Rip-rap design for access embankment to the Sierra de Marquesado Tunnel (San Juan-Argentina)

Abstract

This paper addresses rip-rap design to protect the Sierra de Marquesado Tunnel west access embankment.  This tunnel will cross the Sierra de Marquesado, which will allow a quick and direct vehicular link between the Tulum and Zonda valleys, west of San Juan city, in Argentina.

Sverdrup, Munk, and Bretscheider's theory was used, aimed at determining the height and period of the wave and its function regarding fetch and wind speed. Hudson's theory was employed to define rip-rap maximum size to place as means of protecting embankments. The article considers two main sections, the first one in which the size of the rip-rap placed in the existing lateral Ullum dam is verified. Also, the second section labels the rip-rap design to protect the new proposed access embankment. Finally, using Terzaghi's filter laws, the filter material is designed to be placed between the embankment and the rip-rap.