Aghil Askari - M.Sc., Department of Civil Engineering, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran.
Seyed Morteza Marandi - Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran
Mohammad Hossein Bagheripour - Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran

This paper investigated the effect of three parameters on the occurrence of the Arching phenomenon.These three parameters were embankment height, soil outlet door width and soil specific gravity. For this purpose, a box, which had doors with different dimensions, were used and two types of soil with dissimilar specific weights were tested at different heights. The results showed that all three parameters have a significant impact on the occurrence of arching phenomenon, and if these parameters change, the probability of occurrence of arching phenomenon and its intensity increases.

Soil arching, embankments, soil rupture, trapdoor test, stability of excavation