INTRODUCTION

1.1 General
It is obvious that the world population is increasing at faster rate and similarly the need also. On the
contrary the agricultural production is not increasing as population and food need. Rather it has been
decreasing due to some factors, among which the following are major;

 the shortage of water for crop growth due to complete dependence on rain fed agriculture,
 Less or no concern towards the exploitation of the available water resources for crop growth,
 The decrease of fertility of the soil as a result of erosion and poor management of land farm,
 Absence of mechanization of farming system and dependence of farmers on traditional ways
of farming and production.

Above all the crucial problem is the shortage of water. When rain fails crop production also fails and
then drought occurs. Drought is followed by famine, which is the big problem our country is
suffering from year to year.

There are so many factors that dictate Ethiopia is a rich country in water resources .The largest river
in Africa, the Blue Nile, belongs to her. However, the experience of utilizing the water resources for
irrigation is negligible some year back ,the world irrigation statistics show that only few hectares of
cultivated land is irrigated in Ethiopia. Whereas countries like Egypt cover 100% of the total
cultivated area by irrigation using the Nile River.

Nowadays, the Ethiopian government is proposing plans for efficient utilization of the country’s
water resource for irrigation. For instance, the Renaissance Dam or the Millennium Dam is one of the
plans which are being implemented.

The engineering aspects mainly focus on the development of a source of water for irrigation and
construction of various structures for storage, diversion, conveyance and application of water.

These include investigation of:

 site selection and design of a reservoir and dam,

 site selection and design of diversion head-works at point of off-takes,
One of the selected rivers for such purpose is Ribb River. The flow of this river is proposed to be
stored in the storage reservoir.

Lake Tana Basin is one of the major agricultural areas of the country. However, this potential area is
under threat. The ever-increasing devastation of the natural vegetation, the steep slopes, and
traditional land management practices, poorly adapted to land conservation under the prevailing
conditions, have resulted in dramatic soil erosion in the area.

The basin population is expected to triple over the next fifty years. This will place enormous
additional pressure on the land base in the highlands, where it is already fully utilized. Indeed, it is
clear that the land as a whole cannot possibly absorb the expected population, and alternate means of
livelihood must be created.

Lake Tana's shore is characterized by flat low-lying land with poor drainage conditions. In these low-
lying lands, the rivers have inadequate flood-carrying capacity due to mild slope and shallow cross-
sections caused by sediment deposition in the riverbed. Surface inflows overtopping the riverbanks,
direct rainfall on the area, poor drained soil and Lake Tana backwater effect also contribute to
flooding in the area. This has even hampered the development of rainfed crops during the main
season.

The introduction of irrigation will make farmers feel more secure about their basic food supply and
enable them to diversify their crops based on local market demand and export opportunities.

The land and water resources in the area are suitable for irrigation development. Experience from
small-scale irrigation schemes has demonstrated that a range of crops could be grown profitably
during the dry season, without affecting the production of staple food crops during the rainy season.

To enhance the economic viability of investments in infrastructure, it is important that irrigation

development efforts be focused on achievement of the benefits described above. The proposed dam
project will develop tens of thousands of hectares of irrigated agriculture, thereby generating a
demand for agricultural support services, and will enable farmers to fully benefit from more reliable
access to sources of water.
1.2 Project Area
The Ribb river basin covers an area of 685km 2. Ribb Irrigation project was planned to develop
20,000ha of Irrigable land.

1.3 Background
5.1.1 Location
Ribb Dam is located in the Ribb River, on the eastern side of Lake Tana Basin, in the South Gondar
Zone of Amhara National Regional State. and bounded with latitudes 120 and12030’ north and
longitudes 300 and 30030’ east.

5.1.2 Geography and Access

The Ribb River, which is some 130 km long, has a drainage area of about 1,790 km² and an average
annual discharge of 11.6 m³/s. The catchment area at the dam site is 685 km 2. The river, which flows
generally in a westerly direction and empties into Lake Tana, is one of the main streams flowing into
Lake Tana from the east. The Ribb River, with its tributaries, drains the western slope of the high
mountainous area east of the town of Debre Tabor, with a peak elevation of approximately 3050 m. In
the low and middle reaches of the river, especially in the extensive alluvial plains bordering the lake,
the river meanders its way and flows slowly, causing serious river channel deposit, high water table
and overflow of riverbanks during the rainy season. Consequently, major problems of flooding and
water logging must be resolved in order to develop irrigated agriculture in the area.

Access to the dam site is possible from the town of Addis Zemen using the existing dry weather road,
which is about 40 km long.

5.1.3 Topography
The dam site is characterized by broad and flat flood plains, old bench forming terrace and low to
high relief basaltic hills with steep to moderately steep slopes. The right and left abutments of the dam
are characterised by steeper slopes with slope angle of 35° to 46 °. There are developments of
relatively few shallow seated gullies at the reservoir catchments attributed to rill and gully erosion.
The peak topography in the area is marked by Shikra Hill, which is at an altitude of 1973 m. The
Upper Ribb watershed is characterized as a mountainous, wedge-shaped and steep sloped (3.6%)
watershed. The highest elevation of the watershed is about 4,100 m in its south-eastern part. The
lowest topography land is at the dam site, which is at an altitude of 1873 m.

5.1.4 Climate
The climate of the Ribb Basin is marked by a rainy season from May to September, with monthly
rainfall varying from 65 mm in May to 411 mm in July. Mean annual precipitation is about 1,400 mm
in the upper part and about 1,200 mm in the lower part. The dry season, from October to April, has a
total rainfall of about 8% of the mean annual rainfall. Dependable rainfall varies from less than 13
mm during the dry season to 80–275 mm/month during the period of June to July/August, equivalent
to 40–80% of the average values. Temperature variations throughout the year are minor (19 ºC in
December to 23 ºC in May), with maximum and minimum temperatures of 30 °C and 11.5 °C,
respectively. Humidity varies between 70% in December and 88% in August. Wind speed is low, thus
minimizing potential evapotranspiration values between 95 mm/month in December and 140
mm/month in April. Sunshine duration is reduced to 6.0–6.5 hours during July and August.

5.1.5 Vegetation and Land Use

The dam site area is characterized by scars and scattered remnants of trees that are confined along old
cultivated terrace lands, streams and riverbanks. The dam site area is extensively used for farming, settlements
being denser at the upper reservoir slopes and top of the hills.

5.1.6 Geology

1.3.1.1. General
Geology is a science which treats of the original history and structure of the Earth, as recorded in the
rock ,together with forces and process operating to modify the rocks .All the earth
atmosphere ,hydrosphere(all the water at the earth’s surface), and lithosphere (rocks, soils and other
constituents of the globe proper) are studied in geology .

Engineering g geology as it now stands may be defined as a branch of human knowledge that uses
geological information combined with practice and experience to assist the engineer in the solution of
problem in which such knowledge may be applicable. Prior to the design of an important structure, an
engineering geological investigation are generally concentrated at the site of structure and consists of
direct subsurface exploration by boring holes in the ground or making excavations. (P.KRYNINE,
1998)

1.3.1.2. Geology of the Project Area

The geology of the Ribb Basin is dominated by a huge volcano named Guna Terara. It corresponds to
the eruptive events that have occurred during the early Miocene to Pliocene periods, and is classified
in the shield group basalt. The common litho type for this material refers to lenticular basalt with large
amount of interbeded scoriaceous lava and basalt agglomerates. Some paleosoils may be interbeded.

The other smaller volcanoes located at the north are also considered being active during the same
geological period.

The lower part of the valley before Lake Tana is completely overlain by recent fluvial depositions,
which are mainly formed by silt to clay deposits. Recent volcanic flows have also been noted but they
appear to be localized in the lower section of the Ribb plain. No evidence of such flows has been
mapped in the upper parts of the Ribb basin.

There is no evidence of slope instability in the Ribb Reservoir. This is mainly due to the smooth
landscape of the reservoir. The reservoir might be fairly watertight due to the clayey blanket covering
the slopes and to the basaltic agglomerates and the tuffs formations series forming the reservoir.

5.1.7 Land Suitability Evaluations

A soil map is a valuable tool for technical and a major land resource data base for land evaluation, but
does not provide planners and decision makers with easily understandable information. In land
evaluation, it is necessary to consider the potential users and other beneficiary’s initial economy and
whether the benefits will be sustained without inrepairable damage to the environment. The main
objective of land evaluation is, thus, selection of possible relevant land use types for which land
should be classified.

Proper application of land evaluation which is the first in rural land use planning exercise requires a
properly prepared homogeneous land unit in addition to that multi disciplinary approach, and field
visit are important component in land evaluation. Such visit will help to establish an overview of the
physical environment of the study area and make visual impression of the nature and condition of the
available resources and know the indigenous knowledge of local farmers on land use.
 5.1.8 Availability of Construction Material

1.3.8.1 Rocks fill Material for Shell

Sources for rock material; masonry works and crushed aggregate and appreciated quantity gravel
exist around the nearby ibnat hills and other small hills around the vicinity.

1.3.8.2 Earth fills material

Three types of soil have been identified in the project area, around the dam site;
1. light gray brown silt and sandy silt (weathered tuff)
2. light brown silt, sandy silt and clayey silt (flood-plain deposit)
3. Grey to light yellowish gray sand and silty sand near river channel.

5.1.9 Objective of the Project

The main objective of this project includes identifying all possible dam and reservoir sites,
undertaking the computations of hydrological extreme events for design purpose , designing a dam
which could store the required amount of water for irrigation , analyzing the stability safety of such a
dam for different cases of modes of failures, enumerating environmental impacts due such a project
and suggest possible mitigation measures and assessing and evaluate the construction materials for
the dam.
 2. IRRGATION DEMAND ASSESSMENT

2.1 General

There is no vital requirement of crop than water. It has a number of useful functions in the process of
plant growth for it is the most important constituent of plants.
The function of water with respect to growth of plant and its yield are:
 Solvent for gaseous minerals and other suitable flood.
 Conduct and translocate the solution in cell and tissue.
 Acts as an active reagent in photosynthesis and hydrolysis.
 The irrigation water supplies moisture, which is essential for the life of bacteria, which are
beneficiary for plant growth.
The factors that affect the total water requirement of a plant are:
 Type of soil,
 Type of plant,
 Metrological variables like sunshine, temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind and field
management etc.
Suitability of irrigation water is influenced by various factors like chemical properties of water, type of
soil and its interaction with water, quality of subsoil; ground water table depth etc. and hence no
general criteria can be prescribed.

Water plays other important roles in agriculture operations including unavoidable losses during its
application and temperature control. Water is one of the critical inputs for obtaining maximum
production of a particular crop. Each crop has its own tolerance limits of soil moisture variations that
do not affect its yield. The moisture availability in the root zone of the crop could be maintained with
in the crop tolerance limit by adopting proper water management practices.

It is thus always best to spend some amount on the proper investigation of soil and water properties for
this only solves expenses on construction and subsequent rectification measures.
 2.2 Crop Water Requirement

Crop water requirements are defined as the depth of water needed to meet the water loss through
evaporation (ETcrop) of disease free crop growing in large fields under non-restricting soil conditions
including soil water and fertility and achieving full production potential under the given growing
environment (FAO-24, 1994).
To calculate ETcrop three stage procedures are recommended:
1. The effect of climate on crop water requirement:
This is given by reference crop evapotranspiration (ETo). There are several methods to
estimate the crop evapotranspiration (ETo) depending on the available climatology to yield
data (see section 2.3).
2. The effect of the crop characteristics on crop water requirement:
This is generally given by the crop coefficient (Kc) which represents the relationship between
reference evapotranspiration (ETo) and crop evapotranspiration (ETcrop) or ETcrop=Kc*ETo.
The value of crop coefficient varies with the:
 Crop type,
 Crop growth stages,
 Prevailing weather conditions (climate) and
 Soil evaporation
3. The effect of local condition and agricultural practices on crop water requirement:
This includes the local effect of variations in climate over time, distance and altitude, size of
fields, water availability, irrigation water quality, etc.

2.3 Calculation of Reference Evapotranspiration (ETo)

Reference evapotranspiration (ET O) :- is the rate of evapotranspiration from an extensive surface

of 8mm to 15mm tall, green grass cover of uniform height ,actively growing, completely shading the
ground and not shortage of water (FAO 24,1983 ).
The reference crop is the hypothetical grass reference crop with specific characteristics. The use of
other denotations such as potential ET is strongly discouraged due to ambiguities in their definitions
(FAO 56).

There are different methods, which are adopted to estimate the ETo values which need specific data.
The most widely used methods are as follows:
 FAO Blaney-Criddle Method
 Radiation Method
 Hargrave’s Class A Pan Evaporation Method
 FAOPan evaporation Method
 Penman Method
 Penman-montheith Method
 Thornthwaite Method

FAO Blaney-Criddle Method

Since the Blaney-Criddle formula require the air temperature as an input data and does not consider
into account the other climatic parameters such as humidity, wind velocity etc. its application is
widely recommended if temperature is the only data available which is not the case for this project
area.
ET o = Σ K .F

Where: F= (0 . 0457 T m + 0 . 8128) P

Here K is the monthly crop coefficient to be determined from experimental data, F the monthly
consumptive use factor, ETo the potential evapotranspiration in cm; T m the mean monthly temperature
in 0C, P is the monthly percentage of hours of bright sunshine in the year.

Radiation Method
The radiation method is recommended in the absence of detailed data on humidity and wind speed
and the formula is used particularly under humid conditions (FAO-24).
FAO Pan Evaporation Method
The pan evaporation method is not considered due to the extra energy that is received from the side of
the pan, the higher vapor pressure deficit and air temperature, and large roughness of the surface at
the meteorological site as compared to the lake surface. Moreover, the data are often affected by
inadequate maintenance of the pan birds use the device for drinking, algae growth etc.
ET0 = KC *EP

Penman Monteith Method

According to 1980 FAO’s meeting; the penman monteith equation becomes the new standard for
estimating potential evapotranspiration. This method is suitable to directly estimate the potential ET
if the crop resistance is known (DELF, 1992).
The major differences between modified penman and penman monteith approach is that
 The modified penman approach does not take in to account the crop resistance which takes
part in the penman monteith approach.
 The modified penman over estimates the potential ET by more than 25% (DELF, 1992) but
the lysimeter experiments that give close result with the actual value.
Because of the above reasons we have adopted the penman monteith method for the calculation of
ET0 by computer with a fixed value of crop resistance. The result is shown in table below.

Table 2. 1 Monthly ETo penman-monteith data

Country: Location 16 Station: ADDIS-ZEMEN

Altitude: 2020 m. Latitude: 12.11 °N Longitude: 37.86 °E

Month MinTemp MaxTemp Humidity Wind Sun Rad ETo

°C °C % km/day Hours MJ/m?/day mm/day

January 9.9 27.8 52 164 8.2 19.0 4.28
February 10.9 29.5 49 164 9.2 21.8 4.96
March 11.9 29.8 47 147 9.1 23.0 5.23
April 12.1 29.3 47 130 8.3 22.4 5.06
May 12.1 29.5 56 164 6.8 19.8 4.86
June 12.0 26.9 70 164 5.6 17.7 4.03
July 12.2 23.8 80 104 2.1 12.5 2.73
August 12.0 24.0 80 86 2.3 12.9 2.72
Septembe 11.6 25.2 75 104 6.7 19.4 3.74
r
October 10.8 27.2 65 138 8.4 20.9 4.26
November 10.4 27.3 60 138 9.1 20.4 4.14
December 10.3 27.6 56 121 8.7 19.1 3.88
Average 11.3 27.3 61 135 7.0 19.1 4.16

The FAO Penman-Montheith method to estimate ETo can be derived as:

900
0 . 408 Δ ( R n −G ) +γ U ( e −e )
T + 273 2 s a
ET 0 =
Δ+ γ ( 1+0 . 34 U 2 )

Where, ETo = reference evapotranspiration (mm/day)

Rn = Net radiation at the crop surface ((MJ/m2/day)
G = soil heat flux density (MJ/m2/day)
T = mean daily air temperature at 2m height (oc)
U2 = wind speed at 2m height (m/s)
es = saturation vapor pressure
ea = actual vapor pressure
es-ea = saturation vapor pressure deficiency (kpa)
∆ = slope vapor pressure curve (kpa/oc)
γ = psychometric constant
The reference evapotranspiration, ETo, provides a standard to which:
 Evapotranspiration at different periods of the year or in other regions can be
compared.
  Evapotranspiration of other crops can be related.
The equation uses standard climatological records of solar radiation (sunshine), air temperature,
humidity and wind speed too. To ensure the integrity of computations, the weather measurements
should be made at 2m (converted to that height) above on extent surface of green grass, shading the
ground and not short of water.

2.4 Crop Selection

Here, in addition to water available, climate and soils the preference of the farmer, labor requirements
and markets among others must be considered. These are site specific such as limited water
availability restricts high water consuming crops. Selecting suitable crop in relation to the available
water supply and climatic condition of an area is very essential step in crop water demand assessment.
Generally crop selection is based on the following variables:
 Climate: the climate should be suitable for crops and the selected crops should be those that
are adapted to that specific climate.

 Marketability: priority should be given to those with high market value.

 Popularity: crops that meet maximum demand should be considered.

 Water requirement: it should be considered so that availability of water to meet the plant need
is ensured.
 Soil requirement: the plants should get their nutrients from the soil with little additional input.

 Yield response factor and water utilization

 Method of irrigation

 Socio economic aspect

 The availability of suitable crop varieties with an adequate supply of planting materials.
 The availability of appropriate inputs such as fertilizers, chemicals, labor and water.
 Level of management required for the successful growth of the crop.
 Ethiopian government policy and project of agricultural development.
Considering the above criterias, the following crops are selected:
i) Maize
ii) Pepper
iii) Potato
Consumptive use or evapotranspiration depends up on those factors on which evaporation and
transpiration depend; such as temperature, sunlight, humidity, wind movement, etc, and the data from
Addis Zemen seems to be suitable for crop water demand assessment, as it is the nearest station to the
agricultural area. Therefore, reference evapotranspiration is calculated using CROPWAT software and
summarized as below.

Table 2. 2 Reference Crop Evaporation

Month ETo(mm/day)
January 4.28
February 4.96
March 5.23
April 5.06
May 4.86
June 4.03
July 2.73
August 2.72
September 3.74
October 4.26
November 4.14
December 3.88
Average 4.16
 2.4.1 Crop Coefficient (kc)
To account for the effect of the crop characteristic on crop water requirement, crop coefficient (KC)
are presented to relate evapotranspration of a disease –free crop growth in large fields under optimum
soil water and fertility condition and achieving full production potential under the given growth
environment.
ET C =K C∗ET 0
The procedure for the selection of appropriate KC values takes in to account the crop characteristics,
time of sowing or planting, stage of development and general climatic conditions. Normally crops have
four stages of development.
1- Initial stage- germination and early growth when the soil surface in not or is hardly
covered by the crop (good cover 10% ).
2- Crop development stage-from end of initial stage of attainment of effective full good cover
(good cover = 70-80%)
3- Mid-season stage- (from at raiment of effective full ground cover to time of start of
maturing as indicated by discoloring of leaves.
4- Late season stage –from end of mid –season of age until full maturely or harvest.

Figure 2. 1 crop coefficient curve

Climatic data required for the selection of kc values are wind speed and humidity.
The steps needed to arrive the kc value for different growing stages are as follows:
 1. Establish planting or sowing date from local information or from practice in climatic zones.
2. Determine total growing seasons and length of crop development stages from local information
or from literature.
3. Kc for initial stage: predict irrigation and/or rainfall frequency for predetermined ETo values
and obtain Kc value from table for known humidity and wind speed values (FAO 33)
4. Kc for mid season: for given climate ( humidity and wind) select Kc values from table and/or
plot a straight line
5. Late season stage: for time of full maturing (harvest with in few days) select Kc values from
tables as above. Assume a straight line between Kc values at the end of mid season period and
at the end of growing season.
6. Development stage: assume straight line between Kc values at end of initial to start of mid
season stage.

