Geological investigations for site

selection of dams and reservoirs,

tunnels, bridges and highways
The main objective of geological investigations for most engineering projects is to determine
The geological structure of the area
The lithology of area
The ground water conditions in the region
The seismicity of the region
The geological structure of the area, which also includes topography and geomorphology, is
determined by conducting extensive and intensive geological surveys. These surveys would reduce the
entire topographic details, occurrence of faults and major unconformities and joint system and
geomorphic details of water bodies like rivers, lakes, springs, drainage system.
The lithological details as revealed by these investigations would include the type of rock that make up
different parts of the area, on the surface and also upto and even beyond a desired depth, their
textures, major structures and physical and engineering properties like hardness, strength, modulus of
elasticity, rigidity, porosity, permeability.
The ground water conditions are of great significance in all major engineering structures. The relative
position of water table with respect to the project must be thoroughly established and all variations in
it during different periods in a year should be fully ascertained.
The seismic factors has become a parameter of great concern during last sixty years or so. Many cities,
towns and villages have been devastated by earthquakes.

Dams
A dam may be defined as a solid barrier constructed at a suitable location across a
river valley with a view of impounding water flowing through a river. Dams are
constructed for achieving any one or more of the following objectives
Generation of hydropower energy
Providing water for irrigation facilities
Providing water supply for domestic consumption and industrial use
Fighting droughts and controlling floods
Providing navigational facilities
Additional benefits of fisheries and recreational facilities and greenery along
reservoir
Type of dams The dams can be classified
Design of constructions, materials of construction and size of construction
Gravity dams, arch dams and embankment dams

Gravity dams A gravity dam is a solid masonry or concrete structure, generally of a

triangular profile, which is so designed that it can safely stand against a pre-calculated
volume of water by virtue of its weight. These are considered as safest type of dams.

A typical dam has following parts

Crest The top of dam. In some cases, this provides a roadway or walk way.
Parapet walls Low protective walls on the either side of the road way on the crest.
Abutments The valley slopes on the either side of dam wall to which it is keyed.
Free board The space between the highest level of water in the reservoir and crest
of the dam.
Dead storage level Level of permanent storage below which water will not be
withdrawn.
Heel The upstream portion of the dam in contact with the river bed or
foundations.
Toe The downstream portion of the dam wall for the discharge of surplus water
from the reservoir.
Spillway The passage in the dam wall for the discharge of surplus of water from the
reservoir.
Gallery Level or gently sloping tunnel like passage transverse or longitudinal within
the dam wall with drains in the floor for seepage water.

Arch dams An arch dam is an arch shaped solid type

structure, which is designed to transfer forces by arch action to
abutment rocks. These dams can also be built even on those
sites where the foundation rocks may not be sufficiently strong.
There are two types of arch dams the constant radius arch
dam and variable radius arch dams.
Embankment dams These are non rigid structure, generally of
trapezoidal shape, which are built over wide valleys with
varying characteristics from easily available materials such as
earth and rock fragments. The can be built over weak
foundations such as unconsolidated weak river and glacial
deposits.

Selection of site The selection of dam site across a river is to impound

water behind the dam. Following points are required that
Topographically, a place which is most suitable for the purpose is selected.
Ideally it should be narrow gorge or a small valley with enough catchment
areas available behind so that when a dam is placed there it would be easily
store a calculated volume of water in reservoir created upstream.
Technically, the site should be as sound as possible, strong, impermeable and
stable. Strong rocks for design, impermeable for inventory of stored water
and stability with references to seismic failures.
Constructionally, the site should not be far from deposits of materials which
would be required for construction. All types of dams require major quantity
of materials and their unavailability will make project unfeasible.
Economically, the benefits arising out of a dam is proposed to be placed at a
particular site should be realistic and justified in terms of land irrigated ,
power generated and water stored i/c floods averted.
Environmentally, site where dam is proposed to be built should not involve
ecological disorder. The dam and reservoir should become an acceptable
element of the ecological set up of the area.

