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<p>Termite nests exist widely in earth levees and pose a significant yet often underestimated threat to their structural integrity. However, the mechanistic pathway by which termite nests trigger levee failure has remained poorly understood. This study, for the first time, systematically elucidated the complete chain reaction process of termite nest-induced levee breach through a series of well-designed physical model tests. Experimental observations indicated that the breach evolution could be broadly divided into five sequential stages: the presence of termite nests, concentrated leak erosion, levee crest collapse, overtopping, and final breach. As well as quantitatively characterizing the triggering mechanism of each stage, four critical factors driving the transition from one stage to the next were identified. Specifically: (1) concentrated leak erosion was initiated when the seepage velocity exceeded a threshold, primarily controlled by the riverine water level; (2) the seepage channel diameter expanded up to 3.8 times the original termite tunnel, leading to crest collapse; (3) overtopping occurred when the difference between the effective water-retaining height following collapse and the riverine water level reached zero; and (4) breach onset was marked by a novel dimensionless index, <i>η</i>, defined as the ratio of levee volume loss to breach-zone volume, with a critical value of 0.51. These threshold-based findings constitute the first quantitative criteria for predicting termite-induced levee breach progression and provide a scientific foundation for early warning and long-term strategies to mitigate biologically induced levee risks.</p>

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The chain reaction process of levee breach induced by termite nest

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年8月18日

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  • Tanfang Zhu,
  • Yanhao Zheng,
  • Wenjun Lu,
  • Jinhui Li,
  • Wei Zhang

摘要

Termite nests exist widely in earth levees and pose a significant yet often underestimated threat to their structural integrity. However, the mechanistic pathway by which termite nests trigger levee failure has remained poorly understood. This study, for the first time, systematically elucidated the complete chain reaction process of termite nest-induced levee breach through a series of well-designed physical model tests. Experimental observations indicated that the breach evolution could be broadly divided into five sequential stages: the presence of termite nests, concentrated leak erosion, levee crest collapse, overtopping, and final breach. As well as quantitatively characterizing the triggering mechanism of each stage, four critical factors driving the transition from one stage to the next were identified. Specifically: (1) concentrated leak erosion was initiated when the seepage velocity exceeded a threshold, primarily controlled by the riverine water level; (2) the seepage channel diameter expanded up to 3.8 times the original termite tunnel, leading to crest collapse; (3) overtopping occurred when the difference between the effective water-retaining height following collapse and the riverine water level reached zero; and (4) breach onset was marked by a novel dimensionless index, η, defined as the ratio of levee volume loss to breach-zone volume, with a critical value of 0.51. These threshold-based findings constitute the first quantitative criteria for predicting termite-induced levee breach progression and provide a scientific foundation for early warning and long-term strategies to mitigate biologically induced levee risks.