Lecture Six HSI

DAM Introduction
1
Embankment Dam
• Earth dams for the storage of water for irrigation have
been built since the earliest times.
– These dams were however, limited in height but not
necessarily in extent.
• Earth dams are now being built to unprecedented

heights.
– Sites which have hitherto been considered unfit for the
construction of darns are now being exploited.
– Development of soil mechanics, study of behavior of earth
dams, and the development of better construction
2
techniques have all been helpful
Embankment Dam
• In spite of these developments it is difficult to
establish mathematical solutions to the problems
of design,
– and many of its components are still guided by
experience or judgment.
• For a realistic design of an earth dam it is
necessary that the foundation conditions and
materials of construction are thoroughly
investigated.
• It is also necessary that controlled methods of
construction are used to achieve necessary
degree of compaction at predetermined moisture.
3
Embankment Dam
4
Embankment Dam
5
Rock fill dam
6
Earth Dams
7
Characteristics of dams
Earthen Embankment dams
• Near the site there must be clay to fill the trench and
embanking material capable of standing safely,
without slipping, to hold up a clay core.
• An advantage of earthen embankments is that

troubles due to the deterioration of the structure by
peaty waters of low pH do not arise.
8
EARTH DAMS
• An earth dam is made of earth (or soil) and resists the
forces exerted upon it mainly due to shear strength of
the soil.
• are usually built in wide valleys having flat slopes at
flanks (abutments).
• can be homogeneous when the height of the dam is
not great.
• are of zoned sections, with an impervious zone (called
core) in the middle and relatively pervious zones
(called shells or shoulders) enclosing the impervious
zone on both sides. 9
EARTH DAMS
• Nowadays majority of dams constructed are of this
type.
• The highest dams of the world are earth dams
(Rongunsky dam Rusia, 325 m and Nurek dam,
Rusia, 317 m) as well as the largest capacity dams
(New Cornelia dam, USA and Tarbela dam, Pakistan).
• The highest dam of India is Tehri dam (261 m), which
is earth and rockfill type. Hirakund dam (Orissa) is the
longest earthen dam of the world (25.3 km).
10
EARTH DAMS
Advantages
• are usually cheaper than gravity dams if suitable earth
for construction is available near the site.
• can be constructed on almost all types of foundations,
provided suitable measures of foundation treatment
and seepage control are taken.
• can be constructed in a relatively short period.
• skilled labor is not required in construction of an earth
dam.
• can be raised subsequently.
• are aesthetically more pleasing than gravity dams.
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• are more earthquake-resistant than gravity dams.
Earth Dam
• Disadvantages
• are not suitable for narrow gorges with steep slopes.
• cannot be designed as an overflow section. A spillway
has to be located away from the dam.
• cannot be constructed in regions with heavy
downpour, as the slopes might be washed away.
• maintenance cost of an earth dam is quite high. It
requires constant supervision.
• sluices cannot be provided in a high earth dam to
remove slit.
• fails suddenly without any sign of imminent failure. A
sudden failure causes havoc and untold miseries. 12
Composite Dams
• Not only can different types of dam can be built in the
same valley, but the same dam can be of different
types owing to the varying geological and
topographical features of the dam site.
• Many buttress dams also join up with gravity mass
concrete dams at their haunches at the sides of the
valley, and again at the centre have a mass concrete
gravity dam to form a suitable overflow or spillway.
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14
15
Embankment Dam
• Embankment dam is a water impounding
structure constructed from fragmental natural
materials excavated or obtained close to the dam
site.
• The natural fill materials are placed and

compacted without the addition of any binding
agent, using high capacity mechanical plant.
• They rely on their weight to resist the flow of

water, just like concrete gravity dams.
16
Embankment Dam
• Embankment dam derive its strength from
position, internal friction and mutual attraction of
particles.
• Relative to concrete dams, embankment dams

offer more flexibility;
– and hence can deform slightly to conform to deflection
of the foundation without failure.
• Broadly, depending upon the material used during

construction, embankment dams are classified in
to two: Earth or Rock fill Embankments 17
Embankment Dam
• Earth fill Embankments:
– if compacted soils, i.e. clays/silts & sands, account for
over 50% of the placed volume of material
• Rock fill Embankment:

