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A diagram showing an embankment Disbanded West Somerset Mineral Railway embankment near Gupworthy, UK Cream-colored concrete abutment marks a gap in an embankment and gives vertical support to the dark red trestle bridge, and to the fill of the bridge approach embankment. To reduce the metal cost of the bridge here it is further supported by ...
Embankment (earthworks), a raised bank to carry a road, railway, or canal across a low-lying or wet area Embankment dam , a dam made of mounded earth and rock Land reclamation along river banks , usually marked by roads and walkways running along it, parallel to the river, as in:
The side of a levee in Sacramento, California. A levee (/ ˈ l ɛ v i / or / ˈ l ɛ v eɪ /), [a] [1] dike (American English), dyke (British English; see spelling differences), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is an elevated ridge, natural or artificial, alongside the banks of a river, often intended to protect against flooding of the area adjoining the river.
The Netherlands has a large area of polders: as much as 20% of the land area has at some point in the past been reclaimed from the sea, thus contributing to the development of the country. IJsselmeer is the most famous polder project of the Netherlands. Some other countries which have polders are Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada and China.
Most flood embankments are between 1 metre and 3 metres high. A 5-metre-high (16 ft) flood embankment is rare. [1] Modern improvements to this design include constructing an internal central core made from impermeable substance like clay or concrete, some even use metal pilings. [2] Some authorities call man-made structures levees.
A most serious objection to the formation of continuous, high embankments along rivers bringing down considerable quantities of detritus, especially near a place where their fall has been abruptly reduced by descending from mountain slopes onto alluvial plains, is the danger of their bed being raised by deposit, producing a rise in the flood ...
Modern zoned-earth embankments employ filter and drain zones to collect and remove seep water and preserve the integrity of the downstream shell zone. An outdated method of zoned earth dam construction used a hydraulic fill to produce a watertight core. Rolled-earth dams may also employ a watertight facing or core in the manner of a rock-fill dam.
Breakwaters may also be small structures designed to protect a gently sloping beach to reduce coastal erosion; they are placed 100–300 feet (30–90 m) offshore in relatively shallow water. An anchorage is only safe if ships anchored there are protected from the force of powerful waves by some large structure which they can shelter behind.