Date
02 Jun 1988, 10:30 am - 3:00 pm
Abstract
The main dam at the Bighorn development consists of a zoned earthfill embankment with a concrete cut-off wall constructed through the river alluvium by the slurry trench technique. Upon first filling of the reservoir in 1972, erratic drops in piezometric heads in the alluvium upstream of the cut-off and significant downstream leakage prompted the construction of a weight berm at the downstream toe and implementation of a program of regular monitoring of all piezometers and seepage measuring facilities. Concern for the integrity of the structure was not allayed until completion of a dam safety evaluation in 1984. The paper summarizes the design and construction aspects of the main dam and concrete cut-off, documents the results of monitoring records of seepage and piezometric heads since reservoir filling and assesses the extent of reservoir siltation. Records and inspections demonstrate satisfactory performance of the structure.
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Meeting Name
2nd Conference of the International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering
Publisher
University of Missouri--Rolla
Document Version
Final Version
Rights
© 1988 University of Missouri--Rolla, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
File Type
text
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Wade, N. H.; Wei, L. F.; Courage, L. J.; and Keys, R. A., "Performance of an Earthdam and Cut-off Through Deep Alluvium" (1988). International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering. 39.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/icchge/2icchge/2icchge-session3/39
Performance of an Earthdam and Cut-off Through Deep Alluvium
The main dam at the Bighorn development consists of a zoned earthfill embankment with a concrete cut-off wall constructed through the river alluvium by the slurry trench technique. Upon first filling of the reservoir in 1972, erratic drops in piezometric heads in the alluvium upstream of the cut-off and significant downstream leakage prompted the construction of a weight berm at the downstream toe and implementation of a program of regular monitoring of all piezometers and seepage measuring facilities. Concern for the integrity of the structure was not allayed until completion of a dam safety evaluation in 1984. The paper summarizes the design and construction aspects of the main dam and concrete cut-off, documents the results of monitoring records of seepage and piezometric heads since reservoir filling and assesses the extent of reservoir siltation. Records and inspections demonstrate satisfactory performance of the structure.