– if compacted rock particles larger than a man can easily
lift, i.e. coarse grained frictional material, accounts for
over 50% of the placed volume of materials.
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Embankment Dam
• Embankment dam possesses many outstanding
merits which could be summarized as follows:
– Suitability of the type to different site conditions
such as wide valleys, steep sided gorges, etc.
– Adaptability to a broad range of foundation condition
such as rock and pervious soil formation,
– use of natural materials,
– Extreme flexibility to accommodate different fill
materials,
– Highly mechanized and effectively continuous
construction process,
– Appreciable accommodation of settlement-deformation
without risk of serious cracking and possible failure. 19
Embankment Dam
• The relative disadvantages of the embankment
dam are
– Inherently susceptible to damage or destruction
by overtopping
– Necessity of separate spillway structure
– Vulnerability to concealed leakage and internal
erosion in dam or foundation
20
Embankment Dam
Key elements and appurtenances of
Embankment dam
• Every embankment dam consists of three basic
components
– plus a number of appurtenances which enable the
basic components to function efficiently
1. Foundation
2. Core / membrane
3. Shell
21
Embankment Dam
Key elements and appurtenances of
Embankment dam
1. Foundation:
• The foundation of embankment dam could either
be earth or rock material.
• The foundation provides support resisting both
vertical and horizontal loads.
• It may also resist seepage beneath the
embankment
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Embankment Dam
• The essential requirements of a foundation for an.
earth dam are
– That it provides stable support for the embankment
under all conditions of saturation and loading, and
– That it provides sufficient resistance to seepage to
prevent piping and excessive loss of water.
• In general foundations may be grouped into three
main classes:
1. Rock foundations,
2. Pervious foundations, and
3. Impervious foundations.
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Cross section of typical earth dams
Silt
Sandy
Silt clay gravel
(a) Simple zoned embankment
Clay
Silt Rock-fill toe
Silt core
Pervious strata Transition zone
Pervious foundation
(b) Earth dam with core extending to impervious foundation

Cross section of typical earth dams
Clay blanket Sandy

Silt
Silt clay gravel
Pervious material
Concrete cutoff wall
(c) Earth dam on pervious material

Embankment Dam
• Rock Foundations
• These foundations, including shale generally do
not present any problem of bearing strength.
• The principal considerations are erosive leakage,

excessive loss of water through joints, fissures,
crevices, permeable strata and along fault planes,
etc.
– Grouting is usually done to treat this type of foundation.
26
Embankment Dam
• Pervious Foundations
• Often the foundations for earth dams consist of
recent alluvial deposits composed of relatively
pervious sand and gravels overlying impervious
geological formations like rock or clay.
• There are two basic problems with which these

