Materials Used in Dams

Masonry

• This type of dam offers a high resistance to rotting, pests, weather and natural disasters such as hurricanes and tornados

• Masonry dam can be very heavy and as a result it is hard to transport the materials to the building site

• This material can be used to build tall dams, currently the tallest masonry dam is the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam in India which is 180 meters high

Concrete

• This is the material that is most used to build a dam

• It is commonly used in gravity dams where it is usually built-in large blocks divided by joints to make the construction more convenient and reduce the thermal stress

• This material tends to crack when placed in areas that go from high temperatures to low temperatures and as a result a leak could occur.

• One of tallest concrete dam is called Grande Dixence Dam and it is 285 meters high

Timber

• Dams that are built with timber are usually used for temporary purposes

• This type of material tends to change when the climate condition changes

  • The timber can shrink, swell, twists, crack or even bend over

• Timber also is prone to pests, rotting, mold and fungi attacks

• This dam is suitable for a wall that is 9 meters high

Earth

• These dams are made of ordinary soil which is generally cheap

• This type of dam is used when the foundational soil is weak and is not strong enough to carry a masonry dam

• The cost to build this dam is cheaper compared to other materials since it is using soil

• However, compared to other dams it cost more to maintain an earth dam

• This dam is usually damaged or destroyed by water flowing in, over or against the wall

  • But if adequate spillway is constructed it can be prevented

• This wall can be tall, in fact the tallest earth-filled dam is called Nurek Dam and it stand at 300 meters tall

References (← Hover over this hyperlink)

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