Wachemo University (WCU)

Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

(HWRE)

(For G_3 Civil Engineering)

Hydraulics Structures – I

Chapter Three: Dam Outlet

Works

HWRE Instr: Mr.Tagese K.

 Spillways and Its Design Principles
 Spillways are provided for storage dams to release surplus or flood
water, which cannot be contained in the allotted storage space, and at
diversion dams to by pass flows exceeding those, which are turned
into the diversion system.

Essential Requirements of a Spillway

 The essential requirements of a spillway are:
 The spillway must have sufficient capacity;
 It must be hydraulically and structurally adequate;
 It must be so located that it provides safe disposal of water, i.e.
spillway discharge will not erode or undermine the d/s of the dam;
 The bounding surfaces of the spillway must be erosion resistant to
withstand the high scouring velocities created by the drop from the
reservoir surface to the tail water.
 Some device will be required for dissipation of energy on the d/s side
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of the spillway.
 Spillway Capacity

The required capacity of a spillway, i.e. the maximum outflow rate

through the spillway, may be determined by flood routing and
requires the following data:
Inflow hydrograph (plot of rate of inflow vs. time)
Reservoir capacity curve (plot of reservoir storage Vs water
surface elevation)
Discharge curve (plot of rate of outflow Vs reservoir water
surface elevation).
However, the required capacity of a spillway depends on the
following factors:
The inflow flood;
The available storage capacity;
The discharge capacity of other outlet works;
Whether the spillway is gated or ungated;
The possible damages if a spillway of adequate capacity is not
provide
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 Components of a spillway

A spillway generally has the following component parts:-

Entrance channel
Control structure
Discharge channel (water way conveyance structure)
Terminal Structure (energy dissipater)
Exit channel
Types of Spillway
 According to their function
Service (or main) spillways
Auxiliary Spillways:
Emergency spillways

 According to Mode of Control as or flow through the spillway

Free (or uncontrolled) spillways,
HWRE Gated (or controlled) spillways.
 Cont…

 according to hydraulic criteria as (With respect to control

structures discharge channel etc. )
the spillway is classified into following types.

Free overfall or straight drop spillway,

Overflow or ogee spillway,
Chute or open channel or Trough spillway,
Side channel spillway,
Siphon spillway,
Shaft or Morning Glory spillway,
Conduit or tunnel spillway

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 Free Over fall Or Straight Drop Spillway
 This is the simplest type of spillway, which is constructed in the form
of low height weir having d/s face either vertical or nearly vertical.
 If no artificial protection is provided on the d/s side of the over-fall
section, the falling jet usually causes the scouring of the stream bed
and will form a deep plunge pool.
 The free over fall spillway is suitable for thin arch dams and for those
dams with nearly vertical downstream face and would permit free fall
of water.

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 Overflow (or Ogee) Spillways
 Overflowing water in this case is guided smoothly over the crest of
the spillway and is made to glide over the down stream face of the
spillway.
 The profile of the ogee weir is generally confined to the lower
nappe that would be obtained for maximum head over spillway.
The control structure is a weir which is ogee or S shaped.
 The shape of such a profile depends upon the
Head
The inclination of U/S face of the overflow section and
The height of the overflow section above the floor of the
entrance channel.

 The ogee profile may be categorized into three groups:

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 Cont…

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 Cont…

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 Cont…

Where: x, y = Co-ordinates of the points on the crest profile with the

origin at the highest point of the crest called APEX.
Hd = Design head excluding head due to velocity of approach,
K, n = Constants depending on the slope of the upstream face.
The following table gives values of K, n and other constants and crest
equations

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 Cont…

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 Cont…

.

