"Status and Acceptability of Concrete

Gravity Dam in Culaba, Biliran"

A Research Report
Presented to Dr. Rossini B. Romero
College of Engineering
Naval State University
Naval, Biliran

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements of the Course
Research Report

Christian Jayson C. Magayon

Hagedorn M. Rosagaso
Julius S. Trapal
2016
 ABSTRACT
Naval State University, Naval, Biliran,
Philippines.’’ STATUS AND ACCEPTABILITY
OF THE CONCRETE GRAVITY DAM IN
CULABA”. October, 2016. A Research
Project.
Adviser: DR. ROSSINI B. ROMERO
The purpose of this study was to determine
the status of the concrete gravity dam in Culaba
using descriptive survey. The study involved 2
Local Government Officials, and 48 respondents
had been interviewed to gain the much needed
data.
 The dam was constructed by Joji
Construction Enterprises, funded by the National
Irrigation Administration. Due to lack of
maintenance agency that would handle the
project, cracks and damages caused by natural
disasters had not yet been repaired.
The study found that the acceptance of the
concrete gravity dam in Culaba, was rated a
value of 2.8 which implies acceptable. The
problems met by the respondents on the
structure during ordinary days was the
inadequacy of supplied water, and livestock
being placed near at the structure. While during
rainy days the problems met by the respondents
was the over flowing of water on river banks
causing the diversion of water on the nearby
irrigation system and the lack of barriers that
would block the debris from the opening of the
dam structure.
It was recommended that in order to attain
the improvement of the structure there will be
agency that will handle the maintenance of the
structure. Also, the agency must have an
immediate action to the repair of the damaged
areas.
 Chapter I
INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

A gravity dam is a dam constructed from

concrete or masonry and designed to hold back
water by primarily utilizing the weight of the
material alone resisting the horizontal pressure
of water pushing against it. A solid concrete
structure that maintain its’ stability against
design loads from the geometric shape, mass
and strength of the concrete (Dyson, 2002).
 The purposes of dam construction may
include navigation, flood damage reduction,
hydroelectric power generation, fish and
wildlife enhancement, water quality, water
supply, and recreation. The design and
evaluation of concrete gravity dam for
earthquake loading must be based on
appropriate criteria that reflect both the
desired level of safety and the choice of the
design and evaluation procedures. (Ahearn et
al.,2005).
 Basically, a gravity concrete dam is defined as
a structure, which is designed in such a way that
its own weight resist the external forces. It is
primarily the weight of a gravity dam which
prevents it from being overturned when subjected
to the thrust of impounded water. This type of
structure is durable, and requires very little
maintenance. Gravity dams typically consist of a non-
overflow section(s) and an overflow section or
spillway. The two general concrete construction
methods for concrete gravity dams are
conventional placed mass concrete and RCC.
Gravity dams, constructed in stone masonry, were
built even in ancient times, most often in Egypt,
Greece, and the Roman Empire.( Willis and
 Griggs. 2003).
Safety evaluation of an existing concrete or
masonry dam consists of a) a thorough review of
records pertaining to the structural and hydraulic
design, site geology, construction procedures,
structural behavior based on instrumentation, and
operation and maintenance, then b) an onsite
inspection of the dam, followed by c) appropriate
analysis of any unresolved issues. This
discussion addresses the onsite inspection of
concrete and masonry dams and presents
information with regard to the recognition of
potential dam safety concerns. (Clarkson and
Childs. 2000).
 Visual examination is an essential tool by
which the engineer, technician, owner or other
responsible party can ascertain, first hand,
indications of excessive stresses, strains,
seepage, materials deterioration, and signs of
foundation or structural instability. However, the
presence of any of the deficiencies discussed
does not necessarily indicate that there is a dam
safety problem term effects, and how these might
endanger the dam. Remember, an examination is
not usually made under maximum loading
conditions, thus an examiner must visualize how
these more severe conditions could aggravate
any concerns that are observed. The presence of
any deficiency should be documented, and if
 there is any doubt about the effect of condition
on the dam, further investigation should be
recommended. (World Commission on Dams
(WCD), 2000).
The acceptance of structure is only one among
the many problems to be considered in
construction of concrete dam, there are times that
people near the structure will not attain the degree
of acceptability of structures (Williams and
Wolman. 2004).
The purpose of this study is to determine the
degree of acceptability of the concrete gravity dam
in Culaba, and to determine the present condition
of the concrete dam. The result of this study will
help the Local Government Unit –Culaba
Engineering Staff for the development plan of the
existing concrete gravity dam. Hence, the study
is found necessary.
Objectives of the Study
The main thrust of the study is to determine
the status and acceptability of concrete gravity
dam in Culaba, Biliran.
Specifically, it sought to answer the following
objectives:
1. To determine the profile of the concrete
Gravity Dam in terms of:
1.1. structural design in terms of;
1.1.1. length;
1.1.2. span;
1.1.3. horizontal and vertical spacing
of re-bars; and
1.1.4.diameter of re-bars in footing.
 1.2. water capacity in terms of cubic meter;
1.3. number of years in operation;
1.4 present physical condition;
1.5. source of funding;
1.6. contractor; and
1.7. maintenance system of concerned
Agency
2.To ascertain the degree of acceptability of to
the concrete gravity dam to the respondents;
3.To determine the problems met by the
respondents to the concrete gravity dam during;
3.1. ordinary days; and
3.2. rainy days
 4. To solicit suggestion from LGU-Culaba
for the improvement of the existing concrete
gravity dam.
5. To come up with the development plan for
the improvement of the concrete gravity dam.

