Water Works Construction

Dereje T. | Lecturer @ AAiT AAU

Tech Zone Engineering

and Business College 1
 Chapter 02

Concrete Gravity Dams

 Definition
• A concrete gravity dam is a massive concrete structure, roughly
triangular in shape, and designed so that its weight ensures structural
stability against the hydrostatic pressure of the impounded water and
other forces that may act on the dam.
• Gravity dams may be classified by plan as straight gravity dams and
curved gravity dams, depending up on the axis alignment.
• In the earlier periods, gravity dams were constructed from masonry.
In recent years, however, gravity dams are constructed from concrete.

• Gravity dams are

 permanent structures that require little maintenance
 constructed to greater heights

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 Crest: Top of the dam
Heel: Dam contact with foundation on the u/s
side
Toe: Dam contact with foundation on the d/s
side
Abutment: sides of the valley which the
structure of the dam meets
Gallery: opening or passage left in the body
of the dam for inspection and drainage
purposes
Outlets: opening to discharge water
Headwater: Impounded water

Headwater Outlet

Tailwater
Gallery
Heel Toe
Foundation 4
 Types of Concrete Gravity Dams
Conventional Concrete Dams (CC Dams)
o These are dams constructed with Mass concrete
– Mass Concrete is any volume of concrete with dimensions large enough
to require that measures be taken to cope with generation of heat from
hydration of the cement and attendant volume change to minimizing
cracking. (American Concrete Institute ACI)
o Cement Hydration is a very exothermic process, leading to a rise in
temperature at the core of very large pours. Expected to reach the
maximum with in 1 to 3 days after placement.
 if the temperature rises to 70 oc Delayed ettringite formation (DEF) or
 Ii the surface temperature is allowed to deviate greatly from that of the
core, i.e., temperature difference between the interior and exterior
reaches to 19 oc , thermal cracking will develop.

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 Conventional Concrete Dams
o Cracks affects water tightness, durability, internal stresses.
o Several methods for controlling cracks due to thermal stresses exist
 Block construction: 15m x 15m x 1.5m
 Mix design that limits heat of hydration
 reduced cement content
 using special low heat cement
 use of pozollana and other admixtures
 Embedded pipe cooling system
o The main disadvantages of CC dams include
 They are expensive
 They require long construction time

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 Roller Compacted Concrete
Dams(RCC Dams)
Roller-compacted concrete is simply concrete constructed with the use
of earthfill methods. It was introduced in late 1970s
o The traditional method of placing, compacting, and consolidating
mass concrete is a slow process.
o Improvements in earth moving equipments made the construction of
earth and rock fill dams speedier and more cost efficient.
o According to ACI,
• RCC is a concrete compacted by roller compaction. The concrete, in
its unhardened state, will support a roller while being compacted
o RCC thus differs from conventional concrete in its consistency
requirement (zero slump):
 dry enough to support roller
 wet enough to permit adequate distribution of the binder mortar
during mixing and vibration

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 Characteristic RCC Conventional
Cement (kg/m3) <150 150-230
Water to Cement ratio 0.5-0.6 0.5-0.7
90 days strength (MN/m2) 20-40 18-40
Layer (m) 0.3 1.5-2.5

o Advantages of RCC dams include

 Reduced cost (25 % - 50% less than CC)
oLesser cement consumption, less thermal stresses
oLess formwork
o Transportation, placement, and compaction is easier.
Reduced construction time (1-2yrs)
o transportation, placement, and compaction is done in
highly mechanized way

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 Loads on Gravity Dams
o The structural integrity of a dam must be maintained across the range of circumstances
or events likely to arises in service. The design is therefore determined through
considerations of corresponding spectrum of loading conditions.
o Gravity dams are subjected to the following main loads / forces

1. Water pressure (water load)

2. Weight of the dam
P6 P5 3. Uplift pressure
4. Silt pressure
5. Wave pressure
6. Ice pressure
7. Wind load
P8 8. Earthquake load
Headwater P2
P8 P1
P4 P1
silt Tailwater

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P3
 Loads can be classified in terms of applicability or relative importance as
primary, secondary, and exceptional loads
o Primary loads: are identified as those of major importance to all dams
irrespective of type. e.g., Water load, self weight, and uplift
o Secondary loads: are universally applicable although of a lesser
magnitude or alternatively are of major importance to certain types of
dam. e.g. Silt load, wave pressure, thermal pressure
o Exceptional loads: are so designed on the basis of limited general
applicability of occurrence. e.g. Earthquake loads

o For convenience in analysis loads are expressed

per metre length of dam, i.e. they are determined
for a two dimensional transverse section with unit
width parallel to the dam axis.

o It is similarly convenient to account for some loads

in terms of resolved horizontal and vertical
components, identified by the use of appropriate
subscripts, Ph and Pv respectively.

