Chapter Three

3.Earthen and Rock Fill Dams

Academic year 2020/21,

Debebe Muleta
Semester- Summer Hydraulic Engineering (MSc)

Hydrogeology (MSc)
 Topics to be covered
3.1 Earth fill dam
3.2 Rock fill dam
3.3 Principles of Embankment Dam Design
3.4 Components/parts and appurtenances of embankment dam
3.5 Material selection
3.6 Design requirement
3.7 Seepage analysis
3.8. Failure of earth fill dams
3.9. Stability of Earthen Slopes
 3.1 Earth fill dam
❑ Earthen dams and earthen levees are the most ancient type of embankment
❑ While gravity dams and arch dams require sound rock foundations earthen dams
can be easily constructed on earth foundations
❑ Earth dams are more susceptible to failure as compared to rigid gravity dams or
arch dams
➢ The reason for such wide spread use of earth fill
dams are:
✓ The foundation requirements are not as rigorous as
other dams
✓Local available soil is the main construction material
✓High skill not required
✓No special plants are required. Most earth-moving
machines can be use
➢ According to hydraulic design considerations, dams are
classified as non-overflow dams, which are not
designed to be overtopped.
The earthen dam can be of the following three types based
on the material type used
i. Homogeneous Embankment type

ii. Zoned Embankment type

iii. Diaphragm type dam.

i. Homogeneous Embankment Type
❖ The simplest type of an earthen embankment consists of a
single material and is homogeneous throughout
❖ Sometimes, a blanket of relatively impervious
material may be placed on the upstream face.
❖ A purely homogeneous section is used when only one
type of material is economically or local available
❖ Such a section is used for low to moderately high dams
and for levees and large dam seldom designed.
❖ A purely homogeneous section poses the problems of
seepage, and huge sections are required to make it safe
against piping, stability, etc.
 ii. Zoned Embankment Type
➢ Zoned embankments are usually provided with a central impervious core
covered by a comparatively pervious transition zone, which is finally surrounded by
a much more pervious outer zone
➢

➢ The central core checks the seepage.

➢ The transition zone prevents piping through cracks which may

develop in the core.

