Rock Mechanics and Power Plants, Romana (ed)

@ 1988 Balkema, Rotterdam,ISBN9061918278

Concrete dams on rock foundations: Statistics of failures, estimation of safety,

trends in geomechanical studies
E.S.Kaloustian
'HYdroproject' Institute, Moscow, USSR

ABSTRACT: The paper deals with problems of concrete dams rock foundations
safety: statistics of failures and use of obtained information in safety
analYsis as well as the results of geomechanical investigations into the
rock foundations properties.
~he safety of structure is ensured in of existing structures and upgrading
1nvest'
a ,
19atlons, ,
surveys, constructlon the safety crlterla,
., 0
f elaboration
o~d Operation periods by employment of new methods of investigation, of
a dexperience accumulated in the past decreasing the failures risk, develo-
tn ?y adequate safety criteria.Ex- ping more economical designs of struc-
ee~slve potentialities of the engine- tures. However to be employed in the
br1ng practice have been attested to safety analysis and in the structures
gY ~he successful filling of the In- designing the information on the fai-
kur~ Dam storage reservoir, 1.03 cub. lure cases is to be differentiated in
1~81n storage capacity, in August, respect to external forces, the struc-
e 7. The resulting load on the high-ture capacity to resist and to proper-
9s~ a~ch dam of the world amounted ties of the structure members. Vari-
l' mlll.t. Nevertheless the dam fai- ous "errors" of specialists made in
tures still are occurring. E.g. ,rup- the mentioned above terms should be
bure of 11 small dams in USA in Octo- considered from the standpoint of the
per, 1986, caused by a flood of 0.2 possible effect of them on the ele-
be~,c~nt probability (the design pro- ments of the "environment-structure"
a
c lllty being 1.0-0.5 per cent) in system which is under the specialist
s~~sequ~nce of a heavy stormrain, re- control. The safety of the structure
milted ln losses amounting to 320 may be impaired, for instance, in the
5 nl.dol1. The multiarch Manicouagan- case the operator will not raise the
redam, 214 m high, in Canada suffe- spillway gates in good time and the
Cr after 13 years of service from dam is overtopped. The "structure"
th:cks form~tion in the dam a~d in system s~fety maY,be impaired,more
sid foundatlon due to neglectlng con- gravely lf some klnds of requlred in-
Th erable temperature differences. vestigations are neglected in the de-
the costs of thermal insulation on sign studies, this resulting in a con-
ti~ dam face~ and of foundatio~ grou- siderable ~nderestimation of the ex-
dOlt was estlmated to be 141 mlll. ternal actlons on the structure or in
ni . Investigations into the mecha- a considerable overestimating the
imsm of Possible failures is too of structure resistance.
Sa;ortance for such small dams as the Concrete dams on rock foundations
Stogazon embankment dam impounding a are characterized by a high degree of
ra rage reservoir, 3 mill.m3 in sto- safety featuring longevity, trouble-
re~elcapacity. The dam rupture has free service and maintainability.The
Pinu ted from the dam crest overtop- criteria of dam safety were formed in
by g due to clogging of water outlets the course of more than 30 centuries
AmUdflow materials. of the dam building practice evolu-
ingCCOUnd for actual cases of limit- tion. According to data of ICOLD, the
in t~nd beYO~d-the-lim~t ~ond~tions total ~isk ~f dam failures is 7.5xl0-2
Of the practlce of deslgnlng lS one (Deterloratlon ... 1984), the risk of
e Possible ways of improvement failures of concrete dams on rock

