21st Century Dam Design Advances and Adaptations

31st Annual USSD Conference San Diego, California, April 11-15, 2011

Hosted by Black & Veatch Corporation GEI Consultants, Inc. Kleinfelder, Inc. MWH Americas, Inc. Parsons Water and Infrastructure Inc. URS Corporation

On the Cover
Artist's rendition of San Vicente Dam after completion of the dam raise project to increase local storage and provide a more flexible conveyance system for use during emergencies such as earthquakes that could curtail the regions imported water supplies. The existing 220-foot-high dam, owned by the City of San Diego, will be raised by 117 feet to increase reservoir storage capacity by 152,000 acre-feet. The project will be the tallest dam raise in the United States and tallest roller compacted concrete dam raise in the world.

U.S. Society on Dams

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STABILITY EVALUATION OF LEFTMOST POWER-UNIT MONOLITHS OF THE THREE GORGES DAM Haibo Liang1 Christopher S. Bailey2 Trent L. Dreese3 ABSTRACT This paper summarizes stability analyses and evaluation of the leftmost power-station monoliths of the Three Gorges Dam. Those monoliths are constructed immediately upstream of the power station atop of a high and steep foundation cut slope which dips in a downstream direction. Problematic discontinuities dipping downstream at low angles within the cut slope pose a threat to the monolith stability against deep-seated sliding. This became one of the top issues among many challenges of the project. The Department of Hydraulic Engineering at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China was retained to perform stability analyses and evaluations of the monoliths. By employing the conventional limit equilibrium method and advanced finite element analysis, significant efforts were made to conduct the analyses and evaluate the stability of the monoliths against a deep-seated sliding potential failure. Efforts also were made to study the effect of the counter force from the cut slope on the powerhouse. INTRODUCTION Located on the Yangtze River in Yichang, Hubei Province of China, the multi-purpose Three Gorges Project consists of a concrete gravity dam, a left bank power station, a right bank power station, a five-tier lock and a ship lift. The gravity dam is 2,309 meters long with a maximum height of 181 meters and impounds 39.3 billion cubic meters of water at its design normal pool level. Major benefits of the project include flood control, electricity generation and navigability improvement. A supplemental underground power plant is under construction within the right abutment mountain and is expected to be put into full operation by 2012. Figure 1 shows the layout of The Three Gorges Dam. The Left Bank Power Station houses fourteen turbine generators with an individual capacity of 700-MW. Situated on the left bank of the original river channel, the power station is downstream of the corresponding fourteen gravity dam monoliths. The five leftmost monoliths, referred to as Monolith #1 through #5, have a total length of 191.5 meters and a maximum height of 95 meters. Those monoliths are founded on a foundation cut slope, which is immediately followed by the power station structure.

P.E., Senior Engineer, Gannett Fleming, Inc., P.O. Box 67100, Harrisburg, PA 17106, hliang@GFnet.com; former Associate Professor at the Dept. of Hydraulic Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China 2 P.E., Senior Engineer, Gannett Fleming, Inc., P.O. Box 67100, Harrisburg, PA 17106 3 P.E., Vice President, Gannett Fleming, Inc., P.O. Box 67100, Harrisburg, PA 17106

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Figure 1. Layout of The Three Gorge Project (Not to Scale) According to the initial design, the cut foundation slope would have a height up to 75.8 meters and dip downstream at about 54 degrees from the horizon. Figure 2 shows a scheme of cross section of the subject foundation cut slope.

Figure 2. Typical Cross Section of Foundation Cut Slope (Not to Scale) GEOLOGIC/GEOTACHNICAL CONDITIONS AND STABILITY CONCERN The subject gravity monoliths are located in the area of plagioclase granite of ancient crystalline rock formation of Pre-sinian period. Localized invading crystalline granite dykes and diabase dykes are present within the rock mass. The original ground elevation in this area generally varied from 110 meters to 130 meters. Rock outcrops are present 164 21st Century Dam Design Advances and Adaptations

mostly across the entire area. Thickness of the weathered rock ranges between 25 meters and 35 meters. The site has a granitic type of bedrock, with series of faults and joints unveiled within the foundation cut slope during the project design and construction stages, including those dipping downstream. Dominant unfavorable sets of low-angle joints generally strike NE to NNE and dip SE (downstream) mostly at an angle between 15 and 30 from the horizon. Figure 3 is a statistical chart of the critical joints. These problematic geologic features constitute a threat to the monolith stability against deep-seated sliding, and the stability concern became one of the top issues of the Three Gorges Dam Project.

