Comparison of design alternatives with respect to the slope stability of the Calaveras Replacement Dam Sunol, California USA

Anderson, Nathan (2016) Comparison of design alternatives with respect to the slope stability of the Calaveras Replacement Dam Sunol, California USA. Bachelors thesis, Dundalk Institute of Technology.

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Abstract

The Calaveras Dam, in Sunol California was deemed to be susceptible to failure during a moderate earthquake in the region when it was examined in 2001. As a result of the 2001 study, a replacement dam was designed to withstand a magnitude 7.25 maximum credible earthquake (MCE). The accepted design consisted of an earth and fill dam using materials sourced from borrow areas within the site boundaries. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate design alternatives to the accepted design for the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project (CDRP). This was accomplished by conducting in depth research into earth dams and the materials that they are comprised of. Next, the materials available onsite were investigated using historic borehole logs and site investigation reports. Using the information found through research, an asphalt core and concrete face dam were modelled using the computer software package Slide 6.0 to determine their stability. This dissertation found that while the two design alternatives showed acceptable slope stability they would not be as effective or safe as the design earth and fill dam. The circumstances in which these alternatives may be chosen may be if the core material available on site was not suitable for use under the design specifications, however, it was found that the core material used from borrow area E in the existing design, met all of the design specifications. Therefore, In this case, importation of an impermeable core would not be necessary. Next, if the core material was found to be susceptible to cracking under seismic loading an alternative core would be necessary. However, due to constraints on the length of this dissertation it was decided that seismic considerations on slope stability would be omitted as seismic considerations could form the basis for a dissertation in itself. Next, the asphalt core dam and concrete core dams would require the importation of significant amounts of fill material. This is costly and has significant implications on the safety of those using Calaveras Road. Therefore, it was concluded that the existing earth and rockfill dam design was the safest most effective method of construction of the three considerations for the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project.

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelors)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Dam design; Geology; Slope stability.
Subjects:	Engineering
Research Centres:	UNSPECIFIED
Depositing User:	Sean McGreal
Date Deposited:	03 Apr 2017 12:22
Last Modified:	03 Apr 2017 12:22
License:	Creative Commons: Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0
URI:	https://eprints.dkit.ie/id/eprint/561

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