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Reservior & Farm Pond Design 3(2+1)

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Lesson 13 Determination of Location of Seepage Line
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13.1 Phreatic Line in Earth Dam
Current course
R&FPD Phreatic line is also known as seepage line or saturation line. It is defined as an
Participants imaginary line within a dam section, below which there is a positive hydrostatic
General pressure and above it there is a negative hydrostatic pressure. The hydrostatic
Module 1: pressure represents atmospheric pressure which is equal to zero on the face of
Fundamentals of
Reservoir and Farm
phreatic line. Above the phreatic line, there is capillary zone, also called as
Ponds capillary fringe, in which the hydrostatic pressure is negative. The flow of
Module 2: Basic seepage water, below the phreatic line, reduces the effective weight of the soil;
Design Aspect of as a result shear strength of a soil is reduced due to increased intergranular
Reservoir and Far...
pressure in earth fill material.
Module 3: Seepage
and Stability
Analysis of
Reserv...
13.2 Derivation of Phreatic Line with Filter
Lesson 11
Seepage through
Dam
In this case, before going directly for derivation, the important features of phreatic line
Lesson 12
must be known. From the experimental evidence, it has been found that, the seepage
Estimation of line is pushed down by the toe filter and is very close to parabolic shape except at the
Seepage Flow junction point of the upstream face. The upstream face of the dam represents 100%
Lesson 13 equipotential line when it is covered by the water; under this condition the seepage line
Determination
of Location of should be drawn perpendicular to this face at the junction point.
Seepage Line
Lesson 14 Flow
Casagrande method is used for deriving the phreatic line (Fig. 13.1); the procedure is
Net described as follows:
Lesson 15
Seepage
Analysis I
Lesson 16
Seepage
Analysis II
Lesson 17
Failure and
Damages I
Lesson 18
Failure and
Damages II
Lesson 19
Control of
Seepage Using
Drainage System
Lesson 20
Stability Analysis Fig. 13.1. Derivation of phreatic line in earth dam. (Source: Suresh, 2002)
I
Lesson 21 a) Let the phreatic line is assumed to be a base parabola with its focus at point F, i.e.
Stability Analysis at the starting point of the filter, FE.
II
Lesson 22 b) AB is the upstream face of the earth dam and L is the horizontal projection of face
Stability Analysis AB on the water surface. Measure the distance BC equal to 0.3L. Count point C as a
III
starting point of base of parabola.
Lesson 23
Stability Analysis
IV
c) For deciding the position of directrix of the parabola, the principle which states
Lesson 24 Slope
that every point of the parabola is at equidistance from the focus as well as directrix.
Protection Hence, considering C as a center and CF as radius, an arc is drawn which cut the
Module 4:
Construction of
 Reservoir and Farm horizontal line CB at point O. Since CO = CF, hence vertical line OH will be directrix
Ponds
of parabola.
Module 5:
Economic Analysis
of Farm Pond and
d) The last point G of the parabola will fall at the middle of the points F and H.
Reser...
e) The intermediate points of parabola are located on the principle that their distance
Module 6:
Miscellaneous from the focus and directrix are the same. Here to locate the point P as an intermediate
Aspects on point, a vertical line DP is drawn at any distance x from the F. Now considering the
Reservoir and F...
distance DH as radius with F as a center, an arc is drawn which cuts the vertical DP at
Courses
point P.
f) Now all there obtained points are joined by free hand to get the base parabola.
However, this needs to be corrected at the entry point, for the feature that phreatic line
must be started from the point B only, not from C. It should be sketched perpendicular
to the upstream face AB, as it is 100 percent equipotential line. Now phreatic line is
sketched by free hand in such way that, it should be perpendicular to face AB and
meets to rest of the points of the parabola tangentially. In addition, the base parabola
should also be met perpendicular, to the downstream face of the dam at point G.
13.3 Equation of Parabola
The equation of base parabola can be derived from its basic properties i.e. the distance
of any point P(x, y) on the parabola from its focus is the same as the distance of the
point P(x, y) from directrix.
Thus we have,

Where, s = focal distance (FH)

From equation 13.1,

This is the desired equation of base parabola.

