Skempton, A. W., & Brogan, J. M. (1994). GCotechnique 44, No.

3,449%460

Experiments on piping in sandy gravels

A. W. SKEMPTON* and J. M. BROGAN*

Tests on internally unstable sandy gravels show
that a significant proportion of the sand content is
washed out by piping at hydraulic gradients far
lower than the critical gradient given by a classical
theory. The probable explanation is that a major
part of the overburden load is carried on a frame-
work of gravel particles, leaving the sand under
relatively small pressures. By contrast, piping of
the sand from stable sandy gravels occurs at
approximately the full theoretical gradient. The
tests broadly confirm Kenney’s criterion for the
internal stability of granular materials.
KEYWORDS: erosion; gravels; laboratory tests; sands;
seepage.
Des essais rCalisCs sur des graves sableuses B insta-
biliti! interne importante montrent qu’une propor-
tion non nkgligeable du sable est lessiv(?e pour des
gradients hydrauliques bien infkrieurs au gradient
critique don& par les thkories classiques.
L’explication la plus probable est que la majeure
partie de la surcharge des couches subjacentes est
transmise au r&au des particules graveleuses,
le sable n’Ctant alors plus soumis qu’i de rela-
tivement fai bles pressions. Au contraire,
l’aspiration du sable dans des graves sableuses
stables se produit approximativement au gradient
thCorique. Dans l’ensemble, ces essais confirment
le critize de Kenney sur la stabilitb interne des
mat&riaux granulaires.

INTRODUCTION grading curve the grain size d’s, at 0.85S, and

Sandy gravels having a bimodal (gap-graded) D’,, at (0.8X, + 15), and then check at points a
grain-size distribution with less than about 25% little above and below to ensure that a maximum
of sand exhibit internal instability; that is to say, value off has been found. The limiting value off
most of the sand can migrate within the inter- may be slightly less than 4 for loose and rather
stices of a framework or primary fabric formed more for dense packing, but provided there is a
predominantly of the gravel particles, and can be fairly clear division point between the com-
washed out from a free exit surface if subjected to ponents the method is a good guide. D’,, and d’s,
a sufficient (critical) hydraulic gradient. The allu- refer in this Paper to grain sizes of the com-
vium of the River Indus at Tarbela (a typical ponents, not of the whole material.
grading curve is shown in Fig. l(a)) is an example. A method that is less direct, but is applicable to
Such materials can present serious problems continuous (upward concave) as well as bimodal
where piping is possible, notably in dams and grain-size distributions, has been presented by
barrages. Kenney & Lau (1985, 1986). It involves finding
A simple method of assessing internal stability the minimum value of the ratio H/F, as shown in
was put forward by Kezdi in 1969 (see Kovacs, Fig. l(b), and comparing this with the limiting
1981) and in 1979 (Kezdi, 1979), and independent- value of H/F = 1.0 above which, for well-
ly by De Mello (1975). The material is divided compacted materials, a state of internal stability
into its fine and coarse components (Fig. l(a)), exists. A limit of H/F = 1.3 proposed by Kenney
and if these components, in relation to each other, & Lau (1985) may be more appropriate for loose
fullil the filter rule (Terzaghi, 1939) packing.
The ratio H/F = 1.0 corresponds exactly to a
f= D',,Jd,,
<4 (1) grading curve represented by the relation S, =
the material as a whole will be stable and self- &?,I&,,, >where S, is the proportion (by weight)
filtering. If they do not, it will be unstable. In finer than D, and D,,, is the maximum particle
practice it is necessary only to choose a division size. This distribution is similar to the lower part
point at a fines content S,, read off from the (S < 0.3) of Fuller’s ideal curve for maximum
density (Fuller & Thompson, 1907), and so the
condition for internal instability H/F < 1.0
Manuscript received 29 March 1993; accepted 22 June implies a longer or flatter tail (at the fines end)
1993.
than in the ideal grading curve.
Discussion on this Paper closes 1 December 1994; for
further details see p. ii. For the Indus alluvium, (H/F),, = 0.16.
* Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medi- Another example is the River Jhelum alluvium at
cine, London. Mangla, for which a typical grading curve gives