➢ The outer zone gives stability to the central impervious fill and also
distribute the load over a large area of foundations.
iii. Diaphragm Type Embankments
➢ Diaphragm type embankments have a thin impervious
core, which is surrounded by earth or rock fill.
➢ The impervious core, called diaphragm, is made of
impervious soils, concrete, steel, timber or any other
material.
➢ It acts as a water barrier to prevent seepage through the
dam. The diaphragm, may be placed either at the center as
a central vertical core or at the upstream face as a blanket.
➢ The diaphragm must also be tied of the bed rock or to a
very impervious foundation material, if excessive under-
seepage through the existing previous foundations has to be
avoided
➢Typical section of earthen dam
➢ Earthen dam divided in to two based on the methods of
construction
✓ Rolled fill earth dams
✓ Hydraulic fill dam
➢ Rolled fill earth dams
✓ successive layers of moistened or damp soils are laid one over the
other
✓ Each layer not exceeding 20 cm in thickness is properly consolidated at
optimum moisture content
➢ Hydraulic Fill dams
✓ Construction, excavation, transportation of the earth is done by
hydraulic methods.
✓ During construction, a mixture of excavated materials in slurry condition
is pumped and discharged
✓ The slurry of excavated materials and water consists of coarse and fine
materials.
✓ When it is discharged near the outer edges, the coarser materials settle
first at the edges, while the finer materials move to the middle and
settle there.
✓ Fine particles are deposited in the central portion to form a water tight
central core.
✓ In this method, compaction is not required
3.2 Rock fill dam
➢ A rock fill dam is built of rock fragments and
boulders of large size.
➢ An impervious membrane is placed on the rock fill on
the upstream side to reduce the seepage through the
dam.
➢ The membrane is usually made of cement concrete or
asphaltic concrete.
➢ Advantages
✓ Are quite inexpensive if rock fragments are easily available.
✓ Can be constructed quite rapidly
✓ Can better withstand the shocks due to earthquake than earth
✓ Can be constructed even in adverse climates.
➢ Disadvantages
✓ require more strong foundations than earth dams.
✓ Require heavy machines for transporting, dumping and
compacting rocks.
Composite dam
when earth and rock fill used together
3.3 Principles of Embankment Dam Design/Design features
A. Side slopes of dam
✓ Side slope of dams must satisfy the static stability.
✓ stability computations can be done only after defining the profile
of the dam and
✓ determining the seepage line,
✓ Therefore, an initial side slopes could be taken from the tables
below.
➢ Side Slope According to the recommendations of
Terzaghi
 B, Free Board
➢ Normal freeboard is the vertical distance between the
normal pool level and the crest of the dam.
➢ Minimum freeboard is the vertical distance between the
high flood level and the crest of dam.
➢ The minimum height of freeboard is taken as 1.5 hw where hw is
given by:
➢ hw = 0.032 (V.F)1/2 + 0.763 – 0.271(F)1/4 for F>32 and
➢ hw = 0.032 (V.F)1/2 for F . 32km
where
hw = wave height ( height of water from top to trough of waves in
meters)
V = velocity of wind in km/hr
F = fetch or straight length of water expanse in km.
Free board values as recommended by U.S.B.R are given in table
below
 C. Crest width
➢ Selected taking into account
➢ the size of the dam,
➢ the catchment characteristics and
➢ topography and
➢ Whether road or other access will be required across
the embankment.
➢ Crest width should be designed to allow the safe
passage of plant and equipment to be used in the dam
construction and should be no less than 2 m wide.
Cw (in m) = 0.4H + 1 (FAO Manual 64)
➢ In general top width could be determined by the
following recommended formulae:
a) For very low dams top width is given by
B = H/5 + 3
b) For dams lower than 30m
B = 0.55(H)1/2 + H/5
C) For dams higher than 30m,
B = 1.65(H + 1.5)1/3
B = 1.67(H)1/2
where Cw is the crest width and H is the maximum height of the
dam in meters.
D. Spillway location
➢ Geotechnical and hydraulic design considerations
require that to minimize the risk of damage to the
dam under flood conditions the spillway and
discharge channel are kept clear of the
embankment
3.4 Parts/component and appurtenances of embankment
dam
➢ Every embankment dam consists of three basic
components
✓ Foundation,
✓ Core, and
✓ Shell.
Core and Membrane
➢ The primary purpose of the core or membrane is
to hold back free water flow.
➢ It may be placed at the center or upstream from
the center, or on the upstream face (in the case
of certain rock fill dams).
➢ It may extended down into the foundation to
impervious layer(termed cut-off)
Core material
➢ Earth, concrete or masonry, steel sheeting, etc.
➢ Lack of flexibility of concrete and masonry make
them undesirable.
➢ An earth core (when suitable material is
available) is usually cheaper and more water tight
than any other type.
➢ Suitability of earth core depends on the property
of the available soil.
➢ A core should not be composed of silt which
tends to swell upon saturation.
➢ To avoid swelling tendencies, the elasticity index
should not exceed 30
➢ Water content: - as high as possible consistent
with the above requirements.
➢ Core thickness: - to control erosion and provide good
compaction a minimum core thickness in
meters is given by

➢Where: Δh = head difference at that point;

b = core width at that point.

Shell
➢ The purpose of shell is to provide structural
support for the core and to distribute the
loads over the foundation.
➢ The shell also acts as foundation for most of
the appurtenances.
➢ Sometimes the core and shell of a dam are
constructed of the same material
(homogenous dam).
➢ Availability and strength are the requirements for
selection.
Appurtenances of the dam
➢ And a number of appurtenances such as;
✓ Transition filter,
✓ Toe drain,
✓ Riprap,
✓ Internal drain,
✓ Sod/grass, etc.