types of foundations are associated viz.
– excessive amount of under seepage, and
– piping and boils caused by forces exerted due to
seepage.
27
Embankment Dam
• Pervious Foundations
• The treatment which may be provided to control
these problems is governed by the thickness of
pervious strata
– whether the pervious foundation extend to a moderate
depth or
– to an infinite depth.
28
Embankment Dam
Pervious Foundations
• Loose fine sand or coarse silt deposits in a
foundation present one of the most difficult
problems.
• The difficulty arises not only due to low strength or
high compressibility of the loose sand, but also
through a phenomenon known as liquefaction.
• A certain fine uniform sand in a loose condition
when subjected to sudden applications of shock
(as in earth quake) loses all its shear strength and
behaves as though it were a heavy viscous fluid.
29
Embankment Dam
• This phenomenon (liquefaction) is exhibited by
uniform sands which are very fine and consists of
rounded grains and their relative density is less
than 50%.
30
Embankment Dam
• Impervious Foundations
• Foundations of silt and clay extending to large depths
are sufficiently impermeable to preclude the necessity
of providing treatment for under seepage and piping.
• The main problem with these, foundations may be
excessive pore water pressure and significant
deformations.
• Where the embankments are constructed on
foundations consisting of brittle, highly plastic or over-
consolidated clays, serious investigations are required
as their presence may cause excessive deformations.
31
Embankment Dam
• The embankment design in such cases would be
controlled by likely strains in the foundations.
• If there is silt and clay to large depths, then there is
not much necessity of providing treatment for under
seepage and piping.
• The main problem with these foundations is of stability
for which generally the slopes of the embankments
are made flatter or berms on either side are provided.
32
Embankment Dam
• If the structure crosses swampy or similar area where
the foundation material will be of plastic nature, the
matter would require serious investigations
– as plastic clays are very deficient in shear strength.
– See page 3 and 4 chp5
33
Embankment Dam
Causes of Failures of Earth Dams
• Like most other damages to engineering
structures, earth dam failures are caused by
improper design frequently based on insufficient
investigations, and lack of care in construction
and maintenance.
• Failures of earth darns may be grouped into the
following basic causes
(a) Hydraulic failures
(b) Seepage failures and
(c) Structural failures
34
Embankment Dam
Hydraulic Failures
• They account for about one third of the failure of
dams and are produced by surface erosion of the
dam by water.
• They include
– wash-outs from overtopping,
– wave erosion of upstream face,
– scour from the discharge of the spillway etc. and
erosion from rainfall.
35
Embankment Dam
Seepage Failures
• Seepage of water through the foundation or
embankment has been responsible for more than
one third of earth dam failures.
• Seepage is inevitable in all earth dams and
ordinarily it does no harm.
• Uncontrolled seepage; may however, cause
erosion within the embankment or in the
foundation which may lead to piping.
36
Embankment Dam
Seepage Failures
• Piping is the progressive erosion which develops
through under the dam. It begins at a point of
concentrated seepage where the gradients are
sufficiently high to produce erosive velocities.
• If forces resisting erosion i.e. cohesion, inter-
locking effect, weight of soil particles, action of
downstream filter etc. are less than those’ which
tend to cause, the soil particles are washed away
causing piping failure.
37
Embankment Dam
Seepage Failures
• Seepage failures are generally caused by
(a) pervious foundations,
(b) leakage through embankments,
(c) conduit leakage and
(d) sloughing.
38
Embankment Dam
Seepage Failures are generally caused by
• Presence of strata and lenses of sand or gravel of
high permeability or cavities and fissures in the
foundation may permit concentrated flow of water
from the reservoir causing piping.
• Presence of buried channels under the seat of
dam have also been responsible for this type of
failure.
39
Embankment Dam
Seepage Failures
(d) sloughing.
40
Embankment Dam
• Leakage Through Embankments
• The following are the common causes of embankment
leaks which lead to piping:
– Poor construction control which includes insufficient
compaction adjacent to outlet conduits and poor bond
between embankment and the foundation or between the
successive layers of the embankment.
– Cracking in the embankment or in the conduits caused by
foundation settlement
– Animal burrows
– Shrinkage and dry cracks
– Presence of roots, pockets of gravel or boulders in the 41
embankment.
Embankment Dam
Seepage Failures
(d) sloughing.
42
Embankment Dam
Conduit Leakage
• Conduits through the dam have been responsible for
nearly one third of the seepage failure and more than
one eighth of all failures.
• Failures are of two types
– contact seepage along the outside of the conduit which
develops into piping and
– seepage through leaks in the conduit which may also
develop into piping.
• Contact seepage along the conduit wall is caused either by a
zone of poorly compacted soil or small gap between the
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conduit and remainder of the embankment.
Embankment Dam
Conduit Leakage
• Conduits through the dam have been responsible for
nearly one third of the seepage failure and more than one
eighth of all failures.
• Failures are of two types