449
450 SKEMPTON AND BROGAN

Sand Gravel
Silt Cobbles
Fine 1Medium 1 coarse1 Fine Medium Coarse

1
loo-
4
c, = LJ@yD,a - 130
a
5 60- -I
s f = D’,5/d’m = 25
:
?J
g
E 60-
or
t
0”
al 40-
P
E
8

1
$ 20-

o- -I
0.0: ! 0.6 2 6 20 60 200
Grain size D: mm

la)

I I I
D 4D

0.4

0.3

z 0.2

0.1

Cd
0.2
F

(b)

Fig. 1. Indus alluvium at Tarbela: (a) grain size distribution; (b) Kenney diagram

(H/F),, = 0.18 (see Table 1 for references to the exceeding f = 4 (examples are given in Table 1).
original data). Gap-graded materials of this type As proved by tests on samples with similar char-
have probably the lowest degree of internal sta- acteristics, in these cases also there can be a con-
bility of any natural sediments. However, siderable migration or loss of fines. Interestingly,
analyses of grading curves of the alluvium in one of the earliest tests leading to a recognition
several other gravel-bed rivers give values of of internal instability was made at Vicksburg
(H/F),, (here defined as the stability index) of (United States Army Corps of Engineers, 1953)
0.4-0.6, with filter ratios of the components on a sandy gravel of this type with (H/F)min =
 EXPERIMENTS ON PIPING IN SANDY GRAVELS 451

Table 1. Sandy gravels: analysis of internal instability by the methods of Kezdi (1979) and Kenney & Lau (1985)

Site River C” s, : o/a D’,,ld’,, VWL Reference for grading curve

Tarbela Indus 130 15 25 0.16 Lowe (1978)

Mangla Jhelum 200 18 32 0.18 Skempton & Catin (1963)
Wanapum Columbia 100 15 13 0.38 Russo (1963)
Serre-Poncon Durance 70 23 6.5 0.42 Maigre (1955)
Phoenix Salt 40 18 7.3 0.50 Li & Fullerton (1987)
Kumagaya Tone 38 22 5.1 0.57 Goto, Suzuku, Nishio & Ohoka (1992)

0.50 and f= 5.6 at S, = 23%. Other tests are & Lau, 1985)
reported by Kenney & Lau (1985) and Aberg
A
(1993). s* =- (2)
A further key to understanding the nature of l+A
internal instability is provided in Fig. 2, which
where A = n,(l - n,)/(l - n,).
shows that there is a critical content of fines S*
below which the fines in a gap-graded material do Figure 2 is drawn for typical values of n, =
not fill the voids in the coarse component. S* is 40% and n, = 45%, giving S* = 27%, and the
expressed in terms of the porosities n, and n, of range of S* in practice is unlikely to fall far
the coarse and fine components respectively by outside the narrow limits of 29% for loose
the equation (given in a different form by Kenney packing (n, = 45%, n, = 50%) or 24% for dense

ClaSt I
I
I Matrix supported
CI
supported 8

Volume of coarse grains

Volume of fine component

(fines)

0 20 40 60 60

v’ = volume of voids in coarse

80 - n, = porosity component
0’