These enable the

basic components

to function

efficiently

Key components/parts and appurtenances of Embankment dam

a. Transition filter
➢ it is provided between core and shell to prevent
migration of the core material into the pores of the shell
material.
➢ It is particularly needed between clay cores and rock
and gravel shells.
➢ The objective of transition filter is to carry away
seepage that has passed through the core and
cut-off and to prevent stratum of the upper part
of the downstream shell
b. Toe drain
➢ it helps to prevent sloughing of the downstream face as
a result of rain water or seepage saturation.
➢ In small dams, the toe drain serves also as internal
drain. In large dams with pervious foundation, the toe
drain and the internal drain are sometimes
combined.
➢ Drains need protective filter (inverted filter) to
prevent clogging of the drain.
C. Riprap
➢ required to cover the upstream or downstream
face.
➢ Normally riprap extended from above the
maximum water level to just below the
minimum.
d. Sod
➢ required on the downstream face to prevent rain
wash.
e. Internal drains
➢ they are essential in large dams where the d/s shell
is not so pervious
 3.5 Material selection
➢all types of geologic materials, with the
exception of organic soils and peats.
➢are designed to utilize the economically
available on-site materials for the bulk of
construction.
➢Special zones such as filters, drains and riprap,
may come from off-site sources.
➢Soil tests on borrow, foundation and existing
embankment should be conducted before
designing an earthen embankment.
• Particle size distribution, Atterberg limits, In situ moisture content and
density test, Proctor maximum dry density and optimum moisture
content, Specific gravity, Permeability of disturbed samples and field
permeability, Triaxial shear test for cohesion and angle of internal friction,
Dispersivity by, Free swell index, Swelling pressure, Compressibility, Ionic
concentration of river water, Organic matter
 3.6 Design requirement
➢ Foundations
✓ Have sufficient strength to bear load, to prevent
sliding,
✓ Tight enough to prevent excessive leakage and
to reduce uplift as much as possible.
✓ Not to be damaged by overflow and discharge
from outlet works
➢ Abutments
✓ Abutment areas require essentially the same
investigations as foundation areas.
✓ Serious seepage problems have developed in a
number of cases because of inadequate
investigations during design.
➢ Valley walls close to dam
✓ The valley walls immediately upstream and
downstream of the abutment
✓ may have steep natural slopes and slide-prone
areas that may be a hazard to tunnel approach and
outlet channels.
✓ should be investigated sufficiently to determine if
corrective measures are required.
➢ Spillway and outlet channel locations
✓ These areas require comprehensive investigations
of the orientation and quality of rock or firm
foundation stratum.
➢ Reservoir investigations
✓ The sides and bottom of a reservoir should be
investigated to determine if the reservoir will hold
water
✓ if the side slopes will remain stable during reservoir
filling and subsequent drawdown,
✓ Remain stable when subjected to earthquake
shocks.
➢ Borrow areas and excavation areas
✓ provide sufficient disturbed samples to determine
permeability,
▪ compaction characteristics,
▪ compacted shear strength,
▪ volume change characteristics,
▪ natural water contents;
3.7 Seepage Analysis
✓ Seepage is considered to be all movement of water

from the reservoir through the embankment,

abutments, and foundation.

✓ The phreatic surface of the seepage regime, i.e. line

within the dam section below which there is positive

hydrostatic pressures in the dam, must be kept well

clear of the downstream face to avoid high pore water

pressures which may promote slope instability.

➢ The amount of seepage can be easily computed
from the flow net, which consists of two sets of
curves, known as ‘Equipotential line’ and ‘stream
lines’, mutually perpendicular to each other.
➢ Generally Seepage occurs
✓through the body of all earthen dams, and
✓through their pervious foundation.
➢ Seepage through the foundation
✓Can be minimized through foundation treatment,
cutoff
➢ Seepage through embankment can be
computed from, the flow net, and/or Darcy’s
equation.
✓ The amount of seepage has to be controlled in order to
avoid their failures. (position of phreatic line)