Table 2. 3 Crop coefficients (kc) for selected crops (FAO 24)

crops Growing
Mid Late
period in days
Initial season season
Maize
125 0.3 1.20 0.35

Pepper 125 0.60 1.05 0.90

Potato 130 0.50 1.15 0.75

2.4.2 Cropping pattern

The cropping pattern of the crop is the sequence in which they are grown over a period of time on a
given land.
The cropping pattern mainly depends on the following factors:
 Availability of water
  Time required for farming operations
 Crop rotation: It is simply changing the crop to be growth every year on the same field.
 Types of soil
 Climatic conditions
 Value of crop from different aspects
 Socioeconomic aspects

2.5 Optimization
Optimization is the technique of finding the condition that gives the maximum profit or minimum
cost under a given circumstance in design, construction and maintenance of any irrigation system.
The ultimate goal of optimization is either to minimize the cost required or maximize the desired
benefit. This method has a wide range of application in many engineering problems. The optimization
technique in this project is needed to allocate the selected crops over the total irrigable land to satisfy
farmers need. In other words, the technique helps to decide what amount of area out of the total
irrigable land a certain crop should occupy so as to give maximum benefit or production.
The following points are tabulated below for selected crops. These points are:
 Yield of each crop

 Price of the product

 In put cost including cost of seeds, fertilizers and chemical protection

 Labor required

 Labor cost

 Irrigation system operation in maintenance

 Over head cost that are not related to water works or agricultural works that is management
cost etc.
To solve optimization technique linear programming method is used.

The following points are considered on the generation of the objective function of the optimization
problem.
  Labor required adopted from agricultural compendium for rural development in the
tropics and sub tropics(Elsevier,1985).

 Labor cost is 15 birr/day for the project area, obtained from local information.

 Irrigation system operation and maintenance costs are difficult to estimate. However,
the estimation has been taken from previously done projects (i.e. 100 Birr/ha).

 Overhead cost is usually taken as a certain percentage of the total cost. For this project
10% of the total cost is adopted.

 Percentage area covered for perennial crops is limited to 15% if any.

 Large area share is given to crops serve as staple food.

But in this project there is no perennial crop.

Table 2. 4 Optimization Techniques

Types Yield Price Sellin Input Labor Labor Tillage Total Over Profit
of per g cost req’d cost cost cost head
Qui/ O&M Birr/ha
crops Qui cost
ha Birr/ Birr/ man- Birr/ha Birr/ha Birr/
costs
Birr
ha ha day/ha ha

Potato 210 300 63000 1500 100 1500 100 250 3350 335 59315

Maize 75 500 37500 4000 200 3000 100 400 7500 750 29250

Pepper 225 500 11250 2000 250 3750 100 280 6130 613 105757
0

In this project there are two cropping seasons but, during both seasons the same crops are used.
Therefore, the area is determined for one season only and the same area for the same crop is used in
the second season.
Objective functions:
P = 59315*A1+29250*A2+105757*A3
Where: A1 is area of potato
A2 is area of maize
A3 is area of pepper
P is total profit
Constraints;
A1+A2+A3<=20000ha (total available area)
A1>= 7500ha
A2>=2890ha
A3>=9600ha (profitable crop)
Non negative contraints
A1, A2, A3 >= 0

Optimization by linear programming (solver)

 By using MS-EXCEL spread sheet application, the final optimization results are:

Table 2. 5 Optimization Results

Crop Area(ha) Area (%)

Potato 7500 37.5

Pepper(S) 9610 48.05

Maize 2890 14.45 2.6

2.6
Net Irrigation Requirement (NIR)
Net irrigation requirement is the net amount of water applied to the crop in the irrigation field
exclusive of effective rainfall (Peff), stored soil water (S) and groundwater (GW).
The net irrigation requirements of the crop are calculated using the field water balance. The variables
include crop evapotranspiration (ETcrop), rain fall (Peff), Ground water contribution (Gw) and stored
soil water at the beginning of each period (S) .
NIR =ETcrop – (Peff+GW+We)
 2.6.1 Effective Rainfall
Effective rainfall can be defined as the rainfall that is stored in the root zone and can be utilized by
crop. All the rainfall that falls is not useful or effective. Some of the seasonal rainfall that fall will be
lost as unnecessary deep-percolation, surface run off and some water may remain in the soil after the
crop is harvested. There are different methods for calculating the effective rainfall from entered
monthly total rainfall data.

1 Fixed Percentage Effective Rainfall

The effective rainfall is taken as a fixed percentage of the monthly rainfall;
Effective Rainfall = % of Total Rainfall

2 Dependable Rain
An empirical formula developed by FAO/AGLW based on analysis for different arid and sub-humid
climates. This formula is as follows:
Effective Rainfall = 0.6 * Total Rainfall - 10 ... (Total Rainfall < 70 mm)
Effective Rainfall = 0.8 * Total Rainfall - 24 ... (Total Rainfall > 70 mm)

3 Empirical Formula for Effective Rainfall

This formula is similar to FAO/AGLW formula (see Dependable Rain method above) with some
parameters left to the user to define. The formula is as follows:
Effective Rainfall = a * Total Rainfall - b ... (Total Rainfall < z mm)
Effective Rainfall = c * Total Rainfall - d ... (Total Rainfall > z mm)
Where a, b, c, and z are the variables to be defined by the user.

4 Method of USDA Soil Conservation Service (default)

The effective rainfall is calculated according to the formula developed by the USDA Soil Conservation
Service which is as follows:

Effective Rainfall(Peff) = Total Rainfall / 125 * (125 - 0.2 * Total Rainfall)

...(Total Rainfall < 250 mm)
Effective Rainfall = 125 + 0.1 * Total Rainfall ... (Total Rainfall > 250 mm)

Table 2. 6 Effective rainfall (USDA S.C method)

Station: Addis Zemen
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

2.6.2 Stored Soil Water(S)

Rain of flooding may cause the profile to be near or at field capacity at the start of the growing
season, which may be equivalent to one full irrigation. Also some water may be considered in the
scheduling stage as it is difficult to estimate and its contribution is not generally significant.

2.6.3 Leaching Requirement

Irrigated soils can receive considerable quantities of dissolved salts in the irrigation water. To leach
these salts, adequate water must be applied to allow some water to pass through the entire root zone.
This is termed as the leaching requirement and the quantity will depend on the allowable salinity in the
soil, and the salinity of the irrigation water. The leaching requirement can be easily accommodated
 within the normal deep percolation losses. Therefore, no additional water is required to meet the
leaching requirement.

2.6.4 Ground Water Contribution

Sometimes there is a contribution from the ground water reservoir for water requirement of crops. The
actual contribution from the ground water table is dependent on the depth of ground water table below
the root zone and capillary characteristics of the soil. For clayey soils the rate of movement is low and
distance of upward movement is high and the distance of movement is low.For practical purposes the
ground water contribution when the ground water table is below3m is assumed to be nill.
Therefore, the net irrigation requirement is the depth of irrigation water exclusive of precipitation,
carry over soil moisture or ground water contribution.
NIR=WR-(Peff+Gw+S)
As ground water carry over soil moisture assumed to be nil,
NIR = WR – Peff
Table 2. 7 Net Irrigation Requirement for Maize crop
Net scheme
irr.req. Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
in mm/day 0.2 0.6 0.9 0.7 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.8 0.1 0.0
in mm/month 5.0 17.0 28.2 20.2 2.1 0.2 0.0 0.0 3.5 3.4 0.0 0.0
in l/s/h 0.02 0.07 0.11 0.08 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.00

Table 2. 8Net Irrigation Requirement for Pepper crop

Net scheme Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
irr.req.
in mm/day 0.9 1.6 2.4 2.3 0.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.0 0.0
inmm/mnth 27.7 45.0 75.2 67.7 22.8 1.2 0.0 0.0 7.4 11.8 0.0 0.0
in l/s/h 0.10 0.19 0.28 0.26 0.09 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.03 0.04 0.00 0.00
Table 2. 9Net Irrigation Requirement for Potato crop
Net scheme Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
irr.req.
inmm/day 0.8 1.7 2.2 1.9 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.6 0.0 0.0
inmm/mont 23.9 47.5 68.8 55.9 12.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 8.6 17.3 0.0 0.0
in l/s/h 0.09 0.20 0.26 0.22 0.05 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.03 0.06 0.00 0.00

As the crop water need of the pepper crop is greater than that of maize and potato crops, the irrigation
requirement estimate for pepper crop will satisfy the demand of maize and potato crop when sown
another year in rotation with pepper.

2.7 Irrigation Efficiencies

To account for losses of water incurred during conveyance and application to the field an efficiency
factor should be included when calculating the project irrigation requirement.

Project Efficiency (Ep):- is the over all efficiency of the systems from the head work to the final
use by plants.
Project efficiency is the ratio of water made available to the crop to that released at the head work or
Ep = Ec *Eb * Ea
Project efficiency is normally subdivided in to three stages, each of which is affected by different set
of conditions.
Conveyance efficiency (EC):- ratio between water received at the field inlet to a block of fields and
that releases at the project head work.
Wf
EC = ∗100
Wd

Where Ec = water conveyance efficiency , %

Wf = Water delivered to the irrigated plot ( At the field supply channel)
Wd = Water diverted from the source.

Field canal Efficiency (Eb):- Ratio between water received at the field inlet and that received at
the block of fields.
 Wp
Eb = ∗100 where Ef = Field canal efficiency
Wf

Wp = water received at the field inlet

Wf = water delivered to the field channel

Field application efficiency (Ea):- ratio of water stored in the root zone of the plants to water
delivered to the irrigated plot.
Ws
Ea = ∗100
Wf
Where Ea = application efficiency , %
Ws = water stored in the rot zone of the plants.
Wf = Water delivered to the irrigated plot ( At the field supply channel)

The following values of efficiencies have been delivered from experience of systems under operation
and are considered suitable for the use in the design of conveyance network considering the level of
maintenance and management that will be available

Table 2. 10FAO 24 Guide lines of efficiencies for different conditions

Conditions Efficiencies
 Conveyance Efficiency
- Continuous supply with no substantial change inflow 0.90
- Rotational supply in project 3000-7000 ha and rotational
area70- 300 ha with effective management 0.80
- Rotational supply in large schemes (>10000 ha) and small
schemes (<100ha ) with proclamation communication and
less effective management
- based on predetermined schedule 0.70
- based on advanced request 0.65
 Field Canal Efficiency ( Eb )
 block <20 ha
- unlined 0.70
-lined 0.80
 Field Canal Efficiency (Ea)
surface methods
-Light soils 0.55
-Medium soils 0.70
- Heavy soils 0.60

Based on the above lines the following efficiency are considered

1 Conveyance efficiency is accounted for seepage loses from the primary, secondary and tertiary
canals plus management losses. Generally for the purpose of irrigation demand assessment a figure
of 0.85 is considered appropriate.
2 Unlined field canal can be considered to ensure adequacy of stored water
Eb = 0.70
3 From soil study map, most of the areas are predominantly medium textured soils typically silty
loams, very fine sandy loam and very fine sandy clay loams; with potentially moderate to high
water holding capacities. i.e. Ea = 0.70
Therefore, Ep = 0.85*0.7*0.7 =0.42

2.8 Gross Irrigation Requirement

Usually more amount of water than the NIR is applied during irrigation to compensate for the
unavoidable losses and for leaching accumulated salts from the root zone. The total water applied to
satisfy ET and losses is known as Gross irrigation requirement (GIR).
NIR
GIR=
EP
Where Ep = project Efficiency
NIR = net irrigation requiremen
 Table 2. 11 Gross Irrigation Requirement

NIR NIR NIR NIR NIR NIR Total GIR

(l/s/ha) (l/s) (l/s/ha) (l/s) (l/s/ha) (l/s) NIR (l/s)
Month (Maize) (Pepper) (Potato) (l/s)
Jan 0.02 57.8 0.10 961 0.09 675 1693.8 4032.9
Feb 0.07 202.3 0.19 1825.9 0.20 1500 3528.2 8400.5
Mar 0.11 317.9 0.28 2690.8 0.26 1950 4957.9 11804.5
Apr 0.08 231.2 0.26 2498.6 0.22 1650 4379.8 10428.1
May 0.01 28.9 0.09 864.9 0.05 375 1268.8 3021
June 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
July 0.00 0.00 0.00 000 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Aug 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Sep 0.01 28.9 0.03 288.3 0.03 225 542.2 1291
Oct 0.01 28.9 0.04 384.4 0.06 450 863.3 2055.5
Nov 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Dec 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

2.9Irrigation Scheduling
Scheduling of irrigation application is very important for successive plant growth and maturity.
Water is not applied randomly at any time and in any quantity. Irrigation scheduling is the schedule in
which water is applied to the field. Therefore, irrigation scheduling is fixing of the depth, interval and
time of irrigation. It is an important aspect of an efficient operation of an irrigation system.

2.10 Depth of irrigation (d)

This is the depth of irrigation water that is to be applied at one irrigation. It is the depth of water that
can be retained in the crop root zone b/n the field capacity and the given depletion of the available
moisture content. All the water retained in the soil b/n FC and PWP is not readily available to crops.
The readily available moisture is only some percentage of the total available moisture. Thus, depth of
irrigation is the readily available portion of the soil moisture. In other words, it is the depth of
irrigation water required to replenish the soil moisture to field capacity.

The depth of irrigation (d) is given by:

d (net) = As *D *(FC – PWP)*P, m

Where As = Apparent specific gravity of soil

D = Effective root zone depth in m

FC = water content of soil at FC

PWP = Water content of soil at PWP

P = depletion factor
Because of application losses such as deep percolation and runoff losses, the total depth of water to be
applied will be greater than the net depth of water.

As∗D( FC −PWP)∗P
d ( gross )= ,m
Ea
Where Ea = Field application efficiency and other parameters as defined above

2.11 Interval of irrigation ( i )

The interval of irrigation is the time gap in days between two successive irrigation applications. It
depends on the type of the crop, soil type and climate conditions. Thus interval of irrigation depends
on the consumptive use rate of the crop and the amount of readily available moisture (RAM) in the
crop root zone. The consumptive use rate of the crop varies from crop to crop and also during
different stages of the crop.

The interval (frequency) of irrigation is given by:

d (net )
i ( days ) =
ET crop(peak )
Where:-
ETcrop (peak) is the peak rate of crop evapotranspiration in m/day.
For the same crop and soil type the ET crop (peak) goes on increasing from the initial stage to the
development and mid season stage, the interval of irrigation will go on decreasing and increasing
during late season stage.

3. HYDROLOGY

3.1. General
Hydrology is the science of the water. It is the science that deals with occurrence, circulation and
distribution of water on the earth and earth’s atmosphere. As a branch of earth science, it is concerned
with the water in streams and lakes rainfall and snowfall, snow and ice on the land and water occurring
below earth’s surface in the pores of the soil and rocks.

Hydrology is used in engineering mainly in connection with design and operation of hydraulic
structure. The magnitude of the flood which can be expected over spillway, at a high culvert, or in
urban storm drainage system etc are typical question that a hydrologist is expected to answer.
The basic knowledge of hydrology is also essential for the irrigation engineer engaged in the
development, utilization and management of water resources and in the construction of various
multipurpose river valley projects. It helps one in accessing the quantity of water available for
irrigation, hydropower, municipal and the water supply, navigation and various purposes. It is required
for the estimation of the maximum discharge for the design of spillway, aqueducts, bridges and
sewers. Hydrological studies are also necessary for flood control, erosion control, pollution and other
various related works (ARORA,1996) and here we are using the science for estimation of flood peak
discharge to use it in design of spillway.

To plan water resource structures we need floods of certain frequency, the discharge available, the
peak and the magnitude of the flood that have to be adopted in the design of projects are of great
importance. Therefore, the collection of relevant data and analysis is by applying the principle of
applied hydrology to obtain the required values are the first and the most important task to be
conducted before any hydraulic structures commence. However, the absence of any gauging station in
the catchment may make the hydraulic analysis of a project difficulty.

3.2. Source of hydrological data

 Debre Tabor station for annual monthly maximum rainfall for 15 years.
 Apart from this, a 34 year mean monthly discharge is also available.

3.3. Rainfall frequency analysis

The frequency of rainfall of various intensities and duration is used in hydraulic design of structures
that controls storm runoff and floods, such as highway culverts, dams. Frequency analysis is a
hydrological term used to describe the probability of occurrence of a particular hydrologic event
(rainfall, drought, flood, etc).
 The estimation of peak flow is possible by using the available rainfall data. Meteorological series
commonly used in hydrologic studies deals with both routine observations and extremes. The
maximum values such as the greatest 24hr rainfall (maximum daily rainfall) in each year are
extensively used in design problems.

For this project, 15 years annual daily maximum rainfall was taken from Debre Tabor station to
estimate the design flood. To make project sustainable within its life time, a flood having a return
period of 100years is analyzed.
Various methods have been used in the analysis of extreme precipitation amounts. Some of which are
discussed below.

3.3.1.The Gumbel’s Distribution

Gumbel method is applicable to the extreme hydrological events, such as maximum daily rainfall, rain
intensity and peak flood flows (Subramanya 2004).
The Gumbel’s distribution is expressed by:
PT =P+ K T ∗σ (n−1)
Where
PT - is annual peak 24hr precipitation of T years return period
P - is mean of the annual peak 24hr precipitation
K T – is frequency of factor
Y T −Y n
KT = Sn
YT –reduced variate, a function of T

Y T =−ln ⁡(ln ( T T−1 ))

Y n - reduced variate
Sn -reduced standard deviation
σ (n−1) – standard deviation of the precipitation series
 σP =
√ ∑ ( p− p) 2
( N−1)

Table 3. 1 Annual daily maximum rainfall of Debre Tabor in mm

yye Year aYear Rainfall in mm

1991 19.27
From the above table the 1992 35.5 mean and standard
deviation of the sample is 1993 45.1 as follows.
1994 69.9
Mean, P =59.62mm
1995 57.4
Standard deviation,σ n−1 =20.87
1996 56.3
1997 104.3
For sample size, N=15 1998 67.7
Y n =0.5128 1999 55.5
Sn=1.0206 2000 47.3
And for T= 100years 2001 62.7
Hence the frequency 2002 81.3 factor becomes
Y T −Y n 2003 80.60
KT = Sn
→For T=100years
2004 42

( )
T 2005 69.40
Y T =−ln ⁡(ln )
T −1

=−ln ⁡(ln ( 100−1

100
))
= 4.60

Y t−Y n 4.60−0.5128
KT = = =4.005
Sn 1.0206
Therefore,

P100 =59.62+4.005∗20.87
=143.202mm
 3.3.2. Log-Pearson Type III Distribution
For this distribution the first step is to take the logarithms of the hydrologic data Z=logP usually
logarithm to the base 10 is used. The mean, z , the standard deviation,σ z and coefficient of skewness,
C S, are calculated for the logarithm of the data. The frequency factor K Z depends up on the return
period T and coefficient of skewnessC S.
If P is a variate of a random sample;
Z = logP
Z = Z+ K Z∗σ Z
Where
K Z = frequency factor, a function of
=f (C S , T )
σ Z = the standard deviation of Z variate

√∑ [ ]
n
( Z −Z )2
σ Z=
i=1 n−1
C S = coefficient of skewness of Z variate

[ ]
n
( Z−Z )3
C S=n ∑
i=1 ( n−1 ) ( n−2 ) σ 3Z

And PT = antilogZ
Table 3. 2Calculation of Z ,σ Z , C S

Maximum
Decrease
Annual T=(N+1)/
Year Rank Order
Daily m Z = logP
(p)
RF(mm)
1991 19.27 1 104.3 16 2.01828 0.07413 0.02018
4 9 7
1992 35.5 2 81.3 8 1.91009 0.02692 0.00441
1 6 8
1993 45.1 3 80.6 5.333333 1.90633 0.02570 0.00412
5 7 2
1994 69.9 4 69.9 4 1.84447 0.00969 0.00095
7 8 5
1995 57.4 5 69.4 3.2 1.84135 0.00909 0.00086
9 3 7
1996 56.3 6 67.7 2.666667 1.83058 0.00715 0.00060
9 5 5
1997 104.3 7 62.7 2.285714 1.79726 0.00262 0.00013
8 8 5
1998 67.7 8 57.4 2 1.75891 0.00016 2.15E-06
2 7
1999 55.5 9 56.3 1.777778 1.75050 2.03E-05 9.16E-08
8
2000 47.3 10 55.5 1.6 1.74429 2.91E-06 -5E-09
3
2001 62.7 11 47.3 1.454545 1.67486 0.00506 -0.00036
1 1
2002 81.3 12 45.1 1.333333 1.65417 0.00843 -0.00077
7 2
2003 80.6 13 42 1.230769 1.62324 0.01506 -0.00185
9 8
2004 42 14 35.5 1.142857 1.55022 0.03832 -0.0075
8 7
2005 69.4 15 19.27 1.066667 1.28488 0.21263 -0.09805
2
sum 0.43505 -0.07724
3
 Z 1.746

For the above value of C S , and T = 100years the value of σZ 0.1763 K Z is

calculated as follows (see appendix). CS -1.2

CS KZ
-1.0 1.588
-1.2 x
-1.4 1.318
By interpolation the value of x means K Z is equal to 2.951.
Then,
Z = Z+ K Z∗σ Z
Z = 1.746 + 2.951 * 0.1763
Z = 2.2663
And PT = antilogZ = antilog2.2663 = 184.63mm

3.3.3.Log-Normal Distribution
In Log-Pearson Type III distribution when C S =0, the equation reduces to Log-Normal Distribution
For C S =0 and T =100 years,
From table (see appendix)
KZ = 2.326
Therefore,
Z = Z+ K Z∗σ Z
Z = 1.746 + 2.326 * 0.1763
Z = 2.156
Then, PT = antilogZ = antilog2.156 = 143.22mm

3.3.4.Confidence Limit
The confidence interval indicates the limit about the calculated value between which the true value
can be said to lie with a specific probability based on sampling errors.
For a confidence probability C, the confidence interval of the variate XT is bounded by values X1 and
X2 given by
X1/2 = XT ± f(C)* Se
Where
f (C) = function of the confidence probability (determined by using table of normal variate) as
Se = probable error

Se = b [ √ ],
σ n−1
N
where, b = √ ( 1+1.13 K+ 1.1 K 2 )

N = sample size
K = frequency factor
Y t−Y n
KT = ( Sn
)

σ n−1 = standard deviation of the sample

Table 3. 3Functions of probability C

C (%) 50 68 80 90 95 100
F(C) 0.674 1.000 1.282 1.645 1.960 2.580

For sample size, N = 15, Y n=¿ 0.5128

Sn =¿1.0206

And, Y T =−ln ⁡(ln ( T T−1 ))

=−ln ⁡(ln (
100−1 )
100
)

= 4.60
Y t−Y n 4.60−0.5128
KT = = =4.005
Sn 1.0206
PT = 184.63mm (from section 3.3.2)

Se = b [ √ ],
σ n−1
N
where, b = √ ( 1+1.13 K+ 1.1 K 2 )
 = √ ( 1+1.13∗4.005+1.1∗4.0052 )
= 4.8135

Se = 4.8135 [ √ ] = 25.9381
20.87
15
For a 95% probability, f(C) = 1.96 (Table 4.3)
And; X1/2 = XT ± f(C)* Se………………… (xT = pT)

=184.63±1.96 * 25.9381
P1 = 184.63 + 1.96 * 25.9381 = 235.47mm ……………….. (p1=x1) and
P2 = 184.63 – 1.96 * 25.9381 = 133.79mm………………. (p2 = x2)
Thus, the estimated rainfall depth of 184.63mm using Log-Pearson Type III method has a 95%
probability of lying between 235.47mm and 133.79mm.

