Resources Required for Water Dam Construction
Dams are built to contain water, prevent flooding and generate hydroelectric power. Dams provide a water supply for irrigation, human needs and industrial use. Lakes and reservoirs are recreation areas and some deeper bodies of water affect upstream and downstream navigation. The earliest known earthen dam was built in Jordan around 2800 B.C. Today's dams are constructed of rock, earth, steel plates, concrete, timber and other materials. The most important resource for building a dam is its funding.
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Earth
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Dams hold water for irrigation and human consumption. An earth-fill or rolled earth dam may be built of just one type of earth but may have an additional drain layer to collect seep water. A zoned earth dam has distinct parts or zones with a watertight clay core. Rolled earth dams have a watertight facing or core. Some high-altitude earthen dams have coolant circulating through pipes inside the dam to maintain a tight, firm layer of permafrost within the dam itself. Earthen dams are very cost-effective as they use materials on hand and it's not necessary to buy concrete or other materials.
Rock
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Dams hold water for hydroelectric power production. Rock-fill embankment dams are high embankments of free-draining granular earth with a thick, impervious zone. Its earth contains a lot of rock-fill. The impervious zone may be made of steel sheet piles, a plastic membrane, masonry, concrete or timber. To prevent internal erosion of clay into the rock layers from seepage, there is a filter to separate the dam's core. The filter is of a graded soil which prevents migration of fine soil particles. A rock-fill dam is economical as only minimal materials are needed. These dams are resistant to earthquake damage.
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Asphalt
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Dams can be made of earth or rock-fill. Asphalt-concrete core dams usually have a concrete exterior with rock and gravel as the main fill materials. The first was built in 1962 and there are about 100 now with an excellent performance record. A visco-elastic plastic and asphalt material is used that can adjust to the movements and pressures of the earth and any settlement in the foundation. This type of dam is especially suited to earthquake country.
Concrete and Cement
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Concrete is vital in construction of masonry dams. Concrete is used in masonry dams. Hoover Dam is an arch masonry dam and was built mainly of concrete. A dam of this type has mass, which gives an appearance of permanence and stability. During its construction, more than 5,500,000 cubic yards of sand, gravel and mud were excavated and another 1,000,000 cubic yards of earth and rock fill were placed. There were approximately 160,000 cubic yards of concrete laid per month and the dam required five years for completion. Cement and water grout was used throughout the dam to connect giant pieces of concrete in the dam, spillways and tunnels.
Steel, Dynamite and Human Resources
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Dams hold irrigation water for desert lands. Hydroelectric power dams require steel to be used in their construction. Steel is needed for gates, valves, outlet pipes, pipes and fittings, structural steel and reinforcements and miscellaneous metal work. Dynamite is used to blast rocks and dirt and to clear areas for excavation. Human ingenuity is needed to design and plan a dam and to obtain the resources to build it. Human labor and sometimes lives are spent in building it.
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References
- Photo Credit the hoover dam image by Darren White from Fotolia.com Hoover Dam image by Kelly Smith from Fotolia.com dam image by Tomasz Plawski from Fotolia.com dam image by Einar Bog from Fotolia.com hoover dam image by Dave from Fotolia.com
