Learning Objectives

1. Types of Spillways
2. Spillway Gates
3. Occurence of Cavitation and erosion
4. Energy Dissipaters
5. Significance of Jump Height Curve & Tail
Water Curve
6. Design of Stilling Basins
 Introduction
A Spillway is the overflow portion of dam, over
which surplus discharge flows from the
reservoir to the downstream.

For safety, spillways should have sufficient

capacity to discharge floods, likely to occur
during the lifetime of the dam.
 Introduction
For hydro projects with small flood return period ( e.g.
100 years),all the flood is passed to D/S.

In the case of the big hydro projects where there is

flood calculation considering large flood return
period (e.g. 1000 -10000 years), flood should be
absorbed by the dam and only the safe flood should
be released to D/S.
 Requirement of Spillway
1. It must be hydraulically(less flow separation, smooth flow at
entrance) and structurally (stable and strong for different possible
loading condition) efficient .
2. As the flow velocity is very high through the passage of the
spillway, its surface should have sufficient erosion and cavitation
resistance capacity.
3. There should be provision of appropriate dissipation of high kinetic
energy possessed by flow at the D/S, otherwise there will be
severe bed erosion.
4. Adequate Discharge storage Capacity.
 Location of Spillway
1. Spillways may be provided within the body of
the dam
2. Spillways may sometimes be provided at one
side or both sides of the dam
3. Sometimes by-pass spillway is provided
which is completely separate from the dam
 Types of Spillways

1. According to Controlling of Spilling Discharge

2. According to Function
3. According to Prominent Features
According to Control
1. Gated
 These spillways enable storage to be maximized by controlling water
levels.
 Generally more complex and more costly to build and maintain than
uncontrolled spillways.
 It should be backed up by auxiliary spillways as the gates may be
subject to automatic operation malfunction, human error and debris
lockage
2. Ungated
 Most commonly used at small dams because of their reliability,
simplicity and ability to pass debris and to reduce the magnitude of
incoming flood peaks, as well as being cheaper to build and maintain.
According to Function
1. Main or Service Spillway
2. Auxillary Spillway
3. Emergency Spillway
1. Main or Service Spillway

• These are designed for frequent use in conveying both

normal and flood releases from a reservoir to the
watercourse downstream from a dam without significant
damage to the dam.
• In most of the cases, it is the only spillway in the dam.
Service spillways from top to
bottom, Pineview Dam, Utah;
Monticello Dam, California; and
Upper Stillwater Dam, Utah
2. Auxillary Spillway

• These are designed for infrequent use and may sustain

limited damage when used.
• These are used in combination with service spillway and
sometimes also with flood outlets.
• It is designed to function automatically when required
without aggravating downstream floods.
Auxiliary spillways from top
to bottom, Stewart
Mountain Dam, Arizona;
New Waddell Dam, Arizona
3. Emergency Spillway

• The emergency situation arise when incoming discharge

exceeds the maximum flood discharge.
• These are designed to provide a reserve protection against
overtopping of a dam and are intended for use under
extreme conditions, such as misoperation or malfunction of a
service spillway or other emergency conditions.
Emergency spillway ,
Folsom Dam, California
According to Prominent Features

1. Free Overfall Spillway

2. Ogee Spillway
3. Siphon Spillway
4. Side Channel Spillway
5. Shaft Spillway
6. Tunnel Spillway
7. Chute Spillway
 Types of
SPILLWAYS
OGEE CHUTE SIDE-CHANNEL

SHAFT SIPHON TUNNEL

Free Overfall Spillway

• Flow drops freely from the crest of the dam.

• Its downstream face is vertical or nearly vertical
• It may be provided with gates.
• Flow may be freely discharging or may be supported by narrow
channel section.
• May be economical for low heads as compared to other types.
• Widely used on gravity dams, Arch dams and Buttress dam
• Not recommended for very high dams
Ogee Spillway

• It is ogee shaped (S- shaped) .

