Concrete Riser Structure at Small Concrete Dam

[spieng89]

Reaching out to see if anyone here has experience in designing concrete riser structures utilized in dams. I am currently in the process of the conceptual design for a replacement concrete riser structure located at a small concrete dam. The lake will be drained prior to construction of the riser structure. Essentially it'll be a 35' tall concrete box (3 sided) braced ever 7' back to concrete dam with sluice gates located at each 7' section.

Beyond ACI 318 and possibly ACI 350 are there any other code references I need look in to?

Considering load from water pressure and buoyancy in the design currently.

I will have this vetted by another engineer experienced in this type of design, but wanted to get some input before submitting prelim design.

Pic of similar structure for reference, except rise structure in this design is braced back at dam wall.

 

[spieng89]

Hey just an update to this thread, found what I was looking for...Corps of Engineers put out a recent publication that is beyond helpful. Link below:

Link

 

[SlideRuleEra]

In the USA, dams are subject to regulation; the riser will be likely be considered part of the dam.

Check to see if there are state requirements.

...every state but Alabama has a dam safety regulatory program.

There may be FEMA requirements.

If hydroelectric power is produced there will be Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) requirements.

http://www.SlideRuleEra.net

http://www.VacuumTubeEra.net

 

[cvg]

this is basically an NRCS baffled riser principal spillway structure. suggest using the design procedure in the NRCS manual. NRCS typically uses ACI 350.

TR-30 Structural Design of Standard Covered Risers

 

[dhengr]

Raspivey:
I understand that the photo you showed is not of your project, it’s just an example. But, something it shows, that you might want to pay attention to is..., I would make the strongest/stiffest orientation of your concrete riser structure parallel to the face plane of the dam, so you are bracing the weaker direction to the dam.

 

[spieng89]

Thanks all for the input, greatly appreciate it and gives me a lot to work from. Noted on FEMA and the riser orientation.

 

[cvg]

i suspect that if you have sluice gates, you may also need a bridge / catwalk to access the structure during flood stage. See example