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 Cont…

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 Discharge of Overflow Spillway

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 Cont…

A. Coefficient of discharge, C, of Overflow spillway

the maximum value of which may be about 2.2 if no negative or
suction pressure is allowed to develop. Its value depends on
the following factors:
 Depth of approach, p
 Heads differing from design head
 Upstream face slope
 Downstream apron interference and downstream submergence
Effect of Depth of Approach
Model tests have shown that the effect of approach velocity is
negligible when the height of the spillway above the
streambed is equal to or greater than 1.33 Hd (P >1.33 Hd)
where Hd is the design head excluding the head due to velocity of
approach
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 Cont…

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 Cont…

Effect of heads differing from the design head:

The plot of (C/C’) versus (He/HD) for a spillway of height P above
stream bed greater than 1.33 Hd, where C is coefficient of discharge
corresponding to the actual head of flow He and C’ is the
coefficient of discharge corresponding to the design head HD.
 It may be observed from this plot that with increase in the value of
(He/HD) the value of (C/C’) increases.
 However, the design head should not be less than about 80% of the
maximum head in order to avoid the possibility of cavitation

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 Cont…

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 Cont…

Downstream apron interface and submergence effects: The

coefficient of discharge is reduced due to submergence.
 Where the hydraulic jump occurs, the coefficient of discharge may
decrease due to backpressure effect of the downstream apron and is
independent of the submergence effect.
 When the value of exceeds 1.7, the downstream apron is found to
have negligible effect on the coefficient of discharge. But there may
be a decrease in C due to tail water submergence.

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 Cont…

Effective Length Of Crest Of Overflow Spillway: The effective length

of an overflow spillway is given by
Le = L - 2 (NKp + Ka) HD
Where Le = effective length of crest
L =net length of crest which is equal to the sum of the clear
spans of the gate bays between piers
HD = total head on crest including velocity head
N = number of Piers
KP = Pier contraction coefficient
Ka = abutment contraction coefficient

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 Cont…

The pier contraction coefficient, Kp depends on

i) Shape and location of pier nose;
ii) Thickness of pier;
iii) Velocity of approach; and
iv) Ratio of actual head to design head.
For flow at design head the average values of Kp may be assumed as
follows:
Pier coefficients, Kp:
Square nosed piers with corners rounded on a radius equal to about
0.1 of pier thickness → Kp =0.02
Round-nosed piers → Kp = 0.01
Pointed nose piers → Kp = 0.00

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 Cont…

The abutment contraction coefficient Ka depends on:

i) Shape of abutment;
ii) Angle between upstream approach wall and axis of flow;
iii) Approach velocity; and
iv) Ratio of actual head to design head

For flow at design head, average value of Ka may be assumed as follows:

Abutment coefficients, Ka:

Square abutment with head wall at 900 to the direction of flow → Ka= 0.20
Rounded abutment with head wall at 900 to the direction of flow, when
0.5 Hd  r  0.15 Hd → Ka = 0.10
Rounded abutments where r > 0.5 Hd and headwall is placed not more than 450
to the direction of flow → Ka = 0.00.
Where r = radius of abutment rounding
Hd = design head.
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 ENERGY DISSIPATION

 The water flowing over the spillway acquires a lot

of kinetic energy
 If the velocity of the water is not reduced, large-scale scour can take
place on the downstream side near the toe of the dam and away from
it.
 For the dissipation of the excessive kinetic energy possessed by the
water the two common methods adopted are:
 By converting the supercritical flow into subcritical flow
by hydraulic jump.
 By using different types of buckets, i.e. by directing the
flow of water into air and then making it falls away
from the toe of the structure.

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 Cont…

 The choice of the energy dissipation device is governed by the tail

water depth and the characteristics of the hydraulic jump at the toe.
If the tail water depth is not approximately equal to that required
for a perfect hydraulic jump, a bucket‐type energy dissipating
device is usually provided.

Forms of Energy dissipation on the Spillway

The passage of water from a reservoir into the downstream reach

involves a whole number of hydraulic phenomena such as the
transition into supercritical flow, supercritical non‐aerated and aerated
flow on the spillway, possibly flow through a free‐falling jet, entry
into the stilling basin with a transition from supercritical to sub ‐critical
flow, and echoes of macro‐turbulence after the transition into the
stream beyond the basin or plunge pool.

