Investigation Techniques and Remedial Works to Control Seepage

through an Earthfill Dam

Dan Stematiu, Radu Sarghiuta, Catalin Popescu
Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest, Romania, stematiu@utcb.ro

Daniel Gaftoi
ISPH Consulting Company, Romania

ABSTRACT:
Ostrovul Mic hydropower development creates a reservoir controlled by a gated dam and bordered by 2 km of earthfill lateral dams.
The lateral dams, with a maximum height of 20 m, are made of river ballast. The watertightening is provided on the upstream face by a
reinforced concrete slab and within the foundation by a cut-off wall at the upstream toe. During the first impoundment intensive
seepage were noted up to 1400 l/s. Large wetted area on the downstream face and local piping endangered the dam stability. Subsequent
the event the reservoir was lowered but in spite the operation at minimum levels the seepage phenomenon has developed and
remediation works are required. Three alternatives were proposed: an impervious wall drive from the dam crest in the central part of the
dam; a new cut-off wall in front of the existing one; a geomembrane covering the existing cut-off wall crest and the lower part of the
concrete slab. The final selection was based on simulation on a mathematical model. The model that was used for alternative selection
was calibrated based on in situ investigation by using infrared images of a thermacam. The paper presents the history of the events,
solution techniques and decision process.

Keywords: dam, seepage, remedial works, investigations, thermacam.

