C I V I L

S T R U C T U R E S

Using Sloped Layers to Improve

RCC Dam Construction
By Brian A. Forbes

Using the sloped layer method to construct a roller-compacted concrete (RCC) dam
enables each layer of RCC to be placed within the initial set time of the previous
layer.This improves horizontal lift joint strength and impermeability, significantly
enhancing the safety of the dam.

he roller-compacted concrete (RCC) technique introduced to dam construction in the 1980s has
achieved significant time and cost savings compared to conventional methods of concrete placement and consolidation. International interest in
RCC dam design and construction
continues to increase, and new techniques for design and construction are
being developed, particularly to accommodate higher dams. RCC dams are
reaching 200 meters in height: the 192meter, 396-MW Miel 1 Dam in Colombia was completed in 2002; the
192-meter, 4,200-MW Longtan Dam in
China is under construction; and the
Brian Forbes, C.P. Eng., MIE Australia,
is manager of dams engineering for
GHD Pty Ltd., Consulting Engineers,
Brisbane, Australia. He is internationally recognized for his work in
RCC dam design and construction,
and has served on the review boards
for some of the worlds highest RCC
dams.

This article has been evaluated and edited in

accordance with reviews conducted by two or
more professionals who have relevant expertise.
These peer reviewers judge manuscripts for
technical accuracy, usefulness, and overall
importance within the hydroelectric industry.

227-meter, 6,400-MW Ta Sang Dam in

Myanmar is under design. In dams this
high, lift joint strength and impermeability are critical.
The sloped layer method of placing
RCC was recently developed at the
131-meter high, 300-MW Jiangya Dam
owned by the Lishui Hydro and Power
Corporation in Hunan Province, China.
The method since has been used at several other dams in China as well as at
the recently completed 60-meter-high
Tannur Dam in Jordan.The method also
was used on a trial basis in placing the
top 6 to 8 meters of the 43-meter-high
Lajeado Dam, which is part of the
902.5-MW Luis Eduardo Magalhaes
Hydro Project in Brazil. The method
achieves increased RCC placement rates
and largely overcomes concerns about
lift joint bonding.
Paying attention to lift joints

A significant difference between conventionally placed concrete dams and RCC

dams is the number of horizontal construction joints, otherwise referred to as
lift joints. In order to achieve required
densities by roller compaction, RCC lift
thickness typically is maintained at about
0.3 meter, while 1.5 meters is typical for
internally vibrated conventional concrete.Thus, an RCC dam may have five
times as many lift joints as it would have

From HRW, July 2003 - HCI Publications, www.hcipub.com

Reproduced with permission.

had if constructed in conventionally

placed concrete.
There is no doubt that the bonding
of lift joints is the key to achieving a
monolithic structure. Failure of a conventional concrete or RCC gravity
dam is far more likely to occur along its
contact with the foundation or along a
lift joint than through the concrete
itself. At lift joints, tensile and shear
strengths are always lower, and permeability is always higher, than within the
concrete.This is due to several factors:
the aging of the lift surface concrete; the
tendency for segregation of the concrete overlying the joint; and the potential for lower density toward the bottom
of the lift. Experience has shown that
seepage through RCC dams generally
occurs along lift joints, which is clear
evidence of non-monolithic construction and defective lift joint bonding.
RCC dams that are more than 100
meters high require significant vertical
tensile strength capacity and horizontal
shear resistance throughout, including at
the lift joints. Dams of this height typically require shear strengths of 1 to 1.5
megapascals and cohesion strengths of
0.5 to 1.0 megapascals.The difficulty in
consistently achieving these strengths is
emphasized when one considers that
RCC dams now being planned to exceed 200 meters in height will require
nearly 700 lift joints. Furthermore, for
example, placing Ta Sang Dams 8 million cubic meters of RCC will require
preparing and bonding 2,700 hectares
of lift surface, with nearly 350 kilometers of lift joint line exposed at the
upstream face! In any RCC dam, occasional sub-standard work on lift joints
will be inevitable due to high place-

ment rates, the need for night work, and

the urgency to prepare lift surfaces
ahead of the rapidly advancing next
RCC lift.The inspecting engineer will
simply not be able to ensure that every
lift joint is properly constructed, without inherent weaknesses.Therefore, the
goal must be to minimize the risk of a
defective lift joint.
To achieve homogeneous, monolithic
RCC across a lift joint requires the overlying lift to be placed within the initial
set time of the lower lift. Using retarders
in the concrete can easily extend set
times to 5 to 8 hours, compared to 1.5 to
2.5 hours without retarders. However, in
large dams, it usually takes 15 to 30 hours
to complete a horizontal lift from one
abutment across to the other. Completely homogenous, monolithic RCC
in large dams with horizontally-placed
lift joints cannot be achieved by the usual
precautionary measures such as minimizing the tracking of equipment over completed lift surfaces, repeated compressed
air clean-off, application of curing water,
and use of high contents of fly ash or
slow hydrating pozzolans in the RCC
mixture. As a result, zones of lower
strength in the lift joints of such dams
will be inevitable.
Developing the sloped layer
method

