4/25/2021

Makerere University

Department of Construction Economics and

Management, CEDAT
Construction Technology III
DAMS – Lecture 2
Reservoirs, Spillways, (Hydraulic Design)

Dr. Musa Manga Nsubuga

Postdoc. Eng. (UNC, USA); Ph.D. Civil Eng. (Leeds, UK); MSc Eng. (1.1 Dist),
(Leeds, UK); BSc. Const.(1.1 Hons) MAK; Dip. Architecture.

Reservoir, Spillway, Etc.

• Purposes of a Dam
- Irrigation
- Flood control
- Water supply
- Hydropower
- Navigation
- Recreation
• Pertinent structures – dam, spillway,
intake, outlet, powerhouse

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Hoover Dam – downstream face

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Hoover Dam – Lake Mead

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Hoover Dam – Spillway Crest

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Hoover dam – Outflow Channel

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Hoover Dam – Outlet Tunnel

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Hoover Dam – Spillway

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Dam Building Project

• Planning
- Reconnaissance Study
- Feasibility Study
- Environmental Document (CEQA in California)
• Design
- Preliminary (Conceptual) Design
- Detailed Design
- Construction Documents (plans & specifications)
• Construction
• Startup and testing
• Operation

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Necessary Data
• Location and site map
• Hydrologic data
• Climatic data
• Geological data
• Water demand data
• Dam site data (foundation, material,
tailwater)

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Dam Components
• Dam
- dam structure and embankment
• Outlet structure
- inlet tower or inlet structure, tunnels,
channels and outlet structure
• Spillway
- service spillway
- auxiliary spillway
- emergency spillway

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Spillway Design Data

• Inflow Design Flood (IDF) hydrograph
- developed from probable maximum
precipitation or storms of certain
occurrence frequency
- life loss  use PMP
- if failure is tolerated, engineering
judgment  cost-benefit analysis  use
certain return-period flood

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Spillway Design Data (cont’d)

• Reservoir storage curve
- storage volume vs. elevation
- developed from topographic maps
- requires reservoir operation rules for
modeling
• Spillway discharge rating curve

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Reservoir Capacity Curve

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Spillway Discharge Rating

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Spillway Design Procedure

• Route the flood through the reservoir
to determine the required spillway size
S = (Qi – Qo) t
Qi determined from IDF hydrograph
Qo determined from outflow rating
curve
S determined from storage rating
curve
- trial and error process
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Spillway Capacity vs. Surcharge

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Spillway Cost Analysis

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Spillway Design Procedure (cont’d)

• Select spillway type and control

structure
- service, auxiliary and emergency
spillways to operate at increasingly
higher reservoir levels
- whether to include control structure
or equipment – a question of regulated
or unregulated discharge

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Spillway Design Procedure (cont’d)

• Perform hydraulic design of spillway

structures
- Control structure

- Discharge channel

- Terminal structure

- Entrance and outlet channels

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Types of Spillway
• Overflow type – integral part of the
dam
-Straight drop spillway, H<25’, vibration
-Ogee spillway, low height
• Channel type – isolated from the dam
-Side channel spillway, for long crest
-Chute spillway – earth or rock fill dam
- Drop inlet or morning glory spillway
-Culvert spillway
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Sabo Dam, Japan – Drop Chute

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New Cronton Dam NY – Stepped Chute

Spillway

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Sippel Weir, Australia – Drop Spillway

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Four Mile Dam, Australia – Ogee

Spillway

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Upper South Dam, Australia – Ogee

Spillway

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Winnipeg Floodway - Ogee

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Hoover Dam – Gated Side Channel

Spillway

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Valentine Mill Dam - Labyrinth

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Ute Dam – Labyrinth Spillway

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Matthews Canyon Dam - Chute

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Itaipu Dam, Uruguay – Chute Spillway

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Itaipu Dam – flip bucket

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Pleasant Hill Lake – Drop Inlet (Morning

Glory) Spillway

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Monticello Dam – Morning Glory

