Geological Considerations In

Civil Engineering

Engineering Geology
 Considerations for:

• Selection of site for dams

• Selection of site for reservoirs

• Construction of tunnels

• Construction of mountain roads

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Selection of site for dams

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 Need for dams
• For hydroelectric power generation

• For irrigation purposes

• To obtain water for domestic and industrial

purposes

• For fighting draughts and controlling floods

• For navigational facilities

Additional benefits include development of

fisheries, tourism etc
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 Types of Dams

On the basis of design:

o Gravity dams

o Buttress dams

o Arch dams

o Earth dams

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 1. Gravity dam

• A solid concrete or masonry structures, that

withstands the water pressure, by virtue of its
weight

• All forces acting on the dam are assumed to

be directly transmitted to the foundation rocks

• They are generally of triangular profile and

are among the safest

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 Concrete Gravity
Dam

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[Link]
Grand Coulee Dam on
Columbia river

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[Link]
 2. Buttress dam

• They have a continuous upstream face,

supported at regular intervals, by buttress
walls on the downstream side

• They are lighter than solid dams

• Likely to induce greater stresses at the

foundation, since most of the load passes
through the buttress walls and is not spread
uniformly over the foundation
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 Buttress dam

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[Link]
Buttress Dam on Lower Colorado
Region

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[Link]
 3. Arch dam
• Arch-shaped, convex at the upstream side

• Major portion of the thrust forces acting on

the dam are transmitted by arch action, onto
the abutment rocks

• Structural efficiency is higher than that of

gravity dams, the presence of sound abutments
is a prime necessity

• Uses less amount of concrete

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Idukki Dam

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[Link]
 4. Earth dam
• Non-rigid structures, built with naturally
available materials such as earth and rock

• Ideal, where the dam site is weak to support

concrete dams, or where competent rocks are
found at great depths

Homogenous, with toe drain Homogenous, with chimney drain

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Hirakud Dam, across the Mahanadi, Orissa

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[Link]
 Forces acting on a dam

• Self weight

• Water pressure

• Uplift pressure

• Earthquake forces

• Other forces – due to silt, wave and ice

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 Geological considerations

• Narrow river valley

• Occurrence of bedrock at shallow depth

• Competent rocks to offer stable foundation

• Proper geologic structures

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 1. Narrow river valley
• Narrow valley means smaller dam is required,
and hence, lower costs

Defective valleys include:

o Deceptive narrowing due to thick superficial

deposits

o Narrowing due to rock outcrops

o Presence of soluble material like gypsum,

renders the rocks unsuitable
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 Some defective narrow river valleys

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Chenna Kesavulu
 2. Occurrence of bedrock at shallow depth

• The presence of strong bedrock near the

surface, reduces the cost of the foundation

• The site should be explore using electrical

resistivity or seismic refraction methods, to
assess the nature of the bedrock

• The presence of buried river valleys, huge

boulders gives rise to problems, as they are
composed of lose material

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 3. Competent rocks for stable foundation

• Igneous rocks are safer than sedimentary ones

• Suitability of site depends on:

– The existing rock type

– The extent of weathering undergone

– The extent of fracturing

– The occurrence of geological structures

– The mode and number of rock types

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 4. Proper geologic structures

• Undisturbed strata

• Disturbed strata

– Tilted beds

– Folded strata

– Faulted strata

– Jointed strata

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 Undisturbed strata

Gravity dam on horizontal beds

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 Dam on beds inclined in the upstream direction

Gentle inclination Steep inclination

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 Dam on beds inclined in the downstream direction

Gentle inclination Steep inclination

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 Dam over vertical beds

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 Dam over folded beds

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 Dam over faulted beds

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Selection of site for Reservoirs

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Gibson Reservoir, Montana

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[Link]
 Categorization of Reservoirs

• Storage and conservation reservoirs

• Flood control reservoirs

• Distribution reservoirs

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 Storage Capacity of a Reservoir

Storage capacity is expressed in terms of:

o Useful storage

o Dead storage

o Surcharge storage

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 Reservoir Storage
Capacity

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[Link]
 Geological considerations

• Influence of rock types

• Influence of geological structures

• Influence of water table

• Reservoir silting

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 1. Influence of rock types
• Igneous rocks such as granites are less porous,
hence will afford more stability
• Sedimentary rocks are often porous, but are
more abundant than igneous ones
• Metamorphic rocks like gneisses behave like
granites
• The nature of rocks are important, as they
determine the leakage of water through the
foundations
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 2. Influence of geological structures

