NURUL ATIKAH MOHD ROSLAN ( AA100247 )

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CHAPTER 1 How Dams are Built

1.1 Introduction Construction work on a dam project is carried out at the dam site itself and also at other locations such as spillway site, rock fill quarry, clay and gravel borrow areas and road works which may be near the dam site or, in other cases, may be considerable distances from the dam site.

From a construction point of view the dam site consists of the river bed area which is normally submerged by the river and the abutments or valley sides above the river bed. No work can be carried out in the river bed area until the river has been diverted, usually through a

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tunnel or channel. After diversion the river bed area is dry and construction of the dam wall can commence. Before the dam wall can be built two important preliminary steps have to be completed the dam foundation area must be stripped of overburden (in example material, usually soil,which is unsuitable for dam construction must be removed and disposed of), and the foundation for the dam must be prepared. Foundation preparation usually consists of two quite different activities: removal of pockets and seams of weak material and replacement of this material with "dental" concrete, so called because the work resembles filling cavities in teeth; the second aspect of foundation preparation is grouting. Grouting involves drilling holes (often to quite great depths, equal to the height of the dam in some cases) and then pumping these holes full of cement grout (a mixture of cement and water). The purpose of grouting is to fill up open cracks in the rock foundation on which the dam is to be built so that water will not leak out of the reservoir after the dam is finished.

Once the foundation preparation is complete the construction of the dam wall itself can commence by hauling, dumping and compacting construction materials such as clay and rock fill. Compaction is carried out to ensure that the fill, as placed, will have the maximum possible density. Properly compacted fill will have the desirable engineering properties of high strength and low settlement over time, and, in the case of clay fill for a dam core, low permeability, which is important to reduce the likelihood of failure by piping or internal erosion. A typical construction sequence for a fill dam is: Stage 1: Excavate diversion tunnel and build coffer dams. The end of this stage is marked by the milestone of diverting the river through the diversion tunnel. Stage 2: Strip dam foundation of overburden. Carry out foundation treatment and grouting. Excavate and haul fill construction materials from their sources and place and compact in the dam embankment. The end of this stage is marked by the milestone of closure of the diversion tunnel to start the storage of water in the dam reservoir. Excavation of the spillway will also be under way during this stage. Stage 3: Complete outlet works, spillway and all other parts of dam project.

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Management of floods during construction is one aspect always given considerable attention by the engineers designing the dam. Before the design of the dam can be completed engineering geologists have to find sources of suitable clay, gravel and rock which can be used as construction which the dam wall can be built. In fact, a dam project passes through four phases during its life;

Investigation phase Design phase Construction phase Operation and Maintenance phase

Picture 1 : BAKUN DAMS in progress

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CHAPTER 2 Dam Site Investigations

2.1 Dam Site Investigations The primary purpose of geological site investigations for a dam project is provide the information that dam designers require in order to design a safe dam structure and to be able to estimate with reasonable accuracy how much the dam is going to cost. The aim of the dam designers is to build the dam for the lowest cost consistent with currently accepted standards of safety.

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The engineering geologist must be able to answer the following questions;

what is the depth of overburden that must be removed to reach an acceptable foundation for the dam wall;

what are the rock types which make up the foundation and to what extent are they affected by surface weathering;

what are the engineering properties of the foundation rock types (important properties are strength, deformability and durability);

what is the geological structure of the foundation (ie jointing, faulting and folding of the rock strata). A full description of the defect pattern in the rock mass should include orientation, spacing, extent or persistence and aperture or openess;

how permeable is the rock foundation (ie to what extent are the rock defects such as joints, faults and bedding open);

where can adequate supplies of construction materials such as clay, sand, gravel and rock fill be obtained, preferably as close as possible to the dam site;

will the rock that must be excavated to provide a spillway for the dam be acceptable for use as rock fill in the construction of the dam embankment;

will the spillway require concrete lining and an energy dissipation structure at its downstream end or is the spillway rock sufficiently erosion resistant that these can be omitted.