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Monticello Dam – Outlet - bikers heaven

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Grand Coulee Dam, Washington – Outlet

pipe gate valve chamber

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Control structure – Radial Gate

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Free Overfall Spillway

• Control
- Sharp crested
- Broad crested
- many other shapes and forms
• Caution
- Adequate ventilation under the nappe
- Inadequate ventilation – vacuum –
nappe drawdown – rapture – oscillation –
erratic discharge

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Overflow Spillway
• Uncontrolled Ogee Crest
- Shaped to follow the lower nappe of a
horizontal jet issuing from a sharp
crested weir
- At design head, the pressure remains
atmospheric on the ogee crest
- At lower head, pressure on the crest
is positive, causing backwater effect to
reduce the discharge
- At higher head, the opposite happens
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SPILL WAYS- More

• When the water in the reservoir increases, the large

accumulation of water endangers the stability of the dam
structure. To avoid this a structure is provided in the body of a
dam or near the dam or periphery of the reservoir. This
structure is called as spillway.
• Mainly used to discharge water during flood period.
Requirements:
• Provide structural stability to the dam under all condition
• Should able to pass the designed flood without raising the
reservoir level above H.F.L.
• Should have an efficient operation
• Should be economical

FUNCTION
• The spillway has the function of
discharging all the water not utilized
for generation. The maximum discharge
capacity of the spillway is 62.2 thousand
m3/s; 40 times greater than the mean
discharge of the Iguaçu Falls.

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LOCATION OF SPILLWAY
• Generally, the spillways are provided at
the following places
• Spillways may be provided within the
body of the dam.
• Spillways may sometimes be provided at
one side or both sides of the dam.
• Sometimes by-pass spillway is provided
which is completely separate from the
dam.

TYPES OF SPILLWAYS
 Overfall spillway
 Chute spillway
 Saddle spillway
 Shaft spillway
 Side channel spillway
 Emergency spillway
 siphon spillway

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FIGURES
Overfall spillway: Chute spillways:
• that allows water to pass over its crest In this type water is conveyed from the
widely used on gravity, arch, & reservoir to the river or to nalla below
buttress dam the dam through an excavated open
• This is a simplest type channel, through fairly steep slope

Overfall spillways

SHAFT SPILLWAY
 The shape is just like a funnel .
 water drops through a vertical shaft in a the foundation material to a
horizontal conduit that conveys the water past the dam.
 Lower end of shaft is turned at right angle and then water taken out
below the dam horizontally.
 Also called as glory hole spillway.

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SADDLE SPILLWAYS
This type is mainly used when other types are not favourable.
In some basins formed by a dam, there may be one or more natural
depressions or saddles in the rim of the basin, which can be used as
spillway.
It is essential that the bottom of the depression should be at full reservoir
level.
 It is usually necessary for the saddle to be on firm rock.

SIDE CHANNEL SPILLWAY

 When the dam is not rigid and it is undesirable to pass flood
water over the dam , this type of spillway is used.
 After passing crossing over the spillway crest ,water flows
parallel to the crest.

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SIPHON SPILLWAYS
It is designed by the principle of a siphon.
When water rises over the FRL then water start spilling.
There is a air vent for removing the entrapped pressure from the
water.

EMERGENCY SPILLWAY
• This type is rarely used .
• Extra spillways provided on a project in rare case of
extreme floods(emergency)
• Used to convey frequently occurring outflow rates.

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ADVANTAGES
• Very stable. The likelihood of serious
structural damage is less than for other types
of structures.
• The rectangular weir is less likely to be
clogged by debri,s than the openings or other
structures of comparative discharge
capacities.
• They are relatively easy to construct. The
concrete block type can be built with farm
labor, while the reinforced concrete or steel
sheet piling type usually requires the services
of a contractor.