473
Table 1
Level of damages
Hydrostatic
pressure
Failure 8 3
Deterioration 144
Total 152
foundation during the dam service
life (according to data of the Author)
is 3.8xl0-2, the risk of complete fai- cent of failures caused by extraordi-
3
lure being 2.2xl0- • These data may
characterize the level of dams safety
in comparison with the level of risk
of failures of other types of struc-
tures and the risk of natural calami-
ties.
We shall be interested to what an
extent the statistical data could be
used for the purpose of estimation
the effect of the adopted type of dam
or of the foundation properties ef-
fect on the approaching to the limit- in investigations
ing condition? What is the degree of
detaileness of studies of the "weak"
link of the system required to ensure
the link reliability? What are the
possible models of interaction of the tion of the most important properti-
chosen factors of failures in case of
a failure? And, at last, what are the
most efficient means of failure pre-
vention?
1 STATISTICS OF FAILURES
To answer the above questions it is
necessary to present the data publi-
shed in the Report of the M.Rocha's
Commission (Deterioration ... 1984)
and the results of our studies in the
form of external actions and proper-
ties employed usually in design cal-
culations. In order to solve this
problem the procedure of accidents
analysis, treated by the Author ear-
lier (KalustianJ1984) is employed.
In Table 1 is shown the rock foun-
dations failures distribution in ac-
cordance with types of external ac-
tions and various levels of damages
for 192 concrete dams built since
1900 in many countries.
According to the above data the ra-
tio between the cases of failure and
deterioration is 1:16. The ratio of
beyond-the-limiting-conditions resul-
ting from extraordinary external ac-
tions and from the design load con-
ditions amounts to 1:4.
Since 1900, 79.2 per cent of the to-
tal number of failures with concrete
dams on rock foundations have occur-
red in the course of the storage re-
474
External actions
Floods Seismic Other Total
action actions
11
25 5 7 181
28 5 7 192
servoir initial filling or during
the years of the dam service; 70 per
nary external actions (floods, seis-
mic actions, etc.) were due to under-
estimation of design floods.
Altogether 93.8 per cent of examin-
ed failures are due to the hydraulic
actions factors, this evidencing the
great importance of studies of the
"structure" system under the usual
ofoperational conditions and this fact
should be taken into consideration
in design studies and, especially,
and surveys.
The analysis shows that a great
number of concrete dams failures is
associated with behaviour of rock
foundations. Because of this examina-
es of rock foundations responsible
for the dam failure is of a prime
importance in investigations and sur-
veys. Table 2 shows the distribution
of failures of 192 dams (the total
number of concrete dams being 4489)
in respect to the rock foundation
properties and external actions.
The above given data demonstrate
that the prevailing causes of fail-
ures are the seepage and the uplift
(53.6 per cent of all the cases exa-
mined). The non-uniformity of de for-
mability is responsible for 22.4 per
cent of failures and the insuffici-
ent shear strength in the foundation
and abutments and the tailrace bed
erosion account for 12 per cent of
all the failures. The distribution
of failures with concrete dams of va-
rious types depending on the rock
foundation properties (Table 3) is
of a great interest. .
In order to estimate the reliabil~- I
ty of each of the dam types conside-
red the given data of failures are
to be related to the total number of
dams of each type.
The data given in Table 3 demonst-
rate that the most number of gravitY
dams failures is caused by the exces-
sive permeability and the uplift
(72 per cent), while for the arch
dams 73 per cent of failures are
caused by the rock foundation per-
Table 2

Rock foundation Type of external action Total

properties
Hydrostatic Floods Seismic Other
pressure action' factors

Permeab il it y 59 4 2 2 67
Uplift 34 2 36
Deformability non- 37 2 2 2 43
uniformity
Shear strength in 16 3 1 3 23
foundation and
abutments
Tailrace bed erosion 6 17 23
Total 152 28 5 7 192

Table 3

Rock foundation Types of dams

properties
Gravity dams Arch dams Buttress dams

Permeab il it y 36 23 8
Uplift 31 5
Deformability non- 12 30 1
uniformity
Shear strength in 13 8 2
foundation and abutments
Tailrace bed erosion 15 7 1
Total 107 73 12

Table 4

Type of rocks Intru- Effu- Meta- Bioche- Clastic Total

sive sive morphic mica 1
Types of dams ,I,)
A G A G A G A G A G

Permeability 2 2 6 7 14 7 21 4 9 72
Uplift 1 7 1 6 4 9 13 11 52
Deformabili- 3 3 2 1 14 4 3 1 2 1 34
~ ty non-uni-
.~formity
.,Shear 1 1 3 3 4 5 6 1 5 29
2(.strength
2Ero~ion 1 7 1 3 4 3 1 4 5 5 34
o.reslstance
.l<
g Total 8 20 7 16 32 34 16 45 12 31 221
0::

~,)
A - arch dams; G - gravity dams.

