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CH 2 P.3
CH 2 P.3
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Hydraulic Structures I
2.3 DESIGN AND STABILITY ANALYSIS OF EARTHEN DAM
2.3.1 Introduction
→ As soil and rock-fill are non-rigid materials, the embankment dams are called non-rigid dams.
• Composite dams (these are constructed from both soil and rockfill )
→ Earth dams can be constructed on almost all type of foundations, provided suitable measures are
taken.
→ They are more suitable than gravity dams if strong foundation at a reasonable depth is not
available at the site for the construction of gravity dams.
→ It is cheaper than gravity dams if the soil in abundant quantity is available near the site.
→ Rockfill dams require somewhat stronger foundation as compared to earth dams, but
need not to be strong as gravity dams.
Embankment dam consists of three basic parts:
shell,
core and
foundation.
Additional appurtenances are may be present depending on type of dam.
Transition filter
Water Core
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2
Upstream impervious blanket
Cutoff wall
Pervious foundation
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Impervious stratum
1. Foundation
→ Provides support both to vertical and horizontal load
→ Resist seepage underneath the embankment
2. Core
→ To reduce seepage of water through the embankment
→ Can be placed at the center or upstream from the center
→ It may extend to impervious stratum in pervious foundation materials.
Earth (cheap)
Permeability (cm/s)
Gravel 1 to 100
Sand 1 to 10-3
Silt 10-3 to 10-5
Clay < 10-6
a. Homogenous Earth dams: usually composed only one material which is either semi- impervious
or impervious to limit seepage.
→ It has a central impervious core flanked by shells of pervious material u/s and d/s side.
→ A transition filter is usually required b/n core and shell to prevent piping.
→ The central core is used to check seepage and is constructed from clay, silty clay or clayey
silt.
→ The pervious shell is used for stability and is constructed from sand, gravel, or mixture of
these.
→ The transition filter is used to prevent the migration of materials from the core to the
shell. The d/s transition filter is useful during steady seepage conditions and the u/s filter is
useful during sudden drawdown conditions.
The impervious core
rolled clay
Concrete
The thickness of the core
at a given elevation exceeds the height of the dam above the elevation and is at
least 3 m thick
The size of the core is governed
Seepage control
Stability criteria
Availability of material
Generally they have relatively steep slopes
In a given dam site, if a variety of soil types are available, zoned embankment is preferable
as it will tend to be economical
C. Diaphragm Earthfill Dam
Three zones: Upstream and downstream shell of permeable material
Thin diaphragm / Impermeable material
Placed centrally / upstream
Rolled clay, cement, concrete, bituminous
The dam is a diaphragm type
If the thickness of the impervious core is < 3m
At any elevation the thickness is less than the height above the elevation
Potential for cracking of the core due to differential movement induced by
Embankment consolidation
Reservoir level fluctuation
Non uniform foundation settlement
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Clay diaphragm
The construction of an internal earth diaphragm with the necessary filter requires
higher degree of precision
Concrete diaphragm
Internal diaphragm made of concrete is not available for inspection or emergency repair
if ruptured
Earth blanket on upstream face for a pervious dam
Expensive
Constructing a filter at the u/s face is difficult
To protect the blanket from wave action it is buried deep and can not be inspected
If the availability of core material is so limited that zoned dam can not be constructed, a
diaphragm type is considered.
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2.3.3 Methods of Construction
i. Rolled – Fill Method
→Soil borrowed from borrow pits are transported to dam site by trucks
→They are spread at embankment sites in thin layers of 15-30 cm by bulldozers
→ Water is sprayed from tanker trucks until optimum moisture is attained
→The soil is compacted by power operated rollers
ii. Hydraulic Fill Method
→ Soils are transported from the borrow pit by water
→Soil water mixture is pumped in to flumes laid at the edges of the dam
→ The flumes have openings at regular interval
→The soil water slurry flows out from these openings
→Coarse soils are deposited close to the edges
→Fine soils settles at the center
→Since the fill is saturated when placed, the procedure results in high pore water pressure.
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2.3.4 Causes of Embankment Dams Failures
Dam Failure: The catastrophic breakdown of a dam, characterized by the uncontrolled release
of impounded water.
According to ICOLD (International Commission on Large Dams), the various causes leading to
the failure of earth dams can be grouped in to the following three classes
Hydraulic failures
Seepage failures
Structural failures Other
5%
Hydraulic
Seepage (40%)
30%
Structural /
25%
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Hydraulic Failures
Accounts for some 40% of embankment dam failures. The main causes are
A. overtopping,
B. erosion of upstream face,
C. erosion of downstream face and
D. erosion of toe of the dam
Measures
Appropriate design flood and adequate spillway capacity
Provide adequate freeboard
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B. Erosion of upstream face by wave action
Cause
When waves due to wind blowing over the impounded water crash on the upstream face of
the dam, the wave dislodges the embankment soils from the face.