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 Cont…
 It is; therefore, best to consider the energy dissipation process in five
separate stages, some of which may be combined or absent.
1. on the spillway surface;
2. in a free‐falling jet;
3. at impact into the downstream pool;
4. in the stilling basin;
5. At the outflow into the river.

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 Jump Height and Tail water Rating Curves
Hydraulic jump can form in a horizontal rectangular channel when the
following relation is satisfied between the pre-jump depth (y1) and
post – jump depth (y2).

y1

y2  1  1  8 Fr
2
2

Where y1 = pre-jump (initial) depth
y2 = post- jump (sequent) depth
Fr1 = Froude number of the incoming flow
For a given discharge intensity q over a spillway, y 1, will be equal to
q/v1; and v1 (mean velocity of incoming flow) is determined by the
drop H1 , if head loss is neglected.

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 Cont…

 Hence, for a given discharge intensity and given height of spillway,

y1 is fixed and thus y2 is also fixed
 The values of y2’ corresponding to different values of q may be
obtained by actual gauge discharge observations and plot of y 2’
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versus q prepared, known as Tail water Rating curve (T.W.R.C.).
 Stilling Basins
 The stilling basin is the most common form of energy dissipater
 Convert the supercritical energy to subcritical form of energy at the d/s
river regime.
 It is principle of working is simple hydraulic jump
 Standard basins were developed with chute blocks, baffles, and special
end sills by USBR
 The design of a particular stilling basin will depend on the magnitude
and other characteristics of the
flow to be handled, and particularly the Froude number of the
approaching flow.

 The design of a particular stilling basin will depend on the magnitude

and other characteristics of the flow to be handled, and particularly the
Froude number of the approaching flow. Consider the simplest
and most common stilling basin, a horizontal rectangular channel as
shown in Figure below.
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 Cont…

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 Additional Considerations in Stilling Basin Design
 The hydraulic jump entrains a substantial amount of air additional to
any incoming aerated flow. The main significance of the presence of
air in the jump region is the requirement of higher stilling basin
sidewalls due to higher depth of flow.
 The major problems in spillway stilling basin are cavitation, uplift,
and abrasion.

 The highly turbulent nature of the flow in the hydraulic jump induces
large pressure fluctuations and is the cause of cavitation
 The prevention of vibration of basin elements (due to turbulence of the
flow) also requires massive slabs, pinned to the foundation when
possible.
 .

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 Standard Stilling Basins

 Although the stilling basin based purely on a simple hydraulic jump

works well and relatively efficiently, in certain conditions other types
of basins may produce savings in construction costs. Certain
accessories such as chute blocks, baffle blocks (or floor blocks), and
end sills (or baffles) are usually provided in the stilling basins to
reduce the length of the jump and thus to reduce the length and the
cost of the stilling basin. Moreover, these accessories also improve the
dissipation action of the basin and stabilize the jump.

 The type of stilling basin to be provided depends on the type of jump,

which in turn depends on the Froude number Fr1 of the incoming flow.
 Hence, baffle blocks should be properly anchored at the base.
 Further the floor of the basin will also be subjected to additional load
due to the dynamic forces created against the upstream face of the
baffle blocks, which should be considered in the design of the floor of
the basin.
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 Bucket type energy dissipaters
 Bucket type energy dissipaters consist of an upturned bucket
provided at the toe of the spillway.
 The bucket type energy dissipaters may be used only for overflow
type spillways.
 This type of energy dissipation becomes more economical than the
method of stilling basins when the Froude number F1 of the incoming
flow exceeds 10,
 because in such cases the difference between initial and sequent
depths being large a long and stilling basin would be required.
 Moreover the bucket type energy dissipaters may be used with any
tail water condition.
 However, this type of energy dissipater may be used only when the
river bed is composed of stiff rock.