3.4. Design Flood

A flood is an unusual high stage of a river that over flows the natural or man made banks spreading
water to its flood plains that are thickly populated due to the obvious advantage of water supply and
irrigation. It is possible to predict and contain a flood to a reasonable extent with forecasting models
and technologies. The magnitudes of floods are described by flood discharge, elevations and volume,
each of which is important for specific design of a structure. For design of important structures,
complete flood hydrograph at the site is an important requirement.

A design flood to be considered for a structure is dependant on a large number of factors but the
importance of a structure and its objective has to be kept in mind. A flood accepted for the design of a
structure is based on:
a. Importance of the structure
b. Economy
c. Probable effect at its downstream due to its sudden damage,
d. Life expectance of the structure
e. In convenience it can cause to traffic
f. Population density of the downstream area
g. Submergence of mineral and other strategic areas and
 h. Economic condition of the people of the affected area, damages due to small structures like minor
irrigation projects, small causeways of bridges create temporary distribution of the area. Loss to life
and property from such damages is small.

However, for large dams no risk can be taken while designing them.
A flood used for the design of a structure on a consideration of its safety, economy, life expectancy
and probable damage consideration is called the design flood.

3.4.1 Estimation of design flood

For important structures located at strategic locations, virtually no risk can be taken for its failure. The
flood selected for the design of such structures should probably be the highest one. For other
structures, some probability of failure can be allowed. Depending on the size of water resources
project, any of the following types of flood can be estimated.

i. Frequency Based Flood

A design flood estimated using flood frequency analysis for an accepted return period (say 100 or 1000
years) is called frequency based on flood. Some times frequency analysis of rainfall data is carried out
and suitable rainfall-runoff model generation is the required.

ii. Probable Maximum Flood (PMF)

US Army corps of Engineers (1979) defined it as the extreme flood which is physically possible in a
region due to the most severe combination of critical meteorological and hydrological factors that are
reasonablly possible over the region under consideration. PMF is used for the design of all important
structures with virtually no risk criterion. PMF therefore can not be assigned a specific return period
on the basis of flood frequency studies.

iii. Standard Project Flood (SPF)

A flood computed from the Standard Project Storm (SPS) that have occurred over the project area
under consideration. The flood is considered reasonably characteristics of the region. It usually varies
between 40 and 60% of the probable maximum flood.
The hazard potential classification of the structures is directly related to the hydraulic head of the dam,
its storage capacity and the catchment draining up to the project site. Therefore, the selection of
design flood for low, medium and high structures is based on a potential hazard.
Guide lines by Central Water Commission, India (1972) for selection of design floods of a project
depending on its size and importance are given below.

Table 3. 4Classification of a project for selection of design flood

Structure Storage in Mm3 Head in m Type of flood

 dams/barrages >60 >30 a) PMF from PMP or
(large projects) b) flood with return
period 100 years or
more
 permanent <60 and >10 12-30 a) SPS from SPS

 barrage/small dams b) flood with return

period 100 years
c) a or b whichever is
higher
 small structures Cross drainage works, a) Flood of return period
(minor projects) culverts/bridges/dams of 50 or 100 years
depending on the
up to 10Mm3 storage,
importance of the
pickup barrages
structure.

According to Central Water Commission (CWC) recommendations for choosing design flood values
for the design of spillways of major and medium dams with storage capacity of more than 60Mm 3 the
probable maximum flood (PMF) should be chosen for the design of flood. The PMF is calculated by
unit hydrograph method for probable maximum precipitation. When unit hydrograph can not be used
to compute PMF because of some constraints, and also, when long term peak annual discharge data is
available, the Gamble’s probability method may be used to compute 100 years flood frequency to
arrive at a possible value of design flood (Garg, 1996).
Hydrological data is important for safety, economy and proper functioning of the hydraulic structures.
Therefore the estimation of design flood should be quite accurate in order that the project functions
properly. The basic hydrological data required for the estimation of design flood discharge in the
stream are:-
 Long year record of precipitation data in the catchment
 Stream flow record in the river where the project head work is supposed to be implemented
 The catchment characteristics such as land use vegetation cover infiltration etc.

3.4.2 Methods of peek flood estimation

A flood is the maximum flow in the river with high stage when water usually over flows the river
banks. However, overflowing of the bank is not essential characteristics of the river. If the river is
flowing in deep gorge, it will not over flow the bank even if the discharge is high, hence the basic
characteristics flood is its discharge and high stage. For proper design of hydraulic structure and
irrigation structure a reliable estimation of flood discharge is essential. However, flood is essentially a
random phenomenon; it is difficult to predict the exact maximum flood which occurs in the future. It
can be estimated only by a specific probability.

A design flood is a flood used for design of structure on consideration of safety, life expectancy,
probable damage consideration, etc.

No method is available by which the exact amount and intensity of the rainfall in any assigned future
period can be predicted precisely. How-so-ever elaborate the base data may be, the rainfall and the
expected flood flow cannot be predicted with absolute certainty and precision. The expected flood
and its consequent damages can only be judged and approximated, and hence, while designing flood
protection works, the direction and judgment of the design engineers is of utmost importance.
The methods the following: [Subramanya, 2004]
 Empirical Method
 Rational Method
 Envelope Curves
  Unit Hydrograph Method
 Flood Frequency Analysis
 US SCS Method
The use of a particular method depends up on:
- The desired objective
- The available data and
- The importance of the project.

3.4.2.1 Empirical Method

Empirical method has various regression type equations relating catchment area, river bed slope and
return period to flood peak discharge. Such relations are purely regional in nature. The formula is
applicable for the region only where the investigation was carried out and sufficient care must be
taken to apply them elsewhere. Empirical formula should only be used as a last report in cases where
no runoff or rainfall data available. The formulas are only acceptable only for the type of catchments
and the region for which they were developed. [CHOW, 1964]

Empirical formulae should only be used as at last resort in cases where no run off or rain fall data
available.

3.4.2.2 Rational Method

It is based on the principle of relation ship between rainfall and runoff and can be considered similar to
empirical formula. This method is called rational because units of quantities used are approximately
dimensionally consistent.
The Rational method predicting a design peak runoff is expressed by the equation given below.
[SUBRAMANYA, 2004]

Q P =CIA

Where,
QP = peak discharge in m3/s
C = runoff coefficient
 I = rainfall intensity in mm/hr
A = drainage area in km2
This method is applicable only to small catchments (<50km2)
Since the catchment area of the project area is greater than 50km 2 this formula is applied in this
project work.

3.4.2.3 Envelope Curves

It is based on the assumption that highest known peak flow per unit area registered in the past in one
basin in a region may occur in the future in another basin in the same region. It is useful to obtain flood
values for comparison with these derived by other methods. These curves are also useful in getting
quick preliminary estimates of design floods. However, it doesn’t consider any basin characteristics
other than drainage area; it will not be much accurate.

3.4.2.4 Unit Hydrograph Method

The unit–hydrograph of a drainage basin is defined as a hydrograph of direct run-off resulting from
one centimeter depth (1cm) of effective rain fall of a specified duration generated uniformly over
basin area at a uniform rate.
Duration of unit hydrograph means the duration of effective rainfall, not a storm runoff. Unit
hydrograph assumes uniform distribution of rainfall over the catchment and also constant rainfall
intensity for the duration of rainfall excess. In practice, these two conditions are never strictly
satisfied.

3.4.2.5 Flood Frequency Analysis

Flood frequency analysis is the hydraulic term used to describe the probability of occurrence of a
flood. Frequency or probability distribution helps to relate the magnitude of these extreme events with
their number of occurrences such that their chance of occurrence with time can be predicted
successfully. Flood frequency analysis considers the annual peak flows at site for all years.
 The method of analysis and predicting flood from the data of runoff peaks is called frequency
analysis. It gives only the magnitude of flood peak of designed recurrence interval or return period, but
does not provide information about the complete hydrograph or the flood volume.
Prediction of flood peaks from the flood data of recorded maximum series is reliable when analysis is
carried out for return period of less than the data length. However, when data is to be extrapolated, the
prediction should be carried out with the condition as the sample data may not be true representative
of the population. For such predictions, confidence bends or limits are to be estimated at 95% or other
acceptable percentages, depending on the precision requirement. ( Patra, 2001)

In this method the observed data of the past flood is used to predict the future flood of particular
probability for the given return period. For frequency analysis, adequate and reliable flood data
should be available. The records of period shorter than 20-25 years wouldn’t give a reliable result.
[MAIDMENT, 1994]

Chow (1951) has shown that most frequency-distribution functions applicable in hydrologic studies
can be expressed by the following equation known as the general equation of hydrologic frequency
analysis.
XT=Xm + k*
Where: XT = value of the variate X of a random hydrologic series with a return period T,
Xm = mean of the variate,
 = standard deviation of the variate,
K = frequency factor which depends upon the return period, T and the assumed frequency
distribution with emphasis on application.

There are different probability methods to calculate such a maximum design flood. To choose one of
them that is best fitting for the recorded data, fitting distributions can be used which is accomplished
by the method of moments.
3.4.3 Moment method
L-moment method:
L –moment can be written as a function of probability weighted moment (PWM).
i.e. r =f (xm*F (xm))
Where F(x) =the cumulative distribution function for xm.
For r = 0, o = f (xm) =sample mean.
The L- moment may also be written as linear estimators of PWMS. For unbiased estimation of
probability weighted moments for ordered observations corresponding to ranked observation in a
sample (xm, m=1, 2…n), a sample estimator for r for r ≥1 is given by r = br.

Thus, unbiased PWM estimators can be given as:

n n

∑ Qmb o= 1n ∗∑ Qm
m m

b1= (n-m)*Qm/n (n-1)

b2 = (n-m) (n-m-1) Qm/ (n (n-1) (n-2))
b3 = (n-m) (n-m-1) (n-m-2) Qm/n (n-1) (n-2) (n-3)

Where Qm =the sample of annual maximum flows arranged in ascending order.

n =sample size (i.e., the number of annual maximum in the record

The sample L-moment are defined as

 1 = b0
2 =2b1-b0
3 = 6b2-6b1+b0
4 = 20b3-30b2+12b1-b0
The sample L-moment ratio is defined as:
22
L - Cv =τ 2 =
11
3
L-Skewness =τ 3 =
2
 4
L- Kurtosis =τ 4=
2
The relationship between the third and the fourth L- moment ratio for different types of frequency
distribution is given below:

Uniform distribution
3 = 0, 4 = 0
Exponential distribution
3 = 1/3, 4 = 1/6
Normal distribution
3 = 0, 4 = 0.1226
Gumbel distribution
3 = 0.1699, 4 = 0.154
Log normal distribution
4 = 0.12282 + 0.751832 + 0.1227934 - 0.1363835 + 0.1136838
General extreme value distribution
4 = 0.1070+ 0.11093 + 0.8483832 - 0.066933 + 0.0056734 - 0.0420835 + 0.0776336
Pearson distribution
4 = 0.1224 + 0.30111532 + 0.9581234 - 0.5748836 + 0.1938338

Table 3. 5Calculation of L-moment method

Year Qm descendin m (n-m)Qm/n(n- (n-m)(n-m- (n-m)(n-m-1)(n-

g order 1) 1)Qm/n(n-1)(n- m-2)Qm/n(n-1)
2) (n-2)(n-3)

1959 137.68 140 1 4.117647059 4.117647059 4.117647059

1960 65.29 137.68 2 3.926702317 3.80399287 3.681283422

1961 119.73 124.07 3 3.427959002 3.213711564 3.006375334

1962 140 119.73 4 3.201336898 2.901211564 2.620449155

1963 80.53 115.4 5 2.982709447 2.609870766 2.273113248

1964 124.07 109.64 6 2.736114082 2.308596257 1.936242022

1965 44.61 104.86 7 2.523368984 2.050237299 1.653417177

1966 72.81 91.3 8 2.115686275 1.652879902 1.279648956

1967 104.86 90.88 9 2.024955437 1.518716578 1.126789719

1968 79.89 88.87 10 1.900962567 1.366316845 0.969644213

1969 90.88 88.12 11 1.806381462 1.241887255 0.841278463

1970 74.4 81.25 12 1.593137255 1.045496324 0.674513757

1971 54.86 81.25 13 1.520721925 0.950451203 0.582534608

1972 35.26 80.53 14 1.435472371 0.85231172 0.494890676

1973 88.12 79.89 15 1.352860963 0.760984291 0.417313966

1974 88.87 79.52 16 1.275721925 0.677727273 0.349794721

1975 81.25 74.4 17 1.127272727 0.563636364 0.272727273

1976 81.25 72.81 18 1.03828877 0.486697861 0.219799034

1977 91.3 72.33 19 0.96697861 0.423053142 0.177409382

1978 71.89 71.89 20 0.897023173 0.364415664 0.141064128

1979 55.53 65.77 21 0.762040998 0.285765374 0.101400617

1980 56.4 65.29 22 0.69828877 0.240036765 0.077431214

1981 65.77 63.25 23 0.620098039 0.193780637 0.056258895

1982 51.99 56.4 24 0.502673797 0.141377005 0.036484388

1983 63.25 55.53 25 0.445427807 0.111356952 0.025145118

1984 21.3 54.86 26 0.391158645 0.085565954 0.016561152

1985 22.87 51.99 27 0.324358289 0.060817179 0.009809222

1986 72.33 46.18 28 0.246951872 0.03858623 0.004978868

1987 30.97 44.61 29 0.198796791 0.024849599 0.0024048

1988 79.52 37.85 30 0.134937611 0.012650401 0.000816155

1989 46.18 35.26 31 0.094278075 0.00589238 0.000190077

1990 37.85 30.97 32 0.055204991 0.001725156 0

1991 109.64 22.87 33 0.020383244 0 0

1992 115.4 21.3 34 0 0 0

SUM 2556.55 46.46590018 34.11224543 27.16741682

n
1 1
b o= ∗∑ Qm = ∗2556.55 = 75.193
n m 34
b1= (n-m)*Qm/n (n-1) = 46.466
b2 = (n-m) (n-m-1) Qm/ (n (n-1) (n-2)) = 34.112
b3 = (n-m) (n-m-1) (n-m-2) Qm/n (n-1) (n-2) (n-3) = 27.167
The sample L-moment are calculated as follows
1 = b0 = 75.193
2 =2b1-b0 = 2*46.466 – 75.193 = 17.739
3 = 6b2-6b1+b0 = 6*34.112 -6*46.466 + 75.193 = 1.069
4 = 20b3-30b2+12b1-b0 = 20 * 27.167 – 30 * 34.112 + 12*46.466 – 75.193 = 2.379

2 2
L - Cv =τ 2 = = 17.739/75.193 = 0.236
1 1
 3
L-Skewness =τ 3 = = 1.069/17.739 = 0.0603
2
4
L- Kurtosis =τ 4= = 2.379/17.739 = 0.13411
2

Uniform distribution
3 = 0
4 = 0
Exponential distribution
3 = 1/3
4 = 1/6
Normal distribution
3 = 0
4 = 0.1226
Gumbel distribution
3 = 0.1699, 4 = 0.154
Log- Normal distribution
4 = 0.12282 + 0.751832 + 0.1227934 - 0.1363835 + 0.1136838
= 0.12282 + 0.7518* 0.06032 + 0.12279* 0.06034 – 0.13638*0.06035 + 0.11368*0.06038 =
0.126
General Extreme Value Distribution (GEV)
4 = 0.1070+ 0.11093 + 0.8483832 - 0.066933 + 0.0056734 - 0.0420835 + 0.0776336
= 0.1070 + 0.1109* 0.0603 + 0.84838*0.06032 – 0.0669*0.06033 + 0.00567*0.06034 –
0.04208*0.06035 + 0.07763*0.06036 = 0.1168
Pearson Distribution (PD)
4 = 0.1224 + 0.30111532 + 0.9581234 - 0.5748836 + 0.1938338
= 0.1224 + 0.301115*0.06032 + 0.95812*0.06034 – 0.57488*0.06036 + 0.19383*0.06038 =
0.1235

GEV=0.1168
PD=0.1235
From the above L-moment ratio (4=0.13411) is relatively equal to Pearson’s distribution 4, and then
we preferred Pearson’s type III distribution method.