Framework Of the Study

This study takes hold the following
conceptual framework as its main and solid
foundation in the due course of its proceedings.
 Conceptual framework. The conceptual
model of this study addresses to the
interpretation of data in terms of the profile of
concrete gravity dam, degree of acceptability
of the concrete gravity dam, problems met by
the respondents during ordinary days and
rainy days and solicitation of suggestion from
LGU-Culaba Engineering Staff for the
improvement of concrete gravity dam
Profile of the Concrete Gravity Dam in
Culaba, Biliran in terms of;
1. Structural Design;
2. Water capacity in terms of cubic Degree of Acceptability of the
meter; Concrete Gravity Dam in
3. Number of years in operation; Culaba, Biliran
4 Present physical condition;
5. Source of funding;
6. Contractor; and
7. Maintenance system of concerned
Agency

Problems met by the

residents in times of;
1. Ordinary Days; and
2. Rainy Days

Suggestions from LGU-

Culaba for the improvement
of the
Concrete Gravity Dam

Improved
Concrete Gravity Dam in Culaba
(Development Plan)

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework of the Study

Importance of the study
This study is important to the
administrators, to municipal planners, to
educators, to Culabanhon, and to the future
researchers.
Administrators and LGU-Engineering.
This study will serve as an insight or baseline
in planning programs and projects that will
improve the existence of concrete gravity dam,
providing ideal concepts to make
innovation/program effective in dealing with
construction of the concrete gravity dam.
 Municipal planners. The result of this research
will provide them insights in the status and
acceptability of the concrete gravity dam.
Appropriate actions to eradicate incidents and
making the people feel the safeness of the existing
dam.
To the educators. The study will greatly help
educators in informing their students as to the real
status of the concrete gravity dam. This will also
increase the students concern on construction of
dams.
 To the Culabanhon. This study will greatly
help the people to be aware and knowledgeable
in the status and acceptability of the concrete
gravity dam.
To the future researchers. The study may
inspire future researchers to pursue similar
studies.
Scope and Delimitation of the Study
This study was conducted to determine the
status and acceptability of concrete gravity dam
in Culaba. Essential data were determined by
the researchers to the selected respondents to
the acceptability of the structure.
Definition of terms
To be able to comprehend thoroughly on the
terms utilized in this study the following are define
operationally and conceptually:
Acceptability. The ability to accept the
existence of the concrete gravity dam.
Concrete Gravity Dam. Solid concrete
structures that maintain their stability against design
loads from the geometric shape, mass and strength
of the concrete.
Contractor. People or company who is
responsible in constructing such structures.
Degree of acceptability. The extent of
respondents’ acceptance on status and effectiveness
on Concrete Gravity Dam.
 LGU-Engineering Office. Agencies concern with
project construction, implementation and its
maintenance.
Maintenance System. Keeping the good
condition of the concrete gravity dam.
Physical condition. The status of the concrete
gravity dam in its physical appearance and efficiency.
Water capacity. The amount of water that
passes through the concrete dam.