Seepage through homogeneous/isotropic soil

✓The amount of seepage can be easily computed from the
flownet
✓Let us assume that the soil isotropic, i.e. its permeability is
constant in all directions, or KH = Kv (i.e. horizontal permeability
✓ It is convenient to draw only a limited number of
flow lines and equipotential lines, such that the
rate of flow between each pair of flow lines
(called flow channels) is equal and the energy
drop between any two successive potential lines
is the same.
✓ The distance between the flow lines is made
equal to the distance between the potential lines,
thus forming a series of squares.
✓ Where the flow lines are curved, the squares
formed will be distorted, but they will be more
perfect as the number of lines is increased.
✓ The seepage rate (q) can be computed from the
flow net, using Darcy's Law.
✓ Applying the principle of continuity between each
pair of flow lines, it is evident that the velocity
must vary inversely with the spacing
✓ Assuming the dam cross-section of fig. above to
have a unit width, we have :
✓ The flow -through the square ABCD (called field)
or through the flow channel containing this
square

✓ where ΔH is the energy drop between the two

equi-potential lines bounding the square ABCD
Seepage discharge for non isotropic soils
✓ If the permeability of the soil is different in the horizontal direction than that in the
vertical direction ;
✓the flow net is drawn in the same manner as was explained earlier for isotropic
soils,
✓the only difference that the dam section shall be drawn to the same vertical scale
but to a transformed horizontal scale
✓All horizontal dimensions shall be reduced by multiplying them by a factor equal
to
✓Flow net and squares will be drawn in the same manner, and number
of flow channel (Nf) and number of drops (Nd) shall be counted.
✓The discharge can then be computed by the equation
 Phreatic line determination
➢The position of phreatic line enables to
determine:
1. The divide line between the dry (or moist)
and submerged soil zones.

2. The top stream line and hence, helps in

drawing the flow net.

3. To ensure that the phreatic line doesn’t cut the

downstream face of the dam, which is extremely
necessary for stability
✓ It has been found by experiments that the seepage
line is pushed down by the filter and it is very nearly
parabolic except near its junction with the u/s face
✓ Since the u/s face of the dam (i.e. GB in Fig below)
becomes an equipotential line when fully covered with
water, the seepage line shall be perpendicular to the
face near its junction point B
✓ Let a base parabola with focus at F is drawn and
produced so as to intersect the water surface at a point A.

✓ Cassagrande has shown that for a dams with reasonably-

flat-upstream-slopes;-AB approximately 0.3HB

✓ Where, H is the projection of the point G on the water

surface.

✓ Knowing the point A, the base parabola AIJC can be drawn

with its focus at F

✓ It can then be corrected for the curve BI such that BI is

perpendicular to GB, thus, BIJC will finally represent the
seepage line.
✓ Equation of the base parabola

✓ The equation of the parabola can be determined from the basic

property of the parabola viz., the distance of any point P (x, y) on the
parabola from its focus is the same as the distance of that point P (x,
y) from a line called directrix.

✓ Taking the focus (F) as the origin, equation of the parabola p(x, y)
can be written as

✓ FD is the distance of the focus from the directrix, called

focal distance and is generally represented by S.

✓ The equation of the parabola, then becomes

✓ If the horizontal distance between the already determined
point A and the focus (F) is taken as say b, then (b, H)
represents the coordinates of the point A on the parabola.
And hence;

✓ The focal distance S can also be measured by drawing an

arc FH with centre A and radius equal to AF so as to
intersect the Horizontal water surface AB produced at H.
The vertical line HD through H will then represent the
directrix.
✓ FD will be equal to S.

✓ The center point (C) of FD will then be the vertex of the parabola.

✓ when x = 0, y= S. Hence the vertical ordinate FJ at F will be equal to S.

✓ Knowing the points A, C, and J and working out a few more points from
the equation, the base parabola can be easily drawn and corrected for
the curve BI, so as to get the seepage line BIJC.