475
 Table 5

Foundation geologic Bedding orientation Cavities Jointing Faults

structure
Subhori- Mono- Subver- Cracks Folding
zontal clinal tical

Dam types A G A G A A G A G A G A G

Permeability 2 9 12 1 6 13 1 2 1 1 2 1
Uplift 1 12 2 2 2 1 1
Deformabili ty non- - 8 5 3 2 2 1
uniformity
Shear strength 1 7 2 8 1
Erosion resis- 1 4 5 2 1 1 1
tance

Total 37 32 10 19 15 6 8

~
-.J
a>
meability and deformability non-unl-
formity. It is evident that the men-
tioned properties of rock founda-
tions as well as the criteria of em-
ploying them in the design analysis
a~e the most important items of stu-
d1es in the modern practice of dam
bUilding and are to be subject to
the most thorough analysis.
First of all it is true in respect
to the presentation of geological da-
ta in the form of geotechnical indi-
Ces. Engineers have always tried to
ascertain the interrelation between
the causes of dam failures and the
types of foundation rocks and the
f~undation geologic structure. Pro-
v1ded a great body of data is avai-
~able, such an information is gain-
l~g in importance, becomes more con-
V1ncing and enables the evaluation
of the influence of individual gene-
tic types of rocks and of the rock
mass structure on the nature and
form of failures under various condi-
tions. Data on such distributions
ar: helpful in analysis of existing
cr1teria of reliability too. Table 4
shows the distribution of failures
depending on various properties of
foundation rocks, while Table 5 shows
the same distribution depending on
rock foundation geological structure;
t~e geometry of rock masses (cavi-
t1es, bedding, etc.) characteristic
for certain types of failures being
considered as the geologic structure
type.
The total number of 192 projects
:onsidered in the Report is differ-
1n~ from the number given in Table 4.
~h1S is explained by the fact that
1n a number of dam foundations the
failures were associated with simul-
taneous action of several factors.
Such simultaneously acting factors
for a number of modern concrete dams
with a zone of tensile stress in the
Upstream part of foundation could be
the deformability non-uniformity and
the inadequate tensile strength of
the foundation rocks resulting in in-
c~ease of permeability and up-
11ft.
Lesser number of projects with the
dat~ on geological structure of
the1r foundations as compared with
t~e total number of 192 projects con-
~ldered (Table 5) is explained by
dhe absence of required geological
tata ~or a number of failed dams, .
t~e glven general geological descr1p-
lons being insufficient for assess-
477
ment of the geological conditions or
for elaboration of the failed foun-
dation model.
In this connection it should be em-
phasized the necessity of a more
close attention to description of ex-
ternal actions on the structure and
of features of the geologic struc-
ture resulting in the failure.
As to the life expectancy of the
dam before the failure it follows,
as a rule, the exponential law of
the failure rate distribution in
time (Kalustian 1984).
Summing up the above considera-
tions, Table 6 gives the values of
reliability and risk of dam failures
associated with various types of
rock foundations failures.
The above statistical data and
systematized description of failures
might be useful not only in choosing
the analogues of possible limiting
state of concrete dams rock founda-
tions but too in analysis of relia-
bility of structures under design
as of a specified reliability.
These data demonstrate that of the
total of 10000 dams designed in con-
formity with existing standards and
codes 379 dams can be deteriorated
due to inadequate rock foundation
resistance and 22 dams can be sub-
jected to ruptures (differentiated
in respect to rock properties).
Thus the necessity of improvement
of existing standards and codes be-
comes evident. On the other hand,
these data are insufficient to ans-
wer the question at which ratios of
loads and resisting forces the fai-
lures have occurred. To answer this
question under conditions of design
loading the analysis of design me-
thods and of methods of investiga-
tion of physical parameters of rock
foundations under the effects of ra-
ted external actions is required.
Analysis of reliability under extra-
ordinary external actions is consi-
dered in (Bury & Kreuzer 1985).
2 ANALYSIS OF RELIABILITY
The estimation of the reliability of
any individual structure under the
action of some kind consists in esti-
mation of probability of excess of
the assumed external action value
over the effective resistance of the
structure or of its foundation. The
limiting state can result either
Table 6

Rock foundation Numbe/') Reliability Risk

properties of fai- (4489-f) _2

lures,f
H= P= (1-H)x10
4489
of: of:

deterio- rupture deterio- rupture

ration ration

Permeability 67/4 0.9875 0.9991 1. 25 0.09

Uplift 36/1 0.9920 0.9998 0.80 0.02
Deformability non- 43/1 0.9915 0.9998 0.85 0.02
uniformity
Shear strength of 23/3 0.9961 0.9993 0.49 0.07
foundation and
abutments
Erosion resistance 23/1 0.9960 0.9998 0.40 0.02

