EMBANKMENT DAM ENGINEERING (CE4210 )

ROCKFILL DAMS
• Rockfill dam is a type of water retaining barrier.
It is constructed with fragmentrary rock to form an embankment
support necessary to withstand reservoir water pressure.
• An impervious membrane is generally placed on the upstream face of
the dam which is connected to a cutoff wall extending into the
foundation materials.
• The mass stability is developed by the friction and inter-reaction of
one particle on another rather than by any cementing agent that
binds the particles together.

• There are three major parts of Rockfill dams

(i) Fill of loose rock by dumping or compaction by roller.
(ii) Impervious membrane made of masonry, concrete, steel sheet
piles, asphaltic concrete,timber etc. and
(iii) Transition layer.
 Advantages of rockfill dams

(i) Economical in remote areas where cost of cement for concrete dam
is very high.
(ii) where suitable materials for earth dam are not available.
(iii) Cheaper where suitable hard rock is available.
(iv) Suitable where foundation is not suitable for concrete dam.
(v) Can be constructed with relatively unskilled labour.
(vi) Height may be raised without much difficulty.
 Disadvantages of rockfill dams

(i) Construction time is more than the concrete dam.

(ii) More construction equipment is required,
(iii) Harder foundation is require in comparison to earthen dam, and
(iv) High maintenance cost.
 Settlement of Rockfill Dam
• Total vertical settlement is more than 5 % of height occurred in some
rockfill dams.
• Initial settlement may be larger.
• The subsequent settlement, after the impervious facing should not
exceed 2 % of the height of the dam.
 Spillways and Free board
• Spillway is very essential for rockfill dams to prevent from the over
topping in high floods.
• Spillways suitable for an earth dams are also suitable for rockfill dams.
• Side channel spillway and saddle spillway are preferred.
• Most of the failures of rockfill dams have occurred by overtopping.
• Free board is also provided above ponding elevation during the
maximum estimated flood.
 Types of Rockfill Dam
Composite Earth and Rockfill

Central earth core dam

Inclined upstream side earth core

dam

Upstream earth core dam

Rock with a thin membrane or

diaphragm to hold water
 Advantages of central earth core

• Central earth core dam yield readily to settlement of the rock fill
without damage.
• Self healing with respect to any cracks which might be formed.
• Due to self healing property, there is less seepage than rock fill dams
with a concrete face.
 Rockfill Materials
• The quality of the rock is a major factor in the choice of a rockfill dam and in the design of the
structure. Extensive testing is necessary to judge whether the rock is suitable for construction.
• Quarrying - The cost of drilling and blasting constitutes a large part of the unit price of rockfill.
Quartzite has excellent qualities for rockfill dam but it is costly to drill. The methods of rock
breaking up is also very important, sandstone produces large amount of fines, others produce flat
slate pieces which do not lend themselves to dumped rockfilling.
• Rock Durability - Accelerated durability test is performed , where the samples are subjected to
alternate wet and dry or freez and thaw cycles. Compressive strength tests are also performed
after each series of wet-dry and freeze-thaw cycles.
• Strength - Generally in high dams where crushing of the edges of rock pieces will results in
settlement. In general strengths of over 35MPa or more are desirable for dams over 40m, while
strengths as low as 14MPa are suitable for dams less than 15m in height.
• Petrography - The study of the rock under chemical reaction and under a microscope to establish
rock breakage.
Suitablity of different types of rock for rockfill dams

Likely to be satisfactory Likely to be unsatisfactory

Granite, diorite Shale
Gneiss Slate
Basalt Schist
Sandstone Siltstone
Dense limestone Porous limestone
Dolomite Chalky limestone
Quartzite
Massive Schist