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Unit -II
Effects of Folds
• Folds as we know, mainly occurs due to the tectonic forces
and as a result, the affected rocks get deformed, distorted or
disturbed.
• This results in the occurrence of great strain in rocks which
when occur released, say in the form of human
interference, say in the form of tunneling, may cause
bulging, caving, etc.,
• Thus affected rocks are bent upward or downward, which
means the sedimentary strata, which were originally
horizontal get inclined in some direction. The upward and
downward bends are created in rocks.
Effects of Folds
Effects of Folds
Effects of Folds
• Thus a formationed physical effects produced
in rocks due to folding are very important from
the civil engineering point of
view, particularly in the location of
dams, reservoirs, tunneling, quarrying, road
s and railways etc. these effects are also
important in the occurrence of ground
water, oil and gas and some economically
important ore deposits.
Folds
Location of Dams
• Lithological being the same, the inclination of
limbs in the dam site produce a geological
setting which may be either more favorable or
unfavorable at the dam site.
Location of Dams
Case-I
• At the dam site, if the beds of limbs the dip gently in the
upstream direction it is more favorable and advantageous
because of following reasons: at the dam site, the weight of
the dam (W) acts vertically downwards. In addition to
this, there exists a great lateral thrust (T) due to reservoir
water.
• The resultant force (R) of these two will be always inclined
in the downstream direction.
• Depending on the quantum of reservoir water, its (R)
inclination may vary from 10 0 to 30 0 from the vertical.
This means the beds which have a gentle upstream dip will
perpendicular to this resultant force and hence can offer
their best resistance to withstand the stresses or loads acting
in the area.
Location of Dams
Location of Dams
• Further, this geological setting caused by
folding also indirectly contributes to the
stability of the dam by completely eliminating
the possible uplift pressure. This is so
because any possible leakage of reservoir
water is directed to the upstream side by
virtue of the inclination of beds.
Location of Dams
Location of Dams
Case-2
Resultant force in the dam which is inclined slightly
in the downstream direction is not perpendicular to the
bedding plane of strata. Hence this geological setting
is not ideal, though not bad. Further, the reservoir
water, which is under great pressure, shall attempt to
leak, beneath the dam along the horizontal bedding
planes, thereby causing uplift pressure; of course, the
heavy weight causing uplift pressure over the dam is
minimum, though not absent.
Thus the comparison of these two cases clearly shows
that the folding may sometimes provide favorable
geological condition from the civil engineering point of
view.
Location of Dams
Location of Dams
Location of Dams
Case:3
• Suppose the dam is located over the limb of a fold
which dips along the downstream direction in this case
the resultant force of the dam will be parallel or nearly
parallel to the bedding plane. This means that the
sedimentary beds there are less competent.
Therefore, such a geological condition is
unfavorable. It also causes leakage of reservoir water
along bedding planes. This leads to inevitable and
considerable uplift pressure which means a reduction in
the stability of the dam structure.
Location of Dams
Location of Dams
Location of Reservoir
Location of Reservoir
• The forgoing also illustrates that if the three
different geological setting occurs at the reservoir
site, there will also be a significant difference in
terms of leakage of reservoir water.
• In the first case, irrespective of whether the rocks
are aquifer or not and whether the local ground
water table is at a shallow a shallow depth or
not, there will not be any effective leakage of
water from the reservoir.
• This is so because all percolated water will be
directed in the upstream direction only, along
the bedding plane.
Location of Reservoir
Location of Reservoir
• In the second case, there may be a little
seepage of water of the reservoir in the
downstream side along the horizontal bedding
plane.
• In the third case, even if the rocks are not
aquifers there shall be considerable leakage
of reservoir water along the bedding planes
which are dipping in the downstream direction.
Location of Reservoir
Location of Tunnels
Location of Tunnels
• For tunneling purpose, folded rocks are in
general unsuitable because the affected rocks
are under great strain and the subsurface
removal of material i.e. creation of tunnel in
such rocks may cause the release of the
contained strain which may appear as collapse
of the roof, or as caving or bulging of sides, or
floor etc.
Location of Tunnels
Location of Tunnels