Geological investigations - Following geological characters of the area

should be investigated for particular site selected for dam
Geology of area comprising of main topographical features, natural
drainage patterns, general characters and structures of rock formations,
the trend and type of weathering and erosion of area.
Geology of site i.e. types of rocks of the area where dam will be built,
properties of rocks i.e. chemical composition, texture and hardness of
rocks, porosity and permeability of rocks.
Structural features of the rock i.e. dip, strikes, outcrop etc.
Structural defect of rocks i.e. folds, fissures, faults etc.
Crushing and shearing strength of rocks, extent of weathering of rocks.
Thickness of the bedding planes.
Zones of fractures and weaknesses.
Water table in the area.
Accumulation of stream deposits
The ideal foundation should be built over a uniform formation.
The underlying rocks should be strong enough to bear weight of dam and
to withstand resultant thrust of pressure of the impounded water and
weight of dam itself.

Reservoirs
Reservoirs may broadly defined as artificially created water storage basins with storage capacity that may
range from a few thousand cum to thousands of million cum. They are classified in three main categories
Storage and conservation reservoirs where river water is stored by creating barriers or dams in its path
and is then released from gated or un-gated outlets. These feed the canal systems and irrigation and power
generation.
Flood control reservoirs which have as their main function accommodating large volumes of surplus
water during peak flow times of river. The surplus water is released after flood abates.
Distribution reservoirs are actually small reservoirs which hold water supplies in a water supply system for
short spells of time. Water is constantly pumped into these reservoirs, from where it is distributed for
drinking and other purposes in a regulated manner.
Terminology
Pool level it indicates the designed level up to which the reservoir shall be full of water at any particular
of time. No water can be stored beyond maximum pool level and no water shall be available when the
storage is below the minimum pool level.
Storage capacity it is single most important quality of a dam and it is expressed as
Useful storage volume of water in cum available between minimum pool level and normal pool level.
Dead storage Volume of water which is not useful for use and is represented by the water stored in
reservoir below minimum pool level.
Surcharge storage Volume of water that is available between the maximum reservoir and normal pool
level.
Reservoir yield is a measure of volume of water that can be drawn from a given reservoir in a certain
interval of time and is also expressed in terms of a safe or guaranteed yield, secondary yield and design
yield etc.

Geological investigations
Topographically, the area should be broad natural valley preferably ending in a narrow
gauge where barrier could be placed. The valley could be U shaped glacial valley or V
shaped river valley or a broad synclinal valley. In the alluvial plains, the reservoir area has to
be an extensive low lying stretch bordered by high lands or flanks.
The ground water conditions- Ground water conditions in the proposed reservoirs area
must be thoroughly established for an approximately accurate evaluation of storage
capacity of the reservoir
The general water level is much above the top of reservoir level and it is very favorable
situation, as there is no risk of water loss from the reservoir to the surrounding area.
The general water level is much below the minimum water level of the reservoir and so
depending upon the permeability of the rocks underlying, water would be lost from the
reservoir to the surroundings thereby affecting the total storage inventory considerably.
The general water level and top of water of reservoir water level are almost same and thus
no f=gain or loss. It is ideal situation but not easily found.
Permeability is critical property in reservoir area studies especially in those areas where
ground water table is below.
Structural constitution of the area of the reservoir is important to identify those zones
along the flanks which are liable to failure by sliding, creep or subsidence.
Trend and rate of weathering in catchment area will affect the storage capacity of the
reservoir in long terms. In case of weak, broken, falling, shattered slopes the runoff will
bring heavy load of sediments and decrease the effective life of reservoir.

Tunnels
Tunnels may be defined as underground routes or passages driven through the ground without
disturbing the overlying soil or rock cover. Main tunnels are traffic tunnels, hydro-power
tunnels and public utility tunnels. Geologically speaking only two types of tunnels are
recognized i.e. rock tunneling and soft-ground tunneling.
Tunnels are constructed below cities, rivers and through mountains for carrying railways, roads,
canals, water supply and sewage.
Geological investigations / site selection
Selection of tunnel route There might be available many alternate alignments but the final
choice should be alignment with least geologically negative factors.
Selection of excavation method Tunneling is complicated process in any situation and involved
high costs. Proper planning is required to take excavation depending nature of the rocks and
ground.
Selection of design for tunnel The shape of tunnel would be circular, D shaped, horse shoe
shaped or rectangular or combination of one or more shapes, is more often defined by the
geology of the alignment.
Assessment of cost and viability - These aspects of the tunneling projects are closely linked with
investigations. Since the geological investigation will determine the line of actual excavation,
the method of excavation and dimensions of excavation, all the estimates about the cost of the
project would depend on the geological details.
Assessment of environment hazards Tunneling disturbs the environment more than one ways.
The tunneling involves vibrations induced through blasting or ground cutting and drilling,
producing abnormal quantity of dust and last but not the least, interfere with water supply,
system of the nearby areas. A close watch on the planning and implementation aimed at
minimizing the environmental hazards in the populated areas.