1. INTRODUCTION encountered at the Ostrovul Mic hydropower plant dikes.

Uncontrolled seepage can progressively erode soil from
the embankment or its foundation in an upstream
direction towards the reservoir and develop a flow
conduit (pipe) to the reservoir. If the seepage forces are
large enough, soil will be eroded from the foundation and
be deposited in the shape of a cone around the outlet. If
these "boils" appear, professional advice should be
sought immediately. Seepage flow which is muddy and
carrying soil particles may be evidence of "piping" and
complete failure of the dam could occur. If a seepage
problem has already been identified investigation is
required in order to determine the probable cause of the
seepage and the remedial action needed. The normal
approach is to define an adequate numerical model and to
examine the actual causes by defining several scenarios.
The correctness of the investigation is dependent on the
accuracy of the model that in its turn depend on the
model calibration (Guardo and Rohrer, 2000, CRWMS,
2001, Tayfur, 2005). The current field data available are
the piezometric measurements. However, for long dikes
the extensive seepage may occur in zones not covered by
readings. One of the most convenient methods in terms
of costs and duration that can furnish the needed
information is seepage detection using infrared thermal
imaging (Stematiu, 2008; Shutko, 2009; Monique de
Moel, 2010).
The present paper deals with the seepage problems
The first part of the paper summarizes a series of seepage
events that marked the functioning of the power plant
over the time. The second part presents the infrared
thermal field investigation used to calibrate the
mathematical model and the results of a comparative
analysis in terms of seepage flow of the effectiveness of
the sealing systems alternatives.
2. OSTROVUL MIC DEVELOPMENT
Ostrovul Mic development consists in a gated dam and a
hydropower station closing the river bed area and dikes
(lateral dams) that create the reservoir contour (Fig. 1).
The power station has an installed discharge of 90 m3/s
and a head of 20 m the power being 15.9 MW.
The dikes are made of ballast (sand and gravel). The
watertightening system provides concrete slabs (4.0 x 5.0 m)
on the upstream face and a cut-off wall 5 to 6 m deep in
the foundation (Fig. 2). The cut-off wall was performed
in an open cut excavation of trapezoidal shape 4 m in the
upper part and 1 m at the basis. To allow the closure of
the cut-off wall into the marne bedrock the upper layer of
the river alluvium (3 to 5 m) was removed in front of the
dike upstream toe.
The investigations conducted during the low level
reservoir operation have revealed several faults in the
actual condition of foundation watertightening: the
cut-off wall is not fully closed into bedrock; there are
gaps between the concrete face support beam and the
cut-off wall; several windows were created in the cut-off
wall by oversized blocks in the foundation ground.
Figure 1. Plan and panoramic view of Ostrovul Mic HPP
1. Gated dam; 2. Stilling basin I; 3. Stilling basin II; 4. River bed;
5. Power station; 6. Outlet channel; 7. Tailrace; 8. Concrete face;
9. Vegetated slope.
Figure 2. Dike cross section
3. SEEPAGE PHENOMENA AND PROPOSED
REMEDIAL WORKS
Large leakage through the dikes and especially through
the left bank one was noticed since the reservoir
commissioning in 1986. This was the cause for restricted
water level operating mode as a prime measure. Over the
time, various remedial works have been performed, but
they failed to effectively control the seepage flow. The
total seepage was up to 900 l/s. The largest defective seal
behaviour was found between km 1 + 230 and 1 + 370 at
the left bank dike. In the last years, in spite of a significant
lower level in the reservoir (5 to 6 m) the wet area on the
downstream slope has extended, the number of springs
has raised and the level of emergence on the slope has also
raised.
The main cause of the very large seepage was considered
the deficiencies of the foundation watertightening.
Consequently, two alternatives of remedial works were
proposed:
- alternative I – performance of an impervious jet
grouting wall from the dike crest down to
bedrock, having at least 1 m rock penetration;
- alternative II – performance of an additional
cut-off wall in front of the existing one, this time
perfectly closed into the bedrock; a new
connection between the cut-off walls and the
concrete face was also provided.
The simulations on the seepage numerical model that will
be presented in next section have pointed out that the most
significant contribution to seepage discharge and to the
high level of seepage line is localized on the lower part of
the concrete face, where the reinforced concrete slabs
provide sealing of the pervious layer of the foundation and
not to the dike body. Based on this finding a third
alternative was proposed:
- alternative III – placement of a PVC
geomembrane on the last 2/3 of the concrete face
and on the connection between the concrete face
and the cut-off wall
The validation of hypotheses concerning the seepage
cause and the analysis of the efficiency of the proposed
alternatives were performed by using a finite element
model. The model includes the dike and its foundation up
to the impervious bedrock and all the features as cut-off
wall, concrete face, windows etc. The reservoir water
level was constant and equal to normal operation level -
the steady state case.
4. CALIBRATION OF THE MATHEMATICAL
MODEL
Finite element model calibration is usually based on the
seepage line position within the dike body. Since the
existing piezometric profiles were far from the seepage
affected zone it was decided to have as calibration data
the level of seepage emergence on the downstream face.
A simple visual evaluation was considered very
inaccurate due to slope vegetation and the superficial soil
layer. Consequently, the infrared image technique was
employed.
Infrared light or thermography is the use of an infrared
imaging and measurement camera to "see" and
"measure" thermal energy emitted from an object. FLIR
camera (FLIR Systems, 2006) was used to obtain
infrared images of the downstream face of the dike. From
the same location digital photos were taken (Fig. 3). The
images were taken in summer. The body of dike was
warmer than the water in the outer slope of dike;
therefore it is shown with red tone in the picture in
compression with the yellow one above the saturated
zone. By a simple calculation the elevation of the border
between the saturated and unsaturated zones was
determined as 455.90 mASL for a reservoir water level
of 462.50 mASL.
significant contribution to seepage and to the high level
of seepage line is done by the deteriorated slabs on the
lower part of the concrete face and especially by the
damaged joint between the concrete face and the cut-off
wall. The excavations in front of the upstream toe,
required to implement the cut-off wall in an open trench,
have exposed the most pervious layer above the bedrock
to direct infiltration.

a 5. ANALYSIS OF THE REHABILITATION

ALTERNATIVES
Seepage exit on the downstream face
The proposed dike rehabilitation alternatives were
evaluated based on the results of the numerical
simulations. The reference point was the actual state that
does not allow the reservoir operation at its normal level.
455.90
Without rehabilitation the full reservoir may cause
leakage up to 1 l/s per each meter of dike and a a
saturated area on the downstream face up to 10 m above
the foundation ground (see Table 2). The efficiency of
b the rehabilitation alternatives were judged by their effect
Reservoir level 462.50 Emergence level on the seepage flow and on the condition of the
downstream face. Fig. 4 presents the seepage spectrum
for each of the main three alternatives.
Alternative I. Impervious wall
NOL 465.00

Figure 3. Model calibration: a) infrared and digital images;

b) flow net after calibration.

