Arba Minch University
HE 732 Dam Appurtenant Structures
Example
1. Design an ogee spillway with the following data:
Height of spillway crest above river bed = 100 m
Design discharge/design flood = 12,000 m3/s
Number of spans = 6
Clear distance between piers = 15 m
Thickness of square-nosed piers = 3m
Abutments are square nosed
Sloping d/s face of the overflow section = 0.8 H: 1V
u/s face is vertical
Discharge coefficient, C = 2.2
Solution
In order to design the profile of the crest, the head on the crest need to be known.
a) Design Head, Hd
Net length of crest, L’ = 15 x 6 = 90 m
First assume that L = L’
𝑄 2/3 12,000 2/3
𝑄 = 𝐶𝐿𝐻𝑒3 2
→ 𝐻𝑒 = → 𝐻𝑒 = = 15.43 𝑚
𝐶𝐿 2.2 𝑥 90
Check L:
For square-nosed pier, kp = 0.02; for square-nosed abutment, ka = 0.2
Therefore, 𝐿 = 𝐿′ − 2 𝑁𝑘𝑝 + 𝑘𝑎 𝐻𝑒 = 90 − 2 5 𝑥 0.02 + 0.2 15.43 = 80.74 𝑚
Recalculate He,
2/3
12,000
𝐻𝑒 = = 16.59 𝑚
2.2 𝑥 80.74
Check L:
𝐿 = 𝐿′ − 2 𝑁𝑘𝑝 + 𝑘𝑎 𝐻𝑒 = 90 − 2 5 𝑥 0.02 + 0.2 16.59 = 80.05 𝑚
Recalculate He,
2/3
12,000
𝐻𝑒 = = 16.68 𝑚
2.2 𝑥 80.05
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Further calculation leads to the convergence of He to He = 16.7 m. Hence, total head over
the crest, He = 16.7 m.
He = Hd + Ha, where Ha = head due to velocity of approach.
Calculate velocity of approach;
Va = Q/A, where A = area of flow u/s of the spillway = (6x15 + 3x5) x (16.7 + 100) =
12,253.5 m2
Va = 12,000/12253.5 = 0.98 m/s
𝑉𝑎2 0.982
Hence, 𝐻𝑎 = = = 0.05 𝑚 (which is very small and can be neglected)
2𝑔 2 𝑥9.81
Therefore, Hd = He = 16.7 m
b) Ogee crest downstream profile
𝑋 𝑛 = 𝑘 𝐻𝑑𝑛−1 𝑦 ;
For a spillway with vertical u/s face, k = 2.0, and n = 1.85
Hence, 𝑋1.85 = 2 𝐻𝑑0.85 𝑦 → 𝑋1.85 = 21.89 𝑦 →Y = 0.0457 X1.85
To determine the location where the d/s profile meets the straight slope tangentially;
Tangent of the equation at that point = slope of the d/s face
𝑑𝑦 1
= 1.85 𝑥 0.0457 𝑋 0.85 = = 1.25 →X = 23.8 m
𝑑𝑥 0.8
The coordinates of the d/s ogee crest is given as;
x 0.0 1.0 3.0 5.0 7.0 10.0 13.0 16.0 19.0 23.8
y 0.0 0.05 0.35 0.90 1.67 3.23 5.26 7.72 10.61 16.09
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X
PT
c) U/s profile
For u/s vertical face, from table
a/Hd = 0.175 → a = 0.175Hd = 2.923 m
b/Hd = 0.282 → b = 0.282Hd = 4.710 m
R1/Hd = 0.5 → R1 = 0.5 Hd = 8.350 m
R2/Hd = 0.2 → R2 = 0.2 Hd = 3.340 m
Then, locate the center of the curve O with radius R1 and draw the arc. Locate C on radius R1
and draw the arc to complete the u/s profile.
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b
a
x
R2
R1 O
Assignment
1. An overflow ogee-shaped spillway has to be designed to pass the routed peak flood
discharge of 5000 m3/s. The height of the spillway crest is at elevation of 1185 m, and the
average stream bed level at the site equals 1100 m. The spillway crest length consists of
10 spans, each span having a clear width of 10 m. The piers provided are of 90 0 cut water
nose type with kp = 0.01 and the abutments are rounded having ka = 0.1. The pier
thickness can be taken as equal to 2.5 m. Assume the u/s face of the dam to be vertical
and the downstream face to have a slope of 1 V: 0.7 H.
2. Design the overflow spillway section for a concrete gravity dam with 3V: 1H upstream
face slope and the downstream face sloping at 0.75H:1V. The design discharge for the
spillway is 2400 m3/s. The spillway crest is to be kept at elevation of 2450 m and the
average river bed level at the site at elevation of 2436 m. The spillway crest consists of 3
spans having clear width of 10 m each. The thickness of the pier may be taken as 2.5 m.
Take pier contraction and abutment contraction coefficients as 0.01 and 0.10,
respectively. Assume any missing data.
Note: For both problems (1 and 2) draw u/s and d/s profiles of the spillway neatly.
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