Formation and Stablity of the Sky Pond Landslide Dam, China

Abstract

The Sky Pond landslide dam is located in Muchang valley, a branch of the Yellow River branches. From this point it is about 6Km to the mouth of the valley from where the Yellow River flows 0.8Km downwards to the planned Jishi gorge hydropower station. The Sky Pond landslide dam is actually formed by two landslides from both the left and right bank slopes and completely blocks the seasonal river channel. The volume of the landslide dam is about 14 millions m3 with 2.37 millions m3 water stored in the dammed lake under the condition of perennial mean water level. Because (1) the dam body is large in width and thickness; (2) the dammed lake water is small both in volume and weight compared to the landslide dam; (3) recharge to the dammed lake is basically the same as the discharge every year; and (4) there is a natural spillway in the dam body, the landslide dam is present at least 750 years after its formation. Although landslide dams which have existed for several hundreds to thousands of years are generally considered as stable, there are remains which may fail catastrophically. In order to analyze the stability of the Sky Pond landslide dam and provide justification for the future engineering decisions, this paper describes the engineering geological conditions near the landslide dam and the characteristics of the dam body, and a detailed discussion of the formation mechanism of the landslide. Based on engineering geology investigation, a qualitative assessment of the stability of the dam and an analysis of the probability of dam overtopping and piping is carried out. Limit equilibrium analysis has been used to calculate the stability of the dam slope under various operational conditions. Results of the stability analyses indicate that the Sky Pond landslide dam should remain stable and does not present a potential theat to the planned hydropower station.