A 

dam

 is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoir
created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation
, human consumption, industrial use , agilicalture , and navigabilityhydro power  is often used in
conjunction with dams to generate electricity. A dam can also be used to collect or store water
which can be evenly distributed between locations. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of
retaining water

1.Earth Dam
1.1 What is an Earth Dam?

An earth dam is a dam built with highly compacted earth. earth dam is built up by compacting
successive layers of earth, using the most impervious materials to form a core and placing more
permeable substances on the upstream and downstream sides. A facing of crushed stone
prevents erosion by wind or rain, and an ample spillway, usually of concrete, protects against
catastrophic washout should water overtop the dam.

Compared with concrete, soils and rock fragments lack strength, are much more permeable, and
possess less resistance to deterioration and disturbance by flowing water. These disadvantages
are compensated for by a much lower cost and by the ability of earthfill to adapt to deformation
caused by movements in the dam foundation. This assumes, of course, sufficient usable soil or
rockfill is available near the dam site. Earthfill is often quite economical, provided that a suitable
“borrow” area can be utilized close to the construction site.
Advantages of Earthen dam:
 It can be constructed on any types of foundation strut which includes soil, gravel,
earth murum, rock, etc.
 This type of dam is suitable for places where there are very wide valleys.
 Earth dam can be constructed with the use of locally available natural materials,
hence reduces the cost of transportation.
 The design of such a dam is flexible so that a wide variety of materials can be
used for the construction.
 There is a continuous process of manufacturing with a highly mechanized system.

Disadvantages of Earthen dams:

 An earth dam requires a complementary structure to a spillway.
 Excessive leakage and foundation erosion is more likely.
 Inadequate capacity of the spillway causes dam structure failure as there is
potential for over-exploitation of the dam.
 Burrowing animals can damage the dam’s structure.

ROCK fill dams

are embankments of compacted free-draining granular earth with an impervious zone. The earth
used often contains a high percentage of large particles, hence the term "rock-fill". The
impervious zone may be on the upstream face and made of masonry, concrete, plastic membrane,
steel sheet piles, timber or other material. The impervious zone may also be inside the
embankment, in which case it is referred to as a "core". In the instances where clay is used as the
impervious material, the dam is referred to as a "composite" dam. To prevent internal erosion of
clay into the rock fill due to seepage forces, the core is separated using a filter. Filters are
specifically graded soil designed to prevent the migration of fine grain soil particles. When
suitable building material is at hand, transport is minimized, leading to cost savings during
construction. Rock-fill dams are resistant to damage from earthquakes. However, inadequate
quality control during construction can lead to poor compaction and sand in the embankment
which can lead to liquefaction of the rock-fill during an earthquake. Liquefaction potential can
be reduced by keeping susceptible material from being saturated, and by providing adequate
compaction during construction.
Advantages

 They can be constructed on any type of foundation

 They can be constructed in comparatively less time.
 They do notrequire skilled labour..

Disadvantages

They fail all of the sudden without giving any pre-warning.

 Flood waters affect the dam safety.
 Spillway have to be located independent of the dam.
 They cannot be constructed as overflow dams.

A steel dam
 is a type of dam (a structure to impound or retard the flow of water) that is made of steel, rather
than the more common masonry, earthworks, concrete or timber construction materials.
Steel dams were found uneconomical after World War I as the steel prices raised many times
compared to cement prices though they are equally sound like other dam building materials.
 Their economics are highly favourable in 21st century due to lower total onsite labour costs,
lower cost for bulk material transportation, availability of more construction time in a year, and
flexibility in construction plan complying statuary requirements, etc.
Timber Dams
Timber dams are slightly permeable gully blocks that are used both to slow the flow of water
downstream, and to create pools. They are (deliberately) leaky, such that they can trap water
from high rainfall events and then slowly release some or all of it (thereby making an empty
space ready to trap the next rainfall event). During this process they also trap sediment that
would otherwise be lost from the moor. Slowly the sediment accumulates until it fills the pool, at
which time the dam loses its water storage function but has raised the bed of the gully, which can
then be recolonised by vegetation such as cotton grass or Sphagnum moss (possibly artificially
aided, eg through plug planting or seeding). Dams should be no more than five or six planks
high. The planks and posts must be driven into the peat sufficiently to prevent undercutting of
the peat, and should be keyed into the sides by at least 30cm to prevent side-cutting (see Figure
1, below). A splash plate of stone or timber should be positioned beneath the spillway as a baffle
to prevent undercutting.

PURPOSE

 Can create pools, and trap sediment, allowing for re-vegetation

ADVANTAGES

 No vehicular access required – timber can be airlifted to any location and dams
constructed using hand tools
 Can be installed across a range of gully profiles

DISADVANTAGES

• Require enough peat in which to drive stakes to support dam

• Can make it difficult to cross gullies on foot when pools are full
Figure 1: Timber dam construction