60 -

1 I !I I I I I I I
0
20 40 60 60 100
0
Percentage of fines S,

Fig. 2. Bimodal granular material: volumes and porosity as a function of the

proportion of fines in a constant total weight of grains
452 SKEMPTON AND BROGAN

packing (n, = 35%, n, = do%), so the existence of
a framework or primary fabric of gravel particles
in a sandy gravel with, say, 15% or 20% of sand
is acceptable.
In contrast, if the content of fines S, exceeds
about 35% the coarse particles are floating in a
matrix of fines. This follows from
n, = n + S,(l - n) (3)
(Kovacs, 1981) which is valid for all values of S,
and overall porosity n, and shows that with S, >
35% and any practical value of n (>20%) the
porosity of the coarse component n, exceeds the
maximum porosity (45% or a little higher) at
which the coarse particles can possibly be in
contact with each other.
Consequently, in such cases the coarse particles
cannot act as a filter for the fines, even if their
D’,, size conforms to the filter rule given in equa-
tion (1). This has been demonstrated conclusively
by Soares (1980). However, since the properties of
the material are essentially those of the sand com-
ponent with an admixture of isolated coarse
grains, piping will occur at a critical upward
hydraulic gradient i, (typically about 1.0) with the
value given by a classical theory (Terzaghi, 1925)
i, = (1 - n)(l - p) = y’/y, (4)
where n is the overall porosity of the material and
p is the specific gravity of the grains. In other
words, in this respect the material is internally
stable, as proved by recent tests on the same
materials as those used by Soares.
These matrix-supported materials therefore
belong in a different category. They include some
widely graded glacial deposits (Sherrard, 1979;
Lafleur, 1984) and river sediments such as the
gravelly sand at shallow depths in the Columbia
River alluvium (Russo, 1963). A successful filter
therefore has to be able to retain the fines, and it
has long been recognized that as a general safe
rule a filter for widely graded gravelly materials
should be designed to hold the sand fraction
(United States Bureau of Reclamation, 1960). As
for what is meant by widely graded, another
useful rule, from references from the late 1950s
(Kovacs, 1981), is that materials having a uni-
formity coefficient C, of less than 10 are self-
filtering, and those having C, greater than 20 are
liable to be unstable and/or not self-filtering,
where C, = D,,/D,,
In the tests by Kenney & Lau (1985) and Aberg
(1993) (and in the earlier tests at Vicksburg) the
samples were subjected to high hydraulic gra-
dients in downward flow, and tapped lightly,
although they were spring-loaded to prevent loos-
ening of the primary fabric during vibration. In
this way the safe limit of H/F was determined.
However, a question remained as to the critical
gradient at which the migration of fines starts. To
find an answer to this, for the case of horizontal
flow, tests were conducted at Delft (Adel, Bakker
& Breteler, 1988) on samples of large dimensions,
probably in a loose state of packing. The results,
summarized in Table 2, show a critical gradient of
i, = 0.16 for very unstable materials (the criterion
being a loss of fines exceeding 1 g/m’ per s in 30
min), but a scarcely higher i, for sandy gravel
with (H/F),, = 0.5. In contast, the critical gra-
dient for a marginally stable material was found
to be i, = 0.7.
Apart from a single test (Mockmore & Dough-
erty, 1935) described later, no comparable data
appear to have been available hitherto for the
equally important case of upward vertical flow.
To provide such information, the exploratory
tests reported here were carried out in 1992. As
expected, the critical gradients proved to be
greater than those for horizontal flow but, in the
unstable materials, by a remarkably small
amount.
In all the sandy gravels tested, whether stable
or unstable, failure took the form of piping of the
fines whereas the gravel particles remained practi-
cally undisturbed-a process referred to here as
segregation piping. In the stable materials this

Table 2. Experimental values of critical gradient for migration

or piping of fines in sandy gravel

State Horizontal flow Upward vertical flow

(Adel et al. 1988) (this Paper)

Unstable 0.25 0.16 0.14 0.20

0.36 0.17
0.50 0.17
0.98 0.34
Stable 1.3 0.70 1.6 1.0
2.8 1.0
 EXPERIMENTS ON PIPING IN SANDY GRAVELS 453

Pwometer 1 2 3 4 Sand GkW?l

I
Fme 1Meduml Coarse 1 Fine 1Medium 1 Coarse

I I’,

20 3
’ ,“, ,, ( A=152cm*
n

Fig. 5. Grain size distributions of test samples

TEST PROCEDURE
The apparatus (Fig. 3) consists essentially of a
transparent 139 mm dia. cylinder in which a
sample is subjected to upward flow of water, the
flow being increased in small steps until piping
occurs. Three samples A, B and C were prepared
by mixing 85% (by weight) of gravel G with 15%
of one of three sands Sl, S3 and S2 (Fig. 4); one
sample, D, contained 90% of G with 10% of S2.
Fig. 3. Apparatus Grain size distributions of the four samples are
shown in Fig. 5 and the Kenney diagram in Fig.
6. The main properties are listed in Tables 3 and
occurred at approximately the critical gradient 4. The grains are sub-angular, with a moderately
given by piping theory (equation (4)) but in the high sphericity.
unstable materials migration and strong piping of After thorough mixing, the material was moist-
fines took place at gradients of about one fifth to ened to avoid segregation while it was being
one third of the theoretical value, i.e. at about
0.2-0.35.

