Formation of the Dam Body

For Concrete Gravity dams:

• Low-heat cements  to reduce shrinkage problem

• Concrete is placed in “blocks”

• “Keyways” are built between sections to make the dam act
as a monolith

Upstream face Upstream face

Keyways

Downstream face Downstream face

 • “Waterstops” are placed near upstream face to prevent leakage

Copper strip
Copper strip

Waterstops

“Inspection galleries” permit access to the interior of concrete

Dams and are needed for seepage determination, grouting operations
and etc.
Cross section of typical earth dams

1
.5 on
2 2
on Silt
1 Sandy
Silt clay gravel

(a) Simple zoned embankment

1
5 on
2. 2.
on 5
1 Clay
Silt Rock-fill toe
Silt core
Pervious strata Transition zone
Impervious foundation

(b) Earth dam with core extending to impervious

foundation
 For Earth-fill dams

• Constructed in multi-layer formation

(Layers: impervious, filter and outer)

• First place the materials in layers of 50 cm and then

compact these materials.

• For high dams, horizontal berms are constructed to

enhance slope stability

• Protect the upstream face of dam against wave action

(i.e., concrete or riprap)

• Protect the downstream face against rainfall erosion

(i.e., planting grass or riprap)
Cross section of typical earth dams

1
on
2
1
3. 1o
on n3
.8
Clay blanket 1 Sandy
Silt
Silt clay gravel

Pervious material

Concrete cutoff wall

(c) Earth dam on pervious material

For Rock-fill dams:
• Core and filter zones are similarly constructed as the earth dam
• Due to heavy rocks on the sides, these dams
• have steeper slopes
• have less materials
• are economic

• Construction period is shorter and easy to increase the crest

elevation

 Width of dam crest: There are two traffic lanes

 Elevation of dam crest: There is no overtopping during

design flood
 Freeboard: See the table for recommendations
 Select Compacted Rock
Rolled
Medium 1.3
1.3
Size
1 Rock 1

Reinforced Concrete Coarse

Membrane Dumped Rock

Cutoff wall (a) Impermeable face

Cross-section of typical Rock-fill dams

Graded transition
sections
1.4
1.4
1 Du
co re

mp 1
Dumped or ed
Rolled rock Ro
y
Cla

Rolled rock ck
(0.2m) (1.5m)

Grout curtain
(b) Impermeable earth-core
GRAVITY DAMS
Concrete Gravity Dams
Resist the forces by their own weight

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Concrete Gravity Dams
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Concrete Gravity Dams

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Concrete Gravity Dams

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Concrete Gravity Dams

•Why & Where we preferred?

– Medium width valleys that have strong and

impermeable foundation.
– Good quality and enough aggregate supply. Cement
transportation should be economical
– Passage of larger floods over dam body. Sometimes
it may not be possible to construct big spillways for
larger floods. Dam body can be used as spillway.
– Transportation between two sides over dam body
– Robust against war and sabotages.
Concrete Gravity Dams

• Types:
• Straight Gravity Dams
• Arch Gravity Dams

– The dam axis is determined by a shortest straight

line that combines two sides.
– It can be built curved depending on foundation
material and safety
Concrete Gravity Dams

• Design Criteria:
– Triangular cross-section which enlarges towards the bottom that is in
accordance with the force applied by the water in the reservoir is
selected as the most suitable resection. The force acting on the dam
body is in the form of hydrostatic pressure distribution that increases
as the depth increases.
– Upstream face constructed as vertical or with slope not more than
%10.

– To avoid from tensile stresses when the reservoir is empty and to

increase the safety against sliding and overtopping when reservoir is
full, the upstream face of the high dams is constructed with a slope.
– At the top of the dam body, generally a rectengular section is
employed to provide the transportation from one side to another.
Concrete Gravity Dams

Design Criteria:
Concrete Gravity Dams

Design Principles:
• Triangular profile is considered in
the calculations.
• The minimum dimensions of the 
H
triangular profile is determined
by the condition that there is any
tensile stress under the dams
own weight, hydrostatic pressure,
and uplift pressure. b
Concrete Gravity Dams

 For the dam dimensions:

 Check out the safety for

• Overturning

• Shear & sliding

• Bearing capacity of foundation

• No tensile stresses are allowed in the dam body

 Overturning Check

1/md
H

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 Overturning Check

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 Overturning Check

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 Overturning Check

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 Overturning Check

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 Overturning Check

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 Sliding Check

1/md
H

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 Sliding Check

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 Sliding Check

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 Sliding Check

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 Sliding Check

1/md
H

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 Bearing Capacity Check

1/md
H

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 3.5.1 FORCES ON GRAVITY DAMS
Free body diagram showing forces acting on a gravity dam
 The following loads should be considered:
A) WEIGHT (WC): Dead load and acts at the centroid of the
section
B) HYDROSTATIC FORCES:

Water in the reservoir + tailwater causes Horizontal Hu Hd &

Vertical Fh1v Fh2v

C) UPLIFT FORCE (Fu): acts under the base as:

f= uplift correction factor

  =1→ 𝐹 =( h1 +h2
∅ 𝑢 )𝛾 𝐵
2
D) FORCE OF SEDIMENT ACCUMULATION (Fs):
Determined by the lateral earth pressure expression

where

• Fs : the lateral earth force per unit width,

• γs : the submerged specific weight of soil,
• hs : the depth of sediment accumulation relative to reservoir
bottom elevation,
• θ : the angle of repose.

• This force acts at hs /3 above the reservoir bottom.

E) ICE LOADS (Fi): considered in cold climate

Ice force per unit width of dam (kN/m) can be determined

from the following table:

Thickness of ice Change in temperature (oC/hr)

sheet (cm)
2.5 5 7.5

25 30 60 95

50 58 90 150

75 75 115 160

100 100 140 180

F) EARTHQUAKE FORCE (Fd):

Acting horizontally and vertically at the center of gravity

k (earthquake coefficient): Ratio of earthquake acceleration to

gravitational acceleration.
k takes values between 0.05 and 0.60 depending on
earthquake zone.
Wc=Weight of the dam body
 G) DYNAMIC FORCE (Fw) :

In the reservoir, induced by earthquake as below

 Acts at a distance 0.412 h1 from the bottom

• Fw : the force per unit width of dam

• C : constant given by
'

• θ’ : angle of upstream face of the dam from vertical

• For vertical upstream face  C = 0.7
 H) FORCES ON SPILLWAYS (∑F):

Determined by using momentum equation btw two successive

sections:

• ρ : the density of water

• Q : the outflow rate over the spillway crest
• ΔV: the change in velocity between sections 1 and 2 (v2-v1)

 Momentum correction coefficients can be assumed as unity.

 I) WAVE FORCES :

Considered when a long fetch exists

LOADING CONDITIONS:
 Usual loading
B &Temperature Stresses at normal conditions + C + A + E + D
 Unusual loading

B & Temperature Stresses at min. at full upstream level + C + A +D

 Severe loading
Forces in usual loading + earthquake forces
 3.5.2 STABILITY CRITERIA

 Dam must be safe against

 (1) Overturning for all loading conditions

Mr  resisting moments

FSO 
M  o
overturning moments

Safety factor:

 F.SO  2,0 (usual loading)

 F.SO  1,5 (unusual loading)
STABILITY CRITERIA

 (2) Sliding over any horizontal plane

  𝑓
∑ 𝑉
𝐹𝑆𝑠 =
∑𝐻
 f = friction coef. btw any two planes

Safety factor:
 FSS  1,5 (usual loading )
 FSS  1,0 (unusual or severe loading)
STABILITY CRITERIA

 (3) Shear and sliding together

  𝑓 ∑ 𝑉 +0.5 𝐴 𝜏 𝑠
𝐹𝑆𝑠𝑠 =
∑𝐻

A : Area of shear plane (m²)

τs : Allowable shear stress in concrete in contact with foundation

Safety factor:
 FSss  5,0 (usual loading)
 FSss  3,0 (unusual or severe loading)
STABILITY CRITERIA

 (4) Between foundation and dam contact stresses (σ) > 0

at all points

There are two cases for the base pressure:

  𝑀𝑟 − 𝑀𝑜   𝐵
´𝑥 = 𝑒= − ´𝑥
∑𝑉 2
 Base Pressure Check
• CASE 1: e  B/6
B
  ∑𝑉 6𝑒 Pt  s
𝑃𝑡 =( 𝐵 )(
∗ 1+
𝐵 )
DAM BASE

  ∑𝑉 6𝑒
Ph  s
𝑃h =( 𝐵 )(
∗ 1−
𝐵 ) Ph
Pt
e x

ΣV
 Base Pressure Check
B
CASE 2: e > B/6
DAM BASE

∑𝑉 1
𝑃 (
  𝑡=
𝐵 ) ∗
( 3 1 𝑒
) Pt  s
Pt
2
∗(2
−
𝐵 )
e x

ΣV