GSTF Journal of Engineering Technology (JET) Vol.3 No.
3, October 2015
Measures for Success in Dam Bottom Outlet
Design
Pouya Amirsayafi
Received 02 Aug 2015 Accepted 22 Sep 2015
Abstract— The present paper investigates measures for
successful design of dam bottom outlets. First, some of
definitions and functions of bottom outlets are provided.
Associated challenges and solutions will be discussed.
Different parts of bottom outlets like intake structures,
conduit, control structure and outlet structures are discussed
and measures for successful design for each of them are
presented with related design cases. Also risk management
measures for ensuring successful performance of bottom
outlets are discussed with proper examples.
Keywords— dams; bottom outlet; reservoirs
I. INTRODUCTION
Bottom outlets are constructed to ensure
conveyance of water from dam reservoir into downstream
river and to lower the level of the reservoir. They are called
bottom outlet because of the fact that the intake of the
structure is constructed at a low level close to dam
foundation. Bottom outlet might work either pressurized
or free flowing over some parts of the system. This depends
on the position of outflow against tailwater level, and type
and location of control structure (gates). In addition to
emergency evacuation, bottom outlets can be used for
providing compensation flow of downstream river. They
can also be used to discharge sediment of the reservoir
increasing the economic life of dams. One of the most
important issues in successful design of bottom outlets is
the arrangement and type of structures and gates [1].
II. FUNCTION OF DAM BOTTOM OUTLETS
Bottom outlets are one of the most important
structures in dams which have important role in safety of
dams and regulating reservoir water level. The function of
dam bottom outlet can be one or combination of the
following functions:
A. Reservoir evacuation
1) Reservoir evaculation for inspection and
maintenance
DOI: 10.5176/2251-3701_3.3.150
©The Author(s) 2015. This article is published with open access by the GSTF
111
DOI 10.7603/s40707-014-0030-2
Inspection and maintenance of structures upstream of
dam such as the reservoir, spillway and intake structure for
power plant and conveyance system is possible only when
the water level is at the lower levels of the reservoir.
Therefore, the main function of bottom outlet is reducing
reservoir level to a suitable level and the ability for
maintaining that level according to river flow. Further,
reservoir evacuation after the first impounding is
sometimes necessary for remedial works.
2) Emergency evacuation
Emergency evacuation of reservoir is undertaken
with two major aims for safety of dam. One aim is reducing
forces on the structure of dam in following cases:
 Unconventional leakage in dam or foundation.
 Substantial settlement in dam or foundation.
 Slide in part of dam.
 After earthquakes and crack formation.
Another aim is supporting flood discharge system
(spillway) during:
 Unexpected flood in upstream basin.
 Failure of a dam in the upstream.
 Occurrence of a floods larger than the design flood.
B. Control over first impounding of reservoir
Control over the extent of increase in water level in
reservoir especially in the first impounding is required due
to the reasons below:
 Measurement and inspection of behavior
reservoirs slopes and dam abutments.
 Prevention of induced seismicity.
 Prevention of quick consolidation of foundation
and embankment.
 GSTF Journal of Engineering Technology (JET) Vol.3 No.3, October 2015
C. Provide downstream water demands during first
impounding
This includes supplying environmental, agricultural,
industrial and drinking water demands before reaching the
predetermined water level in reservoir that is necessary for
operation of dam.
D. Providing downstream needs under the condition that
the reservoir must be kept at low levels
During emergency evacuation of reservoir, water level
might be below the level of irrigation or hydropower plant
intake or they might not be working due to maintenance
activities. Under these conditions, bottom outlets provide
downstream demands.
E. Flood evacuation during construction of dam
In some instances by quick construction of bottom
outlets they can be used as part of river diversion works
reducing associated costs. This is possible only when
inflow and outflow of bottom outlets don’t make any
problem for construction of intakes of conveyance system.
F. Flushing
If bottom outlets are constructed close to intake for
conveyance system or hydropower plant, sediments that
might block the intake structures can easily be removed.
Bottom outlets can also evacuate sediments in reservoir
increasing effective volume of reservoir.
G. Supprting for flood discharging system (spillway)
In general, use of bottom outlets as a part of flood
discharging system is not proposed due to the following
reasons:
 In many dams, the flow velocity in bottom outlet
conduit is so high and service gates work under
high water pressure that cause risks to bottom
outlets during floods.
 Under floods, reliability of bottom outlet gates is
less than spillway gates.
 The probability of bottom outlets blockage due to
reservoir sedimentation is high especially in the
final years of operation.
Therefore, except for special cases, this system must
not be used as flood discharging system. If such a function
is considered, bottom outlets must be inspected and
maintained with special requirements.
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112
III. OPERATION
It is of great importance to have a proper operation
of bottom outlets of dams and maintaining them under
favorable conditions to assure function of outlets in
necessary occasions, increasing lifetime of outlets and
decreasing the costs for maintenance and operation.
Continuous inspections to detect problems and adopt
necessary implications to resolve them are among the most
important operational activities. The stages for inspection
of bottom outlets are at three levels of regular and
continuous inspections, periodic and semi-professional
inspections, and specialized inspections with necessary
characteristics of inspectors at each inspection. Inspection
of bottom outlet and its components must be regularly
undertaken and the documents must be maintained by
operator. Inspection and observance of the defects and any
unusual behavior of the structures must be reported
especially after special events and emergencies such as
earthquakes and floods.
A. The problems during operation
The problems which have been reported in operation
of bottom outlets include:
 Cavitation due to high flow velocity. An example
is 128 meter high Libby dam bottom outlet
[2:705] in the U.S which the flow velocity
reached 40 m/s and cavitation had occurred in 50
meter downstream of the service gate.
 Erosion of outlet conduit which discharges flows
with sediment. An example is erosion of Mud
Mountain dam [2:708] outlet in the U.S. In this
case, flow with large debris consisting of 60 cm
rocks and velocity of 9 to 12 m/s caused severe
damage to outlet tunnel.
 Damage due to both erosion and cavitation. In
most cases, damages are due to erosion caused by
flow velocity that increases roughness on
concrete surface beyond allowable roughness
leading to cavitation. An example is outlets of
Sefidrud dam in Iran that is shown in Fig. 1 [3].
 Damages to downstream stilling basin due to
clash of debris with concrete surface such as
Navajo dam [2:702] in the U.S.
 Erosion of the outlet channel downstream of
energy dissipater.
 Malfunction of hydro-mechanical equipment
such as high leakage, vibration and corrosion of
gates.
 GSTF Journal of Engineering Technology (JET) Vol.3 No.3, October 2015

