SAFETY RE-EVALUATION OF THE IRAPÉ DAM

*
Paula L. Divino , Luiz F. V. Vianna†, Alex M. Calcina‡, Soraia B. Katereniuk§, Pedro C
Thá**
*
Cemig Geração e Transmissão S.A. (CEMIG GT)
Av. Barbacena, 1200, Belo Horizonte - MG, Brazil
e-mail: paulad@cemig.com.br

Keywords: Dams, High Dams, Rockfill, Safety Evaluation, Instrumentation

Abstract. The safety evaluation of existing dams is an engineering practice whose

primary aim is to evaluate project’s premises in order to adequately manage structural
safety and, in addition, provide information for the development of future projects. The
interaction between personnel involved in design, construction and operation during the
safety re-evaluation is important to share knowledge and guarantee a consistent, reliable
and effective analysis of the structure behavior. The article presents the behavior of the
Irapé Dam, considering the particularities of the project, after 11 years in operation,
and evaluating the effects of the standards used to manage its structural safety. Irapé is a
clay core rockfill dam, which has a maximum height of 210 m, the highest in Brazil, and
a total crest length of 560 m. In terms of site geology, the main characteristics, which
conditioned the design solutions adopted, are a high sulfide concentration in the rock
(mainly pyrite and pyrrhotite) and a very narrow valley shape. The sulfide concentration
reaches 10%, an unusual condition when considering the rock foundations of similar-
sized dams. The work carried out by Cemig (dam operator) and Intertechne (designer) to
evaluate the safety of the dam comprised a site inspection and 3D numerical modeling
using parameters calibrated from instrumentation data and the re-evaluation of
instrument threshold values for piezometric levels, percolated flows and stress-strain.
The results of the re-evaluation showed that the dam behavior is adequate considering
current operational conditions and that the premises adopted in the design phase are
still valid.

1 INTRODUCTION
The Irapé dam is the highest in Brazil, with a height of 210 m, and is conditioned by
very peculiar characteristics, such as the morphology of the valley and the high sulfide
concentration of the rock mass.
This paper presents the primary concepts which were adopted in the design phase and
a brief evaluation of the dam’s current behavior, approximately 11 years after the
reservoir impounding.

†
Cemig GT
‡
Intertechne Consultores S.A.
§
Intertechne Consultores S.A.
**
Intertechne Consultores S.A.

1
 Divino et al

2 DEFINITION OF PROJECT INSTRUMENTATION

The design of the instrumentation project was based on monitoring the Irapé dam and
considered the main characteristics that influence the behavior of the structure. These
are:

Valley Morphology: the valley has a central section with subvertical slopes,
which extend up to 40% of the dam’s height (around 90m), and an average
riverbed width of 10m at El.~310.00, and 90m at around El. 390.00. The valley
shape resulted in a dam crest length of 560m. This morphology can be
observed in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Valley morphology in a longitudinal section along the dam axis.

In order to avoid arching and hydraulic fracturing, as well as ensure the

transmission of stresses in the bottom region, excavations had to be carried out
below approximately El.390.00m, resulting in this zone in slopes with an
inclination of 0.75H:1V.
a) Deformation Compatibility: one of the initial design guidelines was to ensure
that the behavior of the clay core would be similar to that of the adjacent
materials used in the filters, transitions and rockfill shells. The aim of this was
to not only guarantee that the core would behave in accordance with the
peculiar aspects of the river valley geometry, but also that the development of
compression stresses would be distributed adequately and there would be no
hydraulic fracturing, given the significant stress arching resulting from the
valley morphology.
A material with higher deformability modules was therefore used in the lower
portion of the core to ensure compatibility with the modules of the adjacent
materials.
The area surrounding the site was characterized by a predominance of clayey
soils, but there was also a deposit of sandy-clay material and another with a
limited amount of gravels with fines. The latter had a relatively low percentage
of fines, with a gap in the sand fraction and thus highly permeable. As a more
rigid material was needed and did not naturally exist in the vicinity of the site,

2
 Divino et al

a soil plant was assembled to mix the gravels with fines with the sandy-clay
materials found in the region. This eliminated the gap of the sandy fraction and
improved the required deformability and permeability of the fabricated
material. It was thus possible to manufacture enough material to guarantee the
volume needed for the configuration of the core in the narrowest part of the
valley, which extends approximately 45% of the dam height1.
Figures 2 and 3 show a typical cross-section of the Irapé dam and a
longitudinal section with a description of the building materials, respectively.

