EOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION

DAM AND RESERVOIR GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION

4 Dam Dam may be defined as a solid barrier constructed at a suitable location across a river
valley that a view of impounding water flowing through the river. Dam are constructed for a
achieving one or more of the following objective. i) Generation of hydropower Energy . ii)
Providing water for irrigation facilities; iii) Providing water supply for domestic consumption
and industrial uses; iv) Controlling of flood; v) Providing navigational facilities; Additional
benefits coming from dam are development of fisheries and recreation facilities in reservoir
created by them and also overall greenery effect all along the reservoir.

5 Types of dam Design of construction ,whether the load of the body of the dam is transmitted
on the foundation or to the abutment rock ; such as gravity dam , arch dam buttress dam etc.
Material of construction such as concrete ,rock fill or Earthen dam; Size of construction such as
small dam and large dam. The well known main types of dam are the Gravity Dam, Arch Dam
and Embankment

6 GRAVITY DAM A Gravity dam is a solid masonry or concrete structure, Generally of a

triangular profile, Which is so designed that it can safely stand against a precalculated volume of
water by virtue of its weight. All the forces arising in such a dam – As due to the thrust of the
impounded water and the massive weight of the dam material are assumed to be directly
transmitted on the foundation rock Hence the strength of the foundation rock is the most critical
factor in their design .

7 A gravity dam,when properly designed and carefully constructed, is considered among the
safest types . E.g.:- Buttress. Arch Dam :- An arch dam as the name implies ,is an arch- shaped
solid structure mostly of concrete. Which is designed in such a way that major part of the thrust
forces acting on the dam are transmitted mainly by the arch section.(and also cantilever action at
the base ) The constant radius arch dam ,in which the radius of curvature throughout the structure
is constant and upstream face is vertical.

8 Selection of Site for Dam

The following are the requisite of good sites for various types of dam. Foundation:-
Topography:- Site of Spillway :- Material:- Reservoir and catchment area:- Communication:-
Locality:-

9 Geological characters for investigation

For achieving the above object through and systematic investigation of following Geological
character. Geological of the area. Preliminary geological survey of the entire catchment area
followed by detailed geological mapping of the reservoir 1)Main Topographic Feature 2)Natural
Drainage Pattern 3)General character and structure of the rock formation such as their
stratification ,folding and faulting and igneous intrusion 4)The trend and rate of weathering and
erosion in the area

10 2) Geology of the site a) Lithology :- The single most important feature that must be known
thoroughly at the site and all round and below the valley up to reasonable depth is the lithology.
b) Structure :- This involve detailed mapping of planes of weakness like bedding planes
,chistosity ,foliation ,cleavage, joint, shear zone, fault and fault zone ,folding i) Dip and Strike :-
The strength of sound ,unfractured stratified rock is always greater when the stresses are acting
normal to the bedding plane than if applied in other direction .As such gently upstream dipping
layer offer best resistance to resultant forces in a dam ii)Fault :- These structure can be source of
danger to the dam in a number of ways

11 iii) Folds:- The most notable effect of fold on rock are :shattering and jointing along the axial
planes and stressing of limb Iv) Joints :- No sites are totally free from jointing ,Hence sites
cannot be abonded ,even if proof usually jointed. However , the detailed mapping of all the
aspect and character of joining as loping in the rock of proposed site has to taken up with greatest
caution. The micro joint presented considerable difficulties in detention and treatment.

12 Relative suitability of Different Rock

Igneous rock Sedimentary rock Metamorphic rock

13 Reservoir Reservoir may be broadly defined as artificially created water storage basin with
storage capacity that may range from few thousand cubic meter to few thousand of million cubic
meter. Depending on the purpose of storage ,reservoir are classified into three group. 1)Storage
and conservation reservoirs 2)Flood control reservoir 3)Distribution reservoirs

14 Pool level Pool the level, indicate the designed level up to which the reservoir shall be full of
water at a particular point of time . Storage Capacity :- Useful Storage :- Dead Storage :-
Surcharge Storage:-

15 Geological Investigation
Topographically :- Ground water condition :- Permiability :- Structural constitution:- Liable to
failure by sliding ,creep or subsidence. Trend and rate of weathering :- In catchment area is of
considerable importance

16 Causes of failure of reservoir or dam

Erosion below spillway:- A simple method for producing such turbulence by creating the
hydraulic jump below the spillway . Providing sloping apron

17 Selection site of reservoir

The river valley at the site should be narrow . The surrounding hill which constitute the rim of
the reservoir should be watertight. The site should be such that as per as possible land and
property is submerged in the reservoir . The site must be such that adequate reservoir capacity is
availability As far as possible dip reservoir must be formed The Quantity of water stored
reservoir must be satisfactory for its intended

18 Bridge A bridge may be defined as a structure built over a river ,a dry valley, low land or any
depressed part of the land to provide a link between the two opposite sides.

19 Geological consideration
The depth of a bed rock The nature of the bed rock The structural deposition of rock