0. 3-

Sand GkWel
Fine 1Medium 1 Coarse 1 Fme 1Medium 1 Coarse

0. 2-

z Unstable

0. l-

I
0.06 0.2 0.6 1 2 6 10 20 I I
k I
Grain we D: mm OO 0.1 0.2 0.3
F
Fig. 4. Grain size distributions of component materials
and filter Fig. 6. Kenney diagrams for test samples
454 SKEMPTON AND BROGAN

Table 3. Properties of component materials and filter

Sl s3 s2 G F
II,, : mm 0.22 0.64 0.78 6.2 0.90
D,,:mm 0.10 0.13 0.27 2.5 0.76
C,(=D,,lD,,) 1.9 3.0 2.6 2.2 1.2
Porosity n : % 49 46 38 40 40
Permeability k : cm/s 0.012 0.015 0.032 3.7 0.25
Critical gradient Test (maximum) 0.70 0.90 1.05 1.11
for piping i, Test (minimum) 0.68 0.90 0.97 0.98
Theory 0.84 0.89 1.02 0.99 0.99

Table 4. Properties of teat samples

A B C D
Gravel component 85% G 85% G 85% G 90% G
Sand component 15% Sl 15% s3 15% s2 10% s2
Porosity n : % 34 37 37.5 36.5
D,, : mm 0.60 0.90 0.98 1.6
C” 24 10 7 4.5
Permeability k : cm/s 0.45 0.84 0.86 1.8
Filter ratio of components D’,,/d’l(, 11 3.9 3.2 3.2
Stability index (H/F),,, 0.14 0.98 1.6 2.8
Critical gradient i, in test 0.20 0.34 1.0 1.0

placed in the cylinder, and four layers each about error of about f 5% unless otherwise stated. The
40 mm thick were tipped in and packed by hand. temperature of the water was about 20°C
An underlying gravel and coarse sand diffusing throughout the experiments.
filter ensured reasonably uniform flow across the
area of the sample. Under an initial (small) head, TEST RESULTS
flow was allowed to continue until the sample All the sands show a linear increase in seepage
became saturated and water began to trickle over velocity u with increasing hydraulic gradient i, in
the top edge of the cylinder into the lower basin, accordance with Darcy’s law for laminar flow
the discharge from which could be measured.
Thereafter each increment of flow produced an u = ki (5)
almost instantaneous response in the three glass
standpipe piezometers. These were read as heights
above the water surface, the capillary rise in the s3 52
piezometers (denoted by h4) being determined ~c (theory)
separately. Any changes in the sample were
recorded before the next increment of flow was --itI

applied. Each test lasted about 1.5 h after the

I=-pipin
period of saturation. Fines washed out of the
sample were collected, dried and weighted after 0.06 - ’
the test had been completed. In another experi- J? I \

ment, a sample of material A was covered by a 6

i
uniform coarse sand filter F (Fig. 4).
Small differences in hydraulic gradient usually
existed between the top, middle and bottom of
the sample, due to slight variations in porosity,
but in the later stages of some tests deposition of
fines on the top surface resulted in a thin layer of
1
much lower permeability. Generally the operative 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2
hydraulic gradient is taken as the average within
the main body of the sample, and has a probable Fig. 7. Piping tests on sands S2 and S3
456 SKEMPTON AND BROGAN