Figure 2: Cross-section of Irapé dam – maximum height section (from Calcina et al., 2009[8])

Area 1

Key Area 2
Concrete – Foundation block
More plastic material
Clayey gravel
Area 1
Area 2

Figure 3: Longitudinal section of Irapé dam

b) Required use of material from obligatory excavations: the maximum amount of

materials from the obligatory excavations was used to form the shells. The
rockfill was formed with highly to moderately decomposed (5A), moderately to
slightly decomposed (5) and sound rocks. Due to the considerable sulfide
content, mainly pyrite and pyrrhotite[1], of the local rock mass of quartz-mica
schist, the rockfill was composed of sound rock from a quarry situated 8 km

3
 Divino et al

from the dam, in order to avoid the formation of acidic superficial water
drainage in the shell surface areas.
In light of these characteristics, the instrumentation project was designed to monitor stress
arching, and the significant areas of concentration and relief of stress, as well as any potential
hydraulic fracturing and differential settlement. The following auscultation instruments were
therefore used: vibrating wire piezometers, vibrating wire total pressure cells, vibrating wire
settlement cells, magnetic settlement plates, hydraulic settlement cells, inclinometers,
monument surveys and V-notch weirs.
Figures 4 and 5 show the position of the instruments in a maximum height cross-section of
the dam and a longitudinal section along the dam axis.

Figure 4: Instrumentation of Irapé dam – maximum height cross-section

Figure 5: Instrumentation of Irapé dam – longitudinal section along the dam axis

4
 Divino et al

3 SAFETY RE-EVALUATION OF THE DAM

As reference, the Figures 6 (a) and (b) show the major principal stresses obtained in strain-
stress finite element modelling carried out during the final design phase, between 2002 and
2005, for the maximum height and longitudinal sections along the dam axis. In this phase we
used the Sigma software, from Geo-slope, for bi-dimensional studies and Gefdyn, from
EDF/University of Paris, for tri-dimensional modelling.

(a)

(b)

Figure 6: (a) Maximum height cross-section – Major Principal Stresses tri-dimensional modelling – (b)
Longitudinal Section – Major Principal Stress – bi-dimensional modelling – (from Calcina et al., 2009[8])

It can be observed that there is a significant relief of stresses in the lower part of the core,
which is more accentuated in the upstream area. This effect is similar to a slight upstream-
downstream rotation, due to the effect of the hydrostatic water pressure applied to the dam, in
addition to the arching in the direction of the abutments.

5
 Divino et al

In 2016, after approximately 11 years since the first filling of the reservoir, an extensive
study was carried out to evaluate the safety condition and behavior of the dam, which
consisted of an on-site inspection of the dam, the interpretation of instrumentation data, and
the development of simulations with two- and three-dimensional numerical modelling.
A back-analysis was carried out using updated instrumentation data to calibrate the stress
and deformation values of the dam and in turn estimate the deformability modules of the
various materials that comprise the Irapé dam embankment. The back-analysis was done
initially in a two-dimensional model due to the ease of numerical processing calibration.
A final calibration was subsequently performed using a three-dimensional model. In this
phase, all numerical simulations were performed with Midas GTS NX software and
considered all materials with perfect elastoplastic behavior and Mohr-Coulomb failure
criterion.
The main objective of the calibration of the three-dimensional model was to estimate the
trend of the dam’s future behavior.
Table 1 shows the geotechnical parameters of the dam materials.

Design Phase Current (2016) Specific

Effective Effective
(2002 to 2005) Average Poisson Humid
Cohesion friction angle
Deformability Deformability Coefficient Weight
Material (kPa) (°)
Module (MPa) Module (after (kN/m3)
Min. Max. calibration)
(MPa)
Clay-sandy soil
Borrow 30 40 35 0,3 19 30 32
Area 1
Sandy-clayey soil
Borrow 50 70 40 0,3 22 20 35
Area 2
Layer of more
plastic material -
Clay-sandy soil 20 20 20 0,4 18,5 30 20
Borrow
Area 1
Clayey Gravel 80 120 70 0,3 21,5 10 37
Filter/Transitions 100 200 100 0,3 20 10 39
5 60 90 50 0,25 21,5 0 40
5A 60 100 60 0,25 22,5 0 39
5L 80 100 100 0,25 21 0 35
6 60 90 50 0,25 22 0 45
Concrete –
20.000 20.000 0,20 25 1.800 50
Foundation block
Foundation rock
10.000 10.000 0,22 28 3.000 42
mass
Table 1: Geotechnical Parameters of Materials Design Phase and Current Deformability Modules.

Figures 7 (a) and (b) show the results of the stress-strain analysis with the use of a tri-
dimensional modelling and parameters obtained from current instrumentation readings, up to
November 2017. As a convention, the negative stresses are compression stresses.

