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INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY &

MANAGEMENT, MAHARAJGANJ

Design of concrete gravity dams

for hydropower generation
Under the guidance of Er. Sumant Verma
Submitted by:
Shahbaz Ahamad
Vikram Gupta
Atul Srivastava
Nahne patel

Saroj khadka

CONTENTS:

Introduction of dams
Purposes of dams
Various types of dams
Force acting on gravity dams
Factors in site selection
General design consideration
Procedure to build a dam
Foundation investigations
Foundation treatment
Mode of failure and criteria for structural stability
Design of concrete gravity dams
Problems in construction

Dams:

A dam may be defined

as an obstruction or a
barrier built across a
stream or a river.

The pool of water is

formed at upstream and
which is used to turn
the blades of a turbine
to generate electrical
power.
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Purpose of dams:

Generation of hydropower electricity

For agricultural and irrigation purposes
For fishery
To prevent the flooding during high
water flows at high PMP
To diverse the water maintaining
required heights.

Various types of dams

Earth dams
Rock-fill dams
Solid masonry gravity
dams
Hollow masonry gravity
dams
Timber dams
Steel dams
Arch dams

Dams chosen in project to build:

Construction of concrete gravity

dams:
Concrete gravity dam is such a
dam that is designed in such a way that
its own weight resists the external
forces.

Factors in Site selection

Topography: A narrow site will minimize the amount of material in the dam
thus reducing its cost, but such a site may be adaptable.

Geology: The foundation of the dam should be relatively free of major faults
and shears. If these are present, they may require expensive foundation
treatment.

Appurtenant: While the cost of these Structures is usually less than the cost of
the dam, economy in design may be obtained by considering their effect at the
time of site selection.

Local condition: Site of availability of water supply, sewage disposal,

electric power for construction purposes, telephone service should be

chosen.

Access: Accessibility of the site has a very definite effect on the total cost.
Easy excess is required for the contractors plant and equipment near the site.
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General design consideration

Local condition

Availability of public facilities or utilities such as water supply, sewage

disposal, electric power for construction purposes, telephone service,

construction camp; and need for permanent buildings for operating
personnel should be well available.

Maps and photographs

Map should show existing towns, highways, roads, railroads, and

shipping points
Ground & aerial photographs and general area map should be
obtained locating the general area within the State, together with
county and township lines.

 Hydrological data
Stream-flow records, Stream-flow and reservoir yield, Flood studies,

Sedimentation and water quality studies ,ground-water conditions

are to be collected.

Reservoir capacity

A topographic map of the reservoir site is to be collected, annual

periodic fluctuations of reservoir levels , Area-capacity curves for

storage of the spillway design flood are to be calculated.

Climatic effects

Weather Service records of mean monthly air temperatures, river

water temperatures at various times, Wind velocities and prevailing

direction, Amount and annual variance in rainfall are to be collected.

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 Construction materials
Concrete aggregates and properties
Availability of suitable aggregates usually processed from natural

deposits of sand, gravel, and cobbles in sufficient quantity to

construct the dam and its appurtenant structures.
Concrete mix having high cement content and admixtures like
pozzolans, fly ash etc. are prepared from hydraulic laboratory
model studies & environmental studies.
Water for construction purposes
An adequate supply of water for construction purposes such as

washing aggregates and cooling and batching concrete should be

assured.
The water used in the concrete mix should be reasonably free of
silt, organic matter, alkali, salts, and other impurities and
objectionable amounts of chlorides or sulphates.
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Procedure to build a dam:

Step I: Dewatering the part of river valley at selected

site of dam which is achieved by diverting the river
through a tunnel.
1. Provision of diversion tunnel is made.
2. Construction of dams in two stages.
3. Construction of galleries in gravity dams

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Step II: Work is started at river during summer i.e. when

river flow is low. Earth-moving equipments is used to
build small dam(cofferdam) on upstream of main
construction area.

Pumping is regularly done to remove water that may

seeps through the cofferdams.
Diversion tunnels are not required in case of concrete
gravity dams and only if water is channeled through a
water pipe is satisfactorily.
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Step III: Removal of loose rock and

rubble from the valley walls and
river bed.
Concrete-faced rock-fill dams
require a footing to be
constructed around their
upstream edge. The plinth is
made from concrete and serves
as a foundation or connection
between the dams and valley
walls & floor.
The area under plinth is
waterproofed by drilling holes
and pumping cement grout into
cracks in the rock.
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Step IV: During dam

construction, the
associated power station
and intake works are also
being built if hydropower
generation is to be
generated.