 Providing debris control.

 Providing diver friendly design for example
designing overhead crane.
 Considering 50% clogging of trashracks for
hydraulic calculations.
 Considering vibration and fatigue for design of
trashrack or trashstrut bars.
 If possible, designing bulkhead gate for
inspection purposes and emergency situation.
As an example, intake structure of Nazloo dam
bottom [4] outlet is shown in Fig. 2. The characteristics of
Figure 1. Damages in Sefidroud dam outlet the dam are presented in Table I. As it is shown in Fig. 2,
the entrance after the trashrack is designed with bell mouth
B. Operation of bottom outlets shape to minimize the head loss of entrance. Also
Some of the problems associated with operation of separation of the flow from surface would be avoided. Also
bottom outlets derive from inappropriate design and lack of a bulkhead gate is designed to block the flow to the conduit
suitable inspection and maintenance. Since bottom outlets so that inspection of conduit would be possible in
are not constantly used, it is required to undertake bottom emergency cases. The bulkhead gate is controlled from
outlets operation at least once a year so as to get assured of dam crest level.
suitable operational conditions of different components of
bottom outlets. With regard to the problems and issues
observed during operation, compliance with the following
factors are necessary to get assured of suitable function of
bottom outlets:
 Free flow conduit downstream of control room
must have a uniform and smooth surface; due to
high velocity, any misalignment can cause
cavitation.
 Air vents must be inspected to make sure that
there is no blockage for air conduit.
 Downstream stilling basins must be cleansed
from debris that might cause erosion.
 Intake structure must not be blocked by debris.
 Conduit upstream and downstream of service
gates must be inspected.
 Mechanical equipment must be inspected.

