Assessment of displacements and deformation mechanisms in a rockfill dam: case study of Cerro da Mina reservoir
Assessment of displacements and deformation mechanisms in a rockfill dam: case study of Cerro da Mina reservoir
Reservatório Cerro da Mina is an industrial water reservoir, consisting of rockfill lined by an impervious HDPE membrane. Monitoring showed that the rockfill experienced a few moments of sudden deformation in the first years of operation. The assessment of the environmental conditions in the periods of interest revealed that these more abrupt displacements coincided with periods of intense rainfall, rise in the water level in the reservoir and low evaporation. Both vertical and horizontal deformations of the rockfill showed a tendency of sudden increase when a new maximum in the precipitation record occurred and the precipitation values exceeded the potential evaporation, indicating that the increase in humidity in the rockfill voids led to a significant decrease in the rock pore suction, causing wet-induced collapses in the rockfill. Additionally, except potentially for the first load due to filling, the influence of the oscillation of the water level in the reservoir was not considerable for the vertical displacements, but significant in the horizontal direction.
L. Bottaro; G. Tavares; M. Oliveira; A. Rodrigues
18th European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ECSMGE2024)
C - Risk analysis and safety evaluation
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