Gravity Dam Design and Analysis

Reservoir planning

•Dam/reservoir site selection

•Reservoir capacity
Lecture
Reservoir 2
planning
Dam site investigation
Why reservoir planning? EIT- HU MZ 2005 ET 01/20/2021
 EIT- HU MZ 2005 ET 01/20/2021

SURVEYS OF DAM SITE

1. Reconnaissance
▫ first survey to collect information about the site, topographical, geological, hydrological
and seismicity's data, are collected from agencies that help for future detail study. Helps to
estimate site/location of the dam, nature of the geology; foundation(no subsurface
exploration), stream flow, expected dam height, reservoir capacity, available head …
2. Preliminary investigation
▫ Data generated here are more detail than reconnaissance. Survey is made on all sites
found suitable under former survey. Used for economic analysis and preliminary design of
sites selected in this survey.
▫ Used to prepare topo-maps of sites, section profiles of the stream, subsurface exploration
to determine the faults, rock type cracks …runoff data, spillway size, reservoir capacity silt
carried by the river
▫ Investigation to locate construction material site,
▫ Public utility , telephone, water supply, road that may affect the final selection
3. Final investigation
▫ It is done only for the finally selected site through the above investigation, final estimate
and design are done.
▫ Detailed survey to get complete information, so that construction designs are prepared,
geologic data based on boring, and in-situ test, if foundation treatment is necessary detail
on level of grouting…, demarcation of land and people affected after construction, all data
for final estimation, design and location are collected, dam location, tunnel, coffer dam…
are marked
SELECTION OF DAM SITE
EIT- HU MZ 2005 ET 01/20/2021

• Factor
▫ Valley shape and topography
 Narrow V shape, good foundation, dictate arch dam
 If relatively wide with good foundation and V , gravity, buttress dam
 Low rolling plain with wide valley and alluvial foundation embankment
▫ Geology
 Rocky foundation ideal for all type of dam
 Gravel and course sand foundation, embankment dams
 Fine sand & silt, for earth and small concrete dams
 Clay foundation, not proper for any b/c of low bearing capacity, excessive
settlement
▫ Hydrology
 Nature of rainfall
 Peak runoff generated
▫ Availability of construction material,
 overall cost
 Spillway size and location if lager spillway is must and no separate location
for spillway then a gravity dam is recommended
 EIT- HU MZ 2005 ET 01/20/2021

Levels of investigation
• Topography
▫ Narrow gorge opening wider upstream(fig. a)
▫ Down stream, of confluence point (fig. b)

200

200
200
400 230 300
200
300
300 Confluence 400
400
400

Fig b. dam site

Fig .a dam site
SELECTION OF DAM SITE EIT- HU MZ 2005 ET 01/20/2021

• Material availability
• Water tightness of
• Suitable foundation
reservoir
• Spillway site
• shape of reservoir basin
• Small submerged area
Hill lock
• Accessibility
• Minimum overall cost
• Healthy surrounding
• Other considerations like
political
 EIT- HU MZ 2005 ET 01/20/2021

SURVEYS OF DAM SITE

Based on type of dam
▫ Earth quake hazards, embankment dams are better
▫ Climate extreme cold condition buttress and arch dams are not
recommended
▫ Diversion problem, earth dam is not recommended
▫ Environmental considerations, go for more merging to the natural
environment like earth dam than concrete
▫ Road way(wide), is needed gravity and earth dam
▫ Length and height of dam (earth and gravity dam respectively
▫ Life of dam , long life span gravity, moderate to embankment, if
short to timber
▫ Miscellaneous considerations, availability of type of machinery,
earth moving, excavation machines, mixing batching plant, cheap
labor
SURVEYS OF DAM SITE
EIT- HU MZ 2005 ET 01/20/2021

Engineering survey
• Its detail engineering survey detail on the site and surrounding grouped in to three

• Preliminary :that could take place Along with the preliminary investigation, need
for design and estimate of the cost of dam

▫ using maps 1:500 or 1:2500 determine the storage capacity

• Detail survey to prepare contour map of the dam site for final design, it consist all
the dam, appurtenant, and river diversion works, it extends at least 200m up
stream and 400m ds and side ways, contour plan is prepared to a scale 1:250 or
1:500 using a contour interval of 1 to 2m for dam site and 2.5 to 5m for reservoir
area, alignment for communication route is made

• Control survey: it is done for finally selected site, a permanent and accessible
bench mark is established
 EIT- HU MZ 2005 ET 01/20/2021

SURVEYS OF DAM SITE

• Geologic survey
▫ Preliminary which has been done in preliminary investigation
and detail on rock type combination , permeability, joint pattern
….and geologic map is prepared, using geophysical methods like
resistivity …
▫ Detail this is during the final study , using open pit trench to see
the over burden mantel, or drifting or tunneling and or core
drilling to examine the rock x-stic at depth
▫ Subsurface exploration: using geophysical, open excavation,
sounding and penetration exploratory boring methods on the
foundation which could be
SURVEYS OF DAM SITE
EIT- HU MZ 2005 ET 01/20/2021

• Hydrologic survey to collect:

▫ Probable discharge form river gauge
▫ Rainfall record of the catchment from rain gauge of
past decade and estimate future discharge to fix res.
Capacity
▫ Determining discharge from empirical formulas
▫ And hence the capacity of the spill way is determined
as a function of the highest flood discharge
 EIT- HU MZ 2005 ET 01/20/2021

SURVEYS OF DAM SITE

• Yield and capacity of reservoir

▫ Reservoir yield: amount of water available in the
reservoir at a given time
▫ Specific yield : maximum amount available during
critical low flow
▫ Secondary yield: an excess of safe yield during high
flow
▫ Average yield: the arithmetic average of the above
SURVEYS OF DAM SITE EIT- HU MZ 2005 ET 01/20/2021

Reservoir Yield
Controlled Release from a reservoir (or system of reservoirs).