In order to be able to answer the above questions the dam site must be explored by an experienced engineering geologist. Methods commonly used to explore sites for construction projects are;

geological mapping of surface rock outcrops; geophysical surveys. Seismic refraction is often used to determine depth of overburden; excavation of trenches and pits using bulldozers, backhoes etc.; diamond core drilling. As usually carried out this method recovers an undisturbed, cylindrical sample (a core sample) about 50 mm in diameter from depths of a few metres to hundreds of metres, if necessary. Other types of drilling which recover disturbed samples may also be used in some circumstances;

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The exploration methods above are listed in order of increasing cost. Most dam site investigations will employ several different methods, the exact mix of methods and the timing when each is carried out is something which is tailored to suit the particular geological problems of each individual dam site. These geological site investigations allow the engineering geologist to construct a "geological model" of the site which is then used by the dam designers as a basis on which they can design a safe and economic dam structure appropriate to the geology of that particular site. It is important to realise that even the most comprehensive site investigation programme cannot hope to reveal all the significant geological features of the site. It is therefore of critical importance that the actual geological conditions revealed during construction be compared with the geological model of the site derived from the site investigations. It is quite common for unexpected geological conditions to be revealed during construction which require changes to made to the original design. A record of the site geology "as found" during construction is also of great value if problems develop later during the operation and maintenance phase.

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CHAPTER 3 Construction Materials

3.1 Construction Materials In the case of an Earth and Rock Fill Dam or a Concrete Faced Rock Fill Dam rock fill will represent the largest volume of material required to build the dam wall. Often the cheapest way to obtain this large volume of rock is simply to use the rock that must be excavated during the building of the spillway for the dam, provided the rock from the spillway is of good enough quality to be used to build the dam wall. This can be a particularly economic dam design if the spillway excavation is able to supply the entire amount of rock fill needed to build the dam. Other construction materials which may be required for an embankment dam are clay (for the core of an earth and rock fill dam) and sand and gravel (for concrete aggregate and also 7|Page

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for filter zones which are placed between the clay core and rock fill of an earth and rock fill dam. An important factor in the cost of construction materials is the distance they must be hauled from their source to the dam site. Where large volumes of material are required (eg rock fill) it is particularly important that a source be found close to the dam site. Cement and concrete aggregate are, of course the main construction materials required for a concrete dam. Construction methods have evolved over the years as illustrated by the following examples:

Burrinjuck Dam, completed in 1928. At this time it was common practice to embed large rocks and boulders (known as plums) in the concrete during the concrete placement pours in order to save on the volume of cement used in the concrete.

Picture 2 : Burrinjuck Dam

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Warragamba Dam, completed in 1960 is a conventional straight concrete gravity dam. The dam was designed as a series of vertical blocks bounded by vertical, keyed joints, which allowed relative movement during construction. These joints were later grouted, when movement and shrinkage had taken place. The design strength for the bulk of the concrete was 28 MPa at 6 months.

Picture 3 : Warragamba Dam A recent development is the Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) dam where the concrete is compacted by a roller in a similar fashion to that used to compact rock fill construction materials eg Willow Creek Dam, USA. Natural materials (clay, sand, gravel, rock fill) still form the bulk of the materials used to build many dams. However, man-made geosynthetic materials are increasingly being used in engineering construction for special purposes.

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CHAPTER 4 Types of Dams

4.1 Types of Dams Dams can be grouped according to the type of material of which they are constructed as follows; concrete dams are further grouped according to how they achieve their strength and stability. 4.1.1 CONCRETE DAMS Concrete Gravity Dams

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A gravity dam is a massive sized dam fabricated from concrete and designed to hold back large volumes of water. By using concrete, the weight of the dam is actually able to resist the horizontal thrust of water pushing against it.This is why it is called a gravity dam. Gravity essentially holds the dam down to the ground, stopping water from toppling it over. Gravity dams are well suited for blocking rivers in wide valleys or narrow gorge ways. Since gravity dams must rely on their own weight to hold back water, it is key that they are built on a solid foundation of bedrock.In fact, an earth rockfill damis a gravity dam. The one advantage of a gravity dam is its rather simple design, with most dams being a straight vertical wall across a valley or gorge way. However, gravity dams can also be designed curved, as in the Hoover dam. Gravity dams are very durable and still highly preferred over buttress dams and arch dams. The one drawback is that gravity dams require a large amount of material and construction to build are therefore relatively expensive.

