HYDRAULIC STRUCTURES

Welcome

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 Arba Minch University Sawla Campus

Department of Civil Engineering

Course title and code: Hydraulic Structures-I(CEng3163)

Tutorial class(Exit Exam)

Diriba W.(MSc. in Hydraulic Engineering)

Arba Minch, Ethiopia

Nov 2022/2023, Arba Minch

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Specific objectives /learning outcomes:
 Select appropriate type of dams for a given site
 Design different types of dams
 Check and appreciate safety of dams
Classification of hydraulic structures
Location and selection of appropriate type of dam and spillway.
Data collection.
Foundations of dams and their treatment.
 Design and stability analysis of dams: gravity dams, earth dams, and rock-fill dams.
Principles of design of arch and buttress dams
Design and hydraulic calculation of spillways: ogee spillway, siphon spillway, shaft
spillway and side channel spillway.
 Spillway crests gates.
Terminal structures
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 Chapter one: Elements of Dam Engineering
1.1 General overview of hydraulic structures
A hydraulic structure is a structure submerged or partially submerged in any body of
water, which disrupts the natural flow of water.
Hydraulic structure -any structure which is designed to handle water in any way.
Examples are dams and spillways, sluice gates, weirs, and flumes.
What is hydraulic structure engineering?
Hydraulic structures are civil engineering structures designed to manage or regulate water
movement.
Designing a hydraulic structure can be particularly challenging because it requires a broad
knowledge of
 structural engineering,
 fluid mechanics,
 geotechnical engineering,
 materials sciences 4
 Definitions of Common Hydraulic Structures
Dam:-is a barrier or hydraulic structures constructed across flowing water(stream, river
or waterway) that obstructs(block), directs or retards the flow, often creating a reservoir
on its upstream side.
Weir: -is a small overflow dam type (designed to be overtopped) dam commonly used
to raise the level of a small river or stream.
Barrage:-an obstruction across a river to raise water level and divert it.
It consists of a line of large gates that can be opened or closed to control the amount of
water passing the dam.
Check Dam: -is a small dam designed to reduce flow velocity and control soil erosion.
Coffer dam: - is a temporary structure constructed in order to permit the construction
hydraulic work.
Spillway:-water release structure to pass the large flood volumes safely across the dam
without danger of overtopping of the dam crest.

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Cont…

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Cont…

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 Data collection
Major required data for design and construction of Hydraulic structures
Topographical data: data related to project area and natural features
Geological data: data related to geological condition of the site
 Hydrological data: data related to hydrological properties of the water way and
watershed, regarding river discharge, rate and character of siltation, the location and
duration of flooding.
Flood data (instantaneous peak flow rates, time to peak, base time, flood duration,
flood volumes, flow hydrograph, etc).
River hydrographic data (bed levels, flood levels, cross section, bank/valley levels)
Climatic data (P, T, ET, wind speed, sunshine hours)

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Dams differ from all other civil engineering structures in a number of important
regards:
Majority of dams are of earth fill
Every dam, large or small, is quite unique;
Dams do not have a structural lifespan; but it have functional lifespan
 Dam engineering draws together a range of disciplines:
The engineering of dams is critically dependent upon the application of
informed engineering judgement.

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 Dam Structures and Reservoirs
Components of Dam structures
1. Reservoir: is an artificial lake created by flooding land behind a dam.
2. dam
3. Service Intake: located above the dead storage elevation and used to pass from
active storage to service place.
4. Bottom outlets (Sluice way): An opening in
the dam near the ground level, which is
used to clear the silt accumulation in the
reservoir side.
5. Spillways:
6. Diversion structure: are constructed for
diverting water before the construction of dam.
This helps in keeping the river bed dry.
7. Service road: access for transportation way.
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 Storage Components(reservoir)
Dead storage- The portion of the storage capacity from which water is not normally
withdrawn. lies below the invert of the lowest outlet
Live storage/useful storage-The volume of storage in which water will be taken for
demand, using service outlet. Located between the (FRL) and the minimum pool level.
Surcharge storage: between FRL and MWL to contain the peaks of floods. it cannot be
used for other purposes.
Bottom outlet: to release water for the environment and for flushing of sediments.
Service outlet: to discharge the required amount of water for d/s beneficiaries
Minimum pool level( MPL)-lowest level up to which the water is withdrawn from the
reservoir under ordinary conditions.
Maximum pool level- is the maximum level to which the water surface will rise when the
design flood passes over the spillway. It is higher than the full reservoir level
Full reservoir level (FRL): FRL is the highest water level to which the water surface
will rise during normal operating conditions.