Starting from the permeability values determined in

laboratory and having as calibration target the emergence
of the seepage line on the downstream face, the actual
permeability coefficients were defined by an iterative
process. The calibration was performed for two Alternative II. Additional cut-off wall
distinctive cases, one considering the cut-off wall closed NOL 465.00
into the bedrock, the other one considering a 0.5 m gap Emergence level
between the cut-off wall deep end and and the bedrock.
The values are listed in Table 1.

Table 1 Permeability
kx (m/s) ky (m/s)
horizontal vertical
Dike body 2 x 10-3 2 x 10-2 Alternative III. PVC geomembrane
Alluvium foundation 4 x 10-3 4 x 10-3
NOL 465.00
Bedrock 1 x 10-6 1 x 10-6
Deteriorated concrete face 2 x 10-4 2 x 10-4
Cut-off wall 1 x 10-6 1 x 10-6
Rehabilitated concrete face 1 x 10-5 1 x 10-5
New cut-off wall 1 x 10-6 1 x 10-6
Geomembrane 1 x 10-7 1 x 10-7

The emergence level on the downstream face shown by

the flow net in Fig. 3 corresponds to the measured one.
Similar values were obtained in both cases – closed or
floating cut-off – thus revealing that the main cause of
the recorded seepage phenomena is not the deficiency of
the performed foundation sealing. As it was mentioned
before, the simulations pointed out that the most
Figure 4. Seepage analysis results for the main rehabilitation
alternatives
A synthesis of the results is presented in Table 2. The
alternative II was divided into two sub alternatives
assuming firstly that the new cut-off wall will be closed
into the bedrock and secondly that the new cut-off wall
execution will encounter the same difficulties as the
existing one and some windows will be present. An
additional comparative term was added. The maximum
seepage exit gradient was compared to the critical
gradient for the dike fill material.
The comparison shows that the jet grouting diaphragm is
the most efficient alternative. The additional cut-off wall
will not solve the problem since a significant area of the
downstream face remains saturated. If some deficiencies
of cut-off closure will appear the maximum gradient will
overpass the critical one and piping may start. The
geomembrane alternative is also a convenient alternative
in spite of the existence of some seepage flow. The final
decision has to consider the investment cost as well as
the maintenance costs for the technically accepted
alternatives.
and especially the damaged joint between the concrete
face and the cut-off wall since the excavations in front of
the upstream toe, required to implement the cut-off wall
in an open trench, have exposed the most pervious layer
above the bedrock to direct infiltration.
Three rehabilitation alternatives were proposed: jet
grouting diaphragm, additional cut-off wall and PVC
geomembrane on upstream face. In order to support the
final decision seepage analyses were performed having
as comparison criteria the seepage flow, the condition of
the downstream face and the maximum seepage gradient.
The seepage analyses were done on a calibrated finite
element model having as calibration target the emergence
of the seepage line on the downstream face. The actual
elevation of seepage emergence was determined by using
the infrared image technique.

Table 2. Synthesis of the numerical simulations

Seepage Height of REFERENCES
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6. CONCLUDING REMARKS

The dikes of the Ostrovul Mic HPP faced seepage

problems since their commissioning in 1986 and have
imposed a restricted water level operating mode. Over
the time, various remedial works failed to effectively
control the seepage flow and currently the largest
defective seal is found between km 1 + 230 and 1 + 370
at the left dike bank. In the last years the wet area has
extended, the number of springs has raised and the level
of emergence has also raised.

The main cause of the very large seepage was considered

the deficiencies of the foundation watertightening but the
present analysis has revealed that the main cause is the
deteriorated slabs on the lower part of the concrete face