Horizontal displacement and settlement of the shells of earth dams with a core following reservoir filling

Abstract

1. The character of the distribution of the downstream shell displacement from the water pressure, calculated by the proposed method, corresponds reasonably well with the character of the displacement measured in the field on the Infiernillo dam. Near the foot of the dam there is practically no displacement and it reaches a maximum on the slope. The downstream slope is deformed in the same manner, i.e., near the base the displacement is zero and reaches a maximum value closer to the crest. 2. The calculated and measured displacements of the downstream shell of an Infiernillo-type dam (height 71 m) are comparatively small and do not exceed 10 cm. 3. The calculation gives somewhat exagerrated values of the horizontal displacements in comparison with the field data. 4. When estimating the displacement of a core we must additionally account for the possibility of its tilting toward the upper pool, which is apparently caused by slumping in the upstream shell and core upon filling of the reservoir. 5. Coars-fragmental soils and especially rock fills have well-defined slumping properties and they must be taken into account when designing high dams of local materials. 6. Flooding of the coarse-fragmental material or rock fill simultaneously with erection of the embankment leads to a substantial decrease in subsequent settlement at individual places of the mass in comparison with flooding performed after building up the embankment. 7. It is necessary to continue the development of more accurate analytical methods of predicting the deformations of high dams of local materials.