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 Cont…

 The bucket type energy dissipaters are of the following three types:
a) Solid roller Bucket
b) Slotted roller Bucket
c) Ski jump ( or flip or trajectory bucket)

 The solid or slotted roller bucket may be used where the tail water
depths are too large as compared to the sequent depths required for
the formation of the hydraulic jump.
 Both these buckets remain submerged in tail water and hence these
are also termed as submerged bucket type energy dissipaters

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 a) Solid roller Bucket

 A solid roller bucket consists of a bucket like apron with a concave

circular profile of large radius and a deflector lip as shown.
 When the water flows over the bucket the entire sheet of water
leaving the bucket is deflected upward by the bucket lip and two
elliptical rollers are developed as shown in the figure.
 One of the roller which moves in the counter clock wise direction is
developed on the surface of the bucket and is contained within the
region above the bucket.
 This is known as bucket roller ( or surface roller).
 The other roller moving in the clock wise direction is developed on
the ground surface immediately downstream of the bucket, which is
known as ground roller, the movement of the rollers, along with the
intermingling of the incoming flows causes the dissipation of the
energy.

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 Cont…

 The upward deflection of water by the bucket lip creates a high boil
on the water surface and a violent ground roller.
 This ground roller continuously pulls the loose bed material
backwards and deposits the same against the lip of the bucket.
 Some of the materials may move into the bucket, which may get
trapped there and damage the surface of the bucket by abrasion.
 Moreover due to severe surface boil the turbulent flow persists for a
considerable distance on downstream side thus resulting in the
erosion of the river banks.
 These drawbacks of the solid roller bucket are removed in slotted
roller bucket.

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 Cont…

 Radius of the Bucket: R= 0.6 H’ *Hd

Where H’ = fall from crest of spillway to bucket invert in
meter.
And Hd =Head over crest in meters
 Vente Chow’s Formula R = 0.306 *10k
Where k = (v1+6.4 Hd +4.88)/(3.6 Hd + 19.5)
V1 = velocity of flow at the toe of spillway in m/s

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 b) Slotted Roller Bucket
 A slotted roller bucket also consists of a bucket like apron with a
concave circular profile of large radius but it has a slotted (or dentate)
deflector lip.
 In general the hydraulic action of the slotted bucket has the same
characteristics as that of a solid bucket.
 Thus in the case of the slotted bucket also the same two rollers are
developed.
 However in this case the water leaves the lip of the bucket at a flatter
angle and only a part of it is deflected upwards.
 Thus surface boil is considerably reduced, and less violent ground
rollers occurs which results in a smoother flow on the downstream
side.
 Moreover in this case the bed material is neither deposited nor carried
away from the bucket lip, also any debris which might get into the
bucket is immediately washed out through the slots.
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 Cont…

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 Energy Dissipation as Roller

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 C) SKI JUMP BUCKET
 A ski jump bucket may be used where the tail water depth, is less than
sequent depth required for the formation of hydraulic jump and the
river bed is composed of stiff rock.
 The lip of the bucket is so shaped that the entire sheet of the water
flowing over the bucket is deflected as a free jet which falls back into
the river channel at a safe distance away from the spillway.
 Thus in this case energy is dissipated by air resistance, breaking of the
jet into bubbles and the impact of the falling jet against the river bed
and tail water.
 BUCKET INVERT level is decided mainly from the structural point
of view.
 If the power house is situated below the ski jump bucket, then the
invert should be fixed higher than the roof top of power house.
 In some cases bucket is lower than the tail water

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 Cont…

 The pure ski jump or flip as it is often called is provided such that
bucket lip is always higher than the maximum tail water depth.
 Bucket Radius has the same formula as the solid roller bucket.