Picture 4 : Bhakra Dam is the highest Concrete Gravity dam in Asia 11 | P a g e

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Concrete Arch Dams

An arch dam is a dam with an arched or curved shape on the upstream face that naturally compresses together when water pushes up against it. This arch action is what gives the dam its apparent strength to hold back the water. The weight of the dam also works to press the entire structure downwards into the ground. Essentially, the curved shape of an arch dam works to transfer the load (from water) to both the foundation and dam abutments by cantilever type action and also through the distribution of horizontal arches. Another defining characteristic of arch dams is their uniquely thin shape. Arch dams typically require less concrete to build than other dam types but are also commonly reinforced using steel rods or pre-stressed steel cables. Arch dams are often built is very narrow valleys, gorge ways, or mountainous regions where there is limited access to construction materials and naturally strong abutments. These valleys or gorge ways are more likely to be V-shaped as opposed to U-shaped.

Picture 5 : The San Clemente Dam 12 | P a g e

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Concrete Buttress Dams A buttress dam is basically a derivation of a gravity dam with the introduction of

intermediate space. With a buttress dam, the face of the dam is held by a series of supports or buttresses that are placed at intervals on the downstream side. The buttresses work to combat the force of reservoir water from trying to push the dam over. A buttress dam is also commonly known as a hollow dam because the buttresses do not join together to form an actual solid wall across the river valley. The shape of the actual buttress or support is mostly flat or curved with most buttress dams today being constructed out of concrete and reinforced steel. Another common characteristic of the buttress dam is that the upstream face of the dam is inclined at about 45 degrees.

Picture 6 : Concrete Buttress Dams in UK

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NURUL ATIKAH MOHD ROSLAN ( AA100247 )

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4.1.2 FILL (EMBANKMENT) DAMS

Earth Dams Earth dams are a type of embankment dam built with compacted earth, normally on sites

with wide valleys. They are typically constructed in a triangular fashion with a clay- or earthbased nucleus that is dense and watertight. These types of dams consist of an impermeable earth core unable to retain water. Earth dams are among some of the most common types of dams constructed throughout the world, and are the most common type in the U.S. The force of the water exerts itself against the embankment and is transferred to the core and pushed downwards to the foundation of the dam. The materials used in the dam give it weight that makes it resistant to the force of the water from the river, valley, or reservoir. Earth dams have many environmental and economical benefits. As earth and clay are naturally occurring materials usually found on-site, the construction of earth dams may have less environmentally damaging implications than other types of dams. As well, aggregate does not need to be crushed, screened, and transported to the site of the dam, cutting down on costs in that area. Some of the oldest earth dams go back as far as the ninth century, notably the Fishers Pond Dam.

Picture 7 : Earth Dam 14 | P a g e

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Earth and Rock Fill Dams Have a relatively narrow, impermeable earth or clay core inside the dam but most of the

dam is constructed of permeable rock fill which, by itself, would be incapable of retaining water. The impermeable membrane in these dams is the clay core.

Picture 8 : Earth and Rockfill Dam Concrete Faced Rock Fill Dams Constructed of permeable rock fill, the impermeable membrane being a concrete slab constructed on the upstream face of the dam wall. This type of dam has become increasingly popular over the last 25 years or so. A recent example is the proposed 205 m high Bakun Dam in Malaysia, originally put on hold due to the Asian financial crisis. Three Australian concrete faced rock fill dams (CFRD) built in 1970-71 (Pindari, Kangaroo Creek and Cethana) played a significant role in the development of the CFRD type of dam design.

