Seepage problems in the right abutment of The Shahid Abbaspour dam, southern Iran are investigated. The dam regulates the waters of the Karun River, serves power generation, flood control and irrigation needs. Seepage from the dam occurs mainly through the karstic limestone.
Seepage problems in the right abutment of The Shahid Abbaspour dam, southern Iran are investigated. The dam regulates the waters of the Karun River, serves power generation, flood control and irrigation needs. Seepage from the dam occurs mainly through the karstic limestone.
Seepage problems in the right abutment of The Shahid Abbaspour dam, southern Iran are investigated. The dam regulates the waters of the Karun River, serves power generation, flood control and irrigation needs. Seepage from the dam occurs mainly through the karstic limestone.
Seepage problems in the right abutment of the Shahid Abbaspour
dam, southern Iran M.H. Ghobadi a, * , G.R. Khanlari a , H. Djalaly b a Bu-Ali Sina University, Geology Department, Hamedan, Iran b Abniroo Consulting Engineering, Tehran, Iran Received 30 March 2005; received in revised form 13 September 2005; accepted 15 September 2005 Abstract In this study, seepage phenomena through the right abutment of Shahid Abbaspour dam are investigated. The Shahid Abbaspour dam is a 200 m high arch dam, which regulates the waters of the Karun River, serves power generation, and flood control and irrigation needs. The dam site lies in the Zagros Mountains of southern Iran. This region presents continuous series of mainly of karstic limestone, marl, shale and gypsum ranging in age from Jurassic to Pliocene. The region has subsequently been folded and faulted. Seepage from the Shahid Abbaspour reservoir occurs mainly through the karstic limestone. The basic foundation treatment of the dam consisted of consolidation grouting, a high-pressure grout curtain and a drainage curtain. Moreover, a 144 m high and 30 m wide concrete cutoff wall was built to prevent reservoir seepage through a clay-filled fracture zone in the right abutment. The grout curtain penetrates the bPrincipal Vuggy ZoneQ only beneath the central portion of the dam and below the cutoff wall. In the right abutment fan curtains were constructed to reduce drainage flows, but the seepage problem could not be solved. In order to determine the seepage direction and karstification pattern, hydrogeological studies have been carried out. Additional investigation boreholes have been drilled to monitor fluctuations in groundwater level. Besides these, water chemistry, dye tracer, pinhole and XRF tests have been carried out. As a result of these studies, seepage paths have been identified in the karstic limestone in the right abutment of the dam. D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Karst; Asmari limestone; Seepage; Dispersive materials; Joint; Solubility; Hydrogeological monitoring; Springs 1. Introduction The Shahid Abbaspour dam site is located on the Karun River in the Khuzestan province of southwestern Iran approximately 52 km northeast of the town of Masjid-I-Solaiman (Fig. 1). The 200 m high arch dam regulating the waters of the Karun River, also serves power generation, flood control and irrigation needs (Figs. 2 and 3). First impounding commenced in December 1976. The presence of large springs downstream of the right abutment of the Shahid Abbaspour dam has been a point of discussion ever since the site was selected. Recently, the operating staff mentioned that it was their impression that compared to earlier times; turbid- ity is increasing not only in the springs but also in some of the gallery drains. This gave rise to the following questions. 1) Are the springs really substantially independent of the reservoir as postulated by the dam design con- 0013-7952/$ - see front matter D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.enggeo.2005.09.002 * Corresponding author. E-mail address: amirghobadi@yahoo.com. (M.H. Ghobadi). Engineering Geology xx (2005) xxxxxx www.elsevier.com/locate/enggeo ENGEO-02450; No of Pages 8 + model ARTICLE IN PRESS sultants? If not, how much reservoir water reaches the springs, how can it be monitored, and what preventative measures are required? 2) Is there, in fact, increasing turbidity of the spring and drain discharges? If so, what is the reason for it, and what is the source of the suspended materials? 