Log-Pearson type III Distribution

For log–Pearson type III distribution, the variant is first transformed in to logarithmic form and the
transformed data is then analyzed. If x is a variant of a random hydrologic series, then the series of Z
variates where Z = log X are first obtained. For this Z series, for any recurrence interval T, gives
ZT = Z + Kz*σ Z

Where KZ = a frequency factor which is a function of recurrence interval T and the coefficient of
Skeweness, Cs.
σz = standard deviation of the z variate sample

√∑ [ ]
n
( Z −Z )2
σ Z=
i=1 n−1
C S = coefficient of skewness of Z variate

[ ]
n
( Z−Z )3
C S=n ∑
i=1 ( n−1 ) ( n−2 ) σ 3Z

N = sample size = number of years of the record

After finding the ZT, the corresponding value of XT is obtained by
XT = antilog (ZT)
Table 3. 6 Calculation of Z , σ n−1 , C S

Year maximum Decreasing Rank T=(N+1)/m Z=logX

( Z −Z )2 ( Z −Z )3
annual order [X]
daily
rainfall
X[m^3/s]
1959 137.68 140 1 36 2.14613 0.09711 0.03026
1960 65.29 137.68 2 18 2.13887 0.09264 0.0282
1961 119.73 124.07 3 12 2.09367 0.06717 0.01741
1962 140 119.73 4 9 2.0782 0.05939 0.01447
1963 80.53 115.4 5 7.2 2.06221 0.05185 0.01181
1964 124.07 109.64 6 6 2.03997 0.04222 0.00867
1965 44.61 104.86 7 5.14286 2.02061 0.03464 0.00645
1966 72.81 91.3 8 4.5 1.96047 0.01587 0.002
1967 104.86 90.88 9 4 1.95847 0.01537 0.00191
1968 79.89 88.87 10 3.6 1.94876 0.01305 0.00149
1969 90.88 88.12 11 3.27273 1.94507 0.01223 0.00135
1970 74.4 81.25 12 3 1.90982 0.00567 0.00043
1971 54.86 81.25 13 2.76923 1.90982 0.00567 0.00043
1972 35.26 80.53 14 2.57143 1.90596 0.00511 0.00036
1973 88.12 79.89 15 2.4 1.90249 0.00462 0.00031
1974 88.87 79.52 16 2.25 1.90048 0.00435 0.00029
1975 81.25 74.4 17 2.11765 1.87157 0.00137 5.1E-05
1976 81.25 72.81 18 2 1.86219 0.00077 2.1E-05
1977 91.3 72.33 19 1.89474 1.85932 0.00062 1.5E-05
1978 71.89 71.89 20 1.8 1.85667 0.00049 1.1E-05
1979 55.53 65.77 21 1.71429 1.81803 0.00027 -4E-06
1980 56.4 65.29 22 1.63636 1.81485 0.00039 -8E-06
1981 65.77 63.25 23 1.56522 1.80106 0.00112 -4E-05
1982 51.99 56.4 24 1.5 1.75128 0.00693 -0.0006
1983 63.25 55.53 25 1.44 1.74453 0.0081 -0.0007
1984 21.3 54.86 26 1.38462 1.73926 0.00907 -0.0009
1985 22.87 51.99 27 1.33333 1.71592 0.01406 -0.0017
1986 72.33 46.18 28 1.28571 1.66445 0.02892 -0.0049
1987 30.97 44.61 29 1.24138 1.64943 0.03425 -0.0063
1988 79.52 37.85 30 1.2 1.57807 0.06576 -0.0169
1989 46.18 35.26 31 1.16129 1.54728 0.08249 -0.0237
1990 37.85 30.97 32 1.125 1.49094 0.11803 -0.0406
1991 109.64 22.87 33 1.09091 1.35927 0.22585 -0.1073
1992 115.4 21.3 34 1.05882 1.32838 0.25616 -0.1296
sum 62.3735 1.3816 -0.2073
mean 3.5642
stdv 10.2349
cv -0.7793

From Table 3.6

- mean (Zi = log Xi) = 1.834514       
-    Standard deviation = 0.204613
-    Coefficient of skewness Cs = -0.77932
Corresponding to Cs = -0.77932(≅ -0.8 ), the frequency factor is read from the table as
K100 = 1.733
Flood peak is calculated as follows:
K100 = 1.733 : Z100 = 1.834514 + 1.733 * 0.204613 = 2.1891
Taking anti logarithm of Z, the value of peak flood for 100 years return period is as below
X100 = antilogZ100 = antilog 2.1981 = 154.564 m3/s
It is this discharge that will later be used in the design of spillway.
 4. RESERVOIR PLANNING
4.1 General
A reservoir is a large, artificial lake created by constructing a dam across a river. The term reservoir
in water resources engineering is used in a restricted sense for a comparatively large body of water
stored in the upstream of a dam constructed for this purpose (ARORA 2002).
The purpose of storage reservoir is to smooth out the variations in natural stream flow in order to
retain water that would otherwise run to waste or cause flood damage.

In reality no reservoir can provide absolute control of all river flows some spill occur, evaporation
and leakage losses will exist, storage volume will be reduced by sedimentation and if we wait long
enough at some time the available water will fail to meet the demand. Thus the problem of reservoir
design in its widest sense is to provide a combination of storage volume and operating policy that will
reduce the likelihood of water shortages (or other failures) to meet specified objectives to some
acceptably small level over the expected life of the project.
A reservoir can be classified into two based on the purpose. These are:
 Single purpose reservoir and
 Multipurpose reservoir.
A single purpose reservoir is not economically feasible.
The various purposes served by multipurpose reservoir include:
 Irrigation
 Municipal and industrial water supply
 Flood control
 Hydropower
 Navigation
 Recreation
 Development of fish and wild life
 Soil conservation
 Pollution control and
 Mosquito control
 4.2 Types of reservoir
Depending up on the purpose served, the reservoirs may be broadly classified into five types:
1. Storage or conservation reservoirs: - They are used to conserve water. Storage reservoirs
are constructed to store the water in the rainy season and to release it later when the river flow
is low.
2. Flood control reservoirs: - A flood control reservoir protects the areas lying on its
downstream side from the damage due to flood.
3. Multipurpose reservoirs: - A multipurpose reservoir is designed and constructed to serve
two or more purposes.
4. Distribution reservoirs: - A distribution reservoir is a small storage reservoir to tied over the
peak demand of water for municipal water supply or irrigation.
5. Balancing reservoirs: - A balancing reservoir is a small reservoir constructed downstream of
the main reservoir for holding water released from the main reservoir.
The demand of water is increasing continuously to meat crop water demand. To meet the demand of
water at these locations arising out of the variability of the resources, storage reservoirs provide the
only alternative. That was the reason tanks were built during ancient civilization at various parts of the
world even before the concept of water cycle was known to them.

The discharge in river generally varies considerably during different periods of a year. This
phenomenon has got its own influence in reservoir planning in the project area.

4.3 Reservoir Site Selection

A good site for a reservoir should have the following characteristics:
 Large storage capacity: The topography of site should be such that the reservoir has a large
capacity to store water.
 Suitable site for the dam: A suitable site for the dam should exist on the d/s of the proposed
reservoir. There should be good foundation for the dam. The reservoir basin should have a
narrow opening in the valley so that the length of the dam is small.
  Water tightness of the reservoir: The geological conditions of the reservoir site should be
such that the reservoir basin is water tight. So the stored water is not able to escape under the
surrounding hills through cavernous rock or other continuous pervious strata.
 Deep reservoir: The site should be such that a deep reservoir is formed after the construction
of the dam.
Its advantage is:
 Land cost per unit of capacity is low
 Evaporation loss is less and
 There is less likelyhood of weed growth.
 Small submerged area: The site should be such that the submerged area is minimum. It
should not submerge costly land property.
 Low silt inflow: The reservoir site should be selected such that it avoids or excludes the water
from those tributaries that carry a high percentage of silt.
 Good hydrological conditions: The catchments area of the river should give high yield.
There should not be heavy losses in the catchments due to evaporation, transpiration and
percolation.
 The site should not be in archeological area, precious mineral extraction site,
 Good hydrological condition
 No objectionable minerals etc.

4.4 Available Storage Capacity of a Reservoir

The main function of reservoir is mostly to store water during flood and release it later. The available
capacity of a reservoir depends up on the topography of the site and the height of a dam. To determine
available storage capacity of reservoir up to certain level of water, engineering surveys are usually
constructed.For accurate determination of the capacity, a topographic survey of the reservoir area is
usually conducted, and a contour map of the area is prepared.
The storage capacity and the water spread area at different elevations can be determined from the
contour map, as explained below.
 4.4.1 Elevation - Area - Capacity Curve
The ultimate goal of this curve is to obtain the capacity of the reservoir at different elevations with
respect to respective submergence area. This curve utilizes input data from topographic survey on
natural sites for its construction. From the contour plan, the water spread area of the reservoir at any
elevation is determined by measuring the area enclosed by the corresponding contour and also the
storage capacity of the reservoir at any elevation is determined from the water spread area at various
elevations.
 Area-Elevation curve: - From the contour plan, the water spread area of the reservoir at
elevation is determined by measuring the area enclosed by the corresponding contour. Then
an elevation-area curve is drawn between the surface area and the elevation.
 Elevation-capacity curve: - The storage capacity of the reservoir at any elevation is
determined from the water spread area at various elevations.
Both of them are the function of the topography of site and the height of the dam.
The following formulae are commonly used to determine the storage capacity.
 Trapezoidal formula
 Cone formula
 Prismoidal formula

1. Trapezoidal Formula: -the storage volume between two successive contours of areas A 1 and
A2 is given by:
h
∆VT = (A1+A2), ∆ V T =∆V1+∆V2+∆V3+…. =∑ ∆ V
2

Therefore, the total volume V of storage is given by:

h
V = ( A1 +2 A2 +2 A 3 +…+2 A n−1 + A n )
2

where, n=total number of areas

h= contour interval
 2. Cone Formulae – According to this formula the storage volume between two successive
contours of areas A1 and A2 is given by:
h
∆V1 = (A1+A2+√ A 1 A 2)
3
The total volume V is given by:
V = ∆V1+∆V2+∆V3+… =∑ ∆ V
3. Prismoidal Formula - According to Prismoidal formula, the storage volume between three
successive contours is given by:
H
∆V1 = (A +4A2+A3)
3 1

The total volume is given by:

H
V=
3
[ ( A 1+ A 2 )+ 4 ( A 2+ A 4 + A 6+… )+ 2( A 3+ A 5+…)]

Because of there is no available printed contour map of the area, we have adopted the curve from
Ribb Dam Planning Report.

Are a/c apac ity c urve

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Area (Sq. Km )
1945 1945

1935 1935

1925 1925
H(m)

H(m)

1915 1915

1905 1905

1895 1895

1885 1885
Capacity (MCM)
Capacity (MCM)
1875
Area (Sq. Km) 1875
0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225 250 275 300

Figure 4. 1 stage area storage curve

 4.4.2 Fixing the Capacity of the Reservoir
The capacity required for reservoir depends upon the inflow available and the demand. If the available
inflow in the river is greater than the demand, there is no storage required. On the other hand, if the
inflow in the river is small but the demand is high, a large reservoir capacity is required.
Storage capacity of a reservoir is the maximum differences between cumulative supply and demand
during the period of the driest year of the available records.
The required capacity for a reservoir can be determined by the following methods.
1. Analytical method and
2. Flow duration curves method.
3. Graphical methods, using mass curves,

Analytical method
In this method the capacity of the reservoir is determined the net inflow and demand. The storage is
required when the demand exceeds the net inflow. The total storage required is equal to the sum of the
storage required during the various periods.

Flow Duration Curve Method

A flow duration curve can be drawn if a continuous record of daily flow or average weekly or average
monthly flow is available for long period. Flow duration curve represents the data in condensed form
and extremely useful for the estimation of the available hydropower.

Graphical Method, using mass curve

The mass curve is widely used for analysis of reservoir capacity demand problems. Mass curve is a
curve between cumulative net reservoir inflows against time. The slope of the tangent to mass curve at
any time is a measure of inflow at that time. The mass curve gives the relationship between the
cumulative inflow and demand. The maximum vertical ordinate between inflow and demand curves
represents the reservoir storage capacity to meet the demand during the dry period.
In our case, we use mass curves for determination of required capacity. Because of the mass curve
analysis is adequate for small project or preliminary study of large storage project.
Sequent peak algorithm
One of the many versions of mass curve technique to determine the storage requirement from a
reservoir is the use of sequent peak algorithm. In this method, a mass curve of cumulative net flow
volume against chronological time is used.

This curve is known as residual mass curve and will have peaks/local maximum/ and troughs /local
minimum/. For any peak, p the next following peak of magnitude greater than p is called sequent peak.
Using two cycles of a period of data series, the required storage volume is calculated by the following
procedure:

1. Convert the monthly inflow in to volume units for the period of available data.
2. Estimate the monthly volumes of all the out flows from the reservoir.
3. This should include the losses from evaporation, seepage and other losses.
4. Compute the cumulative values of ∑ (inflow-out flow) from reservoir.
5. Plot a graph by taking months as abscissa and ∑ (I-O) of step three as ordinate on ordinary graph
paper.
6. The data will plot with peaks and troughs. The second and subsequent peaks are called sequent peaks.
The maximum difference between any sequent peak and just following trough is the maximum storage
required for the reservoir. The difference between the first peak and trough following it is the storage
required under normal inflow.

Following the above procedure, we can calculate the minimum storage required for the catchment as
follows.
Table 4. 1 Reservoir storage by sequent peak algorithm method

Cumm. DSF by Demand Total Cumm. Inflow- CUM

Inflow 20% Demand Demand Demand (I-D)
Inflow (Mm3) inflow (Mm3) (Mm3) (Mm3) (Mm3) (Mm3)
Month (Mm3) (Mm3)
 January 1.4 1.4 0.28 10.8 11.08 11.08 -9.68 -9.68
February 0.89 2.29 0.178 20.32 20.498 31.578 -19.608 -29.288
March 0.81 3.1 0.162 31.62 31.782 63.36 -30.972 -60.26

April 0.83 3.93 0.166 27.03 27.196 90.556 -26.366 -86.626

May 1.32 5.25 0.264 8.09 8.354 98.91 -7.034 -93.66
June 7.76 13.01 1.552 0 1.552 100.462 6.208 -87.452
July 91.46 104.47 18.29 0 18.29 118.752 73.17 -14.282
August 199.4 303.87 39.88 0 39.88 158.632 159.52 145.238
September 85.86 389.73 17.17 3.35 20.52 179.152 65.34 210.578
October 18.75 408.48 3.75 5.51 9.26 188.412 9.49 220.068
November 8.56 417.04 1.712 0 1.712 190.124 6.848 226.916
December 3.56 420.6 0.712 0 0.712 190.836 2.848 229.764

From the above table the following graph can be drawn.

Figure 4. 2 Storage capacity

Therefore, the minimum storage capacity computed is = 229.76Mm3

4.4.3 Reservoir Losses

Some quantity of water stored in a reservoir is always lost and it is necessary to account some in
planning operation of the reservoir. Losses in reservoir occur because of evaporation, absorption and
percolation (seepage). Because of these losses, some of the stored water is lost and not available for
useful purposes while planning a reservoir for conservation, it is essential to consider these losses.

4.4.3.1 Absorption Loss

Absorption loss occurs due to absorption of water by the soil forming the reservoir basin. It depends
mainly on the type of soil.The loss due to absorption is usually negligible because the bottom stratum
(pores in the reservoir) gets saturated when the reservoir is filled. A percolation or seepage loss is also
small in most cases unless porous strata, on cavernous or fissured rocks present. In case of Ribb, the
reservoir area is free from such geologies and small amount is added to account these losses.

4.4.3.2 Percolation loss

Percolation loss occurs due to continuous flow of water under pressure from the reservoir to the
adjoining strata. It is usually small, but it may be quite significant in some reservoirs. This problem is
solved during reservoir site selection by ignoring fractured geologic zones.

4.4.3.3 Evaporation Loss

Evaporation is a loss of water to the atmosphere over the period under consideration. The evaporation
loss may be depend on the water surface area of the reservoir.Of the losses, the most significant one is
the evaporation loss. It is expressed interms of the depth of water measured in cm or mm which thus
represent the volume of water loss per unit area of the surface of the reservoir.This loss is dependent
on parameters like temperature, wind velocity and relative humidity. There are various methods
adopted to determine evaporation loss, among which penman formula has got world wide application.
Using this formula, losses from reservoir for each month is calculated for our case.

The main source of water evaporation is solar radiation. The factors responsible for evaporation are:
 Meteorological factors:
a. vapor pressure
 b. Solar radiation
c. Air temperature
d. Wind velocity
e. Atmospheric pressure
 Nature of evaporating surface and
 Quality of water
In any development activity plan associated with water it is important to determine or estimate the
evaporation magnitude. Especially in arid climatic condition this phenomena calls due attention
causing the success of the project longly depends on the degree to which the scarce resource is
conserved and carefully utilized.
Evaporation can be estimated by:
1. Experimental field measurement
2. Climatic approach
Penman method
Penman developed a theoretical formula based on the principles of both energy budget and mass
transfer approaches to calculate potential evapotranspiration. A simple energy budget neglecting all
minor losses can be written as:
∆ H +γ Ea
ET =
∆+ γ
Where,
ET=Daily potential evapotranspiration in mm/day
∆ = slope of saturation vapor pressure versus temperature curve
at mean air temperature in mmHg/0C
H =net radiation in millimeter of evaporable water per day
Ea= parameter including wind velocity and saturation deficit
γ = psychometric constant whose value is 0.49 mm of Hg/0c
The daily net radiation in mm of evaporable water and is estimated from the energy budget theories
using the relation:
H= Ha (1-r) (0.29 cos ∅ +0.55n/N)- σ Ta4 (0.56-0.092√ e a) (0.10+0.9n/N)
Where,
Ha=incident solar radiation out side the atmosphere on a horizontal surface
expressed in mm of evaporable water per day, n= actual duration of bright
sunshine in hours.
N = maximum possible hours of bright sunshine (It is the function of latitude).
r= reflection coefficient (Albedo)
σ =Stefan-Boltzman constant =2.01*10-9mm/day.
Ta= mean air temperature in degree Kelvin=273+0c
ea = actual mean vapor pressure in the air in mm of Hg
The parameter Ea is estimated as:
Ea =0.002187 ( 160+u2 ) ( e s−e a )

Where, u2=mean wind speed at 2m above the ground in Km/day.

es = saturation vapor pressure at mean air temperature in mm of Hg.
ea = actual vapor pressure.
The evaporation volume is the calculated by multiplying the evaporation depth by the mean surface
area of the reservoir.

Table 4. 2 Penman method for computation of evaporation

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
T (0C) 18.8 20.2 20.85 20.7 20.8 19.45 18 18 18.4 19 18.85 18.95
Wind 5
164 164 147 130 164 164 104 86 104 138 138 121
(km/
day)∆ 1.00 1.07 1.115 1.103 1.11 1.03 0.97 0.97 0.99 1.01 1.004 1.01
RH (%) 4
52 49 47 47 56 70 80 80 75 65 60 56
es 16.3 17.77 18.53 18.35 18.47 16.98 15.51 15.51 15.91 16.52 16.37 16.47
ea 7
8.51 8.71 8.71 8.62 10.34 11.89 12.41 12.41 11.93 10.74 9.82 9.22
Ha 12.3 13.56 14.61 15.2 15.15 15.01 14.99 15.06 14.79 13.85 12.70 11.96
N 4
11.4 11.72 12.0 12.38 12.68 12.83 12.73 12.48 12.14 11.8 11.52 11.37
n/N 70.72 0.78 0.76 0.67 0.54 0.44 0.16 0.18 0.55 0.71 0.79 0.77
Ta(ok) 291. 293.2 293.8 293.7 293.8 292.4 291 291 291.4 292 291.8 291.9
Hn 85
4.79 5.75 5
6.35 6.37 6.04 5
5.73 4.47 4.59 6.15 6.08 5
5.46 5
4.79
Ea 5.57 6.42 6.59 6.17 5.76 3.61 1.79 1.67 2.30 3.77 4.27 4.46
ET 5.05 5.96 6.43 6.31 5.97 5.05 3.57 3.61 4.88 5.33 5.07 4.67
ET 156. 166.8 199.2 189.3 184.6 151.3 110.6 111.8 146.2 165.1 151.9 145.0
(mm/ 43 6 4 5 7 7 4 6 8 3 9 8
E
month
T 1.44 1.54 1.83 1.74 1.70 1.39 1.02 1.03 1.35 1.52 1.40 1.33
(Mm3/
Table 4. 3Annual evaporation and seepage loss

Month Evaporation Evaporation Seepage =25% of

(mm/month) (Mm3/month) evaporation(Mm3)
Jan 156.43 1.44 0.36
Feb 166.85 1.54 0.39
Mar 199.24 1.83 0.46
Apr 189.35 1.74 0.44
May 184.67 1.7 0.43
Jun 151.37 1.39 0.35
Jul 110.64 1.02 0.26
Aug 111.86 1.03 0.26
Sep 146.28 1.34 0.34
Oct 165.13 1.52 0.38
Nov 151.99 1.4 0.35
Dec 145.08 1.33 0.33
Total 1878.88 17.29Mm3/year 4.35Mm3/year
The total evaporation loss from the reservoir as computed in the above table is
17.29Mm3/year.