Measure
Protect the u/s face by rock riprap
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A. Piping through the foundation
→ Preferential flow of water in more porous part of the dam foundation especially through high
permeability regions, cavities, fissures or strata of sand and gravel.
→ The concentrated flow at hydraulic gradient may erode the soil
→ The increase flow results in formation of hollows
→ The dam may sink down in to the hollow so formed
B. Piping Through the Dam Body
→ When preferential flow of water occurs in the body of the dam, soil may be removed in the
same manner
→ Causes include
faulty construction
insufficient compaction
cracks in the embankment
due to foundation settlement
animal borrows
pipes and conduits inside the dam body
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C. Sloughing of downstream toe
→ The process is similar to piping
→ If the seepage line meets the downstream face, the dam toe softens due to saturation
below the point of emergence of seepage.
→ In addition, the soil particles are subjected to a drag force in the direction of flow.
→ The horizontal component of this drag force will tend to dislodge the soil particles if it exceeds
the resistance offered by the soil.
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Structural Failures
Structural failures account for some 25 % of embankment dam failures.
A. Embankment Slope Failures
When the embankment slopes are too steep for the strength of the soil, this may cause
sliding failure
The most critical condition of slide
for the d/s slope, it is when the reservoir is full.
for the u/s slope, sudden drawdown of the reservoir
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B. Foundation Slide
→ When the foundation materials are made of silt, soft clay etc. The entire dam may slide over
the foundation. Fissured rocks, shales etc may exist under the dam and this may cause the
dam to slide.
→ In this type of failures, cracks first appear at the top.
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2.3.5 Criteria for safe design of Embankment Dams
An embankment dam must be stable and safe during all phases of construction and
operation of the reservoir. The practical criteria for the design of embankment dams may be
stated briefly as follows
A. No Hydraulic failure
To prevent hydraulic failures the dam must be so designed that erosion of the embankment is
prevented. This implies that the following conditions are satisfied.
Selection of appropriate design flood for the design of the spillway,
Provision of Adequate spillway capacity: Spillway capacity is sufficient to pass the peak flood
without overtopping.
Provision of sufficient freeboard: Overtopping by wave action at maximum water level is
prevented.
Erosion of the embankment due to wave action and surface run-off does not occur.
The crest should be wide enough to withstand wave action and earthquake shock.
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B. No Seepage failure
To prevent the seepage failures, the flow of water through the body of the dam and its
foundation must not be sufficiently large in quantity to defeat the purpose of the structure
nor at a pressure sufficiently high to cause piping. This implies that
→Quantity of seepage water through the dam section and foundation should be limited.
→No piping: Seepage water through the dam or foundation should not remove any particle
or in other words cause piping. The driving force depends upon the pressure gradient while the
resisting force depends upon the strength characteristics of the boundary material.
→The seepage line should be well within the downstream face of the dam to prevent
sloughing.
→ No leakage along conduits: There should not be any leakage of water from the upstream
to downstream face. Such leakage may occur through conduits, at joints between earth and
concrete sections or through holes made by aquatic animals.
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The common type of drainage systems includes the following:
i. Toe drain
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C. No Structural Failure
To prevent structural failures, the embankment and its foundation must be stable under all
conditions. This implies that
The upstream and downstream slopes of the embankment should be stable under
all loading conditions to which they may be subjected including earthquake.
safe u/s and d/s slopes during construction
safe u/s face during sudden drawdown
safe d/s slope during steady seepage under reservoir full condition
The foundation shear stresses should be within the permissible limits of shear
strength of the material.
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2.3.6 Preliminary section of an embankment dam
The preliminary design of an embankment dam is done on the basis of past experiences
and on the basis of the dams built so far.
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i. Dam Height
It is governed by functional requirement.
It is the vertical distance between the crest of the dam and the reservoir level. It is
composed of allowances for waves and settlement of the dam
On a sloping surface the wave rides along the slope up to a vertical height of 1.5 times the
wave height above the reservoir level hence 1.5 hw is provided as freeboard.
According to U.S.B.R. criteria distinction is to be made between the normal and minimum
freeboards.
Normal Free Board: crest level to full reservoir level
Minimum Free Board: crest level to maximum water level
It is also recommended that freeboard shown in the Table be increased by 50 percent if a
smooth pavement is provided as protection on the upstream slope.
The stability of the upstream and downstream slopes of the dam embankment is analyzed
for the most critical or severe loading conditions that may occur during the life of the
dam. These loading conditions typically include:
1. End of Construction — when significant pore pressure development is expected either in
the embankment or foundation during construction of the embankment.
2. Steady-State Seepage — when the long-term phreatic surface within the embankment has
been established.
3. Rapid (or Sudden) Drawdown — when the reservoir is drawn down faster than the pore
pressures can dissipate within the embankment after the establishment of steady-state
seepage conditions.
4. Earthquake — when the embankment is subjected to seismic loading.