(4 At i = 0.10 there was a small dancing-like
movement of fine particles at a few places on
the sides of the sample at various depths
(voids at the sides are larger than in the main
mass). The permeability is constant up to this
point, with k = 0.45 cm/s.
(4 At i = 0.125 fine particles moved upwards at
two or three spots on the top of the sample
away from the sides.
(4 At i = 0.145 slight movement of fines was
seen at about 12 local spots.
(4 At i = 0.17 the movement of fines was still
slight, but general over the whole area, with
strong piping at the sides.
(4 At i = 0.20 there was strong general piping of
fines throughout. A photograph taken,at the
next increment (i = 0.22) shows the process in
action (Fig. 9). The gravel particles remain
undisturbed. Permeability had increased to
about double its initial value.
(f) At i = 0.28 there was violent piping of fines
and a rapid increase in flow at a constant gra-
dient. When this stage was reached (point 15),
permeability k was 1.6 cm/s-more than half
that of the gravel alone at the same gradient
(k = 2.9 cm/s).
By the end of the test 225 g of sand (about 38%
of the total sand content and 5.6% of the original
ha
Piezometer 01
l
sample weight) had been washed out in about 80
min since slight local piping began, at an average
rate of 3 g/m’ per s.
Piezometer readings (Fig. 10(a)) show uniform
hydraulic gradients from top to bottom up to
point 4 (i = 0.11). By point 6, with i = 0.145,
there is a distinct discontinuity at the top. This
can be attributed to the presence of fines which
have been washed out and settled on the upper
surface of the sample. At later stages the effect
becomes more pronounced (see points 9 and 15).
With a porosity of 34% the theoretical critical
gradient from equation (4) is i, = 1.09. Clearly
this bears no relation to the observed gradient of
0.20 for strong general piping of the fines. Never-
theless the principle on which the theory is based
must be correct, namely that for piping to occur
the effective stress u’ is zero and thus the pore
pressure u is equal to the total vertical stress cr,
because u’ = CJ- u. Moreover, because additional
force is required to drag the sand grains through
the interstices of the gravel, the pore pressure for
the piping of the fines will be greater than CT.
However, when piping occurred in sample A u
was much less than the average total stress B at
any given depth.
To examine this anomaly it should first be
noted that, in a material of high permeability, any
variations in pore pressure across a section are
highly unlikely to be significant in relation to the
apparent major discrepancy. Second, it could be
argued that the unit weight of the sand com-
ponent is more relevant than that of the whole
h: cm sample; but even allowing for a porosity of 50%
2 4 6 8