4.5 Precipitation
Precipitation is that part of atmospheric moisture, which reaches the earth’s surface in different forms.
Any product of atmospheric water must reach the surface of earth after condensation. However fog
and frost are not part of precipitation as they are not falling moisture. Some common forms of
precipitation explain below are rain, snow, glaze, sleet, etc

Therefore, the amount of water falling on reservoir surface can be determined. To determine this
amount of precipitation we take the mean monthly rainfall data of Addis Zemen. The monthly volume
is then calculated by multiplying the rainfall depth with surface area of the reservoir, which is 10km2
at normal pool level.

Table 4. 4 Monthly volume of precipitation

Months PPT(mm/month) PPT(Mm3/month)

Jan 9.8 0.098
Feb 4.9 0.049
Mar 37.6 0.376
Apr 36.6 0.366
May 87 0.870
Jun 167.8 1.678
Jul 421.7 4.217
Aug 405.8 4.058
Sep 182.8 1.828
Oct 88.5 0.885
Nov 35.1 0.351
Dec 10.3 0.103
Total 1487.8 14.879Mm3
 4.6 Reservoir Sedimentation
Sediment is defined, as the fragmental earth materials eroded, transported and deposited else where by
natural agents like air and water. Sediment transport is a natural process and therefore, it cannot be
stopped completely. Transportation of sediment by flowing water and their deposition in the reservoirs
depend on flow condition, sediment composition and their interaction with each other.

Due to reduction of velocity and turbulence of flow, the larger suspended load particles and most of
bed load particles get deposited in the head reach of the reservoir. Generally, sedimentation reduces
the available capacity of reservoir with continuous sedimentation; the useful life of the reservoir goes
on decreasing.
The sediment load of a river depends up on the following factors:
 Nature of the soil in the catchments
 Vegetation cover
 Topography of catchments
 Intensity of rainfall

4.6.1 Types of sediment loads

The sediment load of a river can be divided into two:
 Suspended load
 Bed load

4.6.1.1 Suspended Load

The finer particles remain in suspension and travel some more distance onto the reservoir without
settling and these are called suspended load. It is the part of sediment load which is held in suspension
against gravity by vertical component of eddies of the turbulent flow. The suspended load usually
consists of the minerals dispersed throughout the river cross-section.
The suspended load river is measured by sampling the water, filtering to remove the sediment, drying
and weighting the filtered material and it is expressed as part per million (ppm) computed by dividing
the weight of the sample previously taken and multiplying the quotient by 106.

4.6.1.2 Bed Load

Bed load is that part of the sediment load which moves in contact with the bed of the River. It consists
of relatively coarser materials.

4.6.2 Measures to Control Reservoir Sedimentation

In order to increase the useful life of reservoir, the rate of deposition of sediments in the reservoir
should be decreased.
The following measures are usually taken to reduce reservoir sedimentation.
 Selection of suitable site
 Proper design
 Provision of sluices
 Creating large reservoirs
 Control of sediment inflow
 Control of sediment deposition
 Physical removal of sediments
 Soil conservation

4.7 Determination of different storage levels

Full Reservoir Level (FSL):- FSL is the highest water level to which the water surface will rise
during normal operating condition.
Maximum Water Level (MWL):- MWL is the maximum level to which the water surface will rise.
Minimum Pool Level (MPL):- MPL is the lowest level up to which the water is withdrawn from the
reservoir under ordinary condition.
Dead Storage (DS):- DS is the part of the stored water in the reservoir which is left for sedimentation
and not available for use. It is usually taken as 15% of the total storage.
Total Storage (TS):- TS is the part of water that can be stored in the reservoir to bring the water
level up to full reservoir level.
TS=LS+DS
Live Storage (LS):-LS is the volume of water stored between the full reservoir level and minimum
pool level. LS=FRL - MPL
Hence from mass curve, total storage = 229.76Mm3
Dead storage =12% of the total storage
=0.12*229.76= 27.57Mm3
Seepage loss = 4.35 Mm3/year
Evaporation loss = 17.29Mm3/year(from table 3.3)
Precipitation = 13.69Mm3/year (from table 3.4)
Evaporation=annual evaporation-annual precipitation
=17.29 – 14.88
= 2.41Mm3
From elevation-area-storage capacity curve for 229.76Mm3, the corresponding area = 10km2
Live storage = Total Storage - Dead Storage - Evaporation loss – seepage loss
= 229.76Mm3 – 27.57Mm3 – 2.41Mm3 – 4.35 Mm3
= 195.43Mm3
Hence, from Elevation - Area - Storage curve, for 195.43Mm3 storage capacity, normal pool level
elevation 1938m.

4.8 Useful Life of Reservoir

All reservoirs ultimately get filled with sediments. The river carries sediments to the reservoir which
are deposited in the reservoir. The deposition of the sediments gradually decreases the available
storage capacity of the reservoir. As more and more sediments are deposited in the reservoir, a stage
comes when the reservoir is unable to serve its intended purpose and its useful life is over. If the
annual sediment inflow is large compared with reservoir capacity, the useful life of the reservoir would
be very short. The rate sedimentation in the reservoir depends on the reservoir trap efficiency.
The dead storage provided in reservoir capacity is allowed for sedimentation .Actually all the sediment
load does not go in dead storage. It encroaches up on live storage also. The useful life of a reservoir
should be about 100years.
The rate of sedimentation is higher in the initial stages and it decreases with years. This is due to fall
in the trap efficiency of the reservoir, consolidation and shrinkage of deposits and formation of delta

Trap efficiency (µt)-it is defined as the percent of the total inflow sediment which is retained in the
capacity
reservoir. Thus µt = f ( )
inflow ratio

5. DESIGN OF DAM

5.1 General
Dam is an impervious or fairly impervious structure constructed across a river or stream to divert
water, to retain sediments, for flood protection and to store water for purposes such as irrigation water
supply hydropower and domestic water supply. This water is then utilized as when needed. Due to
the construction of the dam, water level in the river at its upstream side is very much increased, and a
large area may be submerged depending up on the water spread of the reservoir formed.

And a dam is broadly classified as per its use and hydraulic design as follows n,
 5.2 Classification of Dam
5.2.1 Classification According to Use
Based on use dams are classified as follows

(i) Storage dam

(ii) Diversion dam

(iii) Detention dam

Storage Dam

Storage dams are constructed to store water during the periods when the flow in the river /stream is in
excess of the demand, for utilization later on during the period when the demand exceeds the flow in
the river/stream. Such a dam may be constructed for various purposes such as irrigation, water power
generation or for water supply and other purposes. A storage dam may be constructed of wide variety
of materials, such as stone, concrete and rock fill etc.

Diversion Dam

These smell dam are used to raise the river water level in order to feed an off-taking canal and/or
some other conveyance system. They are useful as irrigation development works. A diversion dam is
usually called a weir or a barrage.

Detention Dam

Constructed to temporally detain all or part of flood water of river and gradually release the stored
water at controlled rates so that the entire region on the d/s side of the dam may be safe guarded
against the possible damage due to floods. Detention dams are also constructed to trap
sediment .these are also called debris dam.
5.2.2 Classification Based on Hydraulic Design
Overflow Dams
This type of dams will not be eroded by discharges over d/s surface .E.g. concrete, masonry etc…
They are designed to pass the surplus water over their crest. They must be made of materials
Non-Overflow Dams

They are those which are not designed to be overtopped. This type of design extends the choice of
materials to include earth fill and rock fill dams. Many times the types are combined together to form
a composite structure

5.3Dam Site Selection and Identification of Dam Type

5.3.1 Dam Site Selection
Generally, two or three probable sites are selected and rough cost estimates are made. The site which entails
the minimum overall cost can be tentatively selected. However, There are other many factors to be
considered, which govern the selection of both dam site and the dam type. are as listed below:

5.3.2 Topography
 If rocks are good and valleys is narrow, arch dam is ideal
 In alluvial of deltaic region where valley is wide, earth dam is the solution
 If bed rock is good, but abutments are weak, gravity dams may be provided.
5.3.3 Geology and Foundation Condition
The safety of a dam can only be assessed when the characteristics of its foundation have been
accurately determined and its design and construction have been based on full compatibility with the
foundation. With this objective, identification of these geological features which govern the
soundness of the foundation is indispensable for the safe and economical construction of a dam.

5.3.4 Availability Of Materials

If the dam were constructed by the material that is available near the site, the project would be
economical. Therefore, it is best to select the site around which there is a plenty of construction
material.

5.3.5 Dam Type Selection

Dam type could be selected depending on:
  Availability of construction material

 Foundation type

 Economic consideration

 Topographic of the selected site and others.

1. After many roughly undertaken feasibility considerations we have selected a wide valley of
alluvial deposit overlying up on an interbeded fractured hard strata of basaltic stone namely
(lenticular basalt and basalt agglomerates).
2. As mentioned In chapter one the vicinity is reach with a diversity of fill materials which use
for filling a dam body.
3. Also as mentioned in chapter on the dam site can be accessed after 40 km dry weather road
from the main road to Gonder. so that it is too difficult to transport construction materials
like cement and specified quality sand frequently so we proposed to construct the dam by
nearby existing construction materials.
4. Since the dam is going to be constructed for an irrigation water supply purpose the
equipments or machineries installed inside, outside and nearby will not cause large amount
of vibration which might lead the dam to fail.
5. Since the site is located out of the great rift valley of the country there will not exist
appreciated failures due to seismic or irruption effects so there is no need to construct a huge
concrete structure to with stand this phenomena.

After considering the above five site conditions we finally decided to design the dam as a zoned
embankment dam.

Embankment Dam

The embankment dam can be defined as a dam constructed from natural materials excavated or
obtained nearby. This dam resists the forces exerted up on it mainly by its shear strength.

There are two forms of embankment dams; they are:

1. earth(earth fill) dams

 2. rock fill dams

5.3.6 Basic Design Consideration

An earth dam must be safe and stable during all phases of construction and operation of the reservoir.
For this reason the following must be met.

1. The embankment must be safe against overtopping during occurrence of the inflow design
flood and wave action, by provision of sufficient free board.

2. The slope of the embankment must be stable during all stages of construction and under all
conditions of operation including rapid draw dawn in case of storage dam.

3. The embankment must be designed in such a way that it will not impose excessive stress up on
the foundation (beyond the foundations bearing capacity).

4. Seepage flow through the embankment, foundation and abutments must be controlled so that
no internal erosion takes place for sloughing not to takes place.

5. The u/s slope must be protected against erosion by wave action. and d/s slope must be
protected against erosion due to wind and run-off. And both the u/s and d/s slopes should be
stable against any action.

6. The seepage line should be away from the d/s face and there should no opportunity for the free
passage of water from the u/s to the d/s face.

5.3.7 Embankment Design

The design of an earth dam essentially consists of determining cross section of the dam, which should
be constructed with the available materials to fulfill its required functions with adequate safety. Thus
there are two aspects in design of an earth dam.

i) to determine the cross sections of the dam and,

ii) To analysis the stability of the proposed cross -section.

 5.3.7.1 Details of Earth Dam Design

Crest Width
The crest width of an earth fill dam depends on several considerations such as:

 Sufficiency to keep the top flow line well within the dam body when the reservoir is full.

 Sufficiency to provide the embankment mass for resistance to earth quake shock.

 Satisfactory for secondary requirement such as minimum road way width.

Crest width can be calculated using the following formula:

b=h/5 +3 ………………………for very low dams.

b=0.55h ½ +0.2h………….……for dams < 30m

b=1.65(h+1.5)1/2 …………..…..for dams > 30m.

Where h = height of the dam without freeboard

In our case the height of the dam is 65m without considering the freeboard

h=65m

Calculation of crest width.

b=1.65(h+1.5)1/2 …………for dams > 30m

b=1.65(65+1.5)1/2

b=8.15≈8.2m

Free Board

The necessary free board is calculated by assuming that the maximum flood will occur when the
reservoir is full and that the highest possible waves will develop at the same time.

Free board = 1.5hw +additional safety provision

The additional safety provision generally varies from 0.6 to 3m depending up on the size of the
reservoir, the height of the dam, the reliability of the flood computation etc. the free board should not
be less than 2m in any case.

According to the fetch of the reservoir, the free board may be provided as given in table below
(From Varshney 1993).

Table 5. 1 Recommended value off free boards.

Fetch in km Normal free board Minimum free board

(meter) (meter)

Less than 1.5 1.25 1.00

1.5 1.50 1.25

4.0 1.80 1.50

8.0 2.50 1.80

15.0 3.00 2.20

Since there is lack of topographic map of the catchment it is too difficult for the group to identify the
fetch length of the reservoir so it is mandatory to design the freeboard to its maximum limit.
Depending up on the Ribb feasibility study document the fetch lengths calculated are 6.17 km and
6.27 km for normal water level and maximum water level respectively.

From the above table the freeboard values to be provided for 8km fetch are NFB 2.50m and MFB
1.8m.

Considering normal condition the freeboard becomes 2.50m. However, in case of dams more than
30m height an extra 1% allowance is provided to account for the settlement due to earthquake.

FB=NFB+0.01NFB

FB=2.50+0.01*2.50=2.525m2.53m
H=h+FB

H=65m+2.53m=67.53m67.6m

H=67.6m

Upstream and Downstream Slope

The design slopes of an embankment may vary widely depending on the character of the material
available for construction, foundation conditions and the height of the structure. Flat up stream slopes
are sometimes used in order to eliminate expensive slope protection. the recommended values of
embankment slope are given by Terzaghi as shown below.

Table 5. 2 Terzaghis’ side slope for earth dams (Garg,1978)

Type of material u/s slope (H:V) d/s slope

(H:V)

Homogenous well graded 2.5:1 2:1

Homogenous coarse silt 3:1 2.5:1

Homogenous silt clay

i) height less than 15m 2.5:1 2:1

ii) height more than 15m 3:1 2.5:1

Sand or sand and gravel with a central clay core

3:1 2.5:1

Sand or sand and gravel with RC diaphragm

2.5:1 2:1

Depending on the above recommendation u/s slope of 3:1 and d/s slope 2.5(H):1(v) have been
proposed for embankment slopes of the Ribb dam.
 Figure 5. 1 initial dimensions of embankment of dam

5.4 Embankment Zonation

Seepage control measures are required to protect the dam from any undesirable or dangerous effect of
seepage occurring through the dam itself or through the foundation and abutments. These measures
definitely will be able to reduce or minimize the risk of failure of the dam. The drainage system
should be devised in such a way that It will tackle the problems created by the seepage and/or
migration of finer particles through the body of the dam or foundation. A zoned earth dam is
composed of more than one type of soil. A zoned earth dam usually consists of a central impervious
core flanked by shells of pervious materials on the upstream and downstream sides. A transition filter
is usually required between the core and the shell to prevent piping.

5.4.1 Impervious Zone

The core is a membrane built in an embankment dam to form the impermeable barrier. It is
constructed of clay, silt, silt clay or clayey silt. The material of the zones is selected depending up on
their availabilities. For Ribb dam the clay, which is the most common earth fill material available has
a sufficient permeability of (1*10-6) cm/sec to suffice for an embankment core. If an inclined core is
used a greater length of the potential failure surface would be through the earth fill, thus necessitating
a flatter up stream slope and hence greater quantities of shells of pervious materials. Therefore,
vertical impervious core is recommended. The minimum safe thickness of the central impervious core
depends on the following factors.

a. Tolerable seepage loss

b. Maximum width that will permit proper construction
c. Type of the materials available for the core and the shell.
d. Design of the proposed filter layers

The shear strength of core materials is always lesser than the rest of the embankment. However, a
thick core has more resistance to piping which may develop in differential settlement crack. The
width of the core at the crest of the dam should be a minimum of 3m to permit economical placement
of impervious embankment material. In addition to this, the top width of the core is determined in
such a way that it is sufficient to keep the seepage line with in the dam body. Therefore, based on
these recommendations, it is proposed that the top width of core to be 3.50 m.

Top level of the core should be at least 1m above the maximum water level to prevent seepage by
capillary siphoning. It is better for the top level of the core to extend up to the crest level of the dam
but from economic side of view it is not economical to construct 2.60 m clay core above the
maximum water level of the reservoir so we proposed to construct 1.50m clay core above the
maximum water level to prevent seepage by capillary siphoning.

The thickness of the core will depend primarily on the material available. A general core thickness is
one half of the height of the dam. (D.r Arora 1996). From this point of view bottom core thickness of
the core will become H/2 = 67.6/2 = 33.8 m .

And side slopes of the core material should not be greater than (x-0.5):1on the upstream and (y-0.5):1
on the downstream where x:1 is the u/s slope of the shell and y:1 is the d/s slope of the shell. The
maximum side slopes of the core are usually 1.5:1 and 1:1 for u/s and d/s slopes respectively (D.r
Arora 2002 page 378) from these

Top width of core=3.5 m

Bottom width of the core= 3.5+1*height of core+1.5*height of core

Bottom width of core=3.5+66.5+99.75=169.75 m

And we adopt the value of bottom width(169.75 m)

5.4.2 Outer Zone

The outer zone gives stability to the central impervious fill and also distributes the load over a large
area of foundation. Freely draining materials such as coarse sands , gravels and any form of coarse
earth material are used for outer shell. As a source of suitable ignimbrite is conveniently located close
to the proposed dam site, it can be used for outer zone.

5.4.3 Transitional Filter

Transitional zone is provided on upstream and downstream side abutting both the faces of impervious
core to collect seepage water coming out of the core and thereby keeping the downstream shell
relatively dry and also to fill up any cracks in the core. The minimum thickness of filter is determined
from the considerations of:

1) The filter thickness required for drainage

2) Allowance for inter mixing the adjoining zones depending on compaction
equipment.
3) Minimum width required for compaction
4) To counter act earth quake effects
In the above considerations, the earth quake effect is the most governing factor due to the site of
specific conditions and hence the minimum thickness of the inclined salt is provided as 3.0m.

The filter material should satisfy the following conditions:

a) It should be much more pervious than the protected base material to act as an effective
drain.
b) The gradation should be such that the particles of the material do not migrate through or
clog the filter voids.
It should be sufficiently thick to provide good distribution of all particle sizes through the filter.

5.4.4 Berms
For the safety of the Ribb main dam against any surface and inter embankment problems related to
flow, the downstream slope of the earth dam is provided with suitable berms to minimize surface
erosion due to runoff .

A berm is a horizontal projection like shelf, provided on the slope for stability. For earth dam of
height greater than 10 m, the berm of 2 to 6 meter width are provide .in general , one berm is provide
for 10 m to 15 m height of the dam.(D.r Arora 2002 page 442)

Based up on the above mentioned recommendation we provided 5 numbers of berms on equal

interval of 11.25 m vertically, and each having a width of 4 m, at the downstream to protect the slope
from erosion, to stabilize the downstream slope and to make construction possible and easy. And also
provided with drainage canal at the toe of each berm for safe drainage of runoff water from the dam
surface.

Moreover 6m wide berm is provided at mid height elevation 1905.500 m.a.s.l on the upstream slop for
a reason of stability of the upstream slope.

5.5 Seepage Analysis

Seepage analysis is required to determine the quantity of water passing through the body of the earth
dam and the foundation. For any dam of homogeneous material, seepage will pass through the dam
and appear at the downstream face regardless of the tightness of the material. The line of saturation,
i.e. the upper boundary of the flow line below which the flow is under hydrostatic pressure is called
the phreatic line. If this line of saturation is allowed to intersect the downstream above the toe, a
serious sloughing will always occur unless prevented by construction of toe drains or filters or rock
fill toe. In zoning dam which have central core the phereatic line is needed. Therefore, the phereatic
line is drawn only for central core section.