Total for the 192/10 0.9621 0.9978 3.79 0.22

adopted model

*)
In numerator - total; in nominator - number of ruptures.

from excess of values of external valu~s of reliabilities being super-

forces over the design values (accor- imposed while determining the total
ding to the statistical data - 20.8 reliability value.
per cent of cases, of which 70 per Formula (1) shows that the reliabi-
cent - due to underestimation of de- lity is a complex feature governed
sign floods) or from the inadequate by the probabilistic values of ac-
resistance of the structure (accor- tions and resistance and by the model
ding to the statistical data - 79.2 of the limiting state. Securing the
per cent of cases). Assuming the rock longevity, maintainability and fai-
foundation failure to be the result lure-free performance can be accomp-
of' simultaneous failure of all the lished only under condition of free-
rock foundation properties, the re- dom from failures of all the acting
liability is expressed as follows factors, taking into consideration
(Kalustian 1984): the possible interaction and the mu-
tual influence of these factors.
H = Lack of understanding this fact, ex-
cessive saving in researches - and
especially in investigations and sur-
where the given fac~ors govern the veys - results as a rule in financial
reliability associated with permeabi- losses, sometimes - far in excess of
lity (H ), deformability uplift (H ), the structure costs.
non-uni¥ormity (Hd), shear strengtH With the aim of determining the ra-
(H ), tailrace bed erosion by the tio between the load and the resis-
su~¥ace flow (He)' tance let us consider the function of
Formula (1) is attesting the impor- distribution of any external action
tance of choice of the possible model f(L) for a particular structure, f(R)
of failure. Thus, for the "purely" being the function of distribution of
seepage model of failure H = H xH ; resistance of this structure in res-
for a "purely" statical model p u pect to some chosen value of the par-
H = H x H , etc. ticular property. The structure safe-
By aHalog§Swith deterministic ana- ty is ensured in the domain R > L or
lysis the reliability of each of the H = Bep (R > L). The zone of superpo-
factors included in the formula (1) sition of both function is the domain
is determined independently, these of probable failures. In the case when

478
 5.0

I..D
UI ./rl U6 LEVEL RELIABILITY IN.
to UD RESPECT TO DETERIlORATION

UD us 0.16 Uf Ul D.n '.UO

Figure 1. Relationship curve H f(X) •

the distribution of external actions Thus the question about the attain-
and resistance is following the nor- ed and necessary level of reliabili-
mal distribution law (this being true ty may be answered on the basis of
with a great number of acting factor~, data presented in Table 6 and Fig.1.
r~alization of the above given expres- It is known (FOx et al.,1964) that
Slon yields the known relationship the risk of excess of effective
for estimation of reliability H=GP(X), stresses over the compressive
where: strength of foundation rocks of the
Pehlevi arch dam, 197 m high~ has
mR - mL been adopted to be 0.5 x 10- , this
( 2) providing fo~ the level of reliabi-
X =-~7-6'--6-' lity H = 0.9 5 in respect to comp-
V R + L ressive strength.
Thus, the relationship of physical
where m and m are the mean values parameters and external actions cha-
R L racterizing various structures is of
of the resistance and the actions
parameters: 0 and 6' are the stan- decisive importance in ensuring the
dard deviation~ of valtres; GP
is the structure safety.
The knowledge of actual limit va-
value of the normal distribution
function. Fig. 1 shows the values of lues of physical parameters of struc-
the parameter X required to provide ture in operation as well as of the
for the specified level of reliabili- criteria of inclusion the properties
ty; the values were calculated from into the calculations is of an espe-
the formula (2). cial importance in estimation of the
As Kapur (Kapur & LambertsonJ1977) level of safety of existing structu-
has demonstrated, in contrast to esti- res from the date of prototype and
mation of of the safety factor from field studies.
~he mean values of parameters, the Figs 2 and 3 show the values of
lncl~sion of the parameters of the seepage flows, rock foundations de-
S~atlstical distributions, alongside formations and uplift pressures re-
W~th mean values of actions and re- corded in various cases of concrete
Slstance, in the estimations of the dams failures and collected by the
r7liability when using the probabilis- Author.
t~c methods gives ample potentiali- The range of "dangerous" values of
tles of taking into consideration the seepage flows embraces more than
structure and foundation properties. three orders of magnitude - from

