Geotechnical Engineering of Dams

The book  of Geotechnical Engineering of Dams sets out  to  present  a state  of practice  of the mechanics geotechnical  engineering  of embankment dam  and  their  foundations and  the  geotechnical  engineering  of  the foundations of concrete dams.

It assumes that the reader is trained in Civil Engineering or Engineering Geology, with knowledge of soil and rock mechanics.

There is an emphasis on the assessment of existing dams, as well as investigation, design and construction of new dams.  We have set out to give the background to design methods, as well as the methods themselves, so the reader can develop a proper understanding of them. The book of Geotechnical Engineering of Dams is largely written about large dams, which ICOLD (1974) define as:

Large Dam: A dam which is more than 15 metres in height (measured from the lowest point in the general foundations to the crest of the dam), or any dam between

10 metres and 15 metres in height which meets one of the following conditions:

–     The crest length is not less than 500 metres;

–      The capacity of the reservoir formed by the dam is not less than one million cubic metres;

–      The maximum flood discharge dealt with by the dam is not less than 2000 cubic metres per second;

–     The dam is of unusual design.

This is the second edition of Fell, MacGregor, Stapledon and Bell, Geotechnical Engineering of Dams (2005).  Almost all Chapters in that book have been extensively revised to reflect the current state of practice and the knowledge the authors have gained since that book was written.

The most significant changes are in regards to:

• Chapters 8 and 9 on internal erosion and piping of dams and their foundations.

There  has  been  extensive  research  carried  out  in Australia,  Europe  and  North America leading to a much better understanding of the mechanics of the processes which are now able to be applied in practice.

• Appendix A which along with Chapter 9 gives a detailed description of methods for assessing the likelihood of failure of embankment dams by internal erosion and piping. The authors have been at the forefront of developing and application of these methods over a period of 15 years.
• Chapter 10 on embankment dams, their zoning and design for control of seepage and internal erosion and piping. This has been modified to better separate the requirement of zoning to control seepage and pore pressures for stability, and to control internal erosion and piping.
• Chapter 12 on design of embankment dams for earthquake where there have been significant advances in the state of the art in the last ten years.