++

Dam Engineering II

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Student name: Jeen Ahmed Husni

Course: Dams Engineering II
Instructor: Sarhan
Date: 2/7/2020
CHAPTER 1 |TYPES OF EARTH DAMS.................................................2
INTRODUCTION:......................................................................................................2
ABSTRACT...............................................................................................................2
TYPES OF EARTH DAM..........................................................................................2
HOMOGENEOUS EARTH DAM..........................................................................3
MODIFIED HOMOGENEOUS EMBANKMENT...................................................3
ZONED EARTH DAM...........................................................................................4
DIAPHRAGM-TYPE EARTH DAMS....................................................................5
FACTORS INFLUENCING THE DESIGN OF AN EMBANKMENT DAM...........5
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................6

CHAPTER 2|GENERAL DESIGN CRITERIA FOR EARTH DAMS.........7

INTRODUCTION:......................................................................................................7
CRITERIA FOR EARTH DAM...................................................................................7
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................8

CHAPTER 3|TYPICAL CROSS SECTION OF EARTH DAM..................9

THE SELECTION OF A CERTAIN TYPE OF EARTH DAM...............................9

REFERENCES........................................................................................10

1 1
 2

CHAPTER 1 |TYPES OF EARTH DAMS

INTRODUCTION:
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams
not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human
consumption, industrial use, aquaculture, and navigability. Hydropower is often used in
conjunction with dams to generate electricity. A dam can also be used to collect water or for
storage of water which can be evenly distributed between locations. Dams generally serve the
primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees (also
known as dikes) are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions.

ABSTRACT
There are many types of Dams one of them is Embankment Dam and there are two type of
embankment Dam 1-earh dam 2-ruckfill dam depending on the predominant fill material used
where the bulk of the mass in an earth-fill dam consists of soil, while in the rock-fill dam it
consists of rock material.
Earth Dams are constructed when local borrow materials do not provide adequate quantities
of impervious material. A vertical core located near the center of the dam is preferred over an
inclined upstream core because the former provides higher contact pressure between the core
and foundation to prevent leakage, greater stability under earthquake loading, and better
access for remedial seepage control. An inclined upstream core allows the downstream
portion of the embankment to be placed first and the core later and reduces the possibility of
hydraulic fracturing. However, for high dams in steep-walled canyons the overriding
consideration is the abutment topography.
Earth dams, also called earthen or earth-filled dams are generally built in or near drainage line
which has the variety of purposes including domestic water supplies, agricultural irrigation,
water for landscape improvement and others. One advantage of the Earth dams is because it
can adapt to a weak foundation provided proper consideration is given to the foundation and
design of the Earth dams. However, failure of any important part of the Earth dams such as
seepage, structural and foundation will lead to the collapse of the whole dam.

TYPES OF EARTH DAM

Earth dams are further divided into the following types:
1-Homogeneous earth dam, and
2-Zoned earth dam.
3- diaphragm-type earth dams

2
 3

HOMOGENEOUS EARTH DAM

Homogeneous earth dams are constructed entirely or almost entirely of one type of earth
material This may be small particles placed by hydraulic means, or compacted earth or
gravels that are handled and compacted mechanically. and itis usually built when only one
type of material is economically available and/or the height of the dam is not very large. A
homogeneous earth dam of height exceeding about 6 to 8 m
Homogenous Earth Dam is a kind of common earth dams which consist of two main
components; the impervious to semi-pervious structure and the toe filter and the drain. The
purpose of the filter and the drain is to provide a through way for seepage to exit the dam
structure without causing erosion. This type of dam is usually built on an impervious
foundation such as solid rock or clay.

Basic properties required in the material for an homogeneous embankment or for the
core of a rockfill dam are:

 It must be sufficiently impervious to prevent excessive loss of water through the dam,
the acceptable loss being determined by the safety of the structure and the value of the
lost water;
 It must be capable of being placed and consolidated to give a practically homogeneous
mass, free from potential paths of percolation, either through the fill or along its
contact with the foundation;
 The soil should develop a maximum practical shear strength under compaction and
maintain most of it after the filling of the reservoir;
 It must not consolidate, soften or liquify upon saturation

MODIFIED HOMOGENEOUS EMBANKMENT

A completely homogenous dam embankment, with flatter slopes, may reduce seepage
discharge, but at the same time increases volume of the dam material to a large extent.
Therefore, the dam embankment must be provided with toe drainage systems to reduce
construction costs of the dam. In this case, the dam is called a modified homogeneous
embankment, should always have some type of drain as show in figure(1) ) constructed of
material more pervious than the embankment soil. Such drains reduce pore pressures in the
downstream portion of the dam and thus increase the stability of the downstream slope.

