Stability of Irrigation Canal Slopes Considering the Sea Level Rise and Dynamic Changes: Case Study El-Salam Canal, Egypt.

Stability of canals slopes are of paramount importance in engineering works due to its interaction with the infrastructure including roads networks and buildings. The failure of these slopes could cause human disaster, catastrophic environmental, and economic losses. The present study aims to investigate the stability of canals slopes considering the climate changes through sea level rise, fluctuation of groundwater level and the seismic actions. The study was simulated on the North Eastern part of Nile Delta aquifer, Egypt using the finite difference code of Visual MODFLOW. Moreover, the groundwater flow under the effect of sea level rise was investigated to study its effect on slope stability of El-Salam Canal, Egypt. Furthermore, the finite element program of Phase 2 was implemented, and safety factors were calculated using the shear strength reduction method (SSRM). The models are calibrated and verified through experimental work using permeability and seepage model. Moreover, the two models were applied on El-Salam Canal considering three scenarios to identify the safety factors including the effect of sea level rise (SLR), earthquake acceleration and a combination of the two scenarios. The results indicated that dynamic response values of the canal slope have different variation rules under near and far field earthquakes. Finally, the damage location and pattern of the slope failure are different in varying groundwater conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]