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 Primary Loads
1 Water loads
A. Non-overflow section
H – Headwater depth
H’ – Tail water depth H
PH – Horizontal Headwater Pressure Force
PH ‘– Horizontal Tail water Pressure Force PV’
PV ‘– Vertical Tail water Pressure Force PH
E D

Z PH’
i) U/s vertical face C
H’
γw H γw H’
a) Upstream face: Horizontal force

The force acts horizontally at from the basis of the

dam
b) Downstream face: Horizontal and vertical forces
Horizontal component

The force acts horizontally at from the basis of the dam

Vertical component d/s face

The force acts vertically at from the toe of the dam11
ii) U/s inclined face J PV2
a) Upstream Face: I

Horizontal force

H E PV’ D
PH G E
It acts horizontally at H
from the basis of the dam PV1
Z C PH’ H’
γw H F G’ γw H’
Vertical force
It acts vertically at from the toe of the dam

It acts vertically at from the toe of the dam

c) Downstream face
Horizontal force
It acts vertically at from the base of the dam
Vertical Force
it acts vertically at from the toe of the dam
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B. Overflow section

Exercise: calculate the water load on an overflow section of a gravity dam

H1

H2

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2 Self weight

H Pm

H’

The weight of the dam is given by

where
γc is unit weight of concrete
A is the x-sectional area of the dam

The force acts through the centroid of the x-sectional area. It will include weight of ancillary
structures.
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3 Uplift Force
o Both the dam body and foundation material are permeable. Water in the reservoir percolates
through the dam body (lift and construction joints) and foundation material

Concrete permeability Rock permeability (cm/s) Soil permeability (cm/s)

(cm/s)
Cement Granite 5 x 10-9 Gravel 0.01-1
Fresh 2 x 10-4 Sandstone 1.2 x 10-8 Sand 10-3 to 0.1
Ultimate 6 x 10-11 Silt 10-5 to 10-3
Concrete 10-6 to 10-8 Clay < 10-6

Headwater

Tailwater

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o T he percolating water exerts an uplift pressure with in the dam body and at the
base of the dam. The uplift in the dam body is small compared to at the base. The
uplift force due to the uplift pressure at the base depends on two factors
A) Area factor : the fraction of the actual area of the base over which the uplift
pressure is supposed to act.
B) Intensity factor: the intensity of pressure acting on any point of the base expressed
as a fraction of the total head
 Uplift at the heel = hydrostatic pressure at
the u/s headwater
Uplift at the heel = hydrostatic pressure at
the tailwater

H  Uplift pressure at any intermediate point =

linear interpolation
 Uplift force = Average pressure intensity x
Area x Area factor (η)
Tailwater H’
B

It acts at from the toe

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Pu
 Effects of Drains on Uplift Pressure
o To reduce uplift pressure, drains are formed through the body of the dam
and also drainage holes are drilled in the foundation rock
 Uplift at the heel
Uplift at the toe
 Uplift pressure at the line of drain
Hd – mean effective head at the line of drain
H
Kd is a function of drain geometry

Tailwater H’
B
a
The uplift force

and acts at
Pu
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3.2 Secondary Loads
3.2.1 Earth and Silt Load
o Gravity dams are sometimes subjected to earth pressures on either u/s or d/s face,
where the foundation trench is backfilled. Such pressures usually have minor effect
on the stability of the structure, and may be ignored in design.

o Practically all streams transport silts or fine sediments, particularly during floods. The
gradual accumulation of fine sediments against the face of the dam generates a
resultant horizontal force Psh. The magnitudes of Psh, which is in addition to the
water load, is a function of the sediment depth, hs, the submerged unit weight, γ’s ,
and the active lateral pressure coefficient Ks. When the u/s face have flaring, the
sediments will generate vertical force Psv.

Psv

Psh Psh
hs
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The horizontal force is given by

where is the submerged unit weight of the silt sediment

is active lateral earth pressure coefficient and

ϕs is the angle of shearing resistance

hs is the height of the silt sediment

The horizontal force act at above the base of the dam

The vertical force

Just after construction of the dam, the depth (hs) of the silt is zero. It increases gradually
with time and finally it becomes equal to the height of the dead storage. It is usual practice
to assume the value of hs is equal to the height of the dead storage above the base.
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2.3.2.2 Waver pressure
 Waves are generated on the surface of the reservoir by the blowing winds, which
causes a pressure towards the downstream side
c

b
hw

 Wave pressure depends on the wave height (hw) which depends on fetch (F) and
wind velocity (U)

Reservoir
F Dam

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 c The wave height hw is given by
b
hw
a hw- height of wave in m
U – wind velocity km/hr
F – Fetch in km
Pwv 4/3 hw
3/8 hw 5/3 hw
1/3 hw
Smax
The maximum pressure intensity (Smax) due to wave action may be given by

The pressure distribution may be assumed to be triangular of base 5/3 hw. The total force
due to wave action