(a) Rock toe or toe drain (b) Horizontal blanket drain (c) Chimney drain
Fig(1) typical cross section of homogenous earth dam

3
 4

ZONED EARTH DAM

A zoned earth dam, contains materials of different kinds in different parts of the embankment
it fine soils (silts or clays) at the center of the dam (the “core”) to hold back the water, and
sand, gravel or rockfill in the upstream and downstream parts of the dam (the “shells”) to
provide the strength needed for stability of the embankment and its also most common type of
an earth dam usually adopted is the zoned earth dam as it leads to an economic and more
stable design of the dam. In a zoned earth dam (Fig. 2), there is a central impervious core
which is flanked by zones of more pervious material. The pervious zones, also known as
shells, enclose, support, and protect the impervious core. The upstream shell provides stability
against rapid drawdowns of reservoir while the downstream shell acts as a drain to control the
line of seepage and provides stability to the dam during its construction
A diaphragm dam, can be used when there is no impervious layer below the dam and
modification of the dam can be made to suit at an impervious layer. Besides, this type of dam
is limited to a height of 8.0m in order to keep seepage forces at a safe level.
These are dams with the central portions called core or hearting made from materials which
are relatively impervious. The thickness of the core wall is made sufficiently thick to prevent
leakage of water through the body of the dam.

Water surface Water surface

Thin core Filters Ro

Rock ck Filters
(Shell)
Shell Rock or Thick Rock or
core gravel
gravel

(a) Thin sloping core dam (b) Thick sloping core dam

Core
Filter Filter
Shell
Rock
She or Rock or
ll gravel gravel

(c) Central core dam

Fig.2 Typical sections of zoned earth dam

4
 5

DIAPHRAGM-TYPE EARTH DAMS

This type of dam is constructed with pervious materials, with a thin impervious diaphragm in
the central part to prevent seepage of water. The thin impervious diaphragm may be made of
impervious clayey soil, cement concrete or masonry or any impervious material.
The diaphragm can be constructed in the central portion or on the upstream face of the dam.
The main difference in zoned and diaphragm type of dams depend on the thickness of the
impervious core or diaphragm. The thickness of the diaphragm is not more than 10 m,
Diaphragm-type dams have a thin central section of concrete, steel, or timber which serves as
a water barrier, while the surrounding earth or rock till provides stability.

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE DESIGN OF AN EMBANKMENT DAM

1- MATERIALS AVAILABLE FOR CONSTRUCTION
One of the main advantages of an embankment dam is the availability of construction
material free of charge at or near the dam site. Depending upon the type of material
available, the designed embankment may either be a homogeneous earth dam (when the

5
 6

soil available is impervious), a zoned earth dam (when both pervious and impervious soils
are available) or a rock-fill dam (if rock is available and impervious material is not). The
design may also incorporate use of materials from required excavation (for spillway
construction) for reasons of economy.
2- FOUNDATION CHARACTERISTICS
An embankment dam can be constructed on almost any kind of foundation. Foundation
characteristics mainly affect the foundation treatment which, in some cases, may be the
most difficult and important part of the design and construction of an embankment dam.
Besides, the embankment dimensions would be considerably influenced. For example, a
softer foundation would necessitate an embankment with flatter slopes, broader cross-
section, a larger freeboard (to mitigate the effects of embankment settlement),
considerations for differential settlement cracks, and measures for control of under
seepage to avoid the danger of piping.
3- CLIMATE
It is generally difficult to handle fine-grained soils during the rainy season and control the
construction moisture content of the fine-grained soils in arid regions. As such, if the
construction of the embankment has to be carried out during the rainy season, it is
advisable to have sloping core embankment. Similarly, in arid regions, one extra year may
be required for constructing a small reservoir for storing flood runoff for the purpose of
construction of the dam.
4- SHAPE AND SIZE OF VALLEYS
A dam site with broad valleys and gently sloping abutments may not affect the design of
an embankment. However, narrow valleys and steep abutments may necessitate special
design provisions. For example, because of the limited working space in a narrow valley, a
simpler design requiring few special construction provisions is preferable. If the
construction and maintenance of haul roads on the abutments at different elevations
become difficult and costly, one may have to design a rock-fill embankment which can be
constructed by dumping rock in high lifts from relatively few haul roads.
5- EARTHQUAKE ACTIVITY
In regions of seismic activity, the designer may have to adopt more conservative design
features such as better filters, downstream drains of larger capacity, thicker cores of
more piping resistant materials, flatter side slopes, longer construction time, and so on.
6- RIVER DIVERSION
7- PROBABLE WAVE ACTION
8- TIME AVAILABLE FOR CONSTRUCTION
9- FUNCTION OF THE RESERVOIR