DISADVANTAGES
• It is more costly than some other types
of structures where the required
discharge capacity is less than 100 c.f.s.
and the total head or drop is greater
than 10 feet.
• It is not a favorable structure where
temporary spillway storage is needed to
obtain a large reduction in discharge.
• A stable grade below the structure is
essential.

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ENERGY DISSIPATION

• As water passes over a spillway and

down the chute, potential
energy converts into increasing kinetic
energy capacity of its power plant.
• The energy can be dissipated by
addressing one or more parts of a
spillway's design

ENERGY DISSIPATION

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SAFETY
• Spillway gates may operate suddenly without warning, under
remote control. Trespassers within the spillway run the risk of
drowning. Spillways are usually fenced and equipped with locked
gates to prevent casual trespassing within the structure.
Warning signs, sirens, and other measures may be in place to
warn users of the downstream area of sudden release of water.
Operating protocols may require "cracking" a gate to release a
small amount of water to warn persons downstream.
• The sudden closure of a spillway gate can result in the stranding
of fish, and this is also usually avoided.

CONCLUSION
• Hydroelectric developments include
flood-control structures designed to let
excess water escape safely from the
reservoir. This "safety valve" prevents
water from spilling over the dam crest.
It takes the form of a spillway, a weir
or sometimes a combination of both.

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Overflow Spillway

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Overflow Spillway Geometry

• Upstream Crest – earlier practice
used 2 circular curves that produced
a discontinuity at the sharp crested
weir to cause flow separation, rapid
development of boundary layer, more
air entrainment, and higher side walls
- new design – see US Corps of
Engineers’ Hydraulic Design Criteria
III-2/1
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Overflow Spillway
3/ 2
Q  CL H e

C  f ( P, H e ,  , downstream submergence)
H o

L  effective width of spillway

H e
 total energy head over crest

H o
 design energy head overcrest

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Overflow Spillway
• Effective width of spillway defined below, where

L = effective width of crest

L’ = net width of crest
N = number of piers
Kp = pier contraction coefficient, p. 368
Ka = abutment contraction coefficient, pp. 368-369

'
L  L  2( N K p  K a ) H e
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Overflow Spillway
• Discharge coefficient C
C = f( P, He/Ho, , downstream
submergence)

• Why is C increasing with He/Ho?

He>Ho  pcrest<patmospheric  C>Co
• Designing using Ho=0.75He will increase
C by 4% and reduce crest length by 4%

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Overflow Spillway
• Why is C increasing with P?
- P=0, broad crested weir, C=3.087
- P increasing, approach flow velocity
decreases, and flow starts to contract
toward the crest, C increasing
- P increasing still, C attains
asymptotically a maximum

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C vs. P/Ho

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C vs. He/Ho

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C. vs. 

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Downstream Apron Effect on C

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Tailwater Effect on C

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Overflow Spillway Example

• Ho = 16’
• P = 5’
• Design an overflow spillway that’s not
impacted by downstream apron
• To have no effect from the d/s apron,
(hd+d)/Ho = 1.7 from Figure 9-27
hd+d = 1.7×16 = 27.2’
P/Ho = 5/16 = 0.31
Co = 3.69 from Figure 9-23
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Example (cont’d)
• q = 3.69×163/2 = 236 cfs/ft
• hd = velocity head on the apron
• hd+d = d+(236/d)2/2g = 27.2
d = 6.5 ft
hd = 20.7 ft
• Allowing 10% reduction in Co, hd+d/He =
1.2
hd+d = 1.2×16 = 19.2
Saving in excavation = 27.2 – 19.2 = 8 ft
Economic considerations for apron
elevation!
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Energy Dissipators
• Hydraulic Jump type – induce a
hydraulic jump at the end of spillway to
dissipate energy
• Bureau of Reclamation did extensive
experimental studies to determine
structure size and arrangements –
empirical charts and data as design
basis

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Hydraulic Jump energy dissipator

• Froude number

Fr = V/(gy)1/2

• Fr > 1 – supercritical flow

Fr < 1 – subcritical flow

• Transition from supercritical to

subcritical on a mild slope – hydraulic
jump
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Hydraulic Jump