3) Is there some new leakage through the grout curtain or below the cutoff wall in the right abutment? Answers to these questions require the evaluation of the available measurement data since the commence- ment of geological engineering investigations and hydrogeological monitoring. Therefore, this paper sets out the nature and extent of the relevant data that could be made available and develops conclusions to provide answers to the above questions from their analysis. Recommendations are also made for the acquisition and management of future measurement data and for the implementation of physical improvements. The first detailed geological study of dam site was performed by Harza Engineering Company (1969). Hydrogeological field investigations and review of geo- hydrology were made by Saines (1974, 1975, 1976) and Harza Engineering Company (1977). After the dam was completed, seepage problems were investigated by Stucky-Electrowatt (1984), Mahab-Ghodes (1985), Water Resources Research Institute (1987) and Khuze- stan Water and Power Authority (1992, 2004). Similar studies have also been undertaken on the Salman Farsi dam in Iran (Fouladi and Golshan, 1999), the Kafrein dam in Jordan (Malkawi and Al-Sheriadeh, 2000), the Lar dam in Iran (Ghobadi, 1986; Djalaly, 1988; Uro- meihy, 2000), and the Kalecik dam in Turkey (Turkmen et al., 2001; Turkmen, 2003). 2. Geological setting The dam site is situated in the Zagros Mountain in southern Iran. This region presents continuous series of sedimentary strata ranging in age from Jurassic to Plio- cene. This sequence mainly consists of limestone, marl, shale and gypsum (Fig. 4). The oldest units at the site are the Eocene limestone, marl and shale, which are exposed upstream of the dam site. Overlying these rocks is the Fig. 1. Location of study area. Fig. 2. The 200 m high arch dam, regulating the waters of Karun River, serves power generation, flood control and irrigation needs. M.H. Ghobadi et al. / Engineering Geology xx (2005) xxxxxx 2 ARTICLE IN PRESS Asmari Formation; a series of limestone units with marl, dolomite and shale. The Asmari Formation is the major ridge-forming rock in the site area and forms the entire foundation of the dam. The dam is situated on the south flank of an anticline on the low karstified middle Asmari Formation. The lower Asmari limestone consists of a relatively permeable bPrincipal Vuggy ZoneQ (PVZ), which is overlain by an impervious shale (Fig. 5). The upper Asmari limestone, just downstream of the dam, is very karstified. The Asmari limestone is covered by the very karstified overlying Gachsaran Formation, with a number of sinkholes, caves and fissures. A well-developed, locally clay-filled fracture zone cuts through the right abutment, passing near the outlet of a high-discharge karst spring (Big or Green Spring). A few minor faults traverse the dam site. These faults are the result of shearing stresses developed in the bed- ding. Most of these faults are roughly parallel to the strike of major joint sets and they dip steeply. Vertical displacements along the faults are small, ranging from a fewcentimetres to about 3 m. Fault surfaces, explored by adits, were found to be slightly open at the surface but closed in many cases at depth. Several joint sets cut the Asmari limestone at the site. The rock mass is cut by two major sets of joints. One major joint set strikes 0408and dips 808NW. The other major joint set strikes 3408and dips 808 NE. Most of the joints exhibit some calcite filling, clay staining and weathering. Joint spacing ranges from 15 to 100 cm. Bedding planes, in conjunc- tion with these joints, control the natural solubility in the Asmari limestone. Shearing along bedding planes was evident from place to place in adits by clay gouge between separated bedding surfaces. Fissures and cavi- ties are often filled with erodible materials such as fine- grained silty sand or clayey silt. 3. General hydrogeological situation The most significant hydrogeological features at the site are Big Spring and Powerhouse Spring. Both of them represent the basal outlets of a widespread karst system in the Asmari limestone where it discharges to the Karun River (Fig. 6). Some 50 m upstream of its main outlet, the Big Spring flow passes through a large karst cavern. The average discharge of the Big Spring before reservoir filling was approximately 4 to 5 m 3 /s and the Powerhouse Spring discharge averaged about 0.25 m 3 /s. The natural catchment area of these springs is thought to extend up to some 50 km to the north of the dam location. After reservoir filling the estimated discharge of Big Spring increased to 10 to 16 m 3 /s. The Big Spring karst channel represents the base flow of the present stage of a local karst aquifer evolutionary pro- cess. A cave in the hillside above Big Spring indicates an earlier stage of the aquifer evolutionary process. A few deep piezometric boreholes monitor the fluctuation of the water table that is related to rainfall and subsur- face flow in the spring catchment area. The most problematic fracture at the dam site is the clay-filled fault zone, which cuts the right bank across Fig. 3. A seepage connection between the reservoir and the Big (Green) Spring system operates through joints in the right abutment. Note the dip of the beds in the right abutment providing bedding plane access for water to the spring systems. M.H. Ghobadi et al. / Engineering Geology xx (2005) xxxxxx 3 ARTICLE IN PRESS F i g . 4 . G e o l o g i c a l m a p o f t h e i n v e s t i g a t i o n a r e a . M.H. Ghobadi et al. / Engineering Geology xx (2005) xxxxxx 4