IV. MEASURES FOR SUCCESSFUL DESIGN

A. Intake structure
For intake structure design, general hydraulic,
structural and geotechnical considerations must be
included. Foundation strength especially for earthquake
loads is important. Deterioration of concrete material Figure 2. Intake structure of Nazloo dam bottom outlet
leading to weakness of structure must be considered. Other
measures can be as follows:

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 GSTF Journal of Engineering Technology (JET) Vol.3 No.3, October 2015

TABLE I. NAZLOO DAM AND ITS BOTTOM OUTLET dam body and for embankments dams are usually
CHARACTERISTICS
constructed as cast in place concrete structure or
Nazloo dam characteristics manufactured pipes with concrete cover. Size of the
Location North West of Iran conveyance system is based on maximum release and
inspectability and serviceability must be taken into account
Dam type Earthfil with clay core
during design. For embankment dams it is important to
Dam height 105 m have piping protection around conduits and for clay core
embankment dams it is important to have free surface flow
Reservoir volume 168 million cubic metres
in the conduit downstream of clay core or grout curtain to
Service gate dimensions 1.8 m × 2 m (width × height) avoid seepage into embankment. Other measures can be as
follows:
Emergency gate dimensions 1.8 m × 2.2 m (width × height)

Discharge capacity 109 m3/s  Selecting appropriate conduit material.

 Providing measures to prevent seepage into
Velocity in tunnel 9.3 m/s
embankment
Velocity in steel pipe 29.5 m/s  Designing adequate transitions in the conduit to
Reservoir evacuation time 36 days
reduce head loss and avoid separation of flow
from surface
Gate chamber and conveyance system of Nazloo dam
B. Conveyance system and control structure bottom outlet [4] are shown in Fig. 3. In this case, the gate
chamber is designed in the middle of the conduit so that
Conveyance system usually consists of a conduit that after the gates there is no pressurized flow in the conduit.
is placed through dam body, at foundation level on As shown, it is important to have emergency guard
abutments or dam body, and diversion tunnels on facilities for the service gates.
abutments. For concrete dams, conduit usually is placed in

Figure 3. Longitudinal profile of Nazloo dam bottom outlet

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 GSTF Journal of Engineering Technology (JET) Vol.3 No.3, October 2015

Figure 4. Sections of outlet structure of Nazloo dam bottom outlet

C. Outlet structure by sudden change in elevation, local increase in velocity,

turbulence, vortices and separation. Cavitation damage can
Outlet structure are constructed downstream end of
be controlled by geometry modification and aeration. Steps
bottom outlets to dissipate devastating energy of high
in cavitation control are as follows:
velocity outflows. The degree of the need for energy
dissipation and erosion protection depends on velocity of  Calculation of water surface profiles.
outflow, strength of foundation and frequency of bottom  Computing pressure head.
outlet operation.
 Cavitation index Computation.
In designing the outlet structure, flow condition in
 Improving geometry of the structure where
downstream flow has an important role. The flow condition
cavitation is predicted.
in downstream river has uncertainties. The most important
uncertainty is the Manning’s roughness coefficient. The  If cavitation still predicted, the flow has to be
coefficient cannot be calculated perfectly and it might aerated.
change over time. In order to cover all flow conditions in  Modifying structure because of the increase of
design of the outlet structure, upper and lower ranges for air-water depth.
Manning’s coefficient discharge must be considered. For
calculation of outlet structure apron, the lower range can be
considered and for calculation of level of outlet structure
walls, upper range can be considered to avoid submergence
of the structure and damages. V. RISK MANAGEMENT

