We are advancing the development of the new managing system for maintenance of the irrigation earth dam by using two-dimensional resistivity tomography technique, which enables us to supplement the limit of traditional maintenance system by using buried meters. It is expected that we successfully estimate two-dimensional distribution of water contents or porosity in the embankment site. Before applying this system to actual embankment site, we made small model embankment and investigated the possibility of resistivity tomography application. We arranged the electrodes for resistivity tomography in order to surround the embankment. Besides, we arranged open piezometers to acquire actual water behavior in the embankment. Then we conducted resistivity tomography measurement to detect the change of water level in the embankment. From the differences between resistivity distributions before and after water storing, we find resistivity decreasing areas caused by water intrusion. This result is well matched to the permeability of the fill and the values of open piezometers.