For deriving the expression of discharge (q) for the earth dam equipped with horizontal
filter, the Darcy's law is used. According to which, the discharge (q) through vertical
section PD, is equal to:

Partial differentiation of Eqn.13.2, resulted

Substituting the value of in Eqn. 13.3, the rate of seepage flow through the dam is
given by:
 This is the expression for computing the rate of seepage discharge through the body of
earthen dam, in terms of focal distance s. The distance s can be determined either
graphically or analytically. Considering C as co-ordinate, the value of s can be
obtained as:
From Eqn: 13.1

At point C, x = D and y = H

By using this equation, if the value of coefficient of permeability (k) and focal distance
(s) are known, the discharge (q) can be calculated. This gives an accurate value of
seepage rate and is applicable to such dams, which are provided with horizontal
drainage (filter) system but can also be used for other types of dam section.
13.4 Phreatic Line in Earthen Dam without Filter
The position of phreatic line in an earth dam without filter can be determined using the
same manner, as in previous case i.e. with a filter. In this case, the focal point (F) of
the parabola will be the lowest point of the downstream slope (Fig. 13.2). The base of
the parabola BJC cut at a point J on downstream slope and is extended beyond the
limit of the dam, as indicated by dotted line, but the seepage line should be emerged at
point K, tangential to downstream face. In this way, the phreatic line should be shifted
to the point K from J. The distance KF is known as discharge face, which always
remains under saturation condition. The correction JK (say) by which the base of
parabola need to be shifted downward, can be determined by graphical and analytical
methods.
 Fig. 13.2. Phreatic line without filter.
(Source: Suresh, 2002)
1. Graphical Method
Casagrande has given a general solution to determine the value of for various
degrees of inclination of the discharge face. The inclination angle may be more
than 90o, especially in case of rock fill dam.
Let, if a is the slope angle of the discharge face with the horizontal is known, and

then various values of corresponding to a are given by Casagrande (Table

13.1).

Here, JF indicates the distance of the focus from the point, where base of parabola cuts
downstream face. The values of and can be obtained by Eqn (13.7) and Table 13.1.

Table 13.1. Values of for various slope angles (a)

2. Analytical Method
Under this method the following cases are considered, for determining the position
of discharge face (a) at the downstream face of the dam.

Case (1) when slope angle a < 30o

Schaffernak and van Iterson (1916) have derived an equation for finding the value
of to fix the position of K. The equation is given as

Where, d = horizontal distance from the origin point of the phreatic line to the toe
of downstream face of the dam, and h = depth of the water towards the upstream
face of the dam (Fig. 13.3).
 Fig. 13.3. Phreatic line without filter. (Source: Suresh, 2002)
The above equation was derived on the assumption that, the hydraulic gradient is
equal to the slope of the phreatic line, which is valid for relatively flat downstream
slope.

Case (2) when slope angle lies between 30o to 60o

Casagrande has also derived the following equation for calculating the value of
as:

This equation gives satisfactory result for values of a ranging from 30 to 60o, but
for steeper slopes than 60o, this yields a quite higher value. For such case,
Casagrande has suggested for modification in above equation, to use sin a in place
of tan a. In other words, it can be said that the hydraulic gradient (i) is equal to
but not as as taken in the previous case. Here, s is the distance measured along
the curve.
Therefore according to Darcy's law,

Integrating the eq. (13.9) with the limit as:

Where, is the total length of parabola from the point B to F.

 Ignoring -ve sign we get,

This is the required equation for computing the value of when slope angle a
exceeds 60o.
Keywords: Seepage line, Phreatic line, Slope angle, Filter, Parabola
References
Garg, S. K. (2011). Irrigation Engineering and Hydraulic Structures. Twenty
fourth Revised Edition.
Suresh, R. (2002). Soil and Water Conservation Engineering. Standard Publishers.
Suggested Readings
Central Water and Power Commission (1960). Embankment, Manual. Ministry of
Irrigation and Drainage Power, New Delhi.
Creager, W. P. and Julian Hinds (1968). Engineering for Dams. Vol. I, II and III.
Wiley Eastern, New Delhi.
Murthy, V. V. N. and Jha, M. K. (2011). Land and Water Management
Engineering. Kalyani Publishers.
Last modified: Monday, 3 February 2014, 10:36 AM

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