Review of Related Literature
This part shows the highlights to the review of
the related articles, studies, and relevant research.
(Willis and Griggs, 2003)in their study they
found out that problem of public acceptance (PA)
has become serious since the 1960's in Japan. On
the other hand, research on civil engineering has
been systemized and grown fast in Japan since
the Second World War. So it is important to study
the mutual relationship and influences between
research on civil engineering and public
acceptance .
 (Clarkson and Childs. 2000).The terms “gravity
dam” and “concrete dam” conjure images of large
structures, such as the Hoover and Grand Coulee
dams. According to the National Inventory of Dams,
90 percent of gravity dams categorized as high or
significant hazard structures are less than 100 feet
tall. Design features common to large gravity dams
often are not incorporated into these smaller
structures. For example, many smaller dams do not
include foundation drainage systems. In addition,
large dams in steep canyons typically are keyed into
bedrock at the abutments, while for smaller structures
the non-overflow sections may only extend a limited
distance beyond the original ground surface and many
times are not abutted into sound rock .
 (Dyson, 2002.).Safety of dams can be
evaluated based on the risk analysis
methodologies that accounts for estimation of the
risks associated to the dam-reservoir system. For
this purpose it is important to estimate the
probability of load events and probability of failure
for several failure modes.
 (Gleick, 2004).Upgrading and re-evaluation
of the existing dams has become important in
order to meet the security requirements in today’s
world. This has led to various research studies in
the field of risk analysis. Risk analysis is an
important part of a structure’s performance,
durability and serviceability .
 (McCully, 2011).Stability analysis plays an
important role in order to analyze the safety of a
structure. Failure of a dam can be categorized
into three different failure modes; sliding,
overturning, and crushing failure of the
foundation or concrete. Sliding along the base of
the dam is probably considered the most
prevailing mode of failure for gravity dams.For
this failure mode, the interface between the rock
foundation and the base of the concrete retaining
structures is considered as a weakened surface
along which sliding takes place (Cannon, 2003).
 In Bangladesh, the entire country is divided
into 3 seismic zones, depending upon the severity
of the earthquake intensity. The results of the
horizontal earthquake intensity perturbation
suggest that the stabilizing moments are found to
decrease significantly with the increment of
horizontal earthquake intensity while dealing with
the U.S.B.R. recommended initial dam section,
indicating endanger to the dam stability, thus
larger dam section is provided to increase the
stabilizing moments and to make it safe against
failure (World Wildlife Fund (WWF). 2004).
 Chapter II
METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the methodology

used in this study. It gives light to the research
design, research locale, research subject, and
data gathering procedure used in the
comparison of data gathered.
Research Design
The study utilized the descriptive-survey
research design. The researchers personally
administered the questionnaire and conducted
the interview to generate much needed data and
information on the status and acceptability of
concrete gravity dam in Culaba.

