Abstract
Mosul Dam is located on the Tigris river, 50 Km NW of Mosul; it is 113 m in height, 3.4 Km in length, 10 m wide in its crest and has a storage capacity of 11.1 billion cubic meters. It is an earth fill dam, constructed on bedrocks of Fat’ha Formation, which consists of gypsum beds alternated with marl and limestone, in cyclic nature. The thickness of gypsum beds attains 18 m; they are intensely karstified even in foundation rocks. Therefore, continuous grouting Programme was planned during construction, which was completed in June 1984, with planned operation age of 80 years. Due to insufficient grouting in the foundation, during last years of the last century, the Karstification was enlarged in size and quantity, causing serious problems to the stability of the dam. Since late eighties of the last century, the status of the dam and its probable collapse has caused a panic to the people of Mosul city and near surroundings. Therefore, many attempts were carried out for assessment of the dam; all of them concluded that the Karstification is the main problem and recommended continuous grouting, using modern techniques. In addition, the authorities started to build another “Badush Dam” south of Mosul Dam so that it can stop the first wave if Mosul Dam if collapsed. All geophysical and geological work executed on the dam site; it concluded that the existence of many weaknesses zones, faults and large karstified areas, in different parts of the dam site.
Highlights
Mosul Dam is located on the Tigris River in northern Iraq approximately 50 km northwest of Mosul city and 80 Km from Syria and Turkey (Figure 1)
It is 113 m in height, 3.4 Km in length, 10 m wide in its crest and has a storage capacity of 11.1 billion cubic meters [1]. It is an earth fill dam, constructed on bedrocks of Fat’ha Formation, which consists of gypsum beds alternated with marl and limestone, in cyclic nature
Karstification, which is one of the main geological hazards in the dam site, and in Iraq, is the main dangerous feature that causes a serious problem to the stability of Mosul dam
Summary
Mosul Dam is located on the Tigris River in northern Iraq approximately 50 km northwest of Mosul city and 80 Km from Syria and Turkey (Figure 1). It is 113 m in height, 3.4 Km in length, 10 m wide in its crest and has a storage capacity of 11.1 billion cubic meters [1]. The thickness of gypsum beds attains 18 m; they are intensely karstified even in foundation rocks. It is a multipurpose project for irrigation, flood control and hydropower generation.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