479
 hd m
2DO

'$0 0

{ ~5 I
I~
I00 16'
3
C 42
l!f5 d~
~
SO ~ 6 "6~ C f~ ,&oj

u
f~ 21
,7 0
0 tIs
tD lU .•. ~ 6D I( fDO ~ooIII ~O tOOO _ '000 fOOO ao~o
Figure 2a. Seepage in rock foundations: 0- seepage rate of flow; ~ -
seepage with erosion; ..,.- reservoir not filled;"'~ - stop operation;
1. Bort; 2. Roseland; 3. Avon; 4. Isola; 5. Punt del Gall; 6. Aguilar;
7. Villagarcia; 8. Bruk; 9. Schlegeis; 10. Eguzon; 11. Contreras; 12. Lake
Purdy; 13. Bouvant; 14. Muro Lucario; 15. La Gir~otte; 16. Talarn; 17. Ca-
nelles; 18. Monteja~ue; 19. Camarasa; 20. Me~uinenza; 21. Gr~t Falls;
22. Hales Bar.

hd.",.m
210

f 50
,
{A ri !
6~r:-5

'j ge AJ
O(J

I I
c ~ ~/f IS
~
IIf
7 7 g~fa
0 I I ItOO I! !!II
I
f z 10 2.0 SO 200 sao fOOO ~ODOdefotmQiLon,lIIl1.

Figure 2b. Rock foundations deformations:

Condition of structure:
Normal Deteriorated
Failed
0 ~ 'I!!I
•
Displacements
Settlements ~ J;:.
1. Idbar; 2. Malpasset; 3. Santa Maria; 4. Schlegeis; 5. Zeuzier; 6. Aus-
tin; 7. Bayless; 8. Bort; 9. Pi~ve di Cadore; 10. Tigra; 11. S. Fr-cnc i s .

