Chapter 6

Dam Concrete and Roller

Compacted (RCD)
Concrete

Prof. Dr. Tek Raj Gyawali

Pokhara University
A dam is a barrier built across a stream, river a estuary to hold and control a flow of water for uses such as
drinking water supplies, hydropower generation, irrigation and flood control etc.
 Concrete Dams
Concrete Dams are built in four basic shapes:

Concrete Gravity Dam:

Its self weight is considered as its strength. A cross section of this
dam looks like a triangle, and the wide base is about three-fourths
of the height of the dam. Water in the reservoir upstream of the dam
pushes horizontally against the dam, and the weight of the gravity
dam pushes downward to counteract the water pressure.

Concrete Buttress Dam:

The concrete buttress dam also uses its weight to resist the water
force. However, it is narrower and has buttresses at the base or toe
of the dam on the downstream side. These buttresses may be
narrow walls extending out from the face of the dam, much like the
"flying buttresses" supporting cathedral walls or a single buttress
rather like a short dam may be built along the width of the toe of the
dam.
 Concrete Dams
Arch Dam:
The arch dam is one of the most elegant of civil engineering
structures. In cross section, the dam is narrow in width, but, when
viewed from above, it is curved so the arch faces the water and the
bowl of the curve looks downstream. This design uses the
properties of concrete as its strength. Concrete is not strong in
tension (when it is pulled or stretched), but it is very strong in
compression (when it is pushed or weighed down). The arch dam
uses the weight of the water behind it to push against the concrete
and close any joints; the force of the water is part of the design of
the dam.

Arch Gravity Dam:

The arch-gravity dam is a combination of the arch type and gravity
type, as the name suggests; it is a wider arch shape. Multiple-arch
dams combine the technology of arch and buttress designs with a
number of single arches supported by buttresses.
 Dam Construction Method

Conventional Block Construction Method

A method of constructing a concrete dam by dividing the dam body into a
number of blocks with longitudinal and transverse joints.

RCD (Roller Compacted Dam-concrete) Method :

A construction method of a dam in which Roller Compacted Dam-concrete is

used as the internal concrete and the spread concrete is compacted by vibratory
roller in the construction.

Extended layer construction method (ELCM):

A construction method of a concrete dam in which conventional concrete is

placed without difference in lift.
 Structural Performance of Concrete Dam

Concrete dam shall be designed structurally in principle so that the required structural performance is ensured.

Safety: Safety is ensured so that the stability of a dam is not failed under assumed loading conditions, and
that uncontrollable stored water does not cause casualty or property damage in the areas downstream.
Serviceability: The functionality of a dam against assumed loading is achieved.
Reparability: Repairs can be done with applicable technology, at reasonable cost and in a reasonable
period of time so that continuous use may be possible.

Structural performance verification should check whether a dam has been designed so that the dam may not
lose the expected functions even under the assumed loading conditions.

Sedimentation may impair the water storage function resulting in the reduction in the serviceability. This
chapter, however, deals with the verification of structural performance against loads due to sedimentation
only.
 Dam Concrete
The mass concrete (large volume of concrete) with its less slump value of
2~5 cm to be used for dam construction is termed as Dam Concrete. It is
generally casted with layers in blocks.

Three main performance of dam concrete for the structural performance

of concrete dam is strength, water-tightness, unit mass and durability.

The unit mass of dam concrete is necessary as an input condition in order

to examine the mechanical stability in the design of concrete gravity dam.

In the case of concrete arch dam, Young’s modulus, passion’s ratio are
important input parameters for the calculation of stress in the dam body
because the concrete arch dam is indeterminate structure.

Adiabatic temperature rise, specific heat, thermal conductivity, thermal

diffusion coefficient etc. of the dam concrete are necessary as input
conditions for planning temperature restrictions for controlling thermal
cracking due to the heat of hydration.
 Dam Concrete
Dam concrete should have the strength, water-tightness, durability and
other qualities to achieve the structural safety and water storage capacity
of Dam.

For dam concrete, different mix proportions should be determined for

different parts of the dam to meet the performance requirements of each
part of the dam.

Dam concrete should have as stiff a consistency as possible within the

limits of the sufficient workability.
Design Flow of Dam Concrete Mix

Source: JSCE Guideline

for Concrete No. 18
 Classification of Dam Concrete Mix
Class Name of each
ificat part Function, purpose and performance requirement
ion
External Besides the performance requirements for internal concrete, the water-
Ⓐ concrete tightness, and resistance to abrasion action and to freezing
and thawing are required. Excellent appearance is also required.
The capability to resist water pressure and other loads by the self-weight
and specified unit mass and strength are required. Because of the large
Internal volumes of casting concrete, the low heat of hydration and good placing
performance is also required.
Ⓑ concrete
The strength of reinforced concrete, bond performance between
reinforcement and buried structure, and placing performance into narrow
Structural spaces between reinforcements and in forms are required. Concrete used in
concrete the parts of the dam body that serves as external surfaces should also meet
Ⓒ the quality requirements for external concrete. The concrete of this type is
used, for example, in
portions around galleries.
Particularly important quality requirements include strong bond
Rock contact performance between rock and concrete and good placing performance with
concrete easy casting on rough rock and steady bond.
Ⓓ Basically, the functions and purposes of rock contract concrete are the same
as those of internal concrete.
Source: JSCE Guideline for Concrete No. 18
 Basis for Dam Concrete Mix Design

