels, and excessive seepage. Aperture, formerly Bryant, was then engaged to investigate how these issues were affecting the stability of the slopes of the dam.

To investigate this, Aperture obtained soil samples and performed a variety of tests on the soil samples. Aperture also performed geophysical testing on the slopes, conducted slope stability numerical analysis, analyzed the historical documents and records of the project and site, and evaluated the potential for progressive piping within the slopes.

Ultimately, Aperture found that the slopes were unstable, and the instability was due to the use of improper fill material during construction of the slopes.