Soil shrinkage and consolidation study on flood embankments in swamp irrigation areas

Research in this paper discusses shrinking and consolidation of flood embankments soil in swamp irrigation areas. The flood embankments are made from swampy soil materials. The focus of this research is the reduction of dyke embankment height that occurs due to soil shrinkage and soil consolidation. Investigations about the time of consolidation and land subsidence that occurred on the embankment at certain periods after the embankment established were also carried out in this study. The research sites are some swamp irrigation areas in the Tulang Bawang Watershed, around North-East Lampung, Indonesia. This research was carried out by conducting laboratory tests on soil samples and field observations on the reduction in height of flood embankments in the study area. The research shows that the main cause of total decrease on the embankment is due to linear shrinkage, consolidation of soil under the embankment, an immediate subsidence, and the subsidence of the embankment themselves. Their contribution to total decrease of embankment is 42.51%, 34.48%, 18.32%, and 4.62%, respectively. Results also indicate that the ratio between the percentage of embankment consolidation in downstream area happen faster than the one in upstream area of the river.