From the basic property of parabola;

√ x 2+ y 2 = X+ Yo
Squaring both sides and rearranging = √ 2 xyo + yo2 where yo = is the distance from the focus to the
directrix.
The value of yo can be obtained from the known coordinates(x=b, y=h) and by substituting the values,
then Yo = √ b2 + y 2 -b

Figure 5. 2Pheratic line

By using the above equations the phereatic line can be fitted as follows for the core
Y 0 =√ b2 + y 2 –b for h=y

Y 0= √101.5002 +652 – 101.500=19.029 m

Y=√ Y 02 +2 X Y 0 = 2XY0+Y02 α ∆a/(a+∆a)

Y2=38.05X+362.1 30 0.36

By using the above equation we can compute determine 60 0.32 the

numerical values which are helpful to determine the 90 0.26 pheratic
line profile as follows. 120 0.18
135 0.14
Y2=38.05X+362.1 150 0.10
Table 5. 3The coordinates of the pheratic line 180 0

Table 5. 4Correction factor of the pheratic line

X (m) Y (m) Calculating the exit correction at the d/s of the core

0 19.029 for α=450 and interpolating between 300 and 600

10 27.251 for founding the value of ∆a/(a+∆a) for α=450

20 33.516 ∆a/(a+∆a)=0.34

30 38.776 ………………………………………….1
And from polar equation of parabola
40 43.406
a+∆a=Y0/ 1- cos α
50 47.587
………………………………………..2
60 51.431
a+∆a=64.969
70 55.005
80 58.362
90 61.535
101.500 64.99965
-9.525 0
by solving 1 and 2
a=42.880 m and ∆a=22.089 m

5.5.1 Seepage Through The Dam

To find the quantity of seepage per unit width through the dam we can use the following
mathematical computation

qd= ks * Y0
Where ks is hydraulic conductivity of the core material (1*10-6) in cm/sec or (1*10-8) in m/sec
And Yo =19.029 m

qd=1*10-8 * 19.029
qd=1.903 * 10-7 m3/s/m
To calculate the total discharge throughout the dam body it is necessary to know the crest length of
the dam but since there is lack of topographic data it is difficult for us to calculate the crest length. So
we have just calculated the discharge per unit width(q) in m3/year /m.
q=1.903 * 10-7 m3/s/m* 24 * 3600 * 365 sec/year
qd = 5.98 m3/year/m

5.5.2 Seepage Through The Foundation

In order to determine the quantity of flow through the foundation we use the following mathematical
computation.

qf = kf *(h/b) * d * 1

where:-

kf=. Hydraulic conductivity of the alluvial bed (1*10-5 m/sec Ribb feasibility study vol 2)

h=65.000 m

b(width of the core)=169.75 m

d=depth of impervious foundation from base of the dam (10.000 m)

qf = 1* 10-5 * (65 m / 169.75m) * 10 m

qf =3.829 * 10-5 m3/sec/m or

qf =3.829 * 10-5 m3/sec/m* 24 * 3600 * 365 sec/year

qf =12.06*10 2 m3/year/m

Therefore the total quantity of flow through both the foundation and the embankment

qt = qf +qd

qt=12.06*102 +5.98

qt= 12.11* 102m3/year/m

5.6 Seepage Control Mechanisms

5.6.1 For Seepage Through The Dam
One of the basic requirements for design of an embankment dams is to ensure safety against internal
erosion, piping and development of excessive pore pressures in the dam. For Ribb Dam, a vertical
chimney drain composed of fine and coarse filters between the core and the shell have been proposed.
To safely discharge the seepage water from the vertical chimney and to protect erosion of fines from
the downstream shell, a horizontal drain composed of a coarse filter sandwiched by the shell and the
alluvial bed is also provided. The horizontal filter will be limited only to the shell zone.

5.6.2 For Seepage through the Foundation

If there exists seepage under the dam body, it is necessary to undertake a seepage control mechanism
but prior to that it is mandatory to make the hard strata beneath the alluvial deposit, very quite
impermeable if it was somewhat permeable before.

As mentioned in chapter one the hard strata on the Ribb dam construction site is a fractured basaltic
rock which is highly permeable .so it is mandatory to grout that strata.
Grouting is injection of a substance which will act as a binder & fill the voids. Cement or cement -
clay grouts are usually used to treat foundations over lain by coarse alluvial material.
After grouting there are a lot of mechanisms to prevent seepage of water through the alluvial deposit
from these the best two are mentioned below.

Upstream Blankets

The path of percolation in pervious foundations can be increased by the construction of a blanket of
impervious material connecting with the impervious zone of the dam and extending upstream from
the toe. Blankets are usually used when cutoffs to bed rock or to an impervious layer are not
practicable b/c of excessive depth.
They are also used in conjunction with partial cut off trenches. The length of the blanket will be
governed by the desired reduction in the amount of under seepage and its thickness usually varies
from 1.5 to 3.0 m.
The upstream blanket to be constructed is proposed to minimize the seepage through the alluvial
deposit by 50 % and having a thickness of 2 m. and its length can be computed as follows.

L=(kfhd – pqb)/pq
Where:-
kf = mean horizontal permeability coefficient
h = the gross height
p = percentage of flow which is desired to be reduce by means of a blanket
b =length of impervious dam material

q = seepage flow under the dam (qf)

d = depth of pervious foundation
kf =1 * 10-5 m/sec
h =65 m
p =1- 50/100 = 0.5
b = 169.75 m

qf =3.829 * 10-5 m3/s/m

d = 10 m

L= (1*10-5 *65 *10 – 0.5 * 3.829 *10 -5*169.75)/0.5 * 3.829 *10-5

L= 169.765 m

Cut Off-Trench

Cut off-trench (key-trench) is the most positive means of controlling the amount of seepage and
insuring that no difficulty will be encountered by piping through the foundation or by uplift pressure
at the downstream toe. And also it is used as a lock and key mechanism to protect the dam from any
unwanted movements caused by land slide and seismic action. seepage through a pervious foundation
should be cut off by a trench. The centre line of cut off-trench is kept parallel to centre line of the
dam.

For alignment at the cut off trench, we follow the Indian standard recommendations (punmia, 2003).
That is,

 A minimum of 4m is recommended for the bottom width

 Side slope of 1:1(H: V) is provided for pervious foundation

 It is better for the positive cut off to be taken at least one meter into continuous
impervious sub- stratum in order to minimize the seepage with high quantity.

 The back fills material for cut off trench shall have the same properties as those
prescribed for the impervious core.

In our case the main purpose of the key-trench is not to reduce the seepage loss through the
foundation because 50% of the seepage have been reduced by providing 169.765 m impervious u/s
blanket, so the major role of the trench is in order to protect the dam from sliding by any hydrostatic
or land movement phenomena.
So we provide a partial cut-off with

d (depth of cut off trench)=5 m

u/s and d/s slope= (1V : 1H)

by providing this cut off-trench we provide not only the key and lock mechanism for the safety of the
dam ,but also there is some quantity of seepage per unit width of the dam reduced after the provision
of the cut off and it can be given as;

k f ∗h
q=

b
0.88+ +
( )
kf
ks
−1 ∗e

d d

Where,

kf = coefficient of permeability at the foundation

ks = coefficient of permeability through the embankment

b = width of the dam section

d = depth of cut off trench

h = driving head

e/d = ratio of partial to positive cut off

1∗10−5 m/s∗65 m
q=
.
0.88+
(
1∗10−5 m/ s
−8
169.75m 1∗10 m/ s
+
−1 ∗0 m
)
5m 5m
q= 1.87*10-5m3/sec/m

seepage without blanket for meter length of foundation is

qf =3.829 * 10-5 m3/s/m

seepage through the foundation after providing blanket to check 50% of the total seepage
qf=1.9145 m3/s/m
−5 −5
1.9145∗10 −1.87
Cut off trench reduces seepage by= −5
∗100=1.2 %
3.829∗10

1.2% so the total seepage flow checked by providing both u/s blanket and cut off is = 51.2%

Therefore, the seepage flow through the foundation after provision of blanket and cut off is:

q= (100-51.2) %*3.829*10-5 m3/sec/m =1.87*10-5m3/sec/m

The total volume of seepage through the foundation per year per meter is :

qf= 1.87*10-5m3/sec/m *24*3600*365 = 589.7 m3/year/m

Therefore, by providing cut off and u/s impervious horizontal embankment in combination, the total
discharge of seepage through the embankment and foundation per year per mater is:

qt=qf+qd = 589.7 m3/year/m +5.98 m3/year/m =595.68 m3/year/m

5.7 Slope Stability Analysis

Failure of an embankment dam can result from instability of either the upstream or downstream
slopes. Stability of an embankment is determined by its resistance to shearing stresses that may result
from external loads (such as reservoir pressure and earthquake) and internal or body force. The
critical stages in upstream slopes are at the end of construction and during rapid draw down. The
critical stages for the downstream are at the end construction and during steady seepage should be
analyzed for these critical stages.
Various methods of slope stability analysis are available but the Swedish slip circle or slices method
is the most common. In this method the factor of safety against sliding is defined as the ratio of
resisting moments (or the ratio of resisting forces to actuating moments (or the ratio of resisting
forces to actuating forces).

Hence the factor of safety against sliding is:

(N – ū) tan+C L
Fs =
T

Where ū = pore water pressure at the base of each slice

C and  = are cohesion and internal angle of friction of the embankment material.

L = base length of each slice along the failure surface/arc

N = normal force

T = tangentiel force

W = weight of slice

Fs = factor of safety against sliding which should be minimum of 1.5 for safe design

5.7.1 Stability Of Ddownstream Slope during Ssteady seepage

The most critical condition, for which the stability of the downstream slope must be examined, occurs
when the reservoir is full and the seepage is taking place at full rate. The seeping water below the
phreatic line exerts a pore pressure on the soil mass which lies below the phreatic line. Hence, if the
slice of the critical arc happens to include this submerged soil, the shear strength developed on those
slices shall be correspondingly reduced. The factor of safety (sf) is given by:

Fs = (n-ū) tan + cl

t

where, n = w cos 
 ū = w *hw *l

t = w sin

Table 5. 5Available data obtained from laboratory tests (from Ribb feasibility report)
clay gravel Alluvial
Dry density(kg/m )3
1530 2350 1980
Cohesion(C) 12 0 0
Angle of internal friction( Φ) 26 44 36

Submerged density ( sub) submerged unit weight and dry unit weight are calculated as follows

(G−1) ❑dry−❑water
❑¿= =
w (1+e) w (1+ e)

Submerged unit weight= sub * g

Dry unit weight = dry * g

 water =1000 kg/m3

g = 9.81 m/s2

Table 5. 6 unit weight and density of embankment materials

clay gravel Alluvial
Submerged density kg/m3 321.2 1071.4 685.3
Submerged unit weight KN/m3 3.14 10.49 6.72
dry unit weight KN/m3 15 23.05 19.42

Table 5. 7 D/S slope stability analysis

slice Submerged(depth and thickness) Dry (depth and thickness)
 Clay grvel alluvial clay gravel alluvial
hs ts hs ts hs ts hs ts hs ts hs ts
1 - - - - - - 1 8 10 19 - -
2 4 19 9 19 - - - - 16 19 - -
3 1 8 14 19 - - - - 20 19 - -
4 - - 11 19 - - - - 30 19 - -
5 - - - 19 - - - - 37 19 3 17
6 - - - 19 - - - - 31 19 8 19
7 - - - 19 - - - - 23 19 10 19
8 - - - 19 - - - - 18 19 10 19
9 - - - 19 - - - - 11 19 7 19
10 - - - 19 - - - - 4 19 4 19

weight θ N=wcosθ T=wsinθ hw ∆L=bsecθ ῡ=γ w∗¿¿h (N-ῡ) Φ (N-ῡ)tanΦ c c∆L

w ∆L
2194.5 55 1258.7 1797.6 - 33.1 - 1258.7 44 1215.5 12 397.2
8914.03 44 6412.2 6192.2 10 26.4 264 6148.2 44 5937.2 12 316.8
11574.46 35 9481.2 6638.8 1 23.2 317.2 9164 44 8849.5 12 278.4
15330.9 27 13659.9 6960 12 21.3 555.6 13404.5 44 12944.4 - -
17194.5 19 16257.7 5597.9 - 20 - 16257.7 44 15699.8 - -
16528.2 12 16167.02 3436.4 - 19.42 - 16167.2 44 15612.4 - -
13762.65 5 13710.2 1199.5 - 19 - 13710.2 44 13239.7 - -
11572.9 2 11565.8 403.8 - 19 - 11565.8 44 11168.96 - -
7400.3 9 7309.2 1157.6 - 19.23 - 7309.2 44 7309.2 - -
3227.7 16 3102.66 8896 - 19.76 - 3102.6 44 2996.4 - -

b =1.9 m R=

Σ (N-ῡ)tanΦ =94972.8

ΣT=34273.7
Σc∆L=992.4

94972.8+ 992.4
The factor of safety is then: Fs= =2.8>1.5 … . safe!
34273.7

5.7.2 Stability Of Upstream Slope During Sudden Draw Down

When the reservoir is full the critical region is near the downstream. If no drainage arrangement is
made and the downstream is also steep, the phreatic line may intersect the downstream slope creating
serious conditions there. For the upstream slope the critical condition can occur when the reservoir is
suddenly emptied. In such a case, the water level within the soil will remain as it was the soil pores
were full of water. The weight of this water with in the soil now tends to slide the upstream slope
along a circular failure plane.

The factor of safety (FS) is finally obtained from the equation

FS =
∑ Ntan ø + ∑ C ∆ L
∑T
Where N = Wcosθ ∆L = bsecθ

T= Wsinθ W = sat*b*h

sat = sub + w

- For clay sat= 12.95 kN/m3

- Fore gravel sat= 20.3 kN/m3
- for alluvial sat= 16.53 KN/m3

Table 5. 8 u/s slope stability analysis

Slice Wet depth Dry depth
Clay gravel alluvial clay gravel Alluvial
h T h t h t h t h t h T
1 - - 3 21 4 21 - - - - - -
2 - - 10 21 8 21 - - - - - -
3 - - 17 21 10 21 - - - - - -
4 - - 24 21 10 21 - - - - - -
5 - - 31 21 5 21 - - - - - -
6 4 7 35 21 3 17 - - - - - -
7 9 21 27 21 - - - - - - - -
8 12 21 20 21 - - - - - - - -
9 10 21 12 21 - - - - - - - -
10 3 13 7 21 - - - - - - - -

Note that there is a small portion in the slice No 10 which is not submerged by the water when the
reservoir is at full condition but it becomes saturated due to capillary rise

weight Θ N=wcosθ T=wsinθ Φ ∆L=bsec NtanΦ c c∆L

θ
2667.4 17 2550.8 779.8 44 21.9 2463.2 - -
7040 8 6971.5 979.7 44 21.2 6732.2 - -
10718.4 2 10711.8 374 44 21 10344.3 - -
13702.5 5 13650.3 1194.25 44 21 13181.9 - -
14950.9 11 14676.2 2852.7 44 21.4 14172.6 - -
16126.13 18 15336.8 4983.2 44 22 14810.5 12 264
11820 24 10798.1 4807.6 44 22.9 10427.6 12 274.8
11789 32 9997.9 6247.4 44 24.7 9654.8 12 296.4
7835.1 41 5913.2 5140.3 44 27.8 5710.3 12 333.6
2934.9 50 1886.5 2248.2 44 32.6 1821.7 12 391.2

Σ NtanΦ =89319.1
ΣT=29607.15

Σc∆L=1560

89319.1+ 1560
Factor of safety = = 3.06 > 1.5…… safe!
29607.15

Therefore, the upstream slope is safe during sudden draw down.

5.7.3 Stability of the Dam Section for shear

For the zoned earth fill dam designed above it is a must to check its stability for shear in addition to
its slope stability analysis and the procedure and the mathematical evaluation is given below

Figure 5. 3 Dimensions of the core and formation level

5.7.4 Wclay=saturated unit weight of the clay
Wall=saturated unit weight of the alluvial

Call=cohesion of alluvial

Cclay=cohesion of clay

Φclay=internal angle of friction of clay

Φall=internal angle of friction of alluvial

 w clay (h1−h2 )+ w all h2
w m=
h1

12.95(76.5−10)+16.53(10)
w m=
76.5

w m=13.4 KN /m2

From the equation of equivalent angle of internal (D.r Arora ,2002 ,page 420)

wm h1 tan ∅ all + c all

tan ∅1 =
wmh1

13.4∗76.5∗tan 36+ 0
tan ∅1 =
13.4∗76.5

0
∅ 1=36

The horizontal shear force is

( )
2 2
h 1−h2 2 0 ∅1
s=wm tan ( 45 − )
2 2

( )
2 2
76.5 −10 36
s=13.4 tan 2 (450 − )
2 2

s=10005.6 KN

Average shear stress

s
τ a=
bu

bu=99.75m*1m 100m for the length of the core above the shoulder

10005.6 2
τ a= =100.05 KN /m
100

The maximum shear stress

 τ max=1.4 ¿ τ a

2
τ max=1.4∗100.05=140 KN /m

The shear strength below the toe is

s1=c all +W all h2 tan ∅ all

s1=0+(16.53−9.81)10 tan 36

2
s1=88.82 KN /m

Wall=wall-wwater

The shear strength below the shoulder

s2=c all +W m h1 tan ∅all

s2=0+ ( 13.4−9.81 ) 76.5 tan36

2
s2=239.5 KN / m

Wm=wm-wwater

Average shear strength

s1 + s2 88.82+239.5
sa = = =164.16
2 2

Factor of safety against average shear

sa 164.6
F s= = =1.645>1.5 … … … … safe!
τ a 100.05

The shear strength at the point of maximum shear

'
smax =c all + wm h tan ∅ all
 ' w 'clay ( h−h2 ) +w 'all h2
w =
m
h

' (12.95−9.81) ( 66.5−10 ) +(16.53−9.81)10

w m= =3.372
66.5

smax =0+3.372∗66.5 tan 36=169.94

Factor of safety against maximum shear

' smax 169.94

F s= = =1.214>1 … … … .. safe !
τ max 140

5.7.5 Stability analysis considering Earthquake forces

In the seismic regions, the stability calculation of the slope an earth dam should include earth quake
forces because they reduce the margin of safety and even failure of the slope may occur in some
cases. Whether the analysis is carried out by circular ark or by the sliding wedge method, total weight
of the sliding mass considered for determination of the horizontal earth quake force shall be based on
the saturated unit weights of the material below the phreatic line and most weight above it.

The stability of the slope of the dam is checked after taking the horizontal inertial force acting on
each slice in the horizontal direction due to horizontal acceleration while analysis the dam by the
Swedish circle method.

But in Ribb dam case the as shown below in the figure the dam site is located far from the location of
the various seismic zones of the country so the dam is designed without taking in account the seismic
consideration in order to be economical and save extra money to construct the dam with seismic
design.
 ‘
Figure 5. 4 Seismic hazard map of Ethiopia and its Northern & Eastern neighboring countries.
The black star indicates location of Ribb dam site.

Stability of slopes during construction

When an earth is constructed of a soil of low permeability, excessive pore pressure develop in the air
as well as water void due to compaction carried out during construction and also because of the
weight of the soil. The pore pressure depend up on the placement water content, method of
compaction , weight of the overlying layered of the soil, the rate of dissipation of the pore pressure
during construction and the rate of the construction. The slope may fail during or just after
construction if the pore pressure is quite high. Therefore, stability of slopes should be checked taking
into account the pore pressure developed.
 5.8 Slope Protection Measures
Upstream slope

The upstream slope protection is ensured by providing a riprap either dumped rock riprap or hand
placed riprap. Alternatively precast concrete blocks may also be adopted to protect upstream slope. It
has, however, been experienced that since hand placed riprap and concrete blocks are of single course
construction they are liable to be damaged easily if the block or stone size are not sufficiently thick to
withstand wave action.

The choice of the type of riprap mainly depends on the availability of suitable materials within
reasonable distance. The thickness of the riprap depends on the expected height of waves.

Table 5. 9 thickness of riprap

Expected wave Hand placed riprap Dumped riprap
thickness(cm)
height (m)

Mean average rock Thickness (m)

size(cm)

<1 30 30 45

1 to 2 45 40 60

>2 60 70 100
In this design ,since there is no topographic data it has been difficult to find out the expected wave
height of the reservoir ,so we were forced to design for the maximum expected wave height hw>2m

So for dumped riprap of wave height >2m it is recommended to provide 100 cm thick rip rap on the
upstream of the embankment from the bed of the dam extending up to the crest. The dumped riprap is

Downstream slope

Rock toe

The downstream protection is provided by means of a dawn stream rock toe which consist stones of
size usually varying from 15 to 20 cm and it is provided in between the downstream shell and the top
of the horizontal projection of the chimney drain .the height of the rock toe is generally kept b/n from
10 to 20 % of the reservoir head. so we adopt a rock toe of 10 % of the reservoir ,so we the height of
the rock toe is maintained at 6.5 m above the downstream bed level of the dam.

Downstream rip rap

A downstream rip rap is also provided at the downstream surface of the dam in order to protect the
downstream surface from any erosive action of water by the wave action of tail water.