The force acts a distance of 3/8 hw above the reservoir surface

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3.4 Load Combinations
o All the forces which are discussed in the preceding sections may not act simultaneously on
a dam. A concrete dam should be designed with regard to the most rigorous adverse
groupings or combination of load which gave a reasonable probability of simultaneous
occurrence.
o Three nominated load combinations are sufficient for almost all circumstances. In ascending
order of severity they may be designated as normal (sometimes usual), unusual and extreme
load combinations, here denoted as NLC, ULC and ELC respectively,

Load combination
Load source Qualification
NLC ULC ELC
At Design Flood Level (MWL) X
1. Headwater
At Full Reservoir Level (FRL) X X
At maximum tail water level X X
2. Tail Water
Primary Minimum tail water level X
3. Self weight - X X X
Drains functioning X X
4. Uplift
Drains inoperative X* X* X
Secondary 5. Silt - X X X
Exceptional Seismic - X
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2.4. Modes of failure and criteria for structural stability
2.4.1 Modes of Failures
A gravity dam fail in the following ways
o Overturning about the toe
o Sliding or shear failure
o Crushing and cracking

2.4.1.1 Overturning
When the resultant (R) of all the vertical and horizontal forces acting on a
dam at any given section passes outside of the toe, the dam will rotate and
overturn at the toe.

Generally, a dam is safe against overturning, if the resultant lies with in the
middle third of the section

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2.4.1.2 Sliding or Shear failure
When the shear stress developed at any potential path/plane due to the
applied horizontal and vertical forces exceed the shearing strength of the
material along the path or sliding plane, the dam will fail by sliding

Sliding may occur

a) At a horizontal lift joint in the dam
b) At the base of the dam i.e. dam – foundation interface
c) Weak joints and seams at joints and strata in the rock

2.4.1.3 Crushing
When the stress that are developed at any point in the dam exceed the
strength of concrete, the dam may fail by crushing / cracking
a) Compressive stress exceeding compressive strength of concrete
b) tensile stress exceeding tensile strength of concrete
c) When the stress developed at the foundation exceed the bearing
capacity of the foundation

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2.4.2 Stability Requirements of Gravity Dam
2.4.2.1 Symbols and sign conventions
Convention
Symbols
+ Restoring Moment
M – moment
ΣH, ΣV – Horizontal & vertical - Overturning Moment
forces +
C – Cohesion +ve Horizontal force
Φ – angle of friction - -ve Horizontal force
y α - angle of sliding plane
τ– Shear stress + +ve Vertical force
z As – Area of shearing surface
-
Stabilizing Forces : -ve Vertical force
Weight of the dam (Dead Load) +ve Shear
The thrust of the tail water.
Destabilizing Forces :
+y
Head water pressure,
Uplift, +τyz
Wave pressure in the reservoir, +z
Earth and Silt pressure,
Seismic forces, + τ zy
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2.4.2.2. Structural Equilibrium

Applied Force = Reactive Force

ΣFx = 0 No translational movement ΣM = 0 No rotational movement
ΣFy = 0

Pwv

PH
Pm
PV’
Phs R
PH’

PU R’

R = Resultant of all loads R’ = Foundation Reaction

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2.4.2.3 Assumptions in Stability Analysis

1. Concrete used homogeneous, isotropic and elastic

2. Dam consist of a number of vertical cantilivers of unit length. The cantilevers act
independently
3. Perfect bond between dam and foundation
4. All loads are transferred by cantilever action by the foundation. No beam action
5. The foundation is strong and unyielding. No movement caused in the foundation due
to the imposed loads
6. Small openings, galleries, shafts, do not affect the over all stability.

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2.4.2.4 Stability Requirements
A gravity dam must be designed such that it is safe against all possible modes of
failures, with adequate factor of safety. A dam may fail
a. Overturning
b. Sliding and shear
c. Crushing

2.4.2.5 Overturning Stability (Fo)

+
-

The moments are about the toe of any horizontal plane

ΣM-ve includes the moment generated by uplift.

Criteria
Fo > 1.25 Acceptable
Fo > 1.50 Desirable

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2.4.2.6 Sliding Stability

 It is a function of the loading pattern and of the resistant to translational displacement

which can be mobilized at any plane. Three methods are available.
Sliding Factor (Fss)
Shear Friction Factor (FSF)
Limit Equilibrium Method (FLE)

A. Sliding Factor

Used by dam designers in 1900-1930

Resistance to sliding is assumed to be purely frictional with no cohesion

ΣH
ΣV

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B- Shear Friction Factor (FSF)
Introduced by Henny in 1933
Considers both friction and cohesion for shear resistance
From Mohr –Coulomb

 Shear friction factor is the total resistance to shear and

sliding to the horizontal load ΣH
ΣV

a) When the sliding plane is horizontal

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