480
 "CS
as '15
~"
+>
s:;
",..
0 'SO
"s::a.
I:l
H
o '15
Figure 3. Uplift in dam foundations: 1. Hitokura;
3. Isola; 4. Boulder; 5. Nepean; 6. Hiwassee.
10 lis (the Bort and the Roseland
dams) to 47.2 m3/s (the Hales Bar
dam). A certain relationship between
th~ seepage discharges and rock types
eXlsts (Fig. 2a). E. g., seepage los-
Ses in excess of 10 m3/s are charac-
teristic for cars ted rocks and in
two cases (the Hales Bar and Monte-
jaque dams) the rehabilitation mea-
sures proved to be unjustified from
the standpoint of economy. Seepage
lOsses in excess of 1 m3/s in foun-
dation of Sote, Canelles, La Girotte,
Muro Lucano and Talarn dams resulted
b~th from the conditions and geolo-
glC structure of the foundation rocks
and from the technological factors
(the faulted and disintegrated rock
Was not stripped from the foundation
Surface, the highly permeable rock
masses have not been grouted). See-
page losses amounting from 100 to
1000 lis were found in foundations
of various dams - of arch dams in
particular, with jointing area in
the foundation at the upstream face
of ~he dam, this resulting in the
Upllft increase.
. The uplift is manifesting itself
In various ways in various founda-
t'lon rocks of various concrete dams
(Fig. 3). Int~resting information on
t~e effect of the foundation geolo-
glC structure upon the uplift magni-
i Udes is presented in (Stuart~1963).
he stUdies have revealed that the
uplift can act on the 100 per cent
481
3
In per cent the
. dam width
2. Upper Glendevon;
of the structure base area, even the
joints width being as small as
0.25 m. And how great the uplift
force will reach with joints being
not fully closed? The characteristic
feature of this kind of load is the
structure service under condition of
prolonged action of the uplift. And
the drainage which is recognized as
the most effective mean of the uplift
control is to be continuously cont-
rolled to provide for its efficient
operation.
In contrast to seepage the rock
foundations deformations (Fig. 2b)
are depending rather on the state of
the structure, than on the founda-
tion rocks type. As a rule the nor-
mal service of a structure is pos-
sible at deformations attaining 5
to 20 mm, deteriorations occur when
the deformations gain in their mag-
nitude up to 50 mm, and the deforma-
tions up to 100 mm are conductive
to the structure failure. Opening of
existing joints or formation of new
joints was recorded for rock founda-
tions of a number of dams during the
process of the storage reservoirs
initial filling. It should be noted
that such a type of cracking has
been recorded as early as at the
buttre~s da~ Bissina (Marcello type),
87 m hlgh, ln Italy.
The tensile stress in the zone of
cracking can reach, as the calcula-
tions have demonstrated, up to
1 MPa, the opening of joints in rock
foundations reaching up to 30 mm.
The study of the cracking nature is
of a great importance as it allows
for the statement of requirements
the studied parameters of founda-
tions of analogous dams under design.
Opening of the existing joint set
(dipping downstream) in the non-
grouted rock foundation of the Mal-
passet arch dam in France has been
likely the main cause of building-up
the uplift force which has not been
accounted for in the design and
which was realizing itself as the
seepage flow observed in November,
1959, 20 m downstream of the dam at
El. 80, in the right bank, and in
the left bank - as the inadequate
shear strength in the fault oriented
normally to the set of opened joints.
With the aim of realizing the des-
cribed approach let us estimate the
"safety" of the rock foundation of
this dam, taking into account that
no data on prototype studies of
structures behaviour being available,
the main tasks in the failure model
elaboration are the analysis of the
form of the foundation rupture and
acquiring the data on rocks testing
after the failure (Berne 1967). Ma-
ximum stress at the moment of fai-
lure equalled mL = 7.0 MPa; d is
assumed to be zero. The minim&m
compressive strength of gneiss of
the bench MIII2 in the zone of ini-
tial rupture of the left-bank abut-
ment is characterized by the follow-
ing values: m = 36.5 MPa, 6 = ses the failures are resulting from
= 16.5 MPa. T~e reliability o¥ the
left-bank abutment in respect to
compressive strength as determined
from the formula (2) is:
H='P[(36.5-7.0)/16.5] =£P(1.70)=0.96
The tensile stre~s (mL = 1.5 MPa)
is higher than the mean value of
gneiss tensile strength found in
tests on gneiss specimens: mR=1.4MPa,
6R=O:7 MPa. The reliability in this
ca se 1.S:
H =<!>[O.5-1.4)/0.71 =cp (0.14)=0.56
Thus, the risk of exceeding the
compressive strength being 4 per
cent, the risk for the tensile
strength takes place in every se-
cond case. The reliability in respect
to shear strength is to be determined
in the same way. The particular va-
lues of reliability for individual
properties of foundation being avai-
lable, the total reliability of the
foundation for the adopted "statical"
to model of failure can be estimated.
The most general conclusion which
may be drawn from such engineering
analysis is as follows - the scope
of problems to be subjected to de-
tailed studies in the field is to be
limited. It is evident that the ac-
curacy of assessment of the compres-
sive strength in laboratory tests on
rock specimens, within the range of
actual relationships between the
stresses and the compressive strength,
is sufficient for the case consider-
ed, but the most accurate data on ten-
sile strength could be obtained in
field tests.
3 GEOMECHANICAL TESTS AND THE ANA-
LYSIS OF ROCK FOUNDATIONS RELIA-
BILITY CRITERIE EMPLOYED IN
DESIGNING
To answer the question posed earlier-
the question on the most effective
means of failures prevention - let us
see in which way the data obtained in
the above presented considerations
may be employed to improve the geome-
chanical tests methods and for the
purposes of analysis of existing cri-
teria of rock foundations reliabili-
ty assessment.
The above given information is evi-
dencing that in the majority of ca-
the joint action of the seepage flow
and statical loads and our structu-
res will be reliable and economical
to the extent to which we are capable
to realize this approach by the way
of determining appropriate indices.
In the existing methods of the
rock permeability determination the
primary attention is centred on the
study of the hydraulic regimen on
the seepage, the water pressure in
the joints being the only applied
load. At the same time the effect of
various loads transmitted on the
rock mass from the structure on the
permeability variations is not taken
into consideration. In our opinion
the paper of Prof. Gomez Laa (Gomez
Laa et al. 1985) from the university
of Santander is of a special interest
in this respect and supplies some
practical suggestions. In Fig. 4 are
presented the data of permeability
482
Figure 4. Relation curves q, s
and deformability field tests per-
f~rmed by the Author on the aleuro-
l~te in the foundation of the Tash-
kumyr gravity dam on the Naryn river
under the joint action of the stati-
cal and seepage flow loads. As it is
Seen from the Fig. 4, the load in-
crease up to 0.5 MPa resulted in a
sharp decrease of seepage flow dis-
charges despite the fact that the
foundation deformations were not
higher than 1/3 of the total deforma-
ti~ns. This phenomenon may be exp-
~a~ned by the fact that during the
~nitial phase of the rock mass comp-
ression the widest water-bearing
cracks accounting for the bulk of the
borehole flow rate are closed first.
Uplift is the one of the most im-
portant factors of the structure
~~fety. The difficulties in the up-
~ft estimation are stemming from
~he simultaneous manifestation of the
.ydrostatic pressure of seepage flow
~n the joints and of mechanical
strength of rocks under various loads
o~ the structure foundation. The
f~rst experiments on the action of
the seepage flow force at the contact
~f media of different permeability
lave demonstrated the decisive inf-
uence of an opening on the magnitude
of the acting force (KalustianI1986).
The deformability non-uniformity
Plays a great role in ensuring the
concrete dams safety, being in some
~ases the result of difference of
fhe deformability parameters over the
tOUndation area and in other cases -
dhe result of difference between the
eformability of the foundation and
f( 6 ).
that of the dam. Table 7 presents
the indices of variability of the
deformation modulus for various
types of rock foundations found in
load plate tests.
Comparison of obtained data
against the similar indices for the
dams concrete shows that the non-
uniformity of rock can be substan-
tially higher than that of the dam
concrete. The deformability non-uni-
formity can be remedied using the
grouting, filling the weak places
with concrete, etc. The widespread
belief that the compression of the
foundation due to the structure
weight results not only in reducing
the permeability but in levelling
off the rocks deformations non-uni-
formity too is not confirmed by the
results of experiments. The analy-
sis of field tests data (Table 8)
shows, that the compression of the
foundation due to the static load
results in increase of the rocks
deformation modulus, in decrease of
the foundation permeability but is
levelling off the foundation defor-
mability non-uniformity but to an
inconsiderable extent.
As Table 8 shows, consolidation
grouting decreases the rock founda-
tions non-uniformity through filling
the voids and cavities.
Taking into consideration the
above stated characteristic proper-
ty of the conso~ida~ion grouting,
not only the cr~ter~on of permeabi-
lity but the criterion of the defor-
mations non-uniformity too is to be
complied with while working out
483
Table 7