Recommendations

Access road

A road over the crest of the dam is recommended to be constructed with the participation of the
Transportation authorities, who are interested in the implementation of the road as a vehicle
transportation medium for development of the rural area.

The dam crest will be used for transportation during the construction period, and, once connected to
the network roads system, it will be used for regular regional transportation.
The Saddle Dams

In order to block and close this low point, it is must to propose a saddle dam composed of outer
shells, impermeable core and filters. The outer shells will be built of shell material. The wet face of
the dam should be protected by a thick rock riprap cover as used in the main dam.
Figure 5. 5 Detail dam cross section
 6. SPILLWAY DESIGN
6.1 Introduction
The excess flood water has to be removed from the reservoir before it overtops the dam.
Passages constructed either within a dam or in the periphery of the reservoir to safely pass this
excess of the river during flood flows are called Spillways. A spillway is a structure constructed
at or near the dam site to dispose off surplus water from the reservoir to the downstream. A
spillway acts as a safety valve for the dam, because as soon as the water level in the reservoir
rises above a predetermined level, excess water is discharged safely to the downstream channel
and dam is not damaged.

A spillway of inadequate capacity may lead to the overtopping of the dam, which may cause
serious damages and even the failure of the dam. On the other hand, a spillway of much larger
capacity than that required would be an uneconomical design. The spillway must be
hydraulically and structurally safe. The spillway surface should be erosion resistant to withstand
the high velocities created by the fall of water from the reservoir surface to the tail water.
Moreover, the spillway should be located so that the spillway discharge will not undermine the
downstream toe of the dam.

Energy dissipating device is provided at the toe for the dissipation of excess energy. A spillway
may be located either within the body of the dam or at one end of the dam or entirely away from
the dam as an independent structure. For Rib dam project the spillway is provided as an
independent structure because the dam is an earth dam. For earth dams, a liberal spillway
capacity should be provided because they fail as soon as they are overtopped.

Objective
The objective of spillway design is to provide a safe and adequate structure for the least
combined cost of spillway and dam.

6.2 Essential requirement of spillway

The essential requirements of a spillway are:
 Spillway must be hydraulically and structurally safe
  Spillway must have adequate discharge capacity to pass the maximum flood
estimated by flood routing.
 Its surface must be erosion resistant.
 It must be so located that the spillway discharge dose not erode or undermine
the toe of the dam.
 It should be provided with some excess energy dissipation devices.
 The spillway discharge should not exceed the safe discharge capacity of the
d/s channel to avoid its flooding.
6.3 Location and Types of Spillways
The spillway may be located either within the body of the dam or at one end of the dam or
entirely away from the dam as an independent structure. We adopt the location of the proposed
on the feasibility report because no topographic map is available for the area. It is assumed that
this spillway location provides the best alignment of the discharges back in to the river,
minimizing erosion of the banks. This location of the spillway is also selected so that spillway
discharge will not undermine downstream toe of the dam.
A spillway may be classified as:
1. according to there function (or based on the time when the spillway comes in to
operation) as
1) service (or main)spillway
2) Auxiliary spillway
3) Emergency spillway
2. According to mode of control
a) Free (uncontrolled) spillway
b) Gated ( controlled) spillway
3. Spillways are ordinarily classified according to their most prominent feature, either as it
pertains to the control, to the discharge channel, or to some other component.

The common types of spillway in use are the following:

 Free Over fall (Straight Drop) Spillway
  Overflow (Ogee) Spillway
 Chute (Open Channel/Trough) Spillway
 Side Channel Spillway
 Shaft (Drop Inlet/Morning Glory) spillway
 Tunnel (Conduit) spillway
 Siphon spillway.
6.4 Spillway Structures
Spillways provide controlled releases of flood / surplus water in excess of the reservoir capacity
and convey it to the river channel downstream below the dam in such a manner that the dam and
foundation are protected from erosion and scour. Basic considerations affecting the design of
spillways include design flood, crest control (gates), control system, structural stability, and
adequate dissipation of energy. Determination of the maximum flood to be used as a basis for
spillway design results from hydrological studies and available flood peak data.

A spillway crest may be uncontrolled, thereby permitting water to spill from the reservoir
whenever the water surface is higher than the crest level, or it may be controlled by gates
installed on the crest. The length of the spillway crest affects the elevation of the crest and also
the required control. The spillway length is decided based on other parameters such as cost, type
of gate etc.
6.5 Selection of Spillway type
The selection of a particular type of spillway basically depends up on the topography of the
surrounding, the reservoir, and the type of dam, foundation condition of the dam site and
economic reasons. For an embankment dam it is difficult to provide spillway within the dam body.
These types of dam usually require separate spillway constructed away from the dam body. That
is why the spillway we provide is separated from our dam. Ogee spillways are adaptable almost to
any condition of foundation. So on the bases of the above facts; the best type of spillway which
can satisfy the existing topographic conditions is ogee spillway.

For example, straight drop spillway used to that of a separate structure for earth dam having soil
type must be rock and sand type. Generally gravity, arch or buttress dams are suited for over
flow or siphon spillways; side channel, chute or shaft spillway are more likely to be used with
earth or rock fill dam.
6.6 Spillways Capacity
The capacity of a spillway must be sufficient to accommodate the maximum discharge without
allowing the reservoir surface to rise above a predetermined (maximum reservoir elevation). The
required capacity of a spillway, i.e. the maximum out flow rate through the spillway may be
determined by using suitable flood frequency analysis method.
The required capacity of a spillway depend on the following
i. The inflow flood
ii. The discharge capacity of other outlet
iii. The available storage capacity
iv. Whether the spillway is gated or un gated
v. The possible damages if a spillway of adequate capacity is not provided.

The capacity of a spillway is seen to depend upon the following major factors:
 The inflow flood
 The volume of storage provided by the reservoir
 Crest height of the spillway
 Gated or ungated.
Generally the spillway capacity of Ribb dam project from Log-Pearson distribution,
corresponding to a particular inflow hydrograph, maximum out flow rate (spillway capacity) is
determined to be 154.56m3/s and the maximum rise in water level is 1940m.
6.7 Components of Spillway
The following are the main component of a spillway
 Control structure
 Discharge channel (waterway or conveyance structure)
 Terminal structure or energy dissipation
 Entrance or approach channel and outlet channel.
6.8 Overflow (ogee-shaped) Spillway
The overflow type spillway has a crest shaped in the form of an ogee or S-shape. The upper
curve of the ogee is made to conform closely to the profile of the lower nappe of a ventilated
sheet of water falling from a sharp crested weir. Flow over the crest of an overflow spillway is
made to adhere to the face of the profile by preventing access of air to the underside of the sheet
of flowing water.
Naturally, the shape of the overflow spillway is designed according to the shape of the lower
nappe of a free flowing weir conveying the discharge flood. Hence, any discharge higher than
the design flood passing through the overflow spillway would try to shoot forward and get
detached from the spillway surface, which reduces the efficiency of the spillway due to the
presence of negative pressure between the sheet of water and spillway surface. For discharges at
designed head, the spillway attains near-maximum efficiency. Generally ogee-spillway is the
most commonly used type of spillway and in this project it is selected as separated structure or
independent structure.
6.8.1 Hydraulic design of ogee-spillway
Uncontrolled ogee-spillway is recommended for releasing surplus water above the normal flow
level in Ribb dam project. Uncontrolled ogee (Overflow) spillway to convey maximum outflow
discharge of 154.56m3/s over a crest length of 30m (assumed in the absence of topographic map)
is designed as follows:

The following data are used in the design of the spillway:

The spillway capacity = 154.56m3/s
Normal pool level = 1938m (height of water level at normal condition at the dam)
Crest length =30m (length of spillway crest between right and left abutment)
The ground level of the spillway site = 1932m
Number of piers = 3
Thickness of each pier = 1.0m
Total clear water way = 30-(3*1) = 27m
Assume Cd = 2.2 neglecting contractions (first trial, maximum discharge coefficient)
Q= Cd* Le*HD3/2
Where Q = discharge, m3/s
C = coefficient of discharge
Le = effective length of crest of spillway, m
HD = total head over the crest including that due to velocity of approach.
HD = Hd + Ha
For high ogee spillway Ha is very small, and HD ≈ Hd
HD = Ha+Hd, where:
Ha - head due to velocity approach, m
Hd - design head excluding head due to velocity of approach.
Using the design peak flood and the spillway length excluding the pier thickness the design head
is estimated as follows:

Q= Cd* Le*HD3/2
154.56m3/s = 2.2*27* HD3/2
HD = 1.89m

Coefficient of discharge Cd of over flow spillway

An over flow spillway has a relatively high coefficient of discharge the maximum value of
which may be about 2.2 if no negative or suction pressure is allowed to develop.
Its value depends on the following factors:
 Depth of approach
 Heads differing from design head
 Up stream face slope
 Down stream apron interference
 Down stream submergence
Correction of discharge coefficient
1. Correction due to height of spillway
P/HD ≥ 1.33
6/1.89 = 3.175 > 1.33 OK!!
Therefore the spillway height has no effect on Cd
 2. Effect of actual head (head different from design head). The design head is taken as the
actual head, and there is no effect of the head differing from the design head on the Cd.
For design He = Hd, He/Hd=1
Cd/cd = 1, Cd=Cd
3. Effect of u/s slope
Since the up stream is vertical, it has no effect on Cd.
4. Effect of downstream apron interface and submergence: The coefficient of discharge is
hd +d
reduced due to submergence. When the value of H D exceeds 1.7, the downstream
apron is found to have negligible effect on the coefficient of discharge.
(6+1.89)/1.89 = 4.175 > 1.7
This has also no effect on the Cd value.
There is no effect of the various factors on the coefficient of discharge and Cd can be taken as
Cd = 2.2.
5. Effective Length of Crest Of Overflow Spillway: The effective length of an overflow
spillway is given by
Le = L - 2 (NKp + Ka) HD
Where Le = effective length of crest
L = net length of crest which is equal to the sum of the clear spans of the gate bays
between piers
HD = total head on crest including velocity head
N = number of Piers
KP = Pier contraction coefficient
Ka = abutment contraction coefficient
The pier contraction coefficient, Kp depends on
1) Shape and location of pier nose;
2) Thickness of pier;
3) Velocity of approach; and
4) Ratio of actual head to design head.
For flow at design head the average values of Kp may be assumed as follows:
Pier coefficients, Kp:
  Square nosed piers with corners rounded on a radius equal to about 0.1 of pier
thickness → Kp =0.02
 Round-nosed piers → Kp = 0.01
 Pointed nose piers → Kp = 0.00
The abutment contraction coefficient Ka depends on:
Shape of abutment;
Angle between upstream approach wall and axis of flow;
Approach velocity; and
Ratio of actual head to design head
For flow at design head, average value of Ka may be assumed as follows:
Abutment coefficients, Ka:
o Square abutment with head wall at 900 to the direction of flow → Ka= 0.20
o Rounded abutment with head wall at 900 to the direction of flow, when
0.5 Hd ≥ r ≥ 0.15 Hd → Ka = 0.10
o Rounded abutments where r > 0.5 Hd and headwall is placed not more than 450 to
the direction of flow → Ka = 0.00.
Where r = radius of abutment rounding
Hd = design head.
We assume, kp =0.02 and ka=0.2 (square pier)
The effective length and the design head is determined by the following iterative procedure.
Le= 27-2(3*0.02+0.2)*1.89
Le =26.0172m
Q=Cd*Le* HD3/2,
154.56 m3/s =2.2*26.0172m * HD3/2
HD=1.939m
Le=27-2(3*0.02+0.2)* 1.939m
Le =25.9917m
Q=Cd*Le* HD3/2,
154.56 m3/s =2.2*25.9917m* HD3/2
HD=1.9404m
Le=27-2(3*0.02+0.2)* 1.9404m
Le =25.99097m
Q=Cd*Le* HD3/2
154.56 m3/s =2.2*25.99097* HD3/2
HD=1.9404m
Le=27-2(3*0.02+0.2)*1.9404
Le=25.99097m
Therefore, the values of HD and Le are 1.94m and 25.991m respectively.

6.8.2 Design of Crest of Ogee Profile

 Design of the down stream of the ogee crest

The down stream profile of the spillway can be represented by the following general equation.
n
X = KH n−1 Y
D

Where X and Y are the coordinate of the point on the spillway surface, with the origin at the
highest point O of the crest, Hd is the design head excluding the head due to the velocity of
approach and k and n are constants, which depend up on the inclination of the up stream face of
the spillway. For u/s vertical ogee weir the value of k and n are 2.0 and 1.85 respectively and we
adopt the same value.

By taking the d/s slope glacis 0.8H: 1V (the slope of the d/s face of the over flow spillway
usually varies in the range 0.7:1 to 0.8:1) the point of tangency (P.T) is determined as follows.
By substituting the values of K, Hd and n, the equation of d/s profile of spillway becomes;
1 . 85
X
Y=
3 .513
dy 1
=
Slope = tan θ = d x 0.8

Differentiating the equation of d/s profile with respect to x

dy 1 1. 85∗X 0 . 85
= =
dx 0 .8 3 .513
 X=2.765m
Y=1.868m

The remaining coordinates of d/s profile b/n x=0 and x= 2.765 are worked out, and is given
below.

Table 6. 1 coordinates of different points for d/s face

x 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.77
value

y 0 0.01 0.1 0.11 0.19 0.29 0.4 0.53 0.68 0.845 1 1.226 1.44 1.67 1.87
value

Now using the value of HD the down stream profile of the ogee spillway can be determined. First
let us calculate the velocity of approach:
Q 154 .56
Va = A = ((27+3∗1)∗(6+1. 94 )) = 0.649m/s
V
a2

Ha = 2 g , where
Ha – velocity head
Va – velocity of approach
g – Acceleration due to gravity
0 . 649 m/s
2
Ha = 2∗9 . 81m/ s
Ha= 0.033078m
Therefore, the design head Hd = HD - Ha = 1.94m - 0.033078m
Hd = 1.9069m
The downstream profile:
 n
X = KH n−1 Y
D

Where
X, Y – co-ordinates of the points on the crest profile with the origin at the highest point of the
crest called Apex.
Hd – design head
K, n – constants depending on the slope of upstream face
Therefore, in our case the upstream face is vertical, the values of k and n are 2 and 1.85
respectively, and then the equation becomes
1 .85
X =2 H 0. 85 Y
d

X1.85 = 2(1.9069) 0.85Y

X1.85 = 3.462Y
1 . 85
X
Y=
3 .513 (Equation of the downstream ogee profile considering the velocity head)

 Design of the upstream of the ogee crest

According to US Army Corps of Engineers, the upstream curve of the ogee spillway (upstream of
origin, though in the form of compound circular curve) having a vertical upstream face, should
have the following equation:
1. 85
0 .724 ( x+ 0 .27 H d ) 0 . 625
y=
H
+0 . 126 H d −0 . 4315 H
d 0 .375
( x +0 . 27 H d )
d 0. 85

y=0 . 418 ( x +0 .5149 )1 . 85+0. 240−0. 5497 ( x+0 .5149 )0 . 625

Where the upstream profile extends up to x = −027Hd = -0.27*1.9069 = -0.5149m

The corresponding y value is equal to 0.126 Hd.
y = 0.126*1.9069 = 0.2403m
Therefore, the maximum values of x and y are as follows
Xmax = -0.5149m
Ymax = 0.2403m
To draw the upstream profile various points are calculated and tabulated in the table below.

Table 6. 2 Upstream profile

X,m Y,m

-0.05 0.00075
8

-0.1 0.0049

-0.15 0.012

-0.2 0.02231

-0.25 0.03616

-0.3 0.05404

-0.35 0.0767

-0.4 0.10546

-0.45 0.14316

- 0.24
0.5149

6.9 Energy Dissipation

It is obvious that, the water flowing over the spillway acquires a lot of kinetic energy by the time
it reaches near the toe of the spillway due to the conversion of potential energy into kinetic
energy. If arrangements are not made to dissipate this huge kinetic energy of the water, and if the
velocity of the water is not reduced, large-scale scour can take place on the downstream side near
the toe of the dam and away from it. These arrangements are known as energy dissipation
arrangements or energy dissipaters.
This dissipation of the excessive kinetic energy possessed by the water is under taken by
converting the super critical flow to sub critical flow by hydraulic jump.
Hydraulic jump can form in a horizontal rectangular channel when the following relation
is satisfied between the pre-jump depth (y1) and post – jump depth (y2).

Where y1 = pre-jump
y 2=
y1
2
−1+ 1+
[ √
8 q2
gy 3
1
]
(initial) depth
y2 = post- jump (sequent) depth
q = the discharge intensity.

6.9.1 Energy dissipation on spillway surface

v
12
∂
6.9.2 The energy loss on the spillway surface may be expressed as e= ξ 2∗g …….. ( i )
v = The super critical velocity at the end of the spillway.

∂= Carioles coefficient (energy coefficient)

ξ =head loss coefficient
The total energy, E, can be expressed as
ξ∂v ∂vv
2
12 12
E= +
2g 2 g 2∗g ………………………………… (ii)

actuale velocity
ϕ=
And taking theoretical velocity
Hence,
1
=1+ξ
ϕ ………………………………………………………… (iii)

For the ratio of the energy loss, e, to the total energy E (i.e. relative energy loss) is
 ξv
12
2g

e
E
v2
{
= ∂ +ξ∂
2g
1
2g
2 v
} ξ
= 1+ξ
=1−ϕ 2

P
ϕ=1−0 .0155
He
2 2 2
v 1 ∂v 1 ∂v 1
∂ +ξ = y 1+ ( 1+ξ )
E=d1+ 2 g 2g 2g
Where d1 is the depth of water before jump
1
ξ=
But 1+ ϕ
2
∂v 1 q
2
but q=v 1 y 1 ⇒ y 1
E=y1+ 2 gϕ v1
2
∂q
y1+ . .. . .. .. .. . .. .. . .. .. . let ∂=1
2 gϕ 2 y
E= 12

2
q
E= y 1 +
2 gϕ 2 y
12

And q=Q/B

y2=
y1
2 [ √
−1+ 1+
8 q2
gy 3
1
]
Stilling basin depth, y’
'
Y’= σ y2
The length of hydraulic jump;
L=k (y2-y1)
Where σ ’ and k are coefficient derived from laboratory and experiments. According to Novak
' '
and caulk coefficients σ and k can be taken as 1.1< σ < 1.25 and 4.5<k<5.5
Where, the lower value of k applies for Fr>10 and the higher for Fr ¿ 3
 q2
2 gϕ 2 y
 E=P+He = 12

p 6
ϕ= 1−0. 0155 =1−0. 0155∗
But He 1. 94
ϕ=0.952
2
q
⇒ 6+1 .94 = y 1 + 2
2 g∗0 . 9522∗ y 1
, q=Q/B=154.56/27=5.724m3/s/m
5 . 7242
⇒7 . 94= y 1 + 2
1
17 . 782 y
By trial and error y1=0.4976m < yc so safe
y1
y2 = 2 {−1+√ 1+8 Fr } 12

2
q 5 .724 2
gy 3
=27 . 11
= 9. 81∗0 . 4976
3
But Fr12= 1

0 . 4976
⇒ y 2= {−1+|1+8∗27 .11 }
2
⇒ y 2 =3 . 42 m
q 5 . 724
v 2= = =1 .672 m/s
y2 3 . 42
v
1 .6722
22
h v 2= = =0. 1425 m
2g 2∗9 . 81
E2=y2+hv2 = 3.42+0.1425= 3.5625m
Now, compute y3 (from uniform flow equation Manning) and camper it with y 2. Then, if y2<y3
no stilling basin is required if y2  y3 stilling basin is required and therefore compute y’ with
1.1<σ’< 1.2(take 1.2 as safety coefficient).
 A2= B*y2=27*3.42
A2=92.34m2
P2=B+2*y2 =27+2*3.42
= 33.84m
 R2=A2/p2 =92.34/33.84 =2.73m
Assume manning’s constant n=0.019

[ ][ ]
2 2
Qn 154 . 56∗0 . 019
S= 2
= 2
3 3
AR 92. 34∗2. 73
S= 0.0003
Now using this slope, determine y3 by considering as a wide channel.

