Koombooloomba dam : South Saddle Bank : soil testing and design.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Tho rolled earth fill dam, the design of which forms the subject of this thesis, is a homogeneous bank of a material which may be described, generally, as a sandy-silty clay. It is not a large dam, its principal dimensions being – maximum height above natural surface, 60 feet; length, 1250 feet; and maximum width at base, 400 feet. The total quantity of fill is approximately 250,000 cu. yd., including riprap and other rock fill. The structure has, however, been considered of sufficient importance to warrant the application to its design and construction of the most recent information on soil mechanics which was available to its designers and builders, and this for three reasons – 1. It is a functionally important structure in its own right. 2. Site conditions, being on the whole unfavourable, presented problems which necessitated as precise a knowledge of material properties - and of their effects on design and construction- as could be obtained with available resources. And 3. The Saddle Bank was regarded partly as a training ground for the main earth banks (later changed to rock- fill) of Koombooloomba Dam, which is the first dam of its type to be undertaken by the Co-ordinator- General's Department and will probably be the forerunner of many more earth or rock-fill dams to be constructed in Queensland in the future. …………