CONCLUSION
The choice of a type of dam is imposed by natural conditions in many cases. For example, if
the rock substratum is at a depth of more than 5 metres, the only reasonable alternative will
be a fill dam. In some regions, the geological context is such that only one type of dam is

6
 7

usually built. In other cases, the choice of dam type will be a compromise between different
aspects - type of foundation, availability of materials in the vicinity, hydrology – to arrive at
the best option economically speaking. Site conditions and choice of type of dam are closely
interrelated. Further, in case of embankment dams, site conditions considerably influence the
design of the dam , for example homogeneous earth dam itis usually built when only one
type of material is economically available and/or the height of the dam is not very large but
zoned earth dam contains materials of different kinds in different parts of the embankment or
diaphragm dam This type of dam is constructed with pervious materials, with a thin
impervious diaphragm therefore we will make the dams that suitable for our circumstances .

CHAPTER 2|GENERAL DESIGN CRITERIA FOR EARTH

DAMS

INTRODUCTION:
The successful design, construction, and operation of a reservoir project over the full range
of loading require a comprehensive site characterization, a detailed design of each feature,
construction supervision, measurement and monitoring of the performance, and the
continuous evaluation of the project features during operation. The design and
construction of earth and rock-fill dams are complex because of the nature of the varying
foundation conditions and range of properties of the materials available for use in the
embankment and The major causes of failure of an embankment dam are overtopping,
piping, and earth slides in a portion of the embankment and its foundation (due to
insufficient shear strength). Of these, overtopping is the most common cause of complete
and catastrophic failure of an embankment dam.

The design of an embankment dam must meet the following safety requirements:

CRITERIA FOR EARTH DAM

1- There is no danger of overtopping. For this purpose, spillway of adequate capacity
and sufficient freeboard must be provided.
2- The seepage line is well within the downstream face so that horizontal piping may
not occur Seepage flow through the embankment is controlled so that the amount lost
does not interfere with the objective of the dam and there is no erosion or sloughing
of soil. In this respect, seepage line should remain well within the downstream face
of the dam and the portion of the dam on downstream side of the impervious core
should be well drained.
3- The upstream and downstream slopes are flat enough to be stable with the materials

7
 8

used for the construction of embankment for all conditions during construction,
operation, and sudden drawdown.
4- The shear stress induced in the foundation is less than the shear strength of the
foundation material. For this purpose, the embankment slopes should be sufficiently
flat.
5- The upstream and downstream faces are properly protected against wave action and
the action of rain water, respectively
6- stresses imposed by the embankment upon the foundation are less than the strength
of material in the foundation with a suitable factor of safety.
7- There should not be any possibility of free passage of water through the embankment
8- Foundation seepage should not result in piping at the downstream toe of the dam.
9- The top of the da-m must be high enough to allow for the settlement of the dam and its
foundation
10- The foundations, abutments, and embankment must be stable for all conditions of
operation (steady seepage and sudden drawdown) and construction.
11- The crest and downstream face should be protected against erosion by rain and wind
12- The upstream face is properly protected ((stone pitching, riprap, revetment) against
erosion caused by wave action, and the downstream face is protected (counter-booms,
turfs) against the action of rain
13- The dam should have an economic section. The material for construction of the dam
must be brought from the nearby of the dam as much as possible