• It is also an overflow type spillway.
• In case of the flow with the designed head water glides smoothly
above the free surface of the spillway so the coefficient of
discharge is more than that of the free fall spillway.
• Reduces the impact of water at downstream.
• Drops off the water at D/S from the foundation of the dam.
• Reduces Scouring
• Used for small concrete dams.
 Overflow Spillways
 Design discharge

Q0  C0LH03 / 2
Q0 : The design discharge of the spillway

C0 : Spillway discharge coefficient,

L : The effective crest length,

H0 : The total head over the spillway crest, H0=H + ha

ha = u02/2g (the approach velocity head)

Siphon Spillway

• A siphon spillway is similar to a shaft spillway but instead is

incorporated into the dam
• The presence of a siphon spillway weakens a dam at certain
points, so the dam has to be reinforced at these weak points
incurring extra cost.
• Maintenance of this spillway is very difficult
• Siphon spillways comprise usually of five components which
include an inlet, an upper leg, a throat or control section, a lower
leg and an outlet.
Siphon Spillway working principle
1. When the water starts to rise in the reservoir above the NWL then water starts to spill from
the siphon spillway.
2. When the water rise just above the depriming hood, the duct of the siphon is locked by the
water from both the end.
3. The flowing water from the crest of the spillway will suck the entrapped air inside the duct.
4. This will cause the gradual increase of the vacuum pressure (sucking pressure) inside the
duct.
5. The negative pressure will suck more water from the reservoir and finally the duct will be
running full of the water.
6. The siphon is in the full operation now.
7. The time period between the instant that the water just starts to spill from the crest to the
instance that siphon runs in full is called the priming.

When the water level of the reservoir decrease and reach just to the inlet of the depriming
hood,air will be passed to the throat section and negative pressure developed will be released
and siphon will stop running. If the deprimer is not provided then water level will decrease just
to the upper level of the inlet pipe which will cause the loss of water.
Side Channel Spillway

• If a sufficient crest length is not available for an overflow or

chute spillway in narrow valleys, excess water is removed from
the reservoir through a side channel spillway.
• The side channel through which water is discharged can also be
lined with concrete to prevent erosion and subsequent
sedimentation in dams on the course of the river.
 GRAVITY DAM

SIDE CHANNEL
SPILLWAY
Shaft Spillway or Morning Glory Spillway
• It discharges excess water from a reservoir through a shaft that is
constructed near the crest of the Dam with height less than that
of the crest.
• The shaft spillway is constructed when the other types of
spillways cannot be constructed due to a lack of space.
• When the shaft is completely submerged, further increased in
head will not result in appreciable increase in discharge.
• It is not suitable for large capacity and deep reservoirs because of
stability problems.
• Repair and maintenance is difficult.
MORNING GLORY

ARCH DAM

Monticello Dam, California

Tunnel Spillway
• Conduit spillway or tunnel spillway is the one in which a closed
channel is used to convey the discharge around or under a dam.
• The closed channel may be in the form of a vertical or inclined
shaft, a horizontal tunnel through earth dam or a conduit
constructed with open cut and backfilled with earth materials.
• These spillway are designed to flow partly full.
• To ensure free flow in the tunnel, the ratio of flow area to the
total tunnel area is often limited to 75% and air vents are
provided at critical points along the tunnel or conduit to ensure
an adequate air supply which will avoid unsteady flow through
the spillway
Chute Spillway
• Chute spillways are common and basic in design as they transfer
excess water from behind the dam down a smooth decline into
the river below.
• The spillway’s slope and it’s side are lined with concrete.
• Abrupt slope changes should be avoided.
• In case of having sufficient stiff foundation conditions at the
spillway location, a chute spillway may be used instead of
overflow spillway due to economic consideration.
 UNGATED
CHUTE
ROCK-FILL DAM SPILLWAY