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Hydraulic Jump

V2 y2
y1 V1
Lj

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Hydraulic Jump
• Jump in horizontal rectangular channel
y2/y1 = ½ ((1+8Fr12)1/2 -1) - see figure
y1/y2 = ½ ((1+8Fr22)1/2 -1)
• Loss of energy
E = E1 – E2 = (y2 – y1)3 / (4y1y2)
• Length of jump
Lj  6y2

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Hydraulic Jump
• Design guidelines
- Provide a basin to contain the jump
- Stabilize the jump in the basin:
tailwater control
- Minimize the length of the basin
• to increase performance of the basin
- Add chute blocks, baffle piers and end
sills to increase energy loss – Bureau of
Reclamation types of stilling basin

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Type IV Stilling Basin – 2.5<Fr<4.5

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Stilling Basin – 2.5<Fr<4.5

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Stilling Basin – 2.5<Fr<4.5

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Type IV Stilling Basin –

2.5<Fr<4.5
• Energy loss in this Froude number range
is less than 50%
• To increase energy loss and shorten the
basin length, an alternative design may
be used to drop the basin level and
increase tailwater depth

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Stilling Basin – Fr>4.5

• When Fr > 4.5, but V < 60 ft/sec, use
Type III basin
• Type III – chute blocks, baffle blocks
and end sill
• Reason for requiring V<60 fps – to avoid
cavitation damage to the concrete
surface and limit impact force to the
blocks

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Type III Stilling Basin – Fr>4.5

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Type III Stilling Basin – Fr>4.5

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Type III Stilling Basin – Fr>4.5

• Calculate impact force on baffle blocks:

F = 2  A (d1 + hv1)
where F = force in lbs
 = unit weight of water in lb/ft3
A = area of upstream face of
blocks in ft2
(d1+hv1) = specific energy of
flow entering the basin in ft.
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Type II Stilling Basin – Fr>4.5

• When Fr > 4.5 and V > 60 ft/sec, use
Type II stilling basin
• Because baffle blocks are not used,
maintain a tailwater depth 5% higher
than required as safety factor to
stabilize the jump

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Type II Stilling Basin – Fr>4.5

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Type II Stilling Basin – Fr>4.5

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Example
• A rectangular concrete channel 20 ft
wide, on a 2.5% slope, is discharging 400
cfs into a stilling basin. The basin, also
20 ft wide, has a water depth of 8 ft
determined from the downstream
channel condition. Design the stilling
basin (determine width and type of
structure).

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Example
1. Use Manning’s equation to determine
the normal flow condition in the
upstream channel.
V = 1.486R2/3S1/2/n
Q = 1.486 R2/3S1/2A/n
A = 20y
R = A/P = 20y/(2y+20) = 10y/(y+10)
Q = 400
= 1.486(10y/(y+10))2/3S1/220y/n
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Example
• Solve the equation by trial and error
y = 1.11 ft
check  A=22.2 ft2, P=22.2, R=1.0
1.486R2/3S1/2/n = 18.07
V=Q/A = 400/22.2 = 18.02
• Fr1 = V/(gy)1/2 = 3.01
 a type IV basin may be appropriate,
but first let’s check the tailwater level

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Example
2. For a simple hydraulic jump basin,
y2/y1 = ½ ((1+8Fr12)1/2 -1)
Now that y1=1.11, Fr1=3.01  y2 = 4.2 ft
This is the required water depth to
cause the jump to occur.
We have a depth of 8 ft now, much
higher than the required depth. This
will push the jump to the upstream
3. A simple basin with an end sill may work
well.
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Example
• Length of basin
Use chart on Slide #62, for Fr1 = 3.0,
L/y2 = 5.25
L = 42 ft.
• Height of end sill
Use design on Slide #60,
Height = 1.25Y1 = 1.4 ft
• Transition to the tailwater depth or
optimization of basin depth needs to be
worked out
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