The main outlines of the geological study will comprise of

The detailed geological map is prepared showing various rock types present in the area. Their
lithological characters textures and mechanical properties are determined. The geological
studies such as dips, folds, faults, joints, shear zones etc are studied and marked on the
geological map.
The ground water regime, depth of water table at various places along tunnel alignment is
also shown on the maps.
The results of survey may be confirmed by drilling. The geophysical surveys are conducted to
provide information on the extent of faulting and fracturing, depth of bed rock under soil and
location of bed rock under soil and their formation.
When all the geological information gathered from preliminary and detailed surveys is plotted
along a longitudinal section, the axis of the proposed tunnel being the section of the line, a
geological profile is obtained. These profiles clearly depict location of bore holes of
exploration, types of rocks, hydrological conditions and ground temperature conditions.
Exploration during construction are also made as rock changes their characters in short
distances and may show different properties in different directions.
Soft ground tunneling tunneling in unconsolidated rocks or loose sediments or shales and
clays, which require immediate support after excavation is known as soft ground tunneling .
Geological investigations are made on primarily objects
Preparation of geological profile along the centre line of the proposed tunnel
Thorough study of lithological characters and mode of origin of sediments
Precise establishment of ground water regime and assessment of its possible effects on the
tunnel line.

Bridges
A bridge may be defined as structure built over a river, a dry valley, low
land or an estuary or any depressed part of the land to provide with
between the two opposite sides. It is essentially link on a road or railway
track or highway.
Geological investigations for site selection of bridges the characters
that are required to be investigated are
The depth of bed rock
The nature of bed rock
The structural deposition of rock
The depth of bed rock In most cases, the river bed below the water is
covered by varying thickness of consolidated natural deposits of sand,
gravels and boulders. Such lose boulders are not safe for bridge piers for
these two main reasons
Piers directly placed on them will be unstable
The scouring by river water may remove the cover material.

Therefore the pier must be placed on the stable foundation and

under suitable thickness of cover material so that it is safe from
scour by river water. Utmost care shall be taken to check that piers
are not rested on big boulders; they cannot be trusted for
foundations.
The nature of bed rock The bed rock selected as foundation for
the pier must be strong enough to bear sum total of compressive
vertical loads, horizontal loads due to thrust of water and dynamic
loads due to heavy traffic on bridges.
The structural deposition of rock - The rock position shall be
checked for placing the pier. Fracturing and jointing is undesirable.
When the bridges are located in the zones of seismic activity, the
foundations are required to be designed for additional seismic
loads as specified in the codes of respective areas. In the glaciated
areas the valleys filled with secondary materials must be properly
checked. The factor of scour need to be taken seriously.

Highways Geological investigation play very important role in the design, stability and economic construction of
roads and highways, following factors are discussed in detailsTopography It is the most important factor that controls the selection of alignment of road project.
Topographic maps would reveal the existence of various land features like valleys and the inflowing
streams, the hills and their undulations, the plateaus and the plains with all their configurations from
place to place. The cutting and filling quantities are calculated in advance, slopes are required to be
treated wherever required with retaining walls etc.
Lithological characters Geological surveys should invariably provide all possible details regarding
the composition texture, structure and origin of rocks and sediments making the ground through
which the proposed alignment of the highways has to pass.
Geological structures The structural features of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks plays
important role in design of cuts as well as stability of roads as a whole. If the rocks have some planes
of weakness such as bedding planes, joints, foliation, cleavage are present in such a way that they are
inclined towards the free side of the valley, the rock could likely to fail along these planes. Such
structural features includes dip and strikes, joins, fault planes and shear zones.
Weathering State of weathering of rocks is very important and cuts might need better designing
when these happens to pass through weathered zones of the rocks. Cleaning of slopes from loose
debris and flattening for avoiding falls shall be needed.
Ground water conditions It is always necessary to investigate thoroughly the position of water table
in the area. Water exerts important influence on the bearing capacity of the rocks and soil. The moist
soil would not bear design loads. The free flow of water is quite dangerous to the roads stability.