Research Locale
The study was conducted in Brgy. Virginia,
Sitio Spillway, Culaba, Biliran.
Research Subject
The subjects of this study involved Municipal
Planning and Development Officers of the
Municipality and residents of Brgy. Virginia,Sitio
Spillway, Culaba, Biliran.
 Table 2.1
Distribution of Respondents
Frequency Percentage
Respondents
(f) (%)
LGU- Culaba 2 4
Brgy. Virginia, Sitio
48 96
Spillway
Total 50 100
Research Instrument
The major instrument used in gathering the
data was research-made questionnaire to serve
as the basis in answering the questions that
best specify the data asked. The questionnaire
has two parts. The first part consist the profile of
the concrete gravity dam that is being answered
by the Local Government Unit. The second part
consists of the respondents answer.
Data Gathering Procedure
To produce the needed data, the
researchers first wrote a letter of request to the
Municipal Engineer of Culaba to conduct interview
and have a site visit to the structure and to the
residents of Brgy.Virginia for the purpose of
collecting the needed data. After that, the
researchers distribute the questionnaire. Data
were collected, tallied and analyze, interpret and
presented in Tables.
Data Scoring
The scoring was done using simple tabulation
of data gathered. Part two of the questionnaire was
the acceptability of the respondents to concrete
gravity dam by simple scoring from four, three, two
and one, which implies four as very acceptable,
three as acceptable, two as less acceptable, and
one as not acceptable.

Acceptability of concrete gravity dam:

4-very acceptable 2-less acceptable
3-acceptable 1-not acceptable
Statistical Treatment Data
The data gathered were processed and
interpreted using appropriate statistical tool
such as, weighted mean, frequency and
percentage.
 Chapter III
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter represents the results of the

study. These were recognized and presented
according to the objectives of the study.
Profile of the concrete gravity dam

Table 2
Profile of the Concrete Gravity Dam
1.Structural Design
1.1.Length· 10 meters
1.2.Span· 16 meters
1.3 Horizontal Spacing of re-bar· 0.25 meter
1.4 Vertical Spacing of re-bars· 0.25 meter
1.5.Diameter of re-bars in footing· 12 mm.
2.Water Capacity in terms of cubic meter
· 5-6 cubic meters
3.Number of years in operation
· more than 10 years
4.Present Physical condition
· cracks and damaged areas were already seen on the structure due to natural
disasters.
5. Source of funding
· National Irrigation Administration
6.Contractor
· Joji Construction Enterprises
7.Maintenance system
· None
 As shown in Table 2, the profile of the
concrete gravity dam had a length of 10 meters
and a span of 16 meters. A spacing of 0.25
meters for the vertical and horizontal re-bars was
also used with a 12 mm. diameter re-bars for the
footing.
The concrete gravity dam can hold up an
amount of 5 to 6 cubic meters of water, and had
been operating for more than 10 years already.
Due to natural disasters, cracks and a damaged
portion had already been found present on the
dam.
 The project was constructed by Joji
Construction Enterprises, funded by National
Irrigation Administration. Since the project
was not handled by the Local Government
Unit of Culaba, the LGU-Officials could not
take the maintenance of the structure.
Degree of Acceptability
of the Concrete Gravity Dam
to the Respondents.
This section deals with the degree of the
acceptability of the respondents in the
construction of the concrete gravity dam.
Table below shows the degree of
acceptability of the fifty (50) respondents as
they are interviewed during the formulation of
data.
 Table 3
Acceptability of Concrete Gravity Dam
4 3 2 1
Acceptability of
concrete VeryAccept Acceptable Less NotAccept WM Description
gravity dam able Acceptable able

1.Structural
Design of
30 10 8 2 3.4 Acceptable
concrete
gravity dam
2. Quality of the
concrete 10 23 12 5 2.8 Acceptable
gravity dam
3. Span of
construction of Very
40 5 5 O 3.7
concrete Acceptable
gravity dam
4.Water
20 20 2 8 3.0 Acceptable
capacity
5. Maintenance
Not
of the concrete 0 0 0 50 1.0
Acceptable
gravity dam
Average Weighted Mean 2.8 Acceptable
 As displayed in Table 3, the rate of
acceptance for the structural design, quality, and
water capacity of the concrete gravity dam were all
found to be acceptable, with rated values of 3.4,
2.8, and 3.0, respectively.
For the span of the concrete gravity dam it was
rated to have a 3.7 value, which implies very
acceptable to the respondents, but for the
maintenance of the concrete gravity dam the
results was not acceptable. And for the overall
average weighted mean value for the acceptability
of the dam, it was found to be acceptable with a 2.8
rated value.
Problems met by Respondents
to the Concrete Gravity Dam
These were the dominant problems of the
respondents on the structure, as they enumerate
the problems in the project during ordinary and
rainy days.
Ordinary Days. 1.) Inadequate supply of
water, 2.)There were livestock placed near at the
structure.
Rainy Days. 1.) Over flowing water on river
banks that reaches the irrigation system causes
diversion of flow. 2.) There were no barriers that
would block the debris from the opening.
Suggestion of the Local
Government Unit of
Culaba For the
Improvement of the Structure

