Advanced monitoring and numerical modelling of the stability, safety and reliability indicators of the earthen dam of Songloulou (Cameroon)

For the determination of global stability after long term advanced monitoring, artificial intelligence have been used for the data analysis of water level and displacements of Songloulou earth dam at Cameroon. Measurements of safety and reliability indicators follow changes set by piezometric and pendulums measurements. The results obtained from the artificial intelligence on the base of many years recording data have confirmed the relevance and robustness of this model. The ANFIS model combining the concept of neural network and fuzzy logic was used to simulate the behaviour of piezometers and pendulums in the dam. This model has provided satisfactory results, given in the large amount of data to be processed. The water level evolution is modelled using the ANFIS function integrated in the MATLAB software and the result is compared to that obtained by the HST method. Afterwards, the state of stress on the structure and stability of the slope at shear have been assessed based on the hydro mechanical behaviour using the GEOSTUDIO Finite Element computation software. The input parameters are: the head of water recorded in the piezometers and geotechnical parameters of the dam. The modelling results in terms of displacement are accurately consistent with the displacement measurements. The horizontal displacement of pendulums obtained by GEOSTUDIO is 80 mm and those measured directly of the pendulums have 70 mm of average value. The safety factor for slope stability according to 530 m water level is 1.5.

The lack data from altimetric measurements does not make it possible to have settlments or swelling on the top of the dam according to the seasons.This will be the subject of future    In Table 5, please add a title for the D and Da columns that clear the type of these parameters.

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The definition for D and Dα have been inserted in the title of the table 5. D is the maximum difference in absolute value between the observed cumulative proportions and the simulated cumulative proportions; Dα: the critical value.(see p. 11, lines 230 to 232 of the file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes').This comment is not mentioned in the original manuscript, p. 12 ; line 272.
 The detail of the finite element model (section 5) is insufficient.Please provide more details of the FEM.
The detail of finite element model in section 5 have been inserted.(see p. 24, lines 453 to 466 of the file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes').These old comments are not mentioned in the original manuscript, p. 25 ; line 493."The SIGMA/W module of GEOSTUDIO was used to obtain the stresses, strains and displacements of the Finite element Model.The mesh of the model has 6210 triangular elements with 3 nodes.The SLOPE module of GEOSTUDIO was used to assess the slope stability of the earth dam.This module uses the method of resolution by limit equilibrium.Bishop's method was used.The model is subject to loading relative to the weight of the materials and the water pressure from the front side".
 Please provide the definition for the notations used in Table 7.
The definition of the notation in table 7 have been inserted.(see p. 25, line 469 of the file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes').These definitions are not mentioned in the original manuscript, p. 26 ; line 502.The horizontal displacements measured on the dam are around 7.4 cm (see table 8).The average horizontal displacements obtained by numerical modelling at retention level 522 and 528 m is 8.84 cm.These results are consistent with the behaviour of the structure.These results are in agreement with observations on the site.The modelling provides other useful information such as the vertical stresses prevailing at any point in the model.

Figure 1 (
Figure 1 (original manuscript, p. 5 ; line 130 and 131) has been deleted in the revised version.The numbers of other figures have been replaced in red color in the file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes'.
being cross-referred to in the text.All the figures and tables should be cited in the text.All figures and tables of this paper have been cited in the text in this revised version (see the file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes'). Please provide a main caption for Figure 6.The main caption for figure 5 (figure 6 for the original manuscript, p. 7 ; line 169 to 179) has been modified and replaced in the text (see p. 6, lines 145 and 146 of the file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes').

Fig 5 .
Fig 5. Architecture of the ANFIS network in MATLAB software  The quality of the figures is poor.The legends are not clear and in some of the figures, the title axis is in French or other languages.The Clarity of the figures has been treated.The legend and the titles of the axes have been rewritten in english (see the file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes').

Fig 34 .Fig 35 .
Fig 34.Horizontal displacements at the water level 530 m obtained by GEOSTUDIO software

Fig 36 .
Fig 36.Horizontal displacements at the water level 530 m obtained by Plaxis software (this figure of Plaxis modelling is not mentioned in the original manuscript, p. 30; line 537).
investigations.(seep. 33, lines 601 to 603 of the file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes').These comments are not mentioned in the original manuscript, p. 33, line 604.There are some grammatical mistakes in the manuscript.Please check the English of the manuscript, thoroughly.

Table 7 .
Parameters of subsoil and earth materials
to the Mestat recommendations for earth dams[53][54].In order to validate our GEOSTUDIO calculation program, the results of this part were compared with those of other software commonly used in research and industrial environments.Two other softwares were used.

Table 8 .
Summary of modelling results and pendulum measurements