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 Cont…

Basic terminology in reservoir

Reservoir Yield: volume of water which can be withdrawn from a reservoir in a
specified period of time. It can be;
1.Safe yield (Firm yield): is the maximum quantity of water which can be supplied from
a reservoir in a specified period of time during a critical dry year.
2. Secondary yield: is the quantity of water which is available during the period of high
flow in the rivers when the yield is more than the safe yield.
3. Average yield: is the arithmetic average of the firm yield and the secondary yield 12
 Classification of hydraulic structures(Dams)
A. Classification According to Use/purpose
1.Storage dams:
to impound water during periods of surplus supply for use during periods of deficient
2. Coffer dams: ‐
 It is constructed to divert the water during period of construction. It is temporary
dams constructed for facilitating construction. It is constructed mainly on upstream
but also on downstream depending the slope of the river at the site.
3. Diversion dams:
to provide head for carrying water into ditches, canals
4. Detention dams:
 Are constructed to retard flood runoff and minimize the effect of sudden floods.
 Detention dams consist of two main types.
 The water is temporarily stored and released through an outlet structure at a rate
that does not exceed the carrying capacity of the channel downstream.
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 Cont…
B. Classification by Hydraulic Design( w.r.t hydraulic behavior)
1. Overflow dams: designed to carry discharge over their crests or through
spillways along the crest. It made of materials which will not be eroded. E.g
Concrete dam.
2. Non-overflow dams: designed not to be overtopped. It include earth fill and rock
fill dams.
C. Classification based on rigidity of construction material
1. Rigid dams
➢ It is constructed from rigid materials such as masonry, concrete, steel
➢ These dams deflect and deform very little when subjected to water pressure and
other forces.
2. Non‐rigid dams
➢ It is constructed from non‐rigid materials such as earth fill and/or rock‐fill.
➢ There are relatively large settlements and deformations in non‐rigid dam
D. Classification by Materials
Concrete and embankment dam
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 General Characteristics of Embankment Dams
The embankment dam can be defined as a dam constructed from natural
materials excavated or obtained close by/near by site.
Characteristics Embankment dams
➢ Any dam constructed of naturally excavated materials placed without addition of
binding material other than those inherent in the natural material.
➢ It is suited to either rock or compressible soil foundation and wide valley.
➢ It can accept limited differential settlements.
➢ Embankment dams may be Earth fill and Rock fill.
Note: Embankment dams are numerically dominant for technical and economical
reasons account for over 75-90% of all dams built in the world.
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 Cont…
Merits or relative advantages of embankment dam
 The suitability of the type to sites in wide valleys
 Adaptability to a broad range of foundation conditions,
The use of natural materials, minimizing the need to import or transport
The embankment design is extremely flexible in its ability to accommodate
different fill materials, e.g. earth fills and/or rock fills
It accommodate an appreciable degree of settlement–deformation without risk
of serious cracking and possible failure.
The relative disadvantages of the embankment dam are;
 They are more susceptibility to damage
They require a separate spillway away from the main dam
They require heavy maintenance cost and constant supervision

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 Characteristics of Concrete Dams
Characteristics of concrete dams (gravity dam)
 It is constructed from concrete materials
 Its stability is based on its own weight
 The gravity dam section profile is essentially triangular to ensure stability
 It is suited to wider valleys( relative to arch dam)
 It needs sound rock foundation
Characteristics of Arch dam
Dam with upstream curvature which constructed from concrete materials.
 Stability is obtained by a combination of arch and gravity action.
Utilizes the strength of an arch to resist loads placed upon it by 'arch action‘.
 The strength of the rock mass at the abutments and immediately down valley of
the dam must strong enough.

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 Cont…
It is suited to narrow gorges/ V-shape valley.
➢ High abutment loading.
➢ 50-85% concrete saved relative to gravity dams.
Characteristics of buttress dam
➢ Concrete saved 30-60% relative to gravity dams.
➢ Threat of deterioration of concrete from the impounded water is more likely than
from a thick gravity section.
➢ There is also an elimination of a good deal of uplift pressure.
➢ create higher contact stress, needs sound rock.

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 Select appropriate type of dams for a given site
Factors governing Selection of site for dam
1. Topography
 dam should be located where the river has narrow gorge which opens out
upstream to create a large reservoir .
 Topography dictates the first choice of the type of dam and the most important
factor to identify shape of the valley.
A narrow V-shaped valley with sound rock in abutments -arch dam
moderately wide U-shaped valley with sound rock foundation- gravity or buttress
dam.
Wide valley with foundation of soil material to a considerable depth- Earth fill
embankment dam.
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 Cont…
2. Geology and foundation conditions:
✓ The geology of the site is one of the important aspects to be investigated for a
location of the reservoir and the type, and size the dam.
 Suitable foundation is necessary for dam site.
 Dam founded on fault zones are more liable to shock during earthquake.
✓ The existence of joint patterns in an abutment affect the stability of the dam.
 Bearing capacity of underlying soil
 Foundation settlement
 Permeability of the soil foundation

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 Cont…
Types of dam foundation and their treatment
a. Rock foundation: ‐
Any type of dam require good rock foundation.
 it have high bearing capacity and resistant to erosion
b. Gravel and coarse sand foundation: ‐
it have low bearing capacity and earth and rock fill dams are suitable.
As there may be high seepage, cut‐off may be provided
c. Fine sand and silt foundations: ‐ it is suitable only for earth and low height
concrete dams. As there is settlement, piping, seepage erosion at the d/s toe and
liquefaction failure, measures should be done.
d. Clay foundation: ‐ it is not suitable for construction of dam. These foundations
have very low bearing capacity.
The settlement is quite large and hence it needs foundation treatment before dam
construction. E.g excavation of low quality rock/soil

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Foundation treatment

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 Cont…
3.Availability of construction materials
4. Spillway size and location: A good site for spillway should exist near the dam site.
5. Hydrological Aspects and Related Hydraulic Aspects
The hydrology of the catchment indicates the available quantity and quality of water to
be stored in the reservoir.
6.Accessibility: the site easily accessible for transportation of construction material.
7. Sediment rate: the incoming water free from sediment in order to increase the life
span of the reservoir.
8. Height of the dam: earthen dams are usually not provided for heights more than
30m or so. Hence, for greater heights, gravity dams are generally preferred.
9. Seismicity (earthquake risk)-embankment dam especially Rock-fill dam

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 Selection of appropriate dam type
Consideration of physical factors such as topography, geology, foundation conditions,
availability of materials, suitable site for spillway, etc.

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END OF CHAPTER
ONE!
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