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Picture 9 : Concrete Faced Rock Fill Dams

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CHAPTER 5 Strength and Stability of Dams

5.1 Strength and Stability of Dams Consider a concrete gravity dam with a vertical upstream face, a common design for this type of dam. The pressure of the water stored in the reservoir acts equally in all directions (hydrostatic pressure); because the dam's upstream face is vertical the water pressure on the dam wall will act in the horizontal direction and will tend to push the dam wall downstream. The weight of the dam wall acts vertically downwards. In order for a dam to be stable and therefore safe the design engineers and engineering geologists must make sure that;

the foundation rock mass on which the dam is built must have adequate strength (bearing capacity) to support the dam wall, especially in the saturated state; 17 | P a g e

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the dam must be able to resist the tendency of gravity dams to overturn about the downstream toe at the foundation;

the dam must be able to resist the tendency to slide downstream under the pressure from the water in the reservoir.

uplift pressures (water pressure acting vertically upwards in horizontal cracks within either the dam wall or the foundation rock) are taken into account in assessing the stability of the dam because these pressures tend to destabilise the dam. In early gravity dams uplift pressures were not allowed for during the design. The strength of a dam depends on the materials used to built it. A gravity dam is

proportioned so that its own weight resists the forces acting on it. Gravity dams built by the Ancient Romans had a base width to height ratio of about 3 whereas, in modern concrete gravity dams, this ratio is significantly less than 1 eg Warragamba Dam has a base width to height ratio of 0.8. To achieve the same level of stability an embankment dam, built from broken rock and clay, must be very much wider at the base than a dam of the same height built out of concrete like Windamere Dam, an earth and rock fill dam, has a base width to height ratio of 3.7.

Picture 10 : Winsdamere Dam

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Windamere Dam under construction. Brown clay core in centre of photo with light grey andesite rock fill both upstream (left) and downstream (right) of clay core. Note the narrow zones of dark brown filter material between the clay core and the rock fill both upstream and downstream of the core. When the dam is completed the core and filter zones are normally hidden from view inside the dam so that only the rock fill zones can be seen on the upstream and downstream faces of the dam wall. In foreground drilling rigs are being used to drill grout holes in the conglomerate, sandstone and shale foundation. Grouting is used to fill open cracks in the foundation rock so water cannot leak out of the dam and is carried out by pumping grout (a mixture of cement and water) under pressure into holes drilled in the foundation rock. An arch dam is much thinner than a gravity dam it contains less concrete and is therefore cheaper to build but the weight of the dam wall is not enough, on its own, to resist the forces acting on the dam. Concrete arch dams rely on the strength of the rock masses forming the bottom and sides of the valley in which they are built to help resist the forces acting on them. It is very important that a good, high strength foundation be found for any proposed arch dam.

Picture 11 : Combination of Arch Dams & Gravity Dams

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REFERENCES
Vahid Lotfi, Electronis Journal of Structural Engineering 3 (2003), Amirkabir University, Tehran, Iran US Army Corps of Engineers, Gravity Dam Design,1995 US Department of The Interior, Design Criteria for Concrete Arch and Gravity Dams.1977 http://members.optusnet.com.au/~engineeringgeologist/ http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/Webcoursecontents/IIT%20Kharagpur/Water%20Resource%20Engg/pdf/m4l06.pdf http://www.google.com.my/imgres?q=arch+dams&hl=en&gbv=2&biw=1366&bih=624&tbm=isc h&tbnid=zBciYLnhtJbiAM:&imgrefurl=http://ussdams.com/ussdeducation/history.html&docid=e GLzpsGkOfxJM&imgurl=http://ussdams.com/ussdeducation/Images/History/arch_big.jpg&w=576&h =432&ei=N6nfToDaFO6XiAfP4e2kBQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=317&vpy=178&dur=5044&hovh=1 94&hovw=259&tx=130&ty=72&sig=118272103497016380567&page=1&tbnh=120&tbnw=175& start=0&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0

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