– contact seepage along the outside of the conduit which
develops into piping and
– seepage through leaks in the conduit which may also
develop into piping.
44
Embankment Dam
Seepage Failures
(d) sloughing.
45
Embankment Dam
Sloughing
• Failure due to sloughing takes place where
downstream portion of the dam becomes saturated
either due to choking of filter toe drain, or due to the
presence of highly pervious layer in the body of the
dam.
• The process begins when a small amount of material
at the downstream toe is eroded and produces a
small slide.
• It leaves a relatively steep face which becomes
saturated by seepage from the reservoir and slumps
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again, forming a higher and more unstable face.
Embankment Dam
• Failures of earth darns may be grouped into the
following basic causes
(a) Hydraulic failures
(b) Seepage failures and
(c) Structural failures
47
Embankment Dam
Structural Failures
• Structural failures of the embankment or its
foundation account for about one fifth of the total
number of failures.
• Structural failures may result in slides in
foundation or embankment due to various causes
as explained below.
• Foundation Failures
– Faults and seams of weathered rocks, shale, soft clay
strata are responsible for the foundation failure in which
the top of the embankment cracks and subsides and
the lower slope moves outward and large mud waves
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are formed beyond the toe.
Embankment Dam
• Structural Failures
• Foundation Failures
– Faults and seams of weathered rocks, shale, soft clay
strata are responsible for the foundation failure in which
the top of the embankment cracks and subsides and
the lower slope moves outward and large mud waves
are formed beyond the toe.
• Another form of foundation failure occurs because
of excessive pore water pressure in confined
seams of silt or sand.
49
Embankment Dam
Structural Failures
Slides in Embankment
• An embankment is subjected to shear stresses
imposed by pool fluctuations, seepage or
earthquake forces.
• Embankment slides may occur when the slopes
are too steep for the shear strength of the
embankment material to resist the stresses
imposed.
50
Embankment Dam
Structural Failures
Slides in Embankment
• Usually the movement develops slowly and is
preceded by cracks on the top or the slope near
the top.
• Failure of this type are usually due to faulty design
and construction.
• In high dams slope failure may occur during
dissipation of pore pressure just after
construction.
• The upstream slope failure may occur due to
sudden drawdown. 51
Embankment Dam
52
Embankment Dam
Design Criteria of Earth Dams
• Based on the experience of failures, the following
main design criteria may be laid down for the
safety of an earth dam.
1. To prevent hydraulic failures the dam must be so
designed that erosion of the embankment is
prevented.
2. To prevent the seepage failures, the flow of water
through the body of the dam and its foundation must
not be sufficiently large in quantity
3. To prevent structural failures, the embankment and
its foundation must be stable under all conditions. 53
Embankment Dam
1. To prevent hydraulic failures
2. To prevent the seepage failures,
3. To prevent structural failures,
54
Embankment Dam
• To prevent hydraulic failures the dam must be so
designed that erosion of the embankment is
prevented. [conditions to be satisfied].
(a) Spillway capacity is sufficient to pass the peak flow.
(b) Overtopping by wave action at maximum water level is
prevented.
(c) The original height of structure is sufficient to maintain the
minimum safe freeboard after settlement has occurred.
(d) Erosion of the embankment due to wave action and
surface run-off does not occur.
(e) The crest should be wide enough to withstand wave
action and earthquake shock. 55
Embankment Dam
• Design Criteria of Earth Dams
56
Embankment Dam
To prevent the seepage failures,
(a) Quantity of seepage water through the dam
section and foundation should be limited.
(b) The seepage line should be well within the
downstream face of the dam to prevent sloughing.
(c) Seepage water through the dam or foundation
should not remove any particle or in other words
cause piping.
(d) There should not be any leakage of water from
the upstream to downstream face.
57
Embankment Dam
58
Embankment Dam
To prevent structural failures, the embankment and
its foundation must be stable under all conditions.
This implies that
(i) The upstream and downstream slopes of the
embankment should be stable under all loading
conditions to which they may be subjected
including earthquake.
(ii) The foundation shear stresses should be within
the permissible limits of shear strength of the
material.
59
Embankment Dam
Prevention of Erosion-Embankment Details
Spillway Capacity
• It must be calculated and fixed by relevant
hydrological studies and flood routing such that
sufficient freeboard is available between the
maximum flood level and top of the dam.
60
Embankment Dam
Freeboard for wave action
• The required allowance for waves is based on the
effect of wind of maximum velocity blowing down
the reservoir and setting up a wave splash on the
dam face.
• Various empirical formulae depending on wind
velocity and reservoir fetch have been suggested
for computing wave heights.
• The MolitorStevenson formulas are normally used
which are discussed previously.
