GEOTECHNICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE MOUNT POLLEY DAM FAILURE
CARIBOO REGION, BC
ASSOCIATION OF CONSULTING ENGINEERING COMPANIES | CANADA 2016 AWARD SUBMISSION ASSOCIATION DES FIRMES D’INGÉNIEURS-CONSEILS | CANADA KLOHN CRIPPEN BERGER innovation On August 4, 2014, the tailings impoundment at Mount Polley Mine breached, resulting in the release of an estimated 17 million m3 of water and 8 million m3 of tailings solids that fl owed into Polley Lake, Hazeltine Creek and Quesnel Lake.
The Mount Polley mine site is located 11 km from the town of Likely in the interior of British Columbia. Tailings are retained by a U-shaped dam abutting a natural slope on the northwest side. The tailings dam comprises three embankments: the Main Embankment on the southeast side, the South Embankment bounding the southwest side and the Perimeter Embankment bounding the northeast side. The dam failed between Stations 4+110 and 4+350 at the highest section of the Perimeter Embankment.
KCB was retained by the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) to support their inquiry into the dam breach. As part of this work, KCB conducted forensic geotechnical investigations to gather the necessary factual data to support the technical assessment of the dam failure mechanism – how the dam failed. Defi nition of the failure mechanism was an important step in MEM’s subsequent evaluation of the root causes leading to the failure event.
KCB planned and executed a detailed sequence of geotechnical investigations and studies to determine the geology of the soils and bedrock below the dam, to re-construct the as-built (pre-failure) section of the dam based on construction records, and to characterize the geotechnical properties of the foundation soils and dam fi ll materials. This work included six months of fi eld and laboratory studies, and a comprehensive review of design, construction and operational records.
The investigation program drew from KCB’s 65 years of Geo-forensic fi eld work experience in geotechnical studies and tailings dam design took six months and in British Columbia and elsewhere, and incorporated included over 1,000 soil investigative techniques developed from our previous index property tests investigations of the 1995 Omai tailings dam failure in Guyana and the 1998 Los Frailes tailings dam failure in Spain.
The results of KCB’s work provided the defi nitive basis for understanding the geology of the dam site and, ultimately, how the dam failed by sliding on a thin layer of glaciolacustrine clay at a depth of 10 m below the dam. The methods of the investigative studies and determination of the failure mechanism will be an essential reference for the future design of tailings facilities not only in British Columbia, but across Canada and worldwide. complexity KCB conducted a detailed geotechnical investigation of the breach area to assess the mechanism of the dam failure. This work included 6 months of fi eld and laboratory studies followed by investigative analyses of the failure mechanism. The geo-forensic fi eld investigation included:
• Mapping of the failure area INVESTIGATION PROGRAM • Seismic and resistivity geophysical surveys PLANNING • 24 sonic coring holes and undisturbed sampling • In situ testing including SPT, CPT and vane shear FIELD MAPPING AND • Instrumentation: 22 piezometers to assess the water GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS pressures in the foundation soils and 5 inclinometers which were able to record post-failure creep movements SONIC CORING AND along the sliding plane in the foundation. UNDISTURBED SAMPLING The laboratory work was extensive and included:
• Over 1,000 basic soil index property tests IN SITU TESTING • Over 50 advanced soil strength and behaviour tests
The geology is complex involving multiple glacial till and INSTRUMENTATION glaciolacustrine layers deposited during several advances and retreat of the glacial ice sheets over 10,000 years ago. The dam ultimately failed on a weak clay layer in the ADVANCED foundation referenced as the Upper Glaciolacustrine Unit LABORATORY TESTING (UGLU). This clay layer was only 2 m thick and located 10 m below the dam.
The Quaternary geology of the Mount Polley Mine is complex, involving multiple glacial till and glaciolacustrine layers deposited during several advances and retreats of glacial ice sheets over 10,000 years ago. Moreover, available pre- failure information on the site geology below the failed dam was limited in number and depth. Consequently, a carefully staged investigation program was necessary to defi ne the geology of the site and then to investigate the geotechnical properties of the governing soil units infl uencing dam stability. social and / or The mining industry has been impacted severely by the high profi le failures of tailings dams around the world. Each failure has threatened public safety, economic impacted the environment, and diminished the economic livelihood of both benefi ts the aff ected community and the mining companies involved. Critically, these events have eroded the social license of mining as a sustainable industry and meaningful steps must be taken to prevent future failures in order to re- establish the confi dence of the public at large, governments and all stakeholders in the mining industry.