CONCLUSION
Potential failures of dams have always been great importance and much attention has been
given to safety evaluation and research due to their disastrous effects. Potential failures of
earth dam can be grouped into three categories: Hydraulics failure, seepage failure and
structural failures first one Hydraulics Failure occurs by the surface erosion of the dam by
water. Hydraulics failure is due to several reasons. One of hydraulics failure is overtopping of
dams. Overtopping failure occurs when the level of the reservoir exceeds the capacity of the
dam, Overtopping may also be caused by insufficient freeboard provided. Next, erosion of
upstream force due to continuous wave action caused erosion of the dam. However, this can
be avoided if the surface is protected by stone rip-rap and filter. The next reason is due to
erosion of downstream slope by rain water. Although the downstream face of the
embankment is not affected by reservoir water, it may get eroded by heavy rain flowing down
the face of the dam, causing the formation of gullies and finally collapse of the whole dam
second failure is Seepage failure is also known as piping failure. Seepage failures are
generally caused by pervious foundation, leakage through embankments, conduit leakage and
sloughing. All dams have seepage as the impounded water seeks path of least resistance
through the dam structure and its foundation. If the surface seepage intersects the upstream
face of the dam, erosion may occur which will lead to possible failure of the dam. Typical
method used to control the quantity of seepage is rock fills installed at the downstream toe or
gravel blankets to intersect the line of seepage before it reaches downstream toe and the third

8
 9

type is Structural failure includes failure of the upstream, downstream slopes of the earth
dam, foundation as well as cracking deformation and settlement of the dam structure that may
lead to overtopping or seepage failure. Slides in Embankment occur when the slopes are too
steep for the shear strength of the embankment material to resist the stresses imposed. Failure
of this type usually cause by faulty design and construction. As for foundation failure, it
occurs because of excessive pore water pressure which reduces the strength of the soil which
it may not be able to resist the shear stresses induced by the embankment. Furthermore,
damage caused by burrowing animals lead to structural failure. This causes seepage water to
flow out quickly, carrying fine materials along which consequently leads to piping failure
within the structure of the dam and finally lead to a complete collapse of the dam.

CHAPTER 3|TYPICAL CROSS SECTION OF EARTH DAM

THE SELECTION OF A CERTAIN TYPE OF EARTH DAM cross-section is

according to the available material and foundation conditions.
There are three possibilities:
1- Only pervious soil is available:

If only pervious soil such as sand and gravel are available in the vicinity of the project, a
diaphragm type of earth dam shall be adopted. This is because, impervious soil such as
clay should be imported, therefore a thin core is constructed.

1.1 Pervious dam body and base is impervious

1.2 Pervious dam body and base is pervious
1.3 Pervious dam body and base is pervious to a limited extent and impervious onward

2- Only impervious soil is available:

If only impervious soils e.g. clays and silts are available then a homogeneous cross section
is adopted. The slopes of the embankment should be flat because of the lower shear
strength of the impervious soils. Provision for drainage at D/S must be made in order to
reduce pore water pressure.

2.1 Impervious dam body and base is also impervious

2.2 Impervious dam body and base is pervious

3- Pervious and impervious both types of soil are available:

When both pervious and impervious soils are available is sufficient quantities, a zoned
dam is preferable to the other types. Either a vertical core or a horizontal one shall be
adopted.

3.1 Pervious dam body, base is pervious up to some extent and impervious onwards

9
 1

3.2 Pervious dam body and base is pervious

3.3 Pervious dam body and base is impervious

REFERENCES

[1] Irrigation and Water Resources Engineering By Asawa, G.L Book

[2] https://www.aboutcivil.org/dams.html
[3] https://www.aboutcivil.org/embankment-dams-types.html
[4] http://community.dur.ac.uk/~des0www4/cal/dams/emba/ehomo.htm
[5] https://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=71887
[6] https://theconstructor.org/water-resources/earthfill-dams-its-classification/2273/
[7] https://theconstructor.org/water-resources/criteria-for-design-of-earth-dams/2278/

1
 1

[8] https://www.ukessays.com/essays/environmental-sciences/design-and-construction-
fundamentals-of-earth-dams-environmental-sciences-essay.php