Entrance and exit slope:

 For the entrance slope, the steepest spillway slope that should
be used is 4V:1 H.
 The exit angle  is an important factor in determining the
length of the trajectory.
 Theoretically if friction, air retardation etc., are neglected, the
formula to be used to evaluate the horizontal component of the
jet trajectory is
 X= (Vo2/g) sin 2
 Jet trajectory height is given by Y = h sin2 = (Vo2/2g) sin2
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 Cont…
 A judicious selection of exit angle is necessary; an exit angle of 30 o to
35o is a good choice.
 When the maximum tail water is lower than the bucket lip, shape of
the lip is kept flatter for ease of construction.
 High sub atmospheric pressure at down stream lip has to be avoided
by aeration or provide a curved or sloping lip.

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 Dam Outlets or Sluices way
Introduction
 Dam outlets are provided in the body of the dam or its abutment below
the crest level of the spillway so that the water can be withdrawn from
the reservoir. It is required to release the impounded water as and
when needed for various purposes such as hydropower, irrigation,
municipal water supply and pollution control on the downstream.
 An outlet work may also act as a flood control regulator for releasing
water stored temporarily in the space reserved for flood control or to
evacuate storage space in anticipation of high floods. Outlets are
provided with gates and valves for controlling the outflow.

 These gates and valves are used for regulating the outflow or for
completely closing the outflow, depending upon their location and
design.

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 Cont…

 The spillway is provided at normal pool level, such that the floods
are discharged safely above the spillway
 But, in order to draw water from the reservoir as and when
needed, for irrigation, water supply, power generation etc it is
absolutely necessary that outlet works are provided:
 Either through the body of the dam or
 Adjacent to it through some hillside at one end of the dam
 This water may be discharged to the down stream channel below the dam
or may be transported at distances where required (to some power house,
etc) through pipes or canals.
 The opening a pipe or tunnel provided for this withdrawal of water is
known as a dam out let (Intake structure).
 Further, the outlets may serve to empty the reservoir to permit
inspection, to make needed repairs, or to maintain the upstream
face of the dam or other structures normally inundated.

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 Cont…

.

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 Cont…

.

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 Cont…

 The intake structure (or head regulator) is a hydraulic device

constructed at the head of an irrigation or
power canal, or a tunnel conduit through which the flow is diverted
from the original source such as a reservoir or a river.

 The main purposes of the intake structure are:

a) To control the flow of water in to the conveyance system. The

control is achieved by gates or valves.
b) To provide smooth flow, so as to avoid eddy and vortex
formation which otherwise do maximize the head loss.
c) To prevent the entrance of coarse river born materials such as
boulders, ice and logs of wood

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 Cont…

 Component parts of outlet works

Outlet works usually consists of the following component

parts:

1) Entrance Channel:
2) Intake structure: it is required when the entrance to the
conduit is not an integral part of the dam.
3) Water way
4) Control device
5) Terminal structure
6) Exit channel
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 Design of waterway
An ideal outlet conduit should have the following characteristics:
 It should have a perfect shaped entrance
 It should have a straight alignment
 The surface of the waterway should be smooth with no offsets,
gate slots or irregularities
 The outlet should be free from cavitation problem
 The hydraulic losses should be negligible so that the discharge
coefficient is approximately unity.

 In an actual outlet, it is difficult to attain above ideal conditions.

However, care should be taken to minimize the undesirable
effects due to various factors to achieve the ideal condition.

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 Discharge through an outlet
 The outlet should be designed to have the required discharge
capacity. The discharge through the outlet can be determined as
explained below:

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 Location and Required Capacity of an Outlet

 An outlet is a closed conduit formed in the body of the dam. It may

also be in the form of a pipe or tunnel that passes through the hill side
at one end of the dam. If the outlet passes trough the body of the dam,
it is called sluiceways.

 Dam outlet capacities are determined from reservoir operation

studies. It is based on a consideration of a critical period of low runoff
when reservoir storages are low and daily demands are at their peak.
The most critical draft from the reservoir, considering such demands
(commensurate with remaining reservoir storage) together with prior
rights and other needed releases, generally determines the minimum
irrigation outlet capacity. These requirements are stated in terms of
discharge at either a given reservoir content or a given water surface
elevation.

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