CHAPTER FIVE

WATER RETAINING STRUCTURES

Introduction
 Are structure to store water and other liquids
 The water tanks in this chapter are designed on the basis of no
crack theory that is the concrete used are made impervious so that
there will not be any leakage.

 Design of liquid retaining structure is different from ordinary

R.C structures as it requires that:
 concrete should not crack and hence tensile stresses in concrete should be
within permissible limits.

3/26/2021
5.2 JOINTS IN WATER TANKS
1. Free joint (sliding joint)

2. Fixed joint (continuous joint)

3. Hinged joint

3/26/2021
5.2 JOINTS IN WATER TANKS
General Notes
 For sliding bottom edge, water pressure is fully resisted by ring
action
 For the hinged bottom edge, ring tension and maximum moment
take place at the middle part of the wall

 For the fixed bottom edge, the water pressure will be resisted by
ring action in the horizontal direction and cantilever action in the
vertical direction.
 The maximum ring and maximum positive moment will be
smaller than for the hinged bottom edge, while relatively large
negative moment will be induced at the fixed bottom edge of the
wall.

3/26/2021
5.3 Working Stress (Permissible Stress) Method Of Design
Reinforcement required to resist a moment can be calculated by the
following procedure.

From the above stress distribution, we have the relation

3/26/2021
5.3 Working Stress (Permissible Stress) Method Of Design
From moment equilibrium of the section, we have

3/26/2021
5.3.1 PERMISSIBLE STRESSES IN CONCRETE

 To ensure impervious concrete, minimum concrete grade is C-20

 The permissible stresses are given in table below for different
concrete grade.

3/26/2021
5.3.2 PERMISSIBLE STRESSES IN STEEL

The stress in steel must not be allowed to exceed the following values
under different positions to prevent cracking of concrete.

 When steel is placed near the face of the members in contact with
liquid 100 N/mm2 for mild steel Bars.

 When steel is placed on the face away from the liquid: 125 N/ sq
mm for mild steel Bars.

3/26/2021
3/26/2021
5.4 DESIGN OF RECTANGULAR WATER TANK
The main components of a rectangular tank are
 Side wall,
 Base slab and roof slab.
DESIGN OF SIDE WALLS
a). Tank wall having ratio of L/B lesser than 2:
 The tank walls are designed as horizontal
continuous slabs.
 At the bottom portion, the wall is
considered as a vertical cantilever fixed at
the base and subjected to triangular loading
Shown in the next slide.
 The water pressure varying from zero at the top to a maximum
pressure at h =H/4 or 1 m above the base whichever is greater.

3/26/2021
5.4 DESIGN OF RECTANGULAR WATER TANK

 Determination of bending moments:

The corners are designed for the maximum moment obtained after
moment distribution with the intensity of pressure p = w (H-h) and in
the absence of moment distribution the bending moments may be
computed by the following approximate expressions.

3/26/2021
5.4 DESIGN OF RECTANGULAR WATER TANK
Direct Tension in long walls
The water pressures on short walls are transformed into tension to the
long walls. Pressure due to water

Direct tension transformed to each long wall

3/26/2021
5.4 DESIGN OF RECTANGULAR WATER TANK
Direct Tension in short walls
The water pressures on long walls are transformed into tension to the
short walls. Pressure due to water

Direct tension transformed to each short wall

3/26/2021
5.4 DESIGN OF RECTANGULAR WATER TANK
Cantilever moment in short and Long walls.

3/26/2021
5.4 DESIGN OF RECTANGULAR WATER TANK
b). Tank wall having ratio of L/B greater than 2
 The long walls are treated as vertical cantilever fixed at the base
 The short walls are treated as horizontal slabs (bending
horizontally) spanning between the long walls and fixed at ends.
 The lower portion of the short wall for a height of h = H/4 or 1 m
whichever is greater is considered to act as vertical cantilever fixed at
the base.

