Detailed slope stability analysis and assessment of the original Carsington earth embankment dam failure in the UK

A 1225 m long, 35 m high zone earth filled embankment was being constructed from 1981 to 1984 from a British Regional Water Authority to regulate flows in the River Derwent in England. The Carsington Dam was planned to be one of the largest earth filled dams in Britain. Its reservoir capacity was 35 million m3 and the watertight element was Rolled Clay Core with an upstream extension of boot shaped and shoulders of compacted mudstone with horizontal drainage layers of crushed limestone about 4 metres apart and a cut-off grout curtain (Davey and Eccles, 1983).