✓ The amount of seepage can also be calculated easily from the equation
of the seepage line as derived below. Darcy’s law is defined as, q =
KiA. When steady conditions have reached, the discharge crossing any
vertical plane across the dam section (unit width) will be the same.
 Determination of Phreatic Line when the Dam
Section is Homogeneous (without Filter).
• The phreatic line can be determined on the same
principles as was done for dam with a filter case.
• The focus (F) of the parabola, in this case, will be the
lowest point of the downstream slope as shown in Fig.
below.
• The base parabola BIJC will cut the downstream slope
at J and extend beyond the dam toe up to the point C
(i.e. the vertex of the parabola).
• The seepage line will, however, emerge out at K,
meeting the downstream face tangentially there. The
portion KF is known as discharge face and always
remains saturated. The correction JK (say ) by which
the parabola is to be shifted downward can be
determined as follows :
Graphical general solution
• Cassagrande has given a general solution to
evaluate for various inclinations of discharge
face
• Let a be-the angle which the discharge face makes
with the horizontal.
• The various values of have been given by
Cassagrande, as shown in table
• is the distance FJ (i.e. the distance of the
focus from the point where the parabola cuts the
d/s face) and is known.
• can then be evaluated.
• a and can be connected by a general equation
• The value of a will be equal to 180° for a horizontal
filter case and may be equal to or more than 90° in
case a rock toe is provided at the downstream end,
as shown in Fig.
• will be less then 90° when no drainage is
provided.

Various types of discharge faces.

,
 4.8. Failure of earth fill dams
➢ Some causes of failure of earth fill dams
✓Like most of engineering structures, earth dams may
fail due to faulty design, improper construction
and poor maintenance practices, etc

✓The various causes of failure may be classified as:

a) Hydraulic failure

b) Seepage failure

c) Structural failure
a) Hydraulic failure
✓Hydraulic accounts for over 40% of earth dam failure
and may be due to one or more of the following

i. By overtopping: When free

board of dam or capacity of
spillway is insufficient, the flood
water will pass over the dam
and wash it downstream.
ii. Erosion of downstream toe: The toe of the
dam at the downstream side may be eroded
due to
a. heavy cross-current from spillway buckets, or
b. tail water.
➢ When the toe of downstream is eroded, it will
lead to failure of dam.
✓This can be prevented by providing a
downstream slope pitching or a riprap up to a
height above the tail water depth

✓Also, the side wall of the spillway should have

sufficient height and length to prevent
possibility of cross flow towards the earth
embankment.
iii. Erosion of upstream surface:
✓ During winds, the waves developed near the top
water surface may cut into the soil of upstream
dam face which may cause slip of the upstream
surface leading to failure.
✓ For preventing against such failure, the upstream
face should be protected with stone pitching or
riprap
iv. Erosion of downstream face by gully
formation
✓ During heavy rains, the flowing rain water over the
downstream face can erode the surface, creating
gullies, which could lead to failure.
✓To prevent such failures, the dam surface should be
properly maintained; all cuts filled on time and
surface well grassed.
✓ Berms could be provided at suitable heights and
surface well drained
 b) Seepage failure
➢Seepage always occurs in the dams.
➢If the magnitude is within design limits, it may
not harm the stability of the dam.
➢However, if seepage is concentrated or
uncontrolled beyond limits, it will lead to
failure of the dam.
➢Some of the various types of
seepage failure.
✓Piping through dam body.
✓When seepage starts
through porous soils in the
body of the dam, small
channels are formed which
transport material
downstream.
✓As more materials are
transported downstream, the
channels graw bigger and
bigger which could lead to
 c) Structural Failure:
➢ About 25% of failure is attributed to structural
failure,
➢ It is mainly due to shear failure causing slide
along the slopes.
➢ The failure may be due to:
i. Slide in embankment:

▪ When the slopes of the embankments are too

steep the embankment may slide causing failure.

▪ This might happen when there is a sudden

drawdown,.
ii. Foundation slide:

▪ When the foundation of an earth fill dam is

composed of fine silt, clay, or similar soft soil, the
whole dam may slide due to water thrust.

iii. Faulty construction and poor maintenance:

▪ When during construction, the compaction of the

embankment is not properly done, it may lead to
failure.

iv. Earthquake may cause the following types of failure

to earth fill dams;