Investigation of Geophysical Methods for Assessing Seepage and Internal Erosion in Embankment Dams: A Guide to Resistivity Investigation and Monitoring of Embankment Dams

The resistivity method is an established geophysical method with a broad range of engineering and environmental applications. It has been tried numerous times on embankment dams, mainly for seepage investigations, dam status control and investigations of known defects. In previous use of the method on embankment dams some success has been reported, but only occasionally. The method is still not completely adapted to customary industrial use, although there is rapid progress. The purpose of this guide is to help the user to optimize use of the resistivity method for dam status control and dam seepage investigations. To this effect, the guide covers resistivity survey design, equipment, data acquisition and other practical issues. The guide includes a few recent examples of the method being used both for investigation and for long-term monitoring, and also briefly covers theoretical discussions on the method. It is assumed that the reader of this guide is acquainted with basic theory of geophysics and knowledge about design and function of embankment dams.