<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Water seepage is one of the most important features of embankment dams. To prevent and reduce seepage, it is necessary to seal the dam. Plastic concrete cutoff walls are one of the most efficient methods in waterproofing the foundation of embankment dams on permeable alluvial substrates. Sufficient resistance to loads, low permeability to maintain dam sealing, high ductility compatible with the foundation and deformation under load without cracking are the main requirements in plastic concrete cutoff walls. In this paper, the construction and implementation of the cutoff wall of Karkheh Dam, which is one the world’s largest water sealing projects, was studied. In addition, a numerical model using Seep-3D software was developed to evaluate the efficiency of the cut-off wall to decrease the seepage over the dam’s foundation. The numerical results validated by instrumentation statistics resulted from 17-years dam operation. According to the results, after the drainage of the reservoir, the cutoff wall optimally reduced the hydraulic gradient by 0.08 from 2.35 and the water leakage by 3.1 m/s from 18.3 m/s.</p></abstract>

Water seepage is one of the most important features of embankment dams. To prevent and reduce seepage, it is necessary to seal the dam. Plastic concrete cutoff walls are one of the most efficient methods in waterproofing the foundation of embankment dams on permeable alluvial substrates. Sufficient resistance to loads, low permeability to maintain dam sealing, high ductility compatible with the foundation and deformation under load without cracking are the main requirements in plastic concrete cutoff walls. In this paper, the construction and implementation of the cutoff wall of Karkheh Dam, which is one the world’s largest water sealing projects, was studied. In addition, a numerical model using Seep-3D software was developed to evaluate the efficiency of the cut-off wall to decrease the seepage over the dam’s foundation. The numerical results validated by instrumentation statistics resulted from 17-years dam operation. According to the results, after the drainage of the reservoir, the cutoff wall optimally reduced the hydraulic gradient by 0.08 from 2.35 and the water leakage by 3.1 m/s from 18.3 m/s.

Construction and Monitoring of Cement/Bentonite Cutoff Walls: Case Study of Karkheh Dam, Iran

Studia Geotechnica et Mechanica

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Water seepage is one of the most important features of embankment dams. To prevent and reduce seepage, it is necessary to seal the dam. Plastic concrete cutoff...

Construction and Monitoring of Cement/Bentonite Cutoff Walls: Case Study of Karkheh Dam, Iran

Article Category: Research Articles

Published Online: Dec 30, 2019

Page range: 184 - 199

Received: Nov 19, 2018

Accepted: Jun 14, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sgem-2019-0019

Keywords
Cutoff wall, permeation, Karkheh Dam, sealing, hydrofraise

© 2019 Iman Faridmehr et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Construction and Monitoring of Cement/Bentonite Cutoff Walls: Case Study of Karkheh Dam, Iran

Article Category: Research Articles

Published Online: Dec 30, 2019

Page range: 184 - 199

Received: Nov 19, 2018

Accepted: Jun 14, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sgem-2019-0019

KeywordsCutoff wall, permeation, Karkheh Dam, sealing, hydrofraise

© 2019 Iman Faridmehr et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Cutoff wall, permeation, Karkheh Dam, sealing, hydrofraise