In order to change and improve practices for safely managing mine tailings, it is essential that each dam failure is studied exhaustively so that the failure mechanism is clearly defi ned and the engineering profession, mine operators and regulatory bodies can apply the fi ndings and lessons to the design, operation and maintenance of tailings facilities. This was the clear goal and achievement of KCB’s investigation studies. environmental On August 4, 2014, the tailings impoundment at Mount Polley Mine breached, resulting in the release of an estimated 17 million m3 of water and 8 million m3 benefi ts of tailings solids that fl owed into Polley Lake, Hazeltine Creek and Quesnel Lake. The tailings dam breach was one of the largest in the world by volume. The environmental impact in the area will be felt for years.
Not long after that, we witnessed the tragedy in Samarco which was a destructive force impacting the downstream community and costing lives.
An understanding of failures such as these will help to shape best practices moving forward with the hope to eliminate critical failures such as these. meeting KCB planned and executed a strategically phased approach to the investigation studies to accomplish the project’s needs. Ultimately, the foundation of the dam client’s needs was found to include three distinct till units, two glaciolacustrine clay layers, and two distinct glaciofl uvial sand and gravel deposits. The critical UGLU clay lay approximately 10 m below the base of the dam. This clay is a high plastic, clay- rich varved lacustrine deposit ranging up to 2 m thick. The areal extent of the UGLU was largely confi ned to the immediate area of the failed dam.
Using the results of KCB’s investigative work, the failure mechanism was assessed by the Independent Review Panel (IRP) commissioned by the Government of British Columbia and by KCB on behalf of MEM. Both the IRP and KCB concluded that the basic failure mechanism of the Mount Polley tailings dam was a sliding failure through a lightly overconsolidated glaciolacustrine clay unit (UGLU) in the foundation, which dropped the dam crest suffi ciently to allow the pond to overtop and, within a few hours, to completely breach a portion of the Perimeter Embankment. This mechanism was manifested by the physical evidence of dam displacements and shear movements in the dam foundation recorded by KCB’s investigative studies, and was corroborated by back-analyses using the engineering properties of the dam and foundation soils determined by the investigations. panel
GEOTECHNICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE MOUNT POLLEY DAM FAILURE CARIBOO REGION, BC
On August 4, 2014, the tailings impoundment at Mount Polley Mine breached, resulting in the 3 3 Upper Glaciolacustrine Unit (UGLU) release of an estimated 17 million m of water and 8 million m RIWDLOLQJVVROLGVZKLFKÁRZHGLQWR Mount Polley Tailings Impoundment Post-Failure Polley Lake, Hazeltine Creek and Quesnel Lake. The site geology is complex with multiple glacial till and glaciolacustrine layers deposited during several advances and Klohn Crippen Berger (KCB) was retained by the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) to support their retreats of glacial ice sheets over 10,000 years ago. The dam inquiry into the breach. As part of this work, KCB undertook comprehensive forensic geotechnical ultimately failed on a weak high plastic clay layer in the foundation LQYHVWLJDWLRQVWRDVVHVVWKHPHFKDQLVPRIWKHGDPIDLOXUH7KLVZRUNLQFOXGHGVL[PRQWKVRIÀHOGDQG referred to as the Upper Glaciolacustrine Unit (UGLU). This clay layer laboratory studies followed by investigative analyses of the failure mechanism. BOOTJACK is only 2 m thick and located 10 m below the dam. LAKE The results of KCB’s work provided the basis for understanding how the dam failed, and will also be The properties and strength of the UGLU were studied extensively in an essential reference for the future design of tailings facilities in BC. These data were also provided POLLEY .&%·VÀHOGDQGODERUDWRU\VWXGLHV to the Independent Expert Engineering Panel and used in their report issued January 30, 2015. LAKE
INVESTIGATION PROGRAM PLANNING
BREACH OF Field examination of sonic drill core TAILINGS DAM FIELD MAPPING AND GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS
SONIC CORING AND UNDISTURBED SAMPLING Undisturbed UGLU clay Disturbed UGLU clay Pre-failure Dam Section and Foundation Geology outside failed dam area below failed dam Index Properties of UGLU
ACTIVITY IN SITU TESTING 0 102030405060 0 20406080100 -1.00 -0.50 0.00 0.50 1.00 0 1020304050607080 CLAY FRACTION - % PASSING 0.002 mm 940 WATER CONTENT (%) 940 PLASTIC AND LIQUID LIMITS (%) 940 LIQUIDITY INDEX(%) 80.00
POND LEVEL 935 935 935 70.00 (AUGUST 3, 2014)
930 930 930 60.00 MONTMORILLONITE Range: 1.5 to 7.0
925 925 925 50.00
SELECT EMBANKMENT DAM ILLITE Range: 0.5 to 1.3 FILL FILTER 920 920 920 40.00
ELEVATION (m) ELEVATION 30.00 ELEVATION (m) ELEVATION ELEVATION (m) ELEVATION 915 915 ZONES 915 KAOLINITE
PLASTICITY INDEX (%) INDEX PLASTICITY Range: 0.3 to 0.5
910 910 910 20.00 TILL COMPACTED TAILINGS 905 905 905 10.00 CORE ROCKFILL Plastic Limit (%) Liquid Limit (%) 900 900 900 0.00 INSTRUMENTATION Block sample taken in TP14-01 Low plastic sample taken from fine grained sandy silt *Activity ranges for common clay minerals taken from Holtz and Kovacs (1981). lamination.
PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION 60 ATTERBERG LIMITS
GRAVEL SAND COBBLES SILT OR CLAY Coarse Fine Coarse Medium Fine SIEVE OPENINGS IN INCHES l U.S. SIEVE NUMBERS 50 1 3 3 100.00 12 836 1 /2 /4 /8 4 10 2040 60 100 200
UGLU CLAY LAYER 90.00 40 CH 80.00
70.00 30 60.00
50.00
20 40.00 (%) INDEX PLASTICITY ADVANCED CI MH or OH 30.00
CL
PERCENT FINER BY WEIGHT WEIGHT (%) BY FINER PERCENT 10 20.00
CL-ML 10.00 ML or OL
0.00 0 1000 100 10 1 0.1 0.01 0.001 0 102030405060708090100 LABORATORY TESTING GRAIN SIZE (mm) LIQUID LIMIT (%)
ASSOCIATION OF CONSULTING ENGINEERING COMPANIES | CANADA CANADIAN CONSULTING ASSOCIATION DES FIRMES D’INGÉNIEURS-CONSEILS | CANADA ENGINEERING AWARDS 2016 photos
MOUNT POLLEY TAILINGS IMPOUNDMENT POST-FAILURE
FIELD EXAMINATION OF SONIC DRILL CORE UNDISTURBED UGLU CLAY OUTSIDE FAILED DAM AREA (LEFT) AND DISTURBED UGLU CLAY BELOW FAILED DAM (RIGHT)
RECORDING OF INSTALLED VIBRATING WIRE PIEZOMETERS illustrations UPPER GLACIOLACUSTRINE UNIT (UGLU) RE-CONSTRUCTED EMBANKMENT SECTION AND FOUNDATION GEOLOGY
The site geology is complex with multiple glacial till and glaciolacustrine layers deposited during several advances and retreats of glacial ice sheets POND LEVEL (AUGUST 3, 2014) over 10,000 years ago. The dam ultimately failed on a weak high plastic clay layer in the foundation referred to as the Upper Glaciolacustrine Unit (UGLU). SELECT EMBANKMENT DAM This clay layer is only 2 m thick and located 10 m below the dam. FILL FILTER ZONES The properties and strength of the UGLU were studied extensively in TILL COMPACTED KCB’s fi eld and laboratory studies. TAILINGS CORE ROCKFILL
UGLU CLAY LAYER
Field examination of sonic drill core
SONIC CORE HOLE LOCATIONS WITH AIR PHOTO OVERLAY
Undisturbed UGLU clay Disturbed UGLU clay outside failed dam area below failed dam
ACTIVITY 0 20406080100 0 1020304050607080 0 102030405060 -1.00 -0.50 0.00 0.50 1.00 CLAY FRACTION - % PASSING 0.002 mm 940 WATER CONTENT (%) 940 PLASTIC AND LIQUID LIMITS (%) 940 LIQUIDITY INDEX(%) 80.00
935 935 935 70.00
930 930 930 60.00 MONTMORILLONITE Range: 1.5 to 7.0
925 925 925 50.00
ILLITE Range: 0.5 to 1.3 920 920 920 40.00
ELEVATION (m) ELEVATION 30.00 ELEVATION (m) ELEVATION ELEVATION (m) ELEVATION 915 915 915 KAOLINITE
PLASTICITY INDEX (%) INDEX PLASTICITY Range: 0.3 to 0.5
910 910 910 20.00
905 905 905 10.00 Plastic Limit (%)
Liquid Limit (%) 900 900 900 0.00 Block sample taken in TP14-01 Low plastic sample taken from fine grained sandy silt *Activity ranges for common clay minerals taken from Holtz and Kovacs (1981). lamination.
PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION 60 ATTERBERG LIMITS
GRAVEL SAND COBBLES SILT OR CLAY Coarse Fine Coarse Medium Fine SIEVE OPENINGS IN INCHES l U.S. SIEVE NUMBERS 50 1 3 3 100.00 12 836 1 /2 /4 /8 4 10 2040 60 100 200
90.00 40 CH 80.00
70.00 30 60.00
50.00
20 40.00 (%) INDEX PLASTICITY CI MH or OH 30.00
CL
PERCENT FINER BY WEIGHT WEIGHT (%) BY FINER PERCENT 10 20.00
CL-ML 10.00 ML or OL
0.00 0 1000 100 10 1 0.1 0.01 0.001 0 102030405060708090100 GRAIN SIZE (mm) LIQUID LIMIT (%) Index Properties of UGLU