Once, dams is completed,

diversion tunnel is closed
and lake begins to fill.

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FOUNDATION INVESTIGATIONS

Field investigations
a) Appraisal investigations
It includes a preliminary selection of the site
and type of dam using geologic and
topographic maps, photographs of the site
area, and data from field examinations of
natural outcrops, road cuts, and other
surface conditions.
b) Feasibility investigations
The location of the dam is usually finalized.
The geologic mapping and sections are
reviewed and supplemented by additional
data such as new surveys and additional
drill holes.

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c) Final design data

A detailed foundation investigation is conducted to obtain the
final design data. This investigation involves as many drill holes as
are necessary to accurately define :
(1) Strike, dip, thickness, continuity, and composition of all faults and
shears in the foundation.
(2) Depth of overburden.
(3) Depth of weathering throughout the foundation.
(4) Joint orientation and continuity.
(5) Lithologic variability.
(6) Physical properties of the foundation rock, including material in the
faults and shears

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Foundation treatment:

Excavation:

Adequate attention is to be paid during blasting operation to assure

unnecessary shattering of rocks, loosening of bed of foundation.
Foundations such as shales, chalk, mudstones require protection against air
and water slaking.

a) Shaping of canyon profile:

If canyon profile for a dam is relatively narrow with steep sloping walls, dam
section will be deflected by reservoir load and result torsional effect. To
counteract this, uniformly varying profile is to be shaped.
b) Dental treatment:
The procedure of reinforcing and stabilizing weak zones during driling action
and final excavation is called dental treatment.
c) Proper Protection against piping should be made for dam stability.
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Grouting:
Holes are drilled at shallow as well as deep and cement
grouting is filled to establish an effective barrier to seepage under
the dam and to consolidate the foundation.

a) Consolidation grouting
Low-pressure grouting to fill voids, fracture zones, and cracks at
and below the surface of the excavated foundation is accomplished
by drilling and grouting relatively shallow holes.
b) Curtain grouting
Construction of a deep grout curtain near the heel of the dam to
control seepage is accomplished by drilling deep holes and grouting
them using higher pressure.

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Triveni barrage
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To decide whether dam is low or high:

The height of gravity dam,

H < f /[Yw(Sc+1)]

Where,
f = permissible compressive stress of the dam material and
Sc= Sp. Gravity of the dam material

Then, dam will be a low gravity dam.

otherwise, high gravity dam.

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Design of low concrete gravity dams:

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Design of high concrete gravity dams:

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Force acting on gravity dams:

Water pressure
Uplift pressure
Pressure due to
earthquake forces
Silt pressure
Wave pressure
Ice pressure
Stabilizing force i.e.
weight of dam itself

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Modes of failure and criteria for structural stability

of gravity dams:

By overturning( or rotation) about the toe

By crushing
By development of tension, causing
ultimate failure by crushing
By shear failure called sliding

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major issues: TEMPERATURE

CONTROL OF CONCRETE
Methods of temperature control
a) Pre-cooling

Restricting concrete placement during the hotter part of the day or the
hotter months of the year, to a full treatment of refrigerating the various
parts of the concrete mix to obtain a predetermined, maximum concrete
placing temperature.
one method is to chill the aggregate in large tanks of refrigerated water for a given period of time.

b) Post-cooling

Artificially cooling mass concrete by circulating cold water through

embedded cooling coils on the top of each construction lift will materially
reduce the peak temperature of the concrete

c) Low heat producing cement and modified cement as per site requirements
should be used .
d) Use of pozzolans

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Design considerations for temperature treatment

a)Shallow construction lifts

b)Retarding agents
c) Surface cooling
It can be accomplished by circulating water in closed
spaced embedded cooling-pipe coils placed adjacent to and
parallel with the exposed surfaces, by use of cold water
sprays

d)
e)
f)
g)

Size of construction blocks

Concrete cooling systems
Lift thickness
Delays between placements
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Problems in construction of dams:

Fish problem
Cracking of concrete in
concrete gravity dams
Submergence problem
Pressure problem in
hydroelectric power

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Bibliography:

www. Google.com/dams construction

www.dams.com
Qingchao GUO, Wenhong CAO: RESERVOIR
SEDIMENTATION AND ITS CONTROLIWHR China
Q89-R.4, 2009
ICOLD Bulletin 144 : Costs Savings in Dams (2010)
Manuals of Design of concrete gravity dams published
by U.S.A

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Any
queries????
Thank u all
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