Performance Monitoring Of Dams through Piezometers - A Case Study

Rajkumar Prasad, Mahabir Dixit

Annulus, Pore Pressure, Pneumatic, Hydraulic, Electric etc.

This paper presents development of the pore-pressure measuring device as a tool in performance monitoring for study of behavior of dam. The installation of test apparatus involves numerous innovations that have been developed over the years, and the methods for such installation continue to be improved with each project. The emphasis in this presentation is on the development of the piezometer device. Dams impound large amount of water, and its failure may be catastrophic leading to large scale destruction of property and loss of human lives. In such case, instrumentation plays a vital role as any change in the structural behavior can be established well in time based on the data observed by the instruments and remedial measures can be taken up so as to avoid failure of the structure. Adequate instrumentation in earth fills and their foundations provide significant quantitative data indicating the magnitude and distribution of pore pressures and their variations with time and other patterns of seepage, zones of potential piping, proper functioning of the filter media and effectiveness of under seepage control measures.