Figure 3. Statistic Chart of Low Dipping Joints LOADS, LOAD COMBINATIONS AND DESIGN CRITERION Loads considered in the stability analyses include basic loads and special loads, as defined in the Chinese Design Specification for Concrete Gravity Dams (The Design Specification). Basic loads include dead loads, hydrostatic forces at design normal pool, uplift forces, silt force, wave force at design normal pool, ice force, hydrodynamic force at design normal pool. Special loads consist of hydrostatic forces at design maximum pool, uplift force at maximum design pool, wave force at design maximum pool, hydrodynamic force at maximum design pool, seismic forces, and loads with rare occurrence frequency. The Design Specification defines three categories of load combinations, Basic Loads Combination, Special Loads Combination I and Special Loads Combination II. These

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load combinations assemble different loading conditions, of which the required minimum factors of safety are specified. Table 1 tabulates the required minimum factors of safety with respect to sliding for different load combination categories. It should be noted that the factors of safety shown take into consideration the effect of the cohesion. Table 1. Design Criteria for Sliding Stability Category of Load Combination Required Minimum Factor of Safety
Note: Including cohesion

Basic Loads Combination 3.0

Special Loads Combination I 2.5

Special Loads Combination II 2.3

ANALYSIS METHODS AND APPROACHES TO ADDRESS THE CONCERN Traditional limit equilibrium method and advanced finite element analysis were employed in the stability analyses. In the limit equilibrium method, principles of rigid body limit equilibrium were applied to formulate the equations, and single-wedge and multiple-wedge procedures were performed on series of pre-defined potential slip surfaces to calculate the minimum factor of safety. In the finite element analyses, elasticplastic theories were applied and nonlinear models were developed, where behavior of the concrete, rock mass and geologic feature were simulated by different types of elements, to make it possible to investigate the stress, strain, deformation at points of interest, examine plasticity zones and visualize the development of the failure mechanism. Figure 4 presents a two-dimensional model of finite element analyses.

Figure 4. Two-dimensional FEA Model for Above-ground Power Station Scheme

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Preliminary analyses recognized that, for the critical cross section of the monolith, where most of the low-angle geologic features are present, the calculated factor of safety against sliding potential failure was less than 3.0, which was required for the Basic Loads Combination, given the stability be secured solely by the monolith and foundation cut slope themselves. Subsequently, comprehensive analyses were performed to investigate and evaluate the stability, taking into account of the beneficial effects of the powerhouse structure, and further, its downstream rock mass, while application of several engineering practices were incorporated in the analyses as well. Two design alternatives for the power station were considered in the analyses, aboveground powerhouse, as shown in Figure 5, and semi-underground powerhouse illustrated in Figure 6. In the above-ground power station design, the downstream rock mass is to be entirely excavated for construction of the powerhouse, leaving the powerhouse structure as the only resisting block downstream of the foundation cut slope. In the semiunderground power station concept, the powerhouse is to be constructed in an open-cut chamber, which can, to the maximum extent, remaining the downstream rock mass in place to provide additional resistance. Several engineering practices advantageous to stability were also incorporated in the analyses, which included widening base width of the monolith, decreasing the height of the foundation cut slope, constructing heel-side shear key, optimizing seepage reduction and drain-pump system.

Figure 5. Scheme of Conventional Above-ground Powerhouse (Not To Scale)

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Figure 6. Scheme of Semi-underground Powerhouse (Not To Scale) SUMMARY OF STABILTY ANALYSES Analyses results indicated that the above-ground power station scheme can satisfy the sliding criteria, in such case, the stability is secured by the resistance of the foundation cut slope in conjunction with the powerhouse structure. Figure 7 shows the critical slip path in the limit equilibrium calculations.

Figure 7. Potential Critical Slip Surface in Above-ground Powerhouse Scheme

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Shown in Figure 8 is the critical slip path in the semi-underground power station alternative. Calculations have shown that the factor of safety calculated in the semiunderground power station alternative can be more than three times as large as the one calculated in the above-ground power station scheme.