3/26/2021
5.4 DESIGN OF RECTANGULAR WATER TANK

3/26/2021
5.4 Combined Effect of Bending and Direct Tension
Let’s assume that two equal and opposite force of magnitude equal to
T act on the main reinforcement the wall section can thus be
considered to be subjected to a net BM=M-Tx and a pull T.

Total main reinforcement in horizontal direction is

3/26/2021
5.4 DESIGN OF ROOF SLAB UNDER GROUND WATER TANK
 Roof of small capacity tank are designed as one-way slab or two-
way slab based on the length and width ratio.
 For large capacity tank the roof may be supported by beam
supported on column in regular interval.
 Flat slab type construction is found suitable and economical for
tank roofs.

DESIGN OF UNDERGROUND RECTANGULAR TANK

The most crucial condition of the tank need to be kept under
consideration and that is when the empty and the soil surrounding the
wall is wet. In this case the wall has to sustain the soil pressure in
addition to water pressure.

3/26/2021
5.4 DESIGN OF FLOOR SLAB
For tank resting on ground
 The floor slab is normally made 150 mm to 250 mm thick with 3%
of the gross sectional area reinforced.
 The reinforcement should be provided as a mesh at both top and
bottom of the slab
For overhead tanks the floor slab
 Designed as a one way or a two way slab based on the length to
width ratio of the tank.
 The bending moment due to water load + self-weight+
weight of vertical wall need to be counted for slab design.

3/26/2021
5.5 DESIGN OF CIRCULAR WATER TANK
 Circular water tank has no corner and can be made water tight
easily.
 The side walls are designed for hoop tension and bending moments
 The floor slab should be strong enough to transmit the load from
the liquid and the structure itself.
 The floor slab is usually 150 to 200 mm thick and is reinforced
with nominal reinforcement greater than 0.3%of gross area of concrete
at the top and bottom in the form of mesh.
 The design of circular tanks can be carried out by one of the
following two methods:
1. Mr. H Carpenter’s method
2. Approximate method

3/26/2021
5.5 DESIGN OF CIRCULAR WATER TANK
1. Mr. H Carpenter’s method
• Depending upon the depth of liquid (H) the thickness of the wall is
assumed from the empirical formula
t =(30H+50) mm or, t = 150 mm whichever is greater.

The value of coefficient K and F depend upon H/D and H/t ratio,
which is tabulated in Table below.

3/26/2021
5.5 DESIGN OF CIRCULAR WATER TANK

3/26/2021
5.5 DESIGN OF CIRCULAR WATER TANK
2. APPROXIMATE METHOD
In this method it is assumed that the cantilever effect of the wall will
be present for a height of approximately one fourth of the height of
wall that is H/4 or 1 m whichever is more.

3/26/2021
EXAMPLE 1
A rectangular R.C water tank with an open top is required to store
80000 liters of water. The inside dimensions of tank may be taken as
6mx4m. Design the side walls of the tank using C-20 concrete and
steel of class I. Assume free board of 15cm.
Solution

3/26/2021
EXAMPLE 1

25KN/m2

3/26/2021
EXAMPLE 1

3/26/2021
EXAMPLE 1

3/26/2021
EXAMPLE 1

3/26/2021
EXAMPLE 1

3/26/2021
EXAMPLE 2
A cylindrical tank of capacity 700m3 is resting on good unyielding
ground. The depth of tank is limited to 4.5m. A free board of 500mm
is provided. The wall and the base slab are cast integrally. Design the
tank using C20 concrete and permissible steel stress of 100Mpa on
face near to water face and 125Mpa on face away from water face.
Using the above two methods, Draw
 Plan at base
 Cross section through centre of tank.
Solution

3/26/2021
EXAMPLE 2

3/26/2021
EXAMPLE 2

Effective cover

3/26/2021
EXAMPLE 2

3/26/2021
EXAMPLE 2

3/26/2021
EXAMPLE 2 approximate method

3/26/2021
EXAMPLE 2 approximate method

3/26/2021
Cont ……

3/26/2021