Which risk increases with prolonged water saturation of an aging earthen levee structure?

💡 Explanation

When an aging earthen levee remains saturated, soil cohesion decreases because pore water pressure increases, weakening the soil matrix and enabling subsurface erosion through piping. Therefore, the probability of piping failure increases, rather than impacting sediment transport, alkalinity, or infiltration, which are related to other factors.

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