Figure 8. Potential Critical Slip Path in Semi-underground Powerhouse Alternative Sensitivity analyses indicated that friction angle at interface of the cut slope and the powerhouse has an significant impact on the calculated factors of safety. The calculated factors of safety can increase by approximately 35%, for friction angles varying from 15 to 45. Analyses of varying inclinations of the interface of the cut slope and the powerhouse indicated that a vertical interface is beneficial to stability, of which the calculated factor of safety is approximately 20 % larger than that of an 0.5H:1V inclination. Analyses looking into the effect of reduction factor of the downstream grout curtain revealed that increasing the reduction factor from 0.1 to 0.5 can raise the calculated factor of safety by 5%. IMPACT OF COUNTER FORCE FROM CUT SLOPE ON POWER STATION Employing the mass of downstream power station to help secure the monoliths on the foundation cut slope had raised a concern over how the powerhouse structure would behave while providing resistance against deep-seated sliding potential. Finite element analyses were performed to investigate the effects of the counter thrust from the cut slope on the powerhouse. Figure 9 shows mesh of the powerhouse structure, a portion of the three-dimensional model in the finite element analyses for the above-ground design scheme.

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Figure 9. Mesh of Powerhouse Structure in 3-D Finite Element Analyses (Not to Scale) The calculations showed that the thrust of the foundation cut slope acting on the powerhouse is less than 2,000 metric tons per linear meter. The analyses indicated that plumb deviation of the unit axis is less than 4 x 10-5. Results of the analyses revealed that displacement of the powerhouse walls is less than 3 millimeters and the relative displacement of the walls is less than 0.6 mm. The calculation results also indicated that the normal stresses, shear stresses and tensile stresses of the powerhouse concrete are far less than the allowable values. CONCLUSION REMARKS Analyses and evaluation indicated that the stability concern of the subject monoliths against potential deep-seated sliding can be adequately addressed by taking into account the beneficial effect of the powerhouse structure and the downstream rock mass in either the semi-underground power station scheme or the above-ground concept, and the latter was eventually adopted into the final design of the project. In the final design, the following were incorporated: lowered foundation at elevation, widened monolith base width with heel-side key, joints between the monoliths featured with shear keys and grouted, contact grouting at interface of cut slope and powerhouse, and enclosed drain-pump systems within the cut slope and the powerhouse foundation. In addition, post-tensioned rock anchors and system rock bolts were implemented to secure the cut slope in the design.

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Construction of the left power monoliths and the power station was started in 1997 and completed in 2006. The pilot generator unit began to produce electricity in 2003, and the rest generation units were put into operation within the following three years. Since initial filling in 2003, the reservoir water level experienced raise and drawdown, and set the annual high at elevation 173 meters in 2008 and elevation 171 meters in 2009. The water level reached, for the first time, the design normal pool at elevation 175 meters in 2010. Performance of the dam and power station has been satisfactory. REFERENCES Design Specification for Concrete Gravity Dams, SL319-2005, DL5108-1999, SDJ2178/84 Gu Zhaoqi, Peng Shouzhuo and Liang Haibo, et al., Report Stability Analysis and Design for Monolith #1 thru #6 of The Three Gorges Left Bank Power Station, May, 1995. Gu Zhaoqi, Peng Shouzhuo and Liang Haibo, et al., Report Stability Analysis for Monolith #1 thru #6 of The Three Gorges Left Bank Power Station, July, 1995. Gu Zhaoqi, Liang Haibo, et al., Study on Stability of High Dam On Steep Slope, Hydropower96, October 28 November 2, 1996, Beijing, China. Gu Zhaoqi, Peng Shou-Zhuo, Cai Jun-Mei, Liang Hai-Bo, et al., Some Problems Discussed in Design of the Three Gorges Project, Hydropwer97, June 30 July 2, 1997, Trondheim, Norway. Liang Haibo, Gu Zhaoqi, et al., Report Two-dimensional and Three-dimensional Finite Element Analyses for Monolith #1 thru #5 of The Three Gorges Left Bank Power Station, July, 1997. Peng Gang, He Wei, Concrete Construction Technology for Left Powerhouse, Journal of China Three Gorges Construction, Vol. 60, July, 2000. Xue Kefu, Man Zuowu, Geological Survey and Research on Three Gorges Hydraulic Complex of Yangtse River, China University of Geosciences Press, 2008. Zhang Guangdou, Wang Guanglun, Hydraulic Structures, China Water Power Press, 1992.

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