Lecture 14

Design and Construction of Dams

Design of Earth Dams

1.0 DESIGN CRITERIA

An earth Dam must be safe and stable during phases of construction and operation of the
reservoir. The practical criteria for the design of earth dams may be stated as follows:
a. The embankment must be safe against overtopping during occurrence of the
inflow design flood by the provision of sufficient spillway and outlet works
capacity.
b. The dam must have sufficient free board so that it is not overtopped by wave
action.
c. The seepage line should be well within the downstream face so that no
sloughing of the slope takes place.
d. Seepage through the embankment, foundation and abutments must be
controlled by suitable design provisions so that no internal erosion takes place.
The amount of water lost through seepage must be controlled so that it does not
interfere with planned project functions.
e. There should be no opportunity for free passage of water from upstream to the
downstream either through the dam or through the foundation.
f. The portion of the downstream of impervious core should be properly drained.
g. The upstream and downstream slopes should be so designed that they are safe
during and immediately after the construction.
h. The downstream slope should be so designed that it is safe during steady
seepage case under full reservoir condition.
i. The upstream slope should be stable during rapid drawdown condition.
j. The upstream and downstream slopes of the dam should be flat enough so that
shear stress induced in the foundation is enough less than the shear strength of
the material in the foundation to ensure a suitable factor of safety.
k. The dam as a whole should be earthquake resistant.
l. The upstream slope must be protected against erosion by wave action, and the
crest and downstream slope must be protected against erosion due to wind and
rain.

2.0 Selection of Earth Dam

The preliminary design of an earth dam is done on the basis of past experience and on the basis
of the performance of the dams built in the past. Selection is based on:

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L.J. Ogutu Design and Construction of Dams
 a. Top width
b. Free board
c. Casing or outer shells
d. Central impervious core
e. Cut off trench
f. Downstream drainage system

2.1 Top Width

Crest width of an earth dam depends on the following considerations:
i. Nature of the embankment materials and minimum allowance percolation
distance through the embankment at normal reservoir level.
ii. Height of the structure
iii. Width of highway on top of the dam
iv. Practicability of construction
v. Protection against earth quake forces

Empirical expressions for the top width b of the earth dam, in terms of height Z of the dam:

for very low dam

for low dam

for high dam

It is recommended that the crest width should not be less than 6 m.

2.2 Free Board

Sufficient free board must be provided so that there is no possibility whatsoever of the
embankment being overtopped. The USBR suggests the following free boards:
Nature of spillway Height of Dam Free Board
Free Any Minimum 2m and maximum 3 m over the
maximum flood level
Controlled Less than 60 m 2.5 m above the top of gate
Controlled Over 60 m 3 m above the top of gate

2.3 Casing or Outer Shells

The function of casing or outer shells is to impart stability and protect the core. The relatively
pervious materials, which are not subject to cracking on direct exposure to atmosphere, are
suitable for casing.

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L.J. Ogutu Design and Construction of Dams
 Relative suitability Homogenous Zoned Earth dam
sections Pervious casing Impervious core
Very suitable GC SW, GW GC
Suitable CL, CI GM CI, CL
Fairly suitable SP, SM, CH SP, GP CM, GC, SM, SC, CH
Poor ML, MI, MH
Not suitable OL, NI, OH, Pt

The design slopes of the upstream and downstream embankments may vary widely, depending
on the character of the materials available, foundation conditions and height of the dam. The
slopes also depend upon the type of the dam.

2.4 Side Slopes for earth Dams According to Terzaghi

Type of Material Upstream Slope Downstream Slope
1 Homogenous well graded material 2.5 : 1 2:1
2 Homogenous coarse silt 3:1 2.5:1
3 Homogenous silty clay, or clay
Ht. less than 15 m 2.5 : 1 2:1
Ht more than 15 m 3:1 2.5:1
4 Sand or sand and gravel with clay 3:1 2.5:1
core
5 Sand or sand and gravel with R.C. 2.5:1 2:1
core wall

2.5 Central Impervious Core

The minimum safe thickness of the central impervious core depends on the following factors:
i. Tolerable seepage loss
ii. Maximum width that will permit proper construction
iii. Types of the materials available for the core and the shells
iv. Design of the proposed filter layers
v. Precedent on similar projects
The shear strength of core materials is always lesser than the rest of the embankment. Hence a
thinner shell is preferable from the point of view of stability.

2.6 Cutoff Trench

Cutoff is required to:
i. Reduce loss of stored water through foundation and abutments
ii. Prevent sub-surface erosion by piping.

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L.J. Ogutu Design and Construction of Dams
2.7 Downstream Drainage
Filter zones are provided in earth dams to provide drainage in order to reduce pore pressure in
the downstream portion.

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L.J. Ogutu Design and Construction of Dams