Geotechnical investigations of the experimental blast-fill dam on the Burlykiya River

Conclusions

• 1. The method of a directed explosion will create sufficiently reliable dams, its effectiveness increasing with increase in the size of the structures.

• 2. The geotechnical properties of the material in blast-fill dams are statistically homogeneous in practically all zones in the fill. The homogeneity of the properties makes possible the calculation of such dams as fully determined structures with known characteristics. In this case the design characteristics of blast-fill dams can be predicted with sufficient accuracy on the basis of the data from engineering-geologic surveys and existing analogs [15, 16].

• 3. The values of the geotechnical indices of homogeneous, high blast-fill dams (granulometric composition, density, permeability) are in a range permitting the design and construction of a strong, little-deformable, and sufficiently watertight structure.

• 4. Quality control of the material in the dam is an independent problem when constructing blast-fill dams. In this direction special investigations both on the creation of essentially new control methods and improvement of the usual methods are needed, for example, the development of large-scale mechanization of sinking small-section shafts in coarse-fragmental rocks.