DAMS

HOW DAM WORKS?

INTRODUCTION

 Dams are massive barriers built across rivers and streams to confine and utilize the
flow of water for human purposes.These purposes may be
irrigation,hydropower,water-supply,flood-control,navigation,fishing and
recreation.This confinement of water creates lakes or reservoirs.
REASON TO BUILD A DAM

Dams have two main functions;

 The first is to store water to ccompensate for fluctuations in river flow or in demand for
water and energy.
 The second to raise the level of the water upstream to enable water to be diverted into a
canal or to increase “hydraulic head”.The difference in height between the surface of a
reservoir and the river downstream.
 Other reasons for building large dams include reservoir fisheries and leisure activities such
as boating.
 Ancient Dams
 Early dam building took place in Mesopotamia and the Middle East. Dams were used to
control the water level, for Mesopotamia's weather affected the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
 The earliest known dam is the Jawa Dam in Jordan, 100 kilometres (62 mi) northeast of the
capital Amman. This gravity dam featured an originally 9-metre-high (30 ft) and 1 m-wide
(3.3 ft) stone wall, supported by a 50 m-wide (160 ft) earth rampart. The structure is dated
to 3000 BC.
 The Ancient Egyptian Sadd-el-Kafara Dam at Wadi Al-Garawi, located about 25 km
(16 mi) south of Cairo, was 102 m (335 ft) long at its base and 87 m (285 ft) wide. The
structure was built around 2800 or 2600 BC as a diversion dam for flood control, but was
destroyed by heavy rain during construction or shortly afterwards.
 During the Twelfth Dynasty in the 19th century BC, the Pharaohs Senosert III, Amenemhat
III and Amenemhat IV dug a canal 16 km (9.9 mi) long linking the Fayum Depression to
the Nile in Middle Egypt. Two dams called Ha-Uar running east–west were built to retain
water during the annual flood and then release it to surrounding lands. The lake called
"Mer-wer" or Lake.Moeris covered 1,700 km2 (660 sq mi) and is known today as Birket
Qarun.
 Roman Engineering
 Roman dam construction was characterized by "the Romans' ability to plan and organize
engineering construction on a grand scale." Roman planners introduced the then-novel
concept of large reservoir dams which could secure a permanent water supply for urban
settlements over the dry season. Their pioneering use of water-proof hydraulic mortar and
particularly Roman concrete allowed for much larger dam structures than previously
built, such as the Lake Homs Dam, possibly the largest water barrier to that date, and
the Harbaqa Dam, both in Roman Syria. The highest Roman dam was the Subiaco
Dam near Rome. Its record height of 50 m (160 ft) remained unsurpassed until its
accidental destruction in 1305.
Middle Ages

 In the Netherlands, a low-lying country, dams were often applied to block rivers in order to
regulate the water level and to prevent the sea from entering the marsh lands. Such dams
often marked the beginning of a town or city because it was easy to cross the river at such
a place, and often gave rise to the respective place's names in Dutch.
 For instance the Dutch capital Amsterdam (old name Amstelredam) started with a dam
through the river Amstel in the late 12th century, and Rotterdam started with a dam
through the river Rotte, a minor tributary of the Nieuwe Maas. The central square of
Amsterdam, covering the original place of the 800-year-old dam, still carries the
name Dam Square or simply the Dam.
Industrial Revolution
Types of Dams
 Arch dams
 Gravity dams
 Arch-gravity dams
 Embankment dams
 Rock-fill dams
 Concrete-face rock-fill dams
 Earth-fill dams
 Earth-fill dams
Dam Working
 Although hydropower has been in use for centuries, largely in the form of water wheels,
hydroelectricity is a more recent phenomenon. Hydroelectricity is a type of hydropower
and is created as moving water powers machines that produce electricity.
 The first hydroelectric power plants were built at the end of the 19th century. By the
middle of the 20th century they were a major source of electricity. Today hydropower is
the most widely used source of renewable energy making up seven percent of U.S. power
production.
 The most common form of hydropower comes from hydroelectric dams. Typically, a river
is blocked by a dam to create a large reservoir of water. The water from the reservoir is
allowed to flow over the dam in a controlled way. As the water falls it turns turbines and
generates electricity.
Video;
How Dam Works?
DAM TERMONOLOGY
 Abutment: Valleyside part against which dam is constructed (with left and right abutments
defined by observer looking downstream from the dam).
 Acre-foot: Unit of measure (for example, 1 foot depth of water covering an acre of land).
 Berm: Nearly horizontal step (bench) in upstream or downstream sloping face of dam.
 Boil: Disruption of soil surface due to water discharging from below the surface with
possible eroded soil deposited in form of ring (miniature volcano) around disruption.
 Breach: Opening through dam that allows reservoir draining; controlled is intentionally
constructed opening and uncontrolled is unintended failure of the dam.
 Centerline: Longitudinal view along centerline axis of dam.
 Crest: Uppermost elevation of embankment dam.
 Control section: Usually level segment in profile of open channel spillway above which
reservoir water discharges through spillway.
 Cross section: Slice through dam showing elevation vertically and direction of natural
water flow horizontally from left to right.
 Dam: Artificial barrier generally constructed across a watercourse for purpose of
impounding or diverting water.
 Dam operator: Person(s) or entities with responsibility for operation and maintenance of
dam.
 Drain, toe, or foundation: Water collection system of sand and gravel and typically pipes
along downstream portion of dam to collect seepage and convey it to a safe outlet.
 Drainage area (watershed): Geographic area on which rainfall flows into the dam.
Hydroelectric Power Generation
 Turbine
 As to how this generator works, the Corps of Engineers explains it this way:
"A hydraulic turbine converts the energy of flowing water into mechanical energy. A
hydroelectric generator converts this mechanical energy into electricity. The operation of a
generator is based on the principles discovered by Faraday. He found that when a magnet
is moved past a conductor, it causes electricity to flow. In a large generator, electromagnets
are made by circulating direct current through loops of wire wound around stacks of
magnetic steel laminations. These are called field poles, and are mounted on the perimeter
of the rotor. The rotor is attached to the turbine shaft, and rotates at a fixed speed. When
the rotor turns, it causes the field poles (the electromagnets) to move past the conductors
mounted in the stator. This, in turn, causes electricity to flow and a voltage to develop at
the generator output terminals.
Factor Affecting Selection of Types of Dams
 Topography
 Geology and Foundation
 Availability of Materials
 Spillway size and Location
 Earthquake Zone
 Height of the Dam
 Other factors such as cost of construction and maintenance ,file of
dam,aesthetic etc.
Advantage of Dam
 Recreation
Dams provide prime recreational facilities throughout the United States. Boating, skiing, camping, picnic areas,
and boat launch facilities are all supported by dams.
 
 Flood Control
In addition to helping farmers, dams help prevent the loss of life and property caused by flooding. Flood control
dams impound floodwaters and then either release them under control to the river below the dam or store or
divert the water for other uses. For centuries, people have built dams to help control devastating floods.
 
 Water Storage
Dams create reservoirs throughout the United States that supply water for many uses, including industrial,
municipal, and agricultural.
 
 Irrigation
Ten percent of American cropland is irrigated using water stored behind dams. Thousands of jobs are tied to
producing crops grown with irrigated water.
 
 Mine Tailings
There are more than 1,300 mine tailings impoundments in the United States that allow the mining and
processing of coal and other vital minerals while protecting the environment.