Rock types and Length of Number of Coefficient of

projects investigated load plates variation, C
v
section, m

Volcanic rocks, the 129.5 51 0.69

Hoabinh project

Metamorphic rocks, 44.0 15 0.58

the Tashkumyr dam

Sedimentary rocks, 109.5 22 0.58

the Inguri arch dam

Table 8

No of Coefficient of variability Cv = 6 IE
av
test
chamber
From the first cycle For the elastic phase After grout-
of loading the rocks of rocks state of ing (first
stress (IV-VI cycles) cycle of load-
ing)
Sedimentary rocks of the Inguri arch dam foundation
1D 0.55 0.53 0.42
3-4D 0.86 0.77 0.67
Metamorphic rock of the Tashkumyr gravity dam foundation
3DC 0.35 0.36

measures on rock foundations conso- Construction. November: 46-50.

lidation. Proceeding from the condi- Kapur, K.C. & L.R. Lambertson 1977.
tion of providing greater degree of Reliability in engineering design.
rocks homogeneity it is expedient to N.Y.: 604.
carry out the consolidation grouting, Fox, P.P., Meyer, A.A. & I.A. Talobre
the ratio between the moduli of de- 1964. Foundation of the Pahlavi
formation of adjacent foundation dam on the Dez River. Q. 28, R. 1,
areas being in excess of three times. VIII ICOLD. Edinburgh.
Stuart, H. 1963. Influence of geolo-
gical conditions on uplift. Paper
REFERENCES and discussion. Trans. ASCE, v.128,
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Kalustian, E.S. 1984. Statistical ana- ris: 258.
lysis of distribution of concrete Gomez Laa G. et al. 1985. In search
dam rock foundations failures. Pro- of a determinist hydraulic monito-
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safety of dams. Coimbra, Balkema: tion. XV ICOLD, Q.56,R.49,Lausanne:
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Bury, K.V. & H. Kreuzer 1985. Assess- Kalustian,E.S. 1986. In:"Osnovnye vo-
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484