readings
the theoretical critical gradient (i, = 083) and
1 ’ also the experimental piping gradient of sand Sl
12,
h, I\\ Filter (i, = 0.7, see Table 3) are much higher than the
h: cm II \
II I
2 4 6 \ \ observed value. The probable explanation is that
-7 --
-t oD a .P the overburden load is taken predominantly on
I I \
I \ the framework or primary fabric of gravel par-
1 I “c\ ticles, leaving the sand under relatively small
I I 3
stress. This concept is strongly supported by
volumetric considerations similar to those shown
in Fig. 2: with an overall porosity n of 34% and a
fines content S, of 15%, and assuming a porosity
of 50% in the sand component, it can be shown
that the porosity n, of the coarse particle frame-
work, from equation (3), is 44X-a value below
the maximum possible for the particles to be in
contact-and that, from equation (2) the fines
content required to fill the voids in the gravel
framework is S* = 28%, indicating that in the
1 sample the sand occupies little more than half of
246
15r 0 : d.90. 15
the framework voids.
h, critical head for
uplift of filter
It therefore follows that, as an extreme condi-
k-4 (b) tion, the sand is carrying no overburden load,
and the observed critical gradient is simply that
Fig. 10 Hydraulic gradients: (a) sample A; (b) sample required to cause migration of the fines in hori-
AF zontal flow, when gravity plays little part.
 EXPERIMENTS ON PIPING
At the other extreme it may be assumed that
the sand grains are free to pass through the inter-
stices of the gravel but that the sand is initially
carrying a small part of the overburden load. Let
the effective stress in the sand under static (no-
flow) condition be
Q’r = ay’z (6)
where a is a reduction factor and y’z is the
average effective stress across a section at depth z.
Then the critical gradient for piping in the sand
will be
i, = ~Y’/Y, (7)
and because (for sample A) i, = 0.2 and y’/y, =
1.09, it follows that LX= 0.18. This implies, as an
upper limit, that the initial effective stress in the
sand in the no-flow condition is 18% of the
average in the whole sample, and that the sand
will pipe when this effective stress is reduced to
zero by upward flow. More realistically, there is a
threshold gradient i,, required to move the sand
grains independently of gravity, and
i, - i,, = d/Y,
(8)
If i,, is taken as the critical gradient in horizontal
flow, equal to 0.16 in the Delft tests for material
with a comparable stability index to that of
sample A, then a = 0.04. This is a very approx-
imate result, but suggests that the sand is prob-
ably under almost zero initial stress, as might be
concluded from the volumetric considerations.
Test on sample AF
In the test on sample AF, exactly the same
material as sample A, at an almost identical
porosity, was covered by a 3.4 cm thick layer of
coarse sand F to act as a filter preventing escape
of the sand grains. The permeability of the filter,
determined in a separate test, was k = 0.25 cm/s
and the filter ratio with respect to the sand com-
ponent of material A was D,,/d’,, = 3.5. The test
results are shown in Fig. 11 and the hydraulic
gradients in Fig. 10(b).
(a) i = 0.05 (point 2) this represents the linear
portion of the velocity-gradient diagram
before any movement of fines had occurred.
By extrapolation of the piezometer readings,
the head at the top of the sample is practically
equal to the head at the base of the filter cal-
culated from the known velocity and per-
meability.
(b) At i = 0.10 there is movement of fines at the
sides of the sample. The hydraulic gradient
line (point 4) already shows a discontinuity at
the junction between the filter and the sample.
(c) At i = 0.16 a horizontal crack opens just
IN SANDY GRAVELS 457
0.25
r
Reopemg
of crack
followed by paping
Horizontal crack
k = 0.52 cm/s
Fig. 11. Sample AF test results
below the filter. At this stage the discontinuity
in the hydraulic gradient line (point 8) is very
large, presumably due to an accumulation of
fines washed up through the sample and
trapped by the lilter. The head generated in
this zone of relatively low permeability is
evidently sufficient to lift the filter. At this
stage the flow was slightly reduced and the
filter pressed down to close the crack.
(4 At i = 0.18, flow having been increased, the
crack opens again, followed by strong local-
ized piping and boils of fine sand.
The test was repeated using a coarser filter
(D,, = 0.86 mm), with similar results: cracking
and localized piping at i = 0.17 followed at
i = 0.18 by more general piping and a large
increase in flow.
It is therefore clear that a significant propor-
tion of the sand grains can migrate within the
sample even if their exit from the upper surface is
prevented. Also, for a filter to be effective it would
have to be loaded to resist upward pressures
developed in the layer of lines trapped beneath.
Test on sample B (85%G + 15%S3)
With (H/F),, = 0.98, a filter ratio of the com-
ponents D’,,/d’,, = 3.7 and a uniformity coefli-
cient C, = 10, sample B appears to lie on the
boundary between internal stability and insta-
bility. However, with a porosity of 37% the
sample has a low relative density, and the test
results (Fig. 12) show that in this condition it is
definitely unstable.
 SKEMPTON AND BROGAN

