LECTURE 1

AN OVER VIEW OF DAMMING

Dam engineering PG
Course content
Introduction
Reservoir planning
Loads on dam and mod of failures
Design of concrete dams
 Gravity
 Arch and

 Buttress

Stress and stability analysis(concrete dams)

Design of embankment dams
Seepage and stability analysis (embankment dams)
Assessment
Continuous (assignment, project/paper review and presentation, quiz )(50%)
Final exam (50%)
What is a Dam?
“A dam is defined as a barrier or structure across a stream,
river or waterway to confine and then control the flow of
water.” ICOLD

Dams vary in size from small earth embankments often for

farm use to large concrete structures.

The principal types of dams in the world are

EMBANKMENT, GRAVITY and ARCH.

Constructed to store and control water for domestic water

supply, irrigation, navigation, recreation, sedimentation
control, flood control or hydropower.
Why dam ?
What is the function of a Dam?

Dam provide a means of regulating downstream surface

water flows over space and time by altering the natural

spatial and temporal distributions of stream flows

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 Why dams?

To improve the quality of human life by providing….

Control the temporal distribution of water
• Maximize benefits from water

• Minimize water related problems

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The puzzle to be solved

Uneven Spatial and

temporal
distribution of
available water??
? Surface /Groundwater
Of the total precipitation or rainfall 79% falls on the ocean,
2% on lakes and 19% on land. Of the precipitation on land,
59% evaporates and 38% runs off into our rivers and then
to the ocean.

Only 2% of the precipitation on land is infiltrated to our

groundwater.

It is essential to manage withdrawals of groundwater with

respect to recharge replenishment to avoid depletion. Over
pumping of groundwater will lower the water table.
Dams in the 21st Century
The world is undergoing major changes in social and
business practices as well as vast economic development.

At the same time, in many areas careless use of our water
have accelerated pollution of the environment.

Wise management of the water in our reservoirs is

essential to support the growing demands without
damaging our environment
Against Dams ?
Organisations against dams

Environmental: Silt and mineral deposition; Flooding;

Fish migration;
Socioeconomic: Displacing people; Change in livelihood

‘International Day of Action Against Dams and for Rivers,

Water and Life’

A balanced view is required – weighing the pros and cons of

a scheme
Graph showing the distribution of Large Dams by
Geographical Area
The primary type of dam is
the earthfill embankment
dam which represents
43.7% of the total.

This is followed by gravity

dams (10.6% of the total)
and rockfill embankment
dams (5.3% of the total).
A Critical Look at Dams
Opposition to dams is widespread world-wide, lead
mainly by environmental interests and groups
representing displaced populations

1997-2000 World Committee on Dams undertook and

make evaluation of benefits, dis-benefits, problems and
issues of large dams.

Final report of WCD points out problems with planning

and decision processes that result in ineffective and flawed
projects (read WCD report of 2000)

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Where does this leave us?
A billion people world wide do not have clean
drinking water
Most new agricultural development needs irrigation
2 billion people have no electricity
The developing world is intent on continuing to
build large dams.
Hence, to minimize the demerits and maximize the
benefits from dam:
As an engineers, we want to be aware of all the issues
and to be prepared to perform thorough technical
analysis and sound designs.

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 Have Dams Achieved their purpose?
Dams have saved countless millions of lives from floods, Estimate: 40-
80M displaced by dams (10M reported in China; 1.5M for Three
Gorges)
Usually poor/indigenous people who leave behind productive farms
and ancestral homes. They rarely receive benefits of the project.
Results in conflicts, social problems, cultural loss, economic disaster
 >30%-40% of ~300 million hectares of irrigated lands worldwide rely
on dams
Dams contribute water to 12-16% of the world’s food production
India has been self-sufficient in food production since 1974 due to
irrigation from reservoirs
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 Economic
Economic Benefits considered in justifying the project
are often not realized
Hydropower is exported or goes to cities to benefit
wealthier populations
Anticipated water supplies not yet met
Irrigation becomes less efficient as supplies increase
Projects are expensive (almost always
underestimated) and drain the resources of a
country

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So what?
Objectives of this class

What is dam its type

Understand the role of dams in society
Knowledge of many of the technical issues associated
with dam planning and design
Overview of technical approaches to reservoir /dam
planning and design
See many examples of actual dams (planned and/or
built)

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