6
 Divino et al

(a)

(b)
Figure 7: (a) Longitudinal Section – Major Principal Stresses – (b) Cross section – Major Principal
Stresses – Tri-dimensional modelling – Midas GTS NX software – Current Analysis

Despite the adjustments made to the deformability modules, with some difference between
the design modules and the current ones, the results show that the behavior trend of the
current analysis is very similar to that of the studies carried out at the design phase. They both
show a significant arching effect in the lower portion of the valley, at about 40% of the dam
height in a longitudinal direction and more accentuated in the upstream portion of the core
near the foundation.
In spite of these effects, it can be observed that all effective stresses are compression
stresses.
During the visual inspection carried out in 2016 and in spite of the adverse conditions of
the rock mass (presence of sulfides2), the general condition of the dam is adequate.
Figure 8 shows a panoramic view of the downstream slope of the Irapé dam. The surface
materials are intact, the slopes are well-aligned and there are no signs of movement.

7
 Divino et al

Figure 8: Panoramic view of Irapé Dam

The function of the Irapé Hydroelectrical Power Plant reservoir is to regulate the flow of
the Jequitinhonha river. The reservoir water level can therefore vary 39.20m between
elevations 510.00 and 470.80.
During the visual inspection of August 2016, the reservoir was about 30m below the
Maximum Normal Water Level, at El. ~ 481.00. With such drawdown, there is a considerable
fall in the hydrostatic water pressure, which alleviates the compressive stresses acting on the
upstream face of the dam.
This reduction in compressive stresses generates significant relief. This eventually resulted
in the appearance of longitudinal cracks near the parapet wall and transversal cracks in the
form of stretch marks in the closure region of the right margin. Figure 9 illustrates where the
cracks were detected.

Figure 9: Location of cracks

8
 Divino et al

Figures 10 and 11 present the disposition of the longitudinal and transversal cracks.

Figure 10: Central section of the dam, identification of zones with longitudinal cracks

Figure 11: Right margin closure - existence of transversal cracks

Inspection wells were opened and it was noted that the cracks are superficial and do not
affect the safety of the dam.
Once the reservoir water level returns to Maximum Normal Level, there will be a
resumption of compression stresses due to the hydrostatic water pressure, which should result
in the sealing of the surface cracks.

4 CONCLUSIONS
Despite the various complexities of the Irapé dam project, such as the morphology of
the valley resulting in intense arching and stress relief, the presence of sulfides in the
rock mass, the use of unconventional materials in the core and shells, and the possibility
of operating the reservoir at approximately 40m of depletion, the dam demonstrates an
adequate performance.
The care and maintenance strategy adopted by the Cemig operations team has contributed
to this good behavior.

9
 Divino et al

Due to the aforementioned constraints and the dimensions of the dam, Irapé must be
closely monitored in order to swiftly correct any anomaly identified.

REFERENCES
[1] Marques Filho, P. L. at al, Irapé Power Plant – Design and Construction – Measured
Required by Sulfide Rich Rock Mass - ICOLD Congress – Brasília - Brazil (2009).
[2] Calcina, A.(2007) – “Irapé Dam – Design, Construction and Behaviour” – 5th
International Conference Dam Engineering – Lisbon – Portugal, .(2007).
[3] Midas GTS NX 2015 v1.1 – Midas Information Technology;
[4] Sigma/W – Geo-Slope International;
[5] Relatório de Projeto – 11.171-RT-B14-003 – “Barragem de Terra-Enrocamento –Estudos
Tridimensionais de Tensão e Deformação – 1ª Fase de Análise” – Leme e Intertechne -
(2004).
[6] Relatório de Projeto – 11.171-RT-B14-009 – “Barragem de Terra-Enrocamento –
Resultados da 2º Etapa dos Estudos de Tensão e Deformação” – Leme e Intertechne -
(2004).
[7] Relatório de Projeto – 11.171-RT-B21-008– “Barragem de Terra-Enrocamento –
Instrumentação – 3º Relatório de Interpretação” – Leme e Intertechne - (2005).
[8] Martins Calcina, A. at al, Irapé Dam – Stress And Strain: Numerical Previsions and
Measurement Results 1st International Symposium on Rockfill Dams – Chengdu – China
(2009).
[9] Coyne et Bellier (1996) - “Manuel d’utilisation de Gefdyn”. França.
[10] Aubry, D.; A. Modaressi. (1996) – “Manuel scientifique Gefdyn”. Ècole Centrale Paris.
Laboratoire de Mécanique. França.

10