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Seepage Analysis of Concrete and Embankment Dam Abutment: A Case Study of the Ribeirão João Leite Dam

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Abstract

In the last decade, Brazil witnessed disasters relating to tailings dams. This led to changes in the National Dam Safety Policy, which regulates a set of measures to improve dam safety management. In this context, this paper presents a case study of the Ribeirão João Leite dam. The dam consists of a concrete gravity structure with embankment fill at both abutments, placed on a foundation composed of gneiss with quartzite veins. The study aims to investigate its seepage behavior and assess the performance of the seepage control system in the concrete and embankment cross-sections at the right abutment. Two-dimensional seepage analyses under steady-state and transient conditions were performed using the finite element method. A straightforward approach based on monitoring data was proposed to validate seepage analyses and estimate the efficiency of the seepage control system. It was concluded that the foundation of the dam has a significant influence on the pore water pressures and seepage flow behavior due to the presence of markedly fractured materials. The analyses indicated that the efficiency of the grout curtain in the right abutment foundation is not noticeable. On the other hand, the foundation drains play an important role in controlling pore water pressures throughout the dam foundation, even in unfavorable geological conditions. The efficiency of these drains was 28% at the drainage line of Block 2, preventing pressure increases of 36% in the foundation of Block 2 and 160% in the horizontal filter drain.

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Abbreviations

A :

Cross-sectional area of the standpipe piezometer

df :

Degrees of freedom

D :

Diameter of the standpipe piezometer sand filter

e :

Void ratio

E :

Efficiency of the seepage control system

F :

Shape factor

h :

Total head

Hi :

Total head measured during permeability in-situ tests with variable head

H 0 :

Initial head or null hypothesis

k :

Coefficient of permeability or hydraulic conductivity

k in-situ :

in-situ Hydraulic conductivity

k s :

Saturated hydraulic conductivity of the water phase

k vd :

Vapor conductivity function

k x :

Hydraulic conductivity function corresponding to the horizontal direction

k y :

Hydraulic conductivity function corresponding to the vertical direction

L :

Length of the standpipe piezometer sand filter

LRL :

Lower reference limit

masl :

Meter above sea level

m v :

Coefficient of volume compressibility

\({m}_{2}^{w}\) :

Water storage function

MAE :

Mean absolute error

MV :

Reference mean value

n :

Fitting parameter corresponding to the pore size distribution or number of observations

ρ :

Pearson correlation coefficient

\(\stackrel{\mathrm{-}}{\text{Q}}\) well :

Well flow rate

r :

Correlation coefficient

r 2 :

Coefficient of determination

S :

Degree of saturation

Sd :

Standard deviation

t :

Time or critical value of the Student’s t-distribution

t i :

Time measured during permeability in-situ tests with variable head

u a :

Pore air pressure

u w :

Pore water pressure or pore water pressure with seepage control system

u 0 :

Pore water pressure without seepage control system

U e :

Inverse of the suction at the air entry

URL :

Upper reference limit

x i :

Data value of x

\(\overline{x }\) :

Sample mean of x

y i :

Data value of y

\(\overline{y }\) :

Sample mean of y

Yi :

Measured value

Ŷi :

Numerical value

α :

Significance level or fitting parameter corresponding to the inverse of the suction at the air entry

θ :

Volumetric water content

θ r :

Residual volumetric water content

θ s :

Saturated volumetric water content

σ’ :

Effective stress

Ψ :

Total suction

ASCE:

American Society of Civil Engineers

CAD:

Computer-Aided Design

FEM:

Finite Element Method

FERC:

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

ICOLD:

International Commission on Large Dams

IPCC:

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

RCC:

Roller Compacted Concrete

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of Saneamento de Goiás S.A. (SANEAGO) for providing the essential documents and monitoring data necessary for this research project. The authors would also like to thank the Graduate Program in Civil Engineering: Construction and Infrastructure at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul for supporting this research project.

Funding

The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Federal University of Rio Grande Do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil

    Diones Uiliam Barboza

  2. BSE Engenharia Geotécnica E Ambiental Ltda, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil

    Luiz Antônio Bressani

Authors
  1. Diones Uiliam Barboza
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  2. Luiz Antônio Bressani
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Contributions

DUB: conceptualization, methodology, validation, formal analysis, investigation, data curation, visualization, writing—original draft. LAB: conceptualization, supervision, resources, funding acquisition, writing—review & editing.

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Correspondence to Diones Uiliam Barboza.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Luiz Antônio Bressani: Formerly Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Department of Civil Engineering, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

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Barboza, D.U., Bressani, L.A. Seepage Analysis of Concrete and Embankment Dam Abutment: A Case Study of the Ribeirão João Leite Dam. Geotech Geol Eng (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-024-02784-7

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