Often expressed as a ratio of % of mean annual flow. E.g., 70% yield means the reservoir
can provide a regulated release of 70% of the mean annual flow.
The Yield depends on the active storage capacity of the reservoir

Reliability of Yield: probability

that a reservoir will be able to meet
the demand in any particular time
interval (usually a year)
Reliability = Ns/N
Ns is number of intervals in which
demand was met; N is the total
number of intervals
Firm Yield: can be met 100% of time
 Reservoir Storage EIT- HU MZ 2005 ET 01/20/2021

Total
capacity
Valley storage

• Dead Storage: water below the principal outlet (minimum pool level)
• Flood Pool (surcharge) Storage: storage between the normal and maximum pool level
• Live storage: storage between the normal flood level and the minimum pool level
• Bank storage: storage in the sides of the reservoir (bank) released later
• Valley storage: the base flow before the construction of dam
• Effective storage capacity* = live storage + the surcharge storage – the valley storage.
 EIT- HU MZ 2005 ET 01/20/2021

Mass Diagram Analysis (Rippl) Method

Find the maximum positive cumulative
difference between a sequence of pre- 40
specified (desired) reservoir releases Rt and
35
known inflows Qt.
30
Record of historical inflows is used,
25
typically

inflow volume
20
Example: Nine period-of-record flows:
[1, 3, 3, 5, 8, 6, 7, 2, 1] 15

10 Rt=4

5
1. Plot cumulative
0

2. Add demand line 1

Inflow
2 3 4 5
time
6 7 8 9

Cumulative Inf low

3. Find max deficit
 EIT- HU MZ 2005 ET 01/20/2021

Problems with Mass Diagram Method

• Reservoir release needs to be constant (this is not
accurate for monthly interval as demands are often
seasonal)
• Assumes that future hydrology is like the past
• Cannot compute storage size for a given reliability
• Evaporation and other losses that depend on level in
reservoir cannot be factored into analysis
• (Read about accounting for losses, See McMahon et
al., Sequent Peak Algorithm paper on class website)
 EIT- HU MZ 2005 ET 01/20/2021

Reservoir capacity
For fixed demand For fixed capacity

1•
4 1 •
• 01 4
2 • 01
Mass inflow (100ha

2
• 1000

Mass inflow (100ha

• 1000
• 80 70 ha m
• De • 80
ma • De
.m/s)

• 60 nd ma
.m/s)
lin • 60 nd
70ha m 300
• e • 2 lin
• 40 2
e250
•

0 0 • 40
•

0 0 • 2
• 20 • 1
h • h • 20 0
• 1 0
• 0 y
a
m
/ e m • 0 y
• 1950 • 1955 • 1960 • y 1965a• 1970 e
e
a
r • 1950 • 1955 • 1960 • 1965a• 1970
• Time (years)
r r
• Time (years)
 EIT- HU MZ 2005 ET 01/20/2021

Reservoir capacity
• Capacity elevation and area elevation curves
• b/c the major purpose of reservoir is to stabilize flow
its important characteristic is its storage capacity
• It is determined by area enclose with in each contour
line measured with planimeter.
• Usual practice
• Determine contour at 5 meter vertical interval and
then interpolate for small contour intervals say 0.5m
using :

A100.5  [ Ai1 
100.5 100
105100

* Ai1  Ai1 ]2 
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Reservoir capacity
• Ones if we determine the areas the storage capacity is
given by the average of the consecutive contour areas
times the contour interval.
S   S i
i 1
Water spread area msq m
Storage at each interval 50 20 0

using simple arithmetic 160 Capacity elevation

curve

average.
Ai  Ai 1 Elevation m
S  hi 130
Area elevation
2
curve
 Prismoidal method
100
20 150 250
S 
h
3

Ai  Ai 1  Ai Ai 1  Capacity mcm
 EIT- HU MZ 2005 ET 01/20/2021

Reservoir capacity
• Integration technique
• It is clear that the integration of area elevation
curve gives the capacity elevation curve.
• Area elevation curve is given by:
A    h  h2  ...hn1 n is numberof contourlines
Ay    y  y2 ...yn1 n is numberof contourlines
Ao  
n1
A1   y1 y1 ...y1
2
n is number
of contour
lines
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Reservoir capacity
 For n intervals we have n equations of the above kind, integrating the area equation Ay

 Ay dy     y  y 2
 ...  y n1

0

 
Sy [y 0.5y2  y3 ... yn]k
3 n
 Where k is the capacity of the reservoir at the datum

 Example. Contour survey of reservoir site data, where k is the capacity of the reservoir
at the datum
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Example RC • Determine the capacity of the

reservoir . The capacity of the
Reservoir site data reservoir at the datum is 14 ha
m.
Contour value Area • Soln.
100 6 ha
1. Determine the Area elevation
formula (i.e. determine the
110 18.1 ha constants)
120 34.0 ha 2. Integrate the area elevation
equation between 100 and
120 m