LGU-Culaba suggests that in order to

improve the structure, there must be an agency
that that will hold the maintenance of the dam,
repair the existing fracture in the dam, also
enlarge the opening in the gate way so that it can
supply adequate amount of water to rice fields, as
time goes by, rice fields do increases which
requires more amount of water.
 Chapter IV

SUMMARY,CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

This chapter summarizes the results of the

study. It presents the summary of findings,
conclusions and recommendations.

Summary of Findings
From the data gathered, analyzed and
presented, the following findings evolved after a
thorough examination of the data through the different
statistical analysis employed.
The findings are presented below:
Profile of the Concrete Gravity Dam. The
structure was funded by the National Irrigation
Administration and had been constructed by
Joji Construction Enterprises. Due to lack of
maintenance agency that holds the structure’s
preservation, cracks and damaged areas were
not yet repaired.
Degree of Acceptability of the Concrete
Gravity Dam to the Respondents. The study
found that the acceptance of the concrete
gravity dam in Culaba, was rated a value of 2.8
which implies acceptable.
Problems met by the Respondents. The study
found that the problems of the respondents on the
structure in terms of ordinary days was the
inadequacy of supplied water to rice fields and
livestock’s were placed near at the structure.
While during rainy days the problems on the
overflowing water on river banks reaches the
irrigation system causing diversion of flow and also
there are no barriers that blocks the debris from the
opening.
Suggestion of LGU- Culaba Engineering Staff
.The study found that the Local Government Unit
of Culaba, suggests that in order to improve the
structure, there must be an agency that will hold
the maintenance and repair of the existing
damages on the dam, and also as times goes by,
rice fields do increases its area. Hence,
enlargement on the opening of the gate way were
found to be necessary.
Conclusions
In the light of the findings of the study the
following conclusion were drawn:
The length and span of the structure was good,
but its entire structural design was poor, because the
dam was fractured.
The maintenance system of the concrete
gravity dam was poor, because there were no
agencies that maintain the structure.
 The degree of acceptability of the respondents
to the structure was considered as good as it results
acceptable in the computation.
There were problems encountered during
ordinary and rainy days these were inadequacy of
supplied water and livestock being placed near at the
structure. While in rainy days the problems
encountered were over flowing of water on river
banks and the lack of barriers that would block the
debris from the opening of the dam structure.
Recommendations
In the consonance with the findings and
conclusion of the study, the following
recommendation are forwarded:
1. Create a group or a program that will handle
the maintenance for the betterment of the
structure.
2. The agency must have immediate action for the
repair of the fractured areas in the structure.
3. If possible enlarge the opening in the gate way
so that it can supply large volume of water to the
irrigation system.
Development Plan for the
Improvement of the
Concrete Gravity Dam
The Table shows the development plan for the concrete gravity dam in
Culaba.
Table 4
Development Plan
Proposed Activity/
Persons Involved Source of Funding
Action taken
Repair on the
LGU-Culaba
damage part of the
Engineering Staff  National Irrigation
concrete dam
Enlarge the irrigation LGU-Culaba Administration (NIA)
system Engineering Staff  Local Government Unit
Funds
Monthly inspection LGU-Culaba
 Department of Interior
and cleanup for the Maintenance
Local Government Funds
maintenance of the Personnel and
dam Barangay
Thank you so much!!