( ) ( )
3 3
q∗n 5 . 724∗0 .019
y 3= 5= 5
1
2
√0 . 0003
S
Y 3=3 .12 m

Now,
y 2 > y 3 so stilling basin is required
Assume σ =1.2(safety coefficient)
Y’=σ’y2-y3 =1.2*3.42-3.12= 0.984m
Y’=0.984m
To check as σ’>1.1, take new reference datum at basin bed level and calculate new E and repeat
the above procedure
With new datum, E= 7.94+y’= 7.94+0.984
E=8.924m
q2 p+ y '
E= y 1 + but ϕ=1−0. 0155 = 0 . 944
2 gϕ 2 y He
12
1 . 873
8. 924= y 1 +
y2
1
by trial and , y 1=0 . 471 m
2
q
Fr 2 = =31 . 96 ⇒ Fr 1 =5 . 65
1 gy 3
1
0 . 471
y 2= {−1+ √1+8∗31 . 96 } =2 . 36 m
2
y 2 =3 .54 m
now , check wheather σ ' is with in the lim it or not ( i . e 1. 1<σ '<1. 2 )
y '+ y 3
1. 1<σ '= <1. 2
y2
⇒1 .1<1 . 16<1. 2→ok
Stilling Basins
A stilling basin is a base like structure in which all or part of energy is dissipated. In a stilling
basin the kinetic energy cause turbulence and it is ultimately lost as heat energy. The stilling
basin commonly used for spillways is of the hydraulic jump type, in which dissipation of energy
is accomplished by a hydraulic jump.
Length of stilling basin
The length of stilling basin can be calculated as follows

L=k (y2-y1), since Fr =5.65>3 and less than 10 by interpolation between k of 4.5 and 5.5 for fraud
number 5.65, k=5.12
∴ L= k (y2-y1)
L= 5.12(3.54-0.471)
L=15.71m (say 16m)
We have a stilling basin, depth y’ =0.984m at the toe and length of 16m
A hydraulic jump can be stabilized in the stilling basin by using appurtenance (or accessories)
such as chute blocks and end sill.
USBR stilling basin is recommended for use of large strictures, such as dam, spillway, large
canals, etc.These type of stilling basin is most suitable at particular location mainly depends up
on the initial Fraud number (Fr1) and the velocity V1 of the incoming flow. We have selected
U.S.B.R. type II basin because the incoming velocity v2=1.672m/s is less than 15m/s.

Chute blocks; these are triangular blocks with their top surface a horizontal .these are installed
at the toe of the spillway just at the up stream end of the stilling basin .they act as a serrated
devise at the entrance to the stilling basin they furrow the incoming jet and left a portion of it
above the floor. These blocks stabilize the jump and thus improve its performance. This also
decreases the length of hydraulic jump.

End sill; it is constructed at the d/s end of stilling basin. Its function is to reduce the length of the
hydraulic jump and to control scour. For large basins designed for high in coming velocities, the
sill is usually dentate to per form an additional function of diffusing the residual portion of the
high velocity jet that may reach the end of the basin.
 7. OUTLET STRUCTURE

7.1General
An outlet works serves to regulate to release water impounded by a dam. It provides a controlled
release of water from the reservoir in such quantities and at time as may be required. Outlet may
be required for several purposes such as irrigation, water supply, power generation and for other
needs. This water may be discharged to the down stream channel below the dam and may be
transported at a distance where required through pipes or canals.

An outlet works may also act as a flood control regulator, for passing sediment current through the
reservoir, to release water temporarily stored in flood control storage space, to evacuate storage in
anticipation of flood in flows, to empty the reservoir to permit inspection, to make needed repair
and to maintain the upstream face of the dam or other structures normally inundated.

Outlet works are designed to release water at specific rate, as indicated down stream needs, for
flood control regulation, delivery for irrigation, domestic supply and fish preservation.
For this project, the outlet is designed so as to meet the irrigation demand and some additional
down stream needs. Besides the irrigation requirement, the other needs are calculated using
seepage loss at weir abutment and loss due to evaporation as 5% of the crop requirement and d/s
needs to be 20% of the total inflow.
Capacity (Q) = irrigation requirement (IR) +d/s need (DN) +loss (HL)
Q=IR +DN+HL
From table.2.11: IR = 31.62Mm3 = 11.81m3/s in march
DN = 39.88Mm3 = 14.89m3/s in august
HL = 5% (11.81) =0.591m3/s
Then the capacity, Q = 11.81 + 14.89 + 0.591 =27.29m3/s.
Therefore, the maximum capacity of the outlet is taken as 27.30m3/s.

7.2Location of dam outlets

An outlet is a closed conduit formed in the body of the dam. It may also be in the form of a pipe
or tunnel that passes through the hill side at one end of the dam. The function of an outlet is to
discharge the stored water into the channel d/s. For a concrete (or masonry) dam, the outlets pass
through the body of the dam and are called sluice ways.

For earthen dams, it is preferred to place the outlets outside the limits of the embankments. But if
no adjacent hill site is available & there is no alternative left but to pass the sluiceways through
the dam, projecting collars, must be provided so as to reduce seepage along the outside of the
conduit. The seepage is thus, reduced by increasing the length of the seepage path by at least 25
percent.

7.3 Components of an Outlet and Their Design

Outlet components are the following:
1. water way (sluice way)
2. control device , such as gate and valve
3. intake structure
 4. entrance channel
Usually for an embankment dam an outlet out side the limit of embankment is provided, however
for this project an outlet is recommended to pass through the dam section as collar, will be
provided to increase the seepage length.

7.3.1 Waterway
The waterway for outlet structure may either be in the form of a pipe or tunnel that passes directly
through the dam. The water way is also called sluice way. In the case of masonry or concrete dam
sluice way pass through the body of the dam. While in the case of earth dam, sluice way is
generally placed out side the limits of the embankment. However, in the case if it is essential to
place the sluiceway through the body of the earth dam, it should have projecting collars at regular
intervals. These collars increase the path of the water seeping along the boundary of the
sluiceway.
Waterway is usually a closed conduit. The over all size of the waterway is determined from the
hydraulic head and the required discharge capacity. The pipe conduit outlet through the dam
should be designed so as to be able to carry a discharge of:
Q=C d∗A∗√ 2 gH
Where,
Q=discharge through the conduit (m3/sec)
A=cross sectional area of the conduit (m2)
H=effective head causing the flow (m)
g= acceleration due to gravity (m/sec2)
Cd=coefficient of discharge depending on various factors like design and shape of the conduit,
type of the gate or valve and various losses.

It can be approximated to unity, if the hydraulic loses are ignored hence in this paper 0.95 is used
(slide gate is provided).
Capacity is as determined earlier, Q=27.30m3/sec
H1=level of center of the outlet exit =dead storage level(DL) +Reservoir allowance not to be
empty for living organism(Ra) +Diameter of the outlet divided by two (D/2)
Where, Ra=0.5m
H2=normal pool level =1938m. a.m.s.l
H=difference between u/s water level and center of the pipe.
H1= DL+Ra+D/2
Corresponding to dead storage = 27.57Mm3, the dead storage level = 1902m. From fig 4.1
H1=1902+0.5+D/2=1902.5+D/2
H= H2-H1=1938-(1902.5+D/2)=35.5-D/2
Then,
Q= Cd*A*√ 2 gH
Q=0.95*(3.14*D2/4)*√(2∗9.81∗(35.5−D /2))
27.30 = 0.746D2*√ (19.62∗(35 .5−D /2))
By squaring both side,
745.29 = 0.557D4*(696.51 – 9.81D)
745.29 = 387.96D4 – 5.46D5
5
745.29+ 5.46 D
D =
4
387.96
D4 = 0.0141D5 + 1.92
D= √ 0.0141 D5 +1.92
4

By iteration
D=1.20m
Then for D=1.20m, the velocity will be calculated as:
V=Q/A
V = (27.30m3/sec)/ (3.14*1.202/4))=24.140m/sec

For medium head conduit (10<H<100m) a watertight lining concrete is almost always used with
a permissible velocity of 2 to 4m/sec (for concrete) and 2.5 to 7m/sec (for steel) with a minimum
conduit diameter of 1.8m as the velocity of the sluice is greater than the permissible limit. We use
the critical speed of 4m/sec for concrete lining and seek for the permissible diameter of the
outlet.
A=Q/Vc=3.14D2/4
27.30/4=3.14D2/4
D=2.950m > 1.8m, Hence safe to use.
To maintain a discharge of 27.30m3/sec by an incoming speed of 24.14m/sec, the required area is
A= Q/V
A = 27.30/24.14m/sec=1.13m2

7.3.2 Control devices

Control devices are gates and valves provided at different positions to control the flow of water in
the tunnel. At this project a hydraulically operating sliding control gate is provided at the dam
axis. In addition, additionally a guard gate to permit inspection is provided at upstream of this
regulating valve.

7.3.3 Intake Structure

Intake Structure is required when the entrance to the conduit is not an integral part of the dam. Its
main purpose is to permit withdrawal of water over the predetermined range of reservoir level and
to protect entrance of the conduit from damage and clogging.
The main types of intake structures used for drawing of water from a reservoir are:
 Tower intake:- This type of intake structure is provided when it is not convenient to
provide the simple intake and used when high discharge and wide water level
fluctuation is present.
 Submerged intake:- This type of intake structure is provided directly on the upstream
face of the dam. A submerged (orifice) intake is recommended here as intake tower for
high discharge and high water level fluctuation in addition to economic factors. Hence,
no special intake structure is needed here, but at the entrance of the submerged intake a
trash rack should be provided

 Trash Rack Design:- They are meshes of steel bars placed in slanting position at angle of
50° to 80° with the horizontal and used to prevent entry of debris to the conduit and are
designed with the following design criteria:
Trash rack spacing:- The spacing of the bars depends up on the size of the conduit and the
maximum size of the debris, which can be permitted in the outlet. It usually varies from 5 to 15
cm. Hence, we assume spacing of the trash rack is 13cm for this project.

Thickness of bars:- The thickness of the bar in the trash prevention system is designed in such
away that the ratio of the spacing of the bar to thickness should be 10:1 (design manual)
Hence, Spacing / thickness =10Þthickness=spacing /10
Thickness=13mm

Velocity through the trash rack:- velocity of 0.62m/s is generally recommended to pass
through the trash rack (Arora ,1996)

Pressures on rocks: - apart from head weight of the assembly, the trash rack also encounters
the water pressure and dynamic pressure of the following material. Hence, the rocks are designed
for differential head of 1 to 2m for normal, 4 to 5m for exceptional circumstance.

 Collar Design :- usually for embankment dam an outlet out side the limit of
embankment is provided. However to this project outlet is recommended to pass through
the dam section as collars (usually 0.5m high) are to be provided so as to increase seepage
length to l = L+2XN
Where, L=total length of the conduit from upstream to the down stream of dam
=181.14m
N=No. of collars provided
X=projection of the collars=0.5m
To increase seepage length 2XN should be greater than or equal to 0.25L
2XN ³ 0.25L
2*0.5*N ³0.25L
N=45.285 @ 46 Collars and Collar Spacing=L/N=3.938 @ 4
Hence, provide 46 collars of 0.5m high with 4m spacing.
7.3.4 Design of Entrance
Entrance to the conduit can be either bell mouth or square edge. However, to prevent negative
pressure or separation of flow (increase of square edge) and cavitation problem a bell mouth
entrance is recommended.

The following formula developed by Doumais commonly used for circular conduit.
4x2+44.4y2=D2
But as the best section selected is elliptical this equation should be changed to the form
x2/a+y2/b=1Þ4x2/D2+44.4y2/D2=1
Where D=1.20m
X2/ 0.36+y2/ 0.032 = 1
From the equation for (x=0Þy=0.179 and for y=0Þx=0.6
Therefore, bell mouth is 0.60m long and 0.179m high.

Terminal Structure:- Are provided at the exit of the outlet so as used to dissipate the energy.
Here stilling basin dissipater is used. It is a structure in which all or part of the energy that comes
out of the outlet or spillway will be dissipated. At the down stream end, the conduit terminates in
stilling basin to dissipate the energy before the flows are returned to the river. The basin is wider
than the conduit to give more advantageous entrance flow condition for creating hydraulic jump.

Recommendation
For the ribb dam project, it is recommended to design a dry season outlet in order to releas water
for the dawn stream ecology, when the main irrigation outlet is not functional due to any
mechanical failure or when there is no irrigation water demand at the field.
 8. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

8.1 General
Environmental impact assessment describe a technique and process by which information about
the environmental effect of a project is collected both by the developer, and from other sources
and taken into account by the planning authority informing their judgments on whether the
development should commence.

The environment is composed of various systems comprising of physical, biological and socio-
economic sub-systems, which are subjected to challenge due to construction of development
works like water resource development projects. These changes may shape the environment of
the project. Environmental impact assessment is therefore a systematic structured identification,
predication, and evaluation of the environmental consequences of proposed actions.
The impact of the proposed action will be identified by using environment as control. A change in
the environment is the difference in the environment between the control, the existing
environments and the new environment (the altered condition) caused by project. How good or
adverse the condition is dependent on what happened to the environment after the change
happened to the environment.

8.2 Potential Description On Environmental Impact

In many countries, both intensification of agriculture and the industrialization process are having
increasingly adverse impact on the environment. Water logging, Salinization, and sedimentation
cause the irrigated cropping areas often created at the considerable expense to loss their fertility
after only a few years, which gives arise to a considerable drop in yield.

The factors described here are generally to be found where ever efforts are being made to raise
yields through targeted, conventional modernization of agriculture. However, such problems are
not simply consequence of large-scale agricultural projects, but also arise as a cumulative result of
numerous activities on the parts of small holders.

Generally, in order to prevent plant production from giving rise to unintentional developments,
ascertainment of the initial situations and appraisal of the potential consequences must be
followed by regular assessment of forecast and actual changes in environmental conditions. The
same applies to social conditions, as there is a close interrelationship between cultural and
economic factors on one hand and the natural environment on the other hand.

The impact of plant production generally consist of reduction in the diversity of species, adverse
effects on the nutrient balance as well as on the physical and chemical properties of the soil; and
contamination of the environment with pollutants.

Appropriate planning techniques and technical measures have been developed and must be taken
in to consideration. It is essential to refute the option that plant production activities (including
biological erosion protection measures) have little or no impact on the environment.
Resource-depleting Impacts are generally unwanted side effects, which are directly related to the
production goals. It is precisely when these side effects are ignored that the natural environment
will suffer damage and adverse long term consequences will arise in the economic and social
spheres. Careful planning and implementation will ensure that plant production has minimal
environmental impacts, has desirable social consequences, and is economically efficient.

8.2.1 Probable Negative Impact Of The Project

The reservoir will trap river-borne sediment and release almost sediment free water, which
potentially can cause degradation of the riverbed downstream.

 The irrigation area and the reservoir may create favorable microclimate suitable for
reproduction of mosquito, which brings malaria.

 The drainage water will discharges to Ribb River that contains salts and chemicals which
affects aquatic environment.

 The spillway discharge will cause local erosion in the gorge.

 Agricultural chemicals will be used for both pesticides and disease control and fertilizers.
This causes the environmental pollution.

 The chemicals and fertilizer introduction in the area associated with irrigation degrade the
quality of soil and water.

 Displacement of people both from irrigable and reservoir area will happen due to the
introduction of the project.

 Probable live stock vehicle accidents due to increased traffic during delivery of materials
and construction activities.

 Disturbance of the locality from the noise of machinery and blasting.

 Vegetation in the reservoir die and water quality will be affected by its decay.
8.2.2 Positive Impact of the Project

 Production of food crops for the local people

 Provides new employment opportunities for labor and from the local area and skilled
trade’s man locally as well as from other parts of the country.

 Creation of attractive environment for recreation

 Access road facilities communication and marketing in the area

 The reservoir can be used for the production of fishery which contributes a lot to the food
self sufficiency program of the country

 Provision of additional market for locally produced goods and products

 Introduction of new technology and scientific investigation to the area through the
improvement of the life of status of the people

 Creates access of water supply for the surrounding fauna

 Improve livestock sector through better supply of crop’s residues, strainers and
biomass products

 Due to the introduction of the project and other facilities fulfilled different institution will
be constructed. Like health center, clinic, hospital, educational center, etc. This will result
the investors attracted in that area.

Generally, the construction of the project will bring significant role for the country economical,
social, cultural, and political changes.

8.3 Mitigation Of Impacts

In any problem solving, the first step is identifying the problem. In our case before going to put
solutions, alternatives or remedy measures it is of prime importance to know how the project can
affect the environment or society as a whole. The ill effects of any river development project or
scheme on the environment manifest themselves in many ways. They are felt upstream in the
storage reservoir, downstream and often over the whole region.

Dealing with the ill effects is only to evaluate the degree to which they are harmful to find ways of
controlling them. We have to compare the economical issues if mitigated and if not mitigated.
Damages it would bring and the budget it needs to be mitigated are carefully compared before
recommending it to be mitigated as our aim is to maximize benefits and minimize losses.

The physical and biological effects of river development scheme arise from the obstacles the dam
causes to the natural flow, the climate change, caused by reservoir interacting with the overlying
atmosphere ,the effects of structures on the water in and near the reservoir /dam/ and slides and
ground tremor caused by the stored water body.

8.3.1 Effects Of Obstacles Caused by The Dam And Their Measures

1. Floating Debris

Dam is obstacle to the passage of trees, ice and other floating debris, fish and even shipping if
there is any. The effect is overcome or mitigated by providing timber chute, fish ladders or lifts
and shipping locks. Overflow spillway will also give passage of debris past the dam.

2. Solid load
Dam reduces or completely blocks the passage of the solid matter by the river creating varying
degree of disturbances in the natural condition. Blocking the bed load may disturb the balance of
delta areas if natural erosion processes are no longer offset by the arrival of new materials.

River training is necessary to keep the banks stable and strong. Reducing the suspended load may
deprive arable land of the silt brought down by river floods. Impact is brought to sharp focus in
the cost one may have to pay for extended irrigation. Here downstream erosion can be mitigated
by reconstructing the slope of channel and changing discharge from the dam.

Constructing a weir, spreading flood spillage over longer period of time, diverting part of the river
flood into an offshoot in times of flood can be done on the river or water body concerned.

3. Settling

Dam or reservoir is a veritable sedimentation tank. The sediments brought by the feeder streams
and the run in from the reservoir is the quiescent waters of the reservoir. This results in two
impacts of far reaching consequences.

The first is that the settled sediments reduce storage capacity of the dam and even can reduce
useful life span of the dam if very intense. The second impact is caused when the sediment laden
water from the dam is released into the downstream river and in the irrigation canals. The water
tends to re-acquire its sediment load and erodes the bank of the river or the canal carrying it. This
erosion pays havoc with the canal stability.

As upstream and downstream areas of the dam are affected by activities during construction it
facilitates large quantity deposition of silt and sand at head of the dam. It can be controlled by
covering upstream and the surrounding of the dam with vegetation and also taking necessary care
during the construction phase not to damage the environment highly.

4. Retention of small and moderate floods

Small floods have beneficial effects on the down stream area by providing ready access to
spawning grounds, renew the water in them, and prevent banks from becoming overgrown with
trees and stop mammals destroying the river sides. They also bring nutrients into ponds. Thus it is
good idea if water is released through the dam to stimulate such floods by a proper choice of time,
duration and volume reduced by appropriate hydraulic structure. Also ecological requirement of
the downstream area should be considered in the operation and construction of gates of such
importance.

5. Effects of flooding on fauna

A new reservoir directly affects the upstream fauna in a number of ways.

Some of these are as written below.

 many animals can die

 Some can migrate to new areas

 a few animals accommodate to the new environment

 birds move to new water habitat

Even canal for irrigation can cut off flow of species from one side of the canal to the other side.
This all should be controlled by considering each case before design.

6. Effect on climate

Due to large water body stored the climate of the area will change considerably. This leads to
explosion of diseases like malaria. To control it disturbing water surfaces daily and also using
prevention methods is important.

7. Deforestation and large land coverage

As dam is usually to have large quantity of water it needs clearance of forests and it covers large
area. Thus it is a remedy to investigate the area not to be of higher economical value like minerals
and archaeological values.

Afforesting other area of equal or double size is a good policy to compensate it.
 8. Population displacement

Reservoir construction displaces people from their living area because it needs a greater area to
give its maximum possible services. Even though it is compulsory to remove people it is taken as
a remedy to first convince them and also giving them other alternatives not to harm them by
simply displacing. Fair and politely provided compensation is also very important.