1.2
l-

0.8
Stable

X Upward vertical
0.4 - flow

Sides-
+ Horizontal flow

Fig. 13. Tentative relation of critical gradient and stabil-

k = 0.84 cm/s ity index
J
0.4

the larger average size of the sand grains relative

Fig. 12. Sample B test results
(4 At i = 0.13 there is slight movement of fines
at the sides. Up to this stage the permeability
is constant at k = 0.84 cm/s.
(b) At i = 0.18 there are the first signs of slight
movement of fines at a few local spots on the
top surface.
(4 At i = 0.20 there is more distinct movement,
but it is still localized.
(4 At i = 0.25 there is slight movement of fines
generally over the whole surface and strong
piping at the sides.
(4 At i = 0.34 there is strong general piping of
fines, but the gravel particles remain stable.
Permeability k has increased to 2.0 cm/s.
During the test, 75 g of sand (12% of the total
sand content) was washed out at an average rate
of 2.5 g/m*/per s after the start of slight local
piping. The hydraulic gradient lines show a
pattern similar to that for sample A (Fig. lo(a)):
uniform from top to bottom, in this case up to a
gradient of i = 0.18 (point 9), with a discontinuity
due to sand on the top surface at higher gra-
dients.
Sample B, like sample A but to a lesser extent,
shows a wide discrepancy between the observed
gradient for strong general piping of the fines
(i, = 0.34) and the theoretical critical gradient of
1.04 for a porosity n of 37%. This may similarly
be attributed to a non-uniform distribution
stress between the sand and gravel components,
with do in equation (7) having an extreme upper
limit of 0.33. However, a more probable value of
a, from equation (8), is less than 0.1, assuming i,,
in this case to be about 0.25-0.3 on account of
to the gravel particles and the higher stability
index (see the tentative relation between critical
gradient for horizontal flow and stability index in
Fig. 13).
Test on sample C (85%G + 15%S2)
In relation to its uniformity coeflicient C, = 7,
sample C, with a porosity of 37.5%, is loose; but
it should still be internally stable because (H/F),,
is 1.6 and the filter ratio of the components
D’,#85 is 3.2. The test results (Fig. 14) confirm
that this is the case. The following observations
were made.
(a) At i = 0.36 there is slight movement of fines
at the sides of the sample. Up to this gradient
(point 9) there is a constant permeability k of
0.86 cm/s and the hydraulic gradient lines are
uniform (Fig. 15).
(6) At i = 0.49 there is a small movement of fines
at five or six spots on the upper surface. The
permeability has increased slightly and there
is a small discontinuity in hydraulic gradient
at the top (point 12).
(c) At i = 0.55 turbulent flow starts, at a velocity
v of 0.46 cm/s, the Reynolds number R (based
on D,,) being 5.
(6, At i = 0.65 there are small movements of fines
at 15 spots on the top surface, and quite
strong movements at the sides. A more pro-
nounced discontinuity appears to exist at the
of surface (point 16).
(e) At i = 0.86 there is slight movement of fines
over the whole top; there is no discontinuity
in hydraulic gradient (point 18), but this may
be an experimental error.
(f) At i = 1.0 there is strong general piping of
 EXPERIMENTS ON PIPING IN SANDY GRAVELS 459

" = 37.5% k (theory) ha h: cm

1.2
(HI/qrn,"
= 16
I

k = 0.66 cm/s

Fig. 14. Sample C test results

Fig. 15. Sample C hydraulic gradients

fines over about half of the top. Flow then
increases with little increase in gradient and
piping covers nearly the whole area. No
movements of the gravel particles were
detected, although there may have been a
small expansion of the sample.
Gradients after point 18 are rather erratic, and
the operative gradient when strong general piping
occurs could differ by f 10% from the average
value of 1.0. However, within these limits of
accuracy there is good agreement with the theo-
retical critical gradient i, = 1.03 (for a porosity of
37.5%).
Thus in this internally stable material strong
piping of the fines can occur only when the effect-
ive stress is zero or approaching zero throughout,
on coarse and fine particles alike. During the test
55 g of sand was washed out of the sample at an
average rate of about 1.5 g/m2 per s after the
start of local piping.
TEST ON RIVER SAND
The first record of a piping test on what can
now be recognized as an internally unstable
material was presented by Mockmore & Dough-
erty (1935). The material seems to have been a
coarse sand with a small content of fines (exact
grading unknown). Movement of the fines began
at a gradient i of 044. Thereafter the permeability
increased; most of the fines had been washed out
when the gradient reached i = 0.68, and piping
(of the coarse grains) began at i = 0.83, becoming
vigorous at i = 0.88 compared with a theoretical
critical gradient of 1.07, based on the original
porosity of 33%, or 0.96 if the fines washed out
amounted to 10% (see equation (2)). The discrep-
ancy between theoretical and experimental values
can partly be attributed to the absence of a diffus-
ing filter beneath the sample, leading to non-
uniform flow conditions.