61
Embankment Dam
Settlement allowance
• Settlement of an embankment will be caused by
consolidation in the foundation and in the fill.
• A settlement allowance of 2% is considered
adequate and is generally provided.
• However, in case of dams of more than 30m
height, an extra 1% allowance is provided to
account for the settlement due to earthquake.
62
Embankment Dam
Upstream slope protection
• Surface protection of upstream slope is meant to
prevent the destructive wave action.
• Usual type of surface protection for the upstream
slope is stone rip-rap either
– dry dumped or
– hand placed.
• When a thin layer is used, hand placed rip-rap
may be more economical than dumped rip-rap.
• There are several empirical methods to find out
63
the thickness of rip-rap.
Embankment Dam
• The size of stones used for hand placed rip-rap
may be determined with the following formula,
Page 9 accompanied lecture material
64
Embankment Dam
Filter below rip-rap
• A layer of filter material consisting of gravel Or
crushed rock is always required under rip-rap to
prevent waves from eroding the underlying
embankment material.
• No definite rule can be given for the minimum
necessary thickness of the filter layer.
• Most filters are constructed with thickness ranging
from 20 cm to 75 cm.
• The following factors govern the thickness of the filter layer (i) Wave
action(ii) Gradation of rip-rap(iii) Plasticity and gradation of
65
embankment materials (iv) cost of the filter
Embankment Dam
Downstream Slope Protection
• The problem of erosion of downstream slopes due
to surface runoff may be effectively controlled by
turfing.
• In area too deficient in rainfall during parts of the
year to maintain a proper cover, berms and other
erosion control be applied.
66
Embankment Dam
Crest Width
• The crest or top width of an earth dam should not be
less than 4 m for maintenance purposes.
• Width depends on several considerations such as
(i) nature of embankment material and minimum allowable
percolation distance through the embankment at normal
reservoir water level
(ii) height and importance of structure
(iii) required width to provide embankment mass for resistance to
earthquake shock and
(iv) roadway requirements.
67
(v) Commonly we use: B = 5/3 * (H)^0.5
Embankment Dam
Seepage Through Dams
Phreatic or Seepage line
• The two dimensional flow of fluid through porous
soil can be expressed by Laplace’s equation
∂Φ/ ∂x + ∂Φ/ ∂z = 0
• Graphically, the equation can be represented by
two sets of curves that intersect at right angles.
• The combined representation of two sets of lines
is called a flow net.
• With the help of a flow net, the seepage problems
can be analyzed at any point within the section of
68
the embankment.
Embankment Dam
Phreatic or Seepage line
• The seepage or phreatic line may be defined as
the line within a dam section below which there
are positive hydrostatic pressures in the dam.
• On the line itself, the hydrostatic pressure is zero.
• Above the line, there will be a zone of capillary
situation.
• The phreatic line represents the top flow line or
the boundary condition for drawing the flow net.
69
Flow net through earth dam
70
Embankment Dam
• The location of the phreatic line is necessary in
order to draw accurately the flow net.
• It is also useful in analyzing stability of the dam.
• It may be noted that the location of the seepage
line is dependent only on the cross section of the
dam.
• Its position is not influenced by the permeability of
the material composing the dam so long as the
material is homogeneous.
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Embankment Dam
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Embankment Dam
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Embankment Dam
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Embankment Dam
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Embankment Dam
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Embankment Dam
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Embankment Dam
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Embankment Dam
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Embankment Dam
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Lecture Six HSI

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Lecture Six HSI

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DAM Introduction

• Earth dams are now being built to unprecedented

• An advantage of earthen embankments is that

• The natural fill materials are placed and

• They rely on their weight to resist the flow of

• Relative to concrete dams, embankment dams

• Broadly, depending upon the material used during

• Rock fill Embankment:

(a) Simple zoned embankment

(b) Earth dam with core extending to impervious foundation

Clay blanket Sandy

Concrete cutoff wall

(c) Earth dam on pervious material

• The principal considerations are erosive leakage,

• There are two basic problems with which these

– See page 3 and 4 chp5

• Failures are of two types

1. To prevent hydraulic failures

2. To prevent the seepage failures,

3. To prevent structural failures,

1. To prevent hydraulic failures

2. To prevent the seepage failures,

3. To prevent structural failures,

1. To prevent hydraulic failures

2. To prevent the seepage failures,

3. To prevent structural failures,

Page 9 accompanied lecture material

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