RCC placement at Jiangya Dam began

in 1996, with the RCC initially placed

in horizontal layers. The dam was
divided into monoliths or blocks about
60 meters wide and extending between
the formed upstream and downstream
faces. Each monolith was constructed in
3-meter lifts of RCC, with each lift
consisting of ten 0.3-meter-thick horizontal layers.The area of placement was
such that successive layers of RCC
could be placed within 5 to 6 hours,
which was within the initial set time of
the retarded RCC.When the lift in one
monolith was completed, the form at
the transverse joint was moved and the
lift in the adjacent monolith was constructed.The cold joint at the top of the
3-meter lift was green cut and thoroughly cleaned. Then a thin layer of
bedding mortar was applied when the
next lift was placed on it, as in any conventional concrete dam. This method
achieved excellent bond and homogeneity of the RCC across the lift joint;
however, construction was slow and
costly owing to the effort required to
erect the transverse form, the difficulty
of maintaining a ramp access through
the form for the RCC trucks, and the
cost of the set retarder.
In 1997, when Jiangya Dam had
reached mid-height, the chief engineers of Lishui Hydro and Power Corporation, Liaoning Construction Bureau (contractor), and Changjiang

Figure 1

This figure shows how a 3.0-meter lift in an RCC dam can be constructed in
0.3-meter-thick sloped layers, which can be placed within the initial set time
of the RCC in the previous layer.
2 HRW / July 2003

Water Resources Committee (construction supervisor) conceived the

sloped layer method on site, and
adopted the method principally to
accelerate the overall RCC placing
rate. The method succeeded, not only
ensuring that lifts were placed within
the initial set time of the RCC, but
also enabling the dam to be competed
on schedule. By placing the 0.3-meterthick layers of RCC on a slope, from
one abutment to the other between
the formed upstream and downstream
faces, the same 3-meter lift could be
built up across the entire dam as a continuous process, without the need for a
transverse form. When a new 3-meter
lift commenced, the slope of the 0.3meter layers could be changed to
maintain the desired volume of RCC
in each layer.
Applying the method,
realizing the advantages

For example, suppose one were using 3meter-high forms and producing RCC
with an initial set time of two hours at a
rate of 500 cubic meters per hour; then,
for the sloped layer to be placed within
the initial set time, the slope S (horizontal on vertical) of a 0.3-meter-thick
RCC layer would have to be:
S < 2x500
Wx3x0.3
i.e., approximately 1,000
W

where W is the width between upstream and downstream faces as shown

in Figure 1.
Hence, a slope of 1 vertical on 10
horizontal would be required at lower
elevations where the width of the dam
might be 100 meters; at upper elevations,
where the width might be 25 meters, a
slope as flat as 1 on 40 could be used.
Initial trials at Jiangya Dam confirmed
the feasibility of slopes as steep as 1 on 8
with the smooth double drum steel
vibratory rollers operating in an updown slope direction. Slopes are controlled during placement by paint lines
marked on the upstream and downstream forms and by survey methods.

At Chinas 131-meter-high Jiangya Dam, precast concrete blocks were used

to form the steps in the downstream face of the dam, with steel plates separating the blocks from the grout-enriched RCC facing concrete. This system began
with horizontal RCC placement at the lower part of the dam and continued
with the sloped layer method adopted during construction.

Using this method, the final clean up

and surface preparation of the lower lift
including application of bedding
mortar is restricted to a narrow strip
along the toe of the sloped layer. The
surface of the completed 3-meter lift
can be green-cut while the RCC is still
young.The upstream and downstream
face forms can be erected in anticipation of placement resuming at this position in about 10 days, assuming a
placement rate equivalent to one 0.3meter horizontal lift of RCC per day in
the traditional method.
If sloped layers are placed within the
initial set time of the RCC, no surface
preparation or bedding mortar is
required prior to placing the overlying
sloped layer. For 3-meter formed lifts,
this potentially reduces the required
surface preparation by 90 percent com-

pared to conventional placement. It also

reduces the number of lift joints (and
potential failure surfaces through the
RCC dam) by 90 percent.
In the sloped layer method, the thin
wedges or feathered edges at the toe
and top of each sloped layer require
special treatment. At the toe of each
sloping layer at Jiangya Dam, where
aggregate in the RCC could easily be
crushed under the steel roller, a 4- to 5meter-wide, 0.15- to 0.3-meter-thick
horizontal layer was first placed along
the top of the previous lift as a foot
after the contact area with the lower lift
had been thoroughly cleaned and covered with a thin layer of bedding mortar.The foot was placed and rolled in an
upstream-downstream direction. The
sloping layer then commenced from
about the center of the foot. (See Figure

Figure 2

Preventing a transverse feathered edge at the toe of a sloped layer in an RCC

dam requires a special approach. At Jiangya Dam, in China, a foot was first
placed from which to begin the slope, as shown.