Test on sample D (90%G + lO%S2)

Sample D was a well-graded material with CONCLUSIONS
(H/F),, = 2.8, a uniformity coefficient C, = 4.5, Further work is required to define more closely
and a slightly higher relative density than samples the relation of critical gradient and stability
B and C. index, tentatively shown in Fig. 13, and to study
Except for a greater permeability, consistent the effects of varying the density of packing and
with the larger grain size, and more pronounced proportions of sand to gravels. However, the fol-
variations in hydraulic gradient (f 15%), presum- lowing conclusions can be drawn from the
ably due to less uniform packing, the results of present tests.
this test are similar in every respect to those for In unstable sandy gravels, piping of the sand
sample C. Therefore it appears that the behaviour grains can occur at hydraulic gradients one third
of internally stable materials with respect to to one fifth of the theoretical critical gradient for
piping depends very little on the degree of stabil- a homogeneous granular material of the same
ity (Fig. 13). porosity. These gradients are also far less than the
460 SKEMPTON AND BROGAN

theoretical piping gradient for a sample com- Goto, S., Suzuku, Y., Nishio, S. & Ohoka, H. (1992).
posed entirely of the sand component. Mechanical properties of undisturbed Tone-River
When the sand grains are already in vigorous gravel obtained by in-situ freezing method. Soils
movement the gravel particles apparently remain Fdns 32,15-25.
stationary. This process is referred to as segrega- Kenney, T. C. & Lau, D. (1985). Internal stability of
granular filters. Can. Geotech. J. 22,215-225.
tion piping.
Kennev. T. C. & Lau. D. (1986). Discussion on Internal
The probable explanation of the wide discrep- stabjlity of granular fihers’by T. C. Kenney & D.
ancy between experimental and theoretical values Lau. Can. Geotech. J. 23,420-423.
of critical gradient is that the greater part of the Kezdi, A. (1979). Soil physics. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
overburden load is carried on a framework or Kovacs, G. (1981). Seepage hydraulics. Amsterdam:
primary fabric of gravel particles, leaving most of Elsevier.
the sand under relatively small pressures. Lafleur, J. (1984). Filter testing of broadly graded co-
This concept helps to explain why the piping hesionless tills. Can. Geotech. J. 21,634-643.
Li. R. M. & Fullerton, W. T. (1987). Investigations of
gradients for upward vertical flow are not much
sediment routing b; size fu’nctions in a gravel-bed
greater than those causing migration of fines in
river. Sediment transport in gravel-bed rivers, pp.
horizontal flow where gravity plays a minor role. 421-444. Chichester: Wiley.
When piping occurs in stable sandy gravels the Lowe, J. (1978). Foundation design: Tarbela Dam.
sand grains are again the first to move, but at Mexico City: Mexican Society for Soil Mechanics.
approximately the theoretical critical gradient. Maigre, R. (1955). Rtalisation par injection d’un 6cran
There is an abrupt transition from unstable to impermeable en material alluvionnaire. Proc. 5th
stable states at about the limits defined by Congr. Large Dams, Paris 1,757-801.
Kenney & Lau (1985, 1986) in terms of a stability Mockmore, C. A. & Dougherty, J. W. (1935). Discussion
on Uplift and seepage under dams by L. F. Harza.
index derived from the shape of the grain size dis-
Trans. Am. Sot. Civ. Engrs 100, 1396-1401.
tribution curves, and also at (or just below) the
Russo, R. S. La (1963). Wanapum development: slurry
limit proposed by Kezdi (1979) based on the filter trench and grouted cut-off. Grouts and drilling muds
ratio of the sand and gravel components. in engineering practice, pp. 196-201. London:
Butterworth.
Sherrard, J. L. (1979). Sinkholes in dams of coarse
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS broadly graded soils. Proc. 13th Congr. Large Dams,
Professor P. R. Vaughan and Dr A. E. Skinner New Delhi 2, 25-35.
gave helpful advice in the design of the experi- Skemnton. A. W. & Catin. P. (1963). A full-scale alluvial
ments and discussion of the results. grbuting test at the sitk of‘Man’@a Dam. Grouts and
drilling muds in engineering practice, pp. 131-135.
London: Butterworth.
Soares, H. F. (1980). Experiments on the retention of soils
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