 Selection of appropriate ingredients

 Procedure to use the mix design
 Required targeted strength of concrete
 Maximum size of aggregate (MSA)
 The number of aggregate sizes to be batched for MSA
 Limits on the combined aggregate grading for each MSA
 Maximum water cement ratio
 Air entrainment
 Minimum cement or cementitious contents
 Minimum proportions of pozzllans
 Minimum Density
 Workability (Slump Value)
 Method of determining targeted mean strength
 Temperature at the time of placing and at the end of mixing
 Curing procedure and temperature
 Maturity of specimen for strength testing
 Materials Selection for Dam Concrete Mix Design

Cement:

1) The cement should not generate a large amount of heat through hydration
2) Moderate-heat Portland cement, Blast furnace slag cement or fly ash cement
are generally used
3) Low heat Portland cement hardens slowly

Mineral Admixtures:
1) Fly ash and ground granulated blast-furnace slag used as part of cementitious materials
should conform to JIS A 6201 and JIS A 6306, respectively. Otherwise the materials should
be verified experimentally prior to use so that they meet the quality requirements.
2) If mineral admixtures other than those mentioned in Item (1) above are used, it should be
verified experimentally prior to use that they meet the quality requirements.
3) The quality of mineral admixtures should be highly consistent.
 Materials Selection for Dam Concrete Mix Design

Mixing Water:
Mixing water should be clear and should not contain a harmful quantity of oil, acids, organic impurities or other
substances that have adverse effects on the quality of dam.

Fine Aggregates:

Fine aggregates should have high density and low percentage of water absorption required for achieving the
required performance of dam concrete.
Particle size distribution of fine aggregates should be such that appropriate workability of dam concrete can be
achieved.
Fine aggregates whose loss in mass (representing soundness) shoud be10% or less should be used in the parts of
dam concrete to be subjected to freezing and thawing cycles.
Fine aggregates should be hard and chemically and physically stable.
Fine aggregates should not contain any clay, organic impurities and any harmful chemicals like chloride
 Materials Selection for Dam Concrete Mix Design

Coarse Aggregates:
Coarse aggregates should have high density and low absorption characteristics needed to achieve the required
durability and strength.
Coarse aggregates used for external concrete and structural concrete that could be subjected to freezing and
thawing cycles should be sufficiently resistant to freezing and thawing cycles.
The abrasion loss of coarse aggregates used for dam concrete should be 40% or less.
The effect of
Coarse aggregates should not contain any clay, organic impurities and any harmful chemicals like chloride

Chemical Admixtures:
Chemical admixtures like air-entraining agents, water-reducing agents, air-entraining water-reducing agents and
air-entraining high-range water-reducing agents should meet the requirement of country code. Date spired
chemical admixtures never should be used.
 Dam Concrete Mix Design Requirement
Mixture proportions for dam concrete should be determined so that both the performance requirements for fresh
concrete and the performance requirements for hardened concrete are met.
In cases where mixture proportions are determined by use of wet-screened specimens, as a standard requirement,
workability should be checked by using concrete mixtures containing full-size aggregate.
The maximum size of coarse aggregate should be determined in view of all requirements such as making the
cementitious material content low enough to reduce the amount of heat generated during the hardening of dam
concrete and achieving the level of workability suitable for the tasks to be performed.
The particle size distribution of coarse aggregate should be determined in view of the particle size distribution of
the aggregate used so that the level of workability required for the tasks to be performed can be achieved.
The sand percentage should be determined so that the cementitious material content can be kept low and the
required level of segregation resistance can be achieved.
Water/Cementitious Material Ratio
The water/cementitious material ratio should be determined so that the quality requirements for different mixture
proportion classes of dam concrete are met.
(1) In cases where the water/cementitious material ratio is determined on the basis of compressive
strength, the water/cementitious material ratio should be determined experimentally.
(2) The water/cementitious material ratio of external concrete should be determined so that the required
water-tightness and durability can be attained.
 Dam Concrete Mix Design Requirement
The cementitious material content should be made as low as possible to the extent that the required
water/cementitious material ratio is attained and the level of workability suitable for the tasks to be performed is
achieved.
In cases where part of cement is replaced with a mineral admixture, the admixture fraction should be determined so
that the quality requirements for the dam concrete are met.
The chemical admixture content of air-entrained concrete used in the parts of the dam body that are to be subjected
to freezing and thawing cycles should be determined so that the required air content is attained.
The chemical admixture content of dam concrete in the parts of the dam body that are not to be subjected to
freezing and thawing cycles should be determined so that the required level of workability can be attained.

Maximum Slump Air Water/ Admixture Sand Unit content (kg/m3)

size of or VC content cementiti content percentage
coarse value range ous F/(C+F) s/a
aggregate range (%) material (%) (%)
Water Cement Admixture Fine Coarse aggregate Chemical
(mm) (cm) ratio
(sec) W/(C+F) W C F aggregate G admixture
S mm mm mm mm

(%) ~ ~ ~ ~
mm mm mm mm
Thank You !!!