Abstract
During construction period of a filldam the soil medium is subjected to varied confining pressues by the placement of the additional fills due to step by step construction of the dam. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the influence of the confining pressure on permeability coefficients of the core material. This has been accomplished by developing a permeability testing apparatus, making use of a triaxial cell.A series of permeability tests were carried out on filldam core material and the corresponding results are presented in this paper. The test results showed that the confining pressure has a significant influence on the permeability coefficient of the compacted cohesive soil. Thus, it is very important that the influence of the confining pressure on the permeability coefficients should be considered by the construction engineers while they construct the embankments.