3 GATED CHUTE
Chute spillway from
1 UNGATED top to bottom,
Mohale Dam, Africa;
and Pantabangan
Dam, Philippines

ROCK-FILL DAM
 SPILLWAY CREST GATES
• Are the adjustable gates used to control water flow in reservoir, river
or streams.
• Act as barrier for the storage of additional water.
• The gate increases the height of the dam and the land acquisition will
be more.
• Gates can be provided in all types of spillways except siphon spillway
because the raise in flood level is already small compared to other
types of spillways.
 DESIGN CRITERIA
• Reasonably water tight , not more than 5l/min/metre length
• Capable of being raised or lowered by hoist at specified
speed.
• Power operated gates shall normally be capable of operation
by alternate means in case of power supply failure.
• If meant for regulation ,it shall be capable of being held in
position within range of travel to pass the required discharge
without cavitations and undue vibration.
• Whenever necessary,model studies may be carried out for
high head regulating gates.
 TYPES OF SPILLWAY GATES
1. FLASH BOARDS
2. STOP LOGS AND NEEDLES
3. FLAP GATES
4. VERTICAL LIFT GATES
5. RADIAL GATE OR TAINTER GATES
6. DRUM GATES
 FLASH BOARDS
• Consists of wooden panels of usually
1-1.25m high
• Hinged at bottom and are supported
against water pressure by struts.
• The shutters falls flat on the crest
when the d/s supporting struts are
tripped.Hence they are not suitable
for curved crests.
• These shutters can be raised or
lowered from an overhead cable way
or a bridge.
FLASH BOARDS
 STOP LOGS
• Consists of wooden beams or planks
placed one upon the other and
spanning in the grooves between the
spillway piers.
• They can be removed either by hand or
with hoisting mechanism.
• It takes a lot of time for removing
them, if they become jammed in slots.
• Leakage between logs is a big problem
and hence they are used in minor
works.
 NEEDLES
• Needles are wooden logs kept side by
side with their lower ends resting in a
keyway on the spillway and upper ends
supported by a bridge
• It is very difficult to handle these
needles at the time of flow and hence
they are not used on any major works.
• They are sometimes used for
emergency bulk heads, where they
need not be replaced until the flow has
stopped.
NEEDLES
 FLAP GATES
• Consists of frames hinged at the lower edge
placed on the top of dam.
• The upper edge can be moved with the help
of chains or rods about the lower hinge to
pass the flood over the crest of the gate.
• Used for small heads of some metres.
• In its fully raised position, the flap gate
makes an angle from 60 to 70 degrees with
the horizontal.
• In the fully lowered position, the skin plate
forms a continuous surface with the weir
bottom, presenting no obstacle to the water
flow.
 VERTICAL LIFT GATES
• These are rectangular gates spanning horizontally between the grooves made in
the supporting spillway piers.
• The grooves are generally lined with rolled steel channel sections of appropriate
size, so as to provide a smooth bearing surface having sufficient bearing strength
and are known as grove guides.
• These rectangular gates move between the groove guides, and can be raised or
lowered by a hoisting mechanism at the top.
• The gates are often made of steel, although they may be made of concrete or
wood.
• Because of the hydrostatic force caused by the upstream water standing against
the gate, large friction is developed between the gate and the downstream
groove guides.
• Large verticals lift gates may be counter balanced by a counter weight beam,
which is loaded to balance self wt of the gate, so hoisting force is required to
balance the frictional resistance.
VERTICAL LIFT GATES
RADIAL GATE OR TAINTER GATES
• Radial gates are rotary gates consisting of
cylindrical sections.
• Face of the gate is a sector supported on a
steel framework, which is pivoted on the
crest of spillway.
• Most suitable where the fluctuations of
water surface are limited.
• They may rotate vertically or horizontally .
• Gates are usually raised by means of cable
at both ends of gate.
RADIAL GATE OR TAINTER GATES
 DRUM GATES
• Drum gates are hollow gate sections that
float on water.
• They are pinned to rotate up or down.
• Water is allowed into or out of the
floatation chamber to adjust the dam’s
crest height.
• Useful when the debris,ice in large amount
are to be passed without fully opening the
gate.
• Suitable to longer spans in order of 40m
and height of 10m.