An example of the outlet structure of Nazloo dam
bottom outlet [4] is shown in Fig. 4. In this project, the
outlet structure of river diversion tunnel is actually used for
outlet structure and energy dissipation of bottom outlet
outflow. A transition from conduit outlet to the stilling
basin is designed to avoid separation of the flow from
surface.
D. Cavitation control
Formation of void in a flow is defined as cavitation.
Local pressure lower than vapor pressure causes cavitation.
Local pressure reduction along flow stream can be caused
Failure of bottom outlet could discharge reservoir
water into downstream river. Possible scenarios should be
considered for failure of bottom outlets. These could be
failure of outlet gates to open or complete removal of gates
causing uncontrolled flow release from the reservoir. In
some cases failure of bottom outlet has led to sever
damages downstream of dams like Massingir Dam [5] in
Mozambique in May 2008 that caused huge structural
damages to outlet structures (Fig. 5).

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 GSTF Journal of Engineering Technology (JET) Vol.3 No.3, October 2015
Figure 5. Damages to outlet structure of Massingir Dam
Also bottom outlet failures can result
consequences like:
 Inability to regulate required release of water.
 Mechanical malfunction that might
evacuation of reservoir.
 Uncontrolled release of water.
Most problems are related to high velocity condition
such as erosion, vibration damages, cavitation and
inadequate energy dissipation. Failure modes include
foundation, structural and mechanical deterioration and
failure; loss of power; hydraulic related failures; and
operator error. Examples for failure modes of intake
structure could be foundation failure, deterioration of
concrete because of aging and exposure to water with
unusual PH, cavitation, blockage of trahsracks or
trashstruts, and blockage by sediment accumulation.
Conveyance system and control structure failure modes
could be erosion of embankment into the conveyance
system, piping along conduit interface, differential
settlement of conduit, leakage from conduit into
embankment, failure to open or close control devices,
corrosion and deterioration of conduit, and loss of power.
For outlet structure most common mode of failure is
uncontrolled erosion of exit channel.
©The Author(s) 2015. This article is published with open access by the GSTF
IV. CONCLUSION
The role of dam bottom outlet is to provide efficient
and flexible operation of the dam and reservoir. Measures
for success in design of dam bottom outlet can be
summarized as having smooth flow for maximum
discharge, effective energy dissipation at outlet structure,
no leakage, simple application, easy access, economic
design and long life. Where the surrounding area of bottom
outlet conduit is not saturated like downstream of dam
impervious core or grout curtain, free surface flow must be
designed to avoid leakage and associated risks. Flow
condition in downstream river has important role in outlet
structure of bottom outlet and uncertainty of the flow
condition in river must be taken into account for deign of
outlet structures. For risk management, failure modes of
different part of the system must be taken into account to
ensure reliable system throughout its economic life. All
these measure are important and crucial in successful
design of bottom outlets of dams.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author wishes to thank Absaran Consulting
Engineers for the opportunity to prepare and present this
in paper and for the input provided by the company reports.
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Reinhold, 1988,ch. 22, pp 704-721.
[3] R. Kolachian, A. Abbaspour and F. Salmasi, “Aeration in Bottom
Outlet Conduits of Dams for Prevention of Cavitatio” Journal of
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[4] Absaran Consulting Engineers, “ Hydraulic design report of Nazloo
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AUTHOR’S PROFILE

Pouya Amirsayafi is a Senior Dam Engineer with 13 years of

experience as project manager and design engineer. He holds master’s
degree in Civil Engineering and over his career successfully
completed numerous projects; including planning and feasibility
studies, project optimization, detailed design of new projects,
upgrading of existing structures and support during construction. He
currently studies Master of Engineering Science – Project
Management; School of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

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