• Downstream dip of bedding planes, contribute

to loss of water, development of uplift
pressure

• Water can leak through a tilted permeable

bed extending to a lower valley

• In certain cases, folding and faulting of the

strata can prevent leakage of water

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 Inclined beds and leakage at reservoir sites

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 Leakage at reservoir sites due to geological structure

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 3. Influence of water table

Position of the water-table is the single

most factor influencing the leakage of
reservoir water. Rivers can be of:

o Effluent nature

o Influent nature

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 Influence of water table

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Chenna Kesavulu
 Reservoir silting
• Deposition of sediments by rivers, gradually
reduces the capacity of the reservoirs
• Silting can be controlled by:
– Growing vegetation on loose soil
– Covering weak zones with slabs
– Constructing retaining walls
– Diversion of sediment loaded waters
– Silt outlets
– Check dams and settling basins
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Construction of tunnels

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 Purposes of Tunneling

• For facilitating rail and road traffic

• For public utilities

• For power generation

• For mining activities

• For diverting water during dam construction

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 Tunnel boring machine

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[Link]
 Objects of Geological investigations

• Selection of tunnel alignment

• Selection of excavation method

• Selection of tunnel design

• Assessment of cost and stability

• Assessment of environmental hazards

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 Geological profile along the tunnel axis

Includes information regarding:

o Location and depth of exploratory bore holes

o Types of rocks and their characteristics

o Structure of the rocks

o Hydrological conditions

o Ground temperature conditions

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 Geological Profile

Parbin Singh 47
Formwork installation for tunnel lining

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 Geological considerations

• Types of rocks

• Geological structures

• Ground water conditions

• Overbreak

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 1. Types of rocks
• Igneous rocks

– Competent, but difficult to work with

– Do not require lining

• Sedimentary rocks

– Less competent, compared to igneous

– Sandstones, shales etc are soft, easy to work

– Requires lining

• Metamorphic rocks

– Gneisses are similar to granites 50

 2. Geological structures

• Effect of joints

• Effect of faults

• Effect of folds

• Effect of undisturbed or tilted strata

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 Tunnels in relation to joints, faults and shear zones

Joints parallel to tunnel axis Joints perpendicular to tunnel axis

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 Tunnels parallel to the axis of fold

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 Tunnels perpendicular to the axis of fold

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 Tunnels on thick, inclined or horizontal beds

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 Tunnels along inclined beds

Tunnel along strike of Tunnel along dip of inclined

inclined bed bed

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 3. Ground water conditions

• Tunnel axis passing entirely through impervious

formations

• Tunnel axis mostly above the water table

• Tunnel axis below the water table

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 4. Overbreak
• Tunneling through hard rocks requires the removal
of some rocks outside the proposed perimeter

• This excess quantity of rock removed, is called

the ‘overbreak’

• Geological factors governing the amount of

overbreak are:

– The nature of the rocks

– Orientation of the joints

– Orientation of bedding planes

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 Overbreak

Cases where overbreak is less 59

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 Overbreak (contd)

Cases where overbreak is more

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Construction of roads

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 A road in Vietnam, 1900m above msl

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[Link]
 Influence of Geological factors

• Topography

• Lithological characters

– Consolidated hard rock

– Unconsolidated material

• Geological structures

• Weathering

• Groundwater conditions

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 Geological structures

Road cut parallel to dip Road cut parallel to strike

Beds dip into the hill - safe

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 Geological structures & weathering

Joint sets inclined towards

free face Unequal weathering causing
rock fall

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 Complicated regions for road construction

• Hilly areas - meandering

• Marshy regions - subsidence

• Waterlogged areas – capillary action

• Permafrost regions – blanket action

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 Geological problems after road
construction

• Frost action

– Replacing the porous soil

– Lowering the water table

• Erosion problems

– Provision of interception ditches

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 Reference

• Parbin Singh, Engineering and General Geology, S K

Kataria & Sons

• Chenna Kesavulu, N, Textbook of Engineering Geology,

MacMillan India

• Thompson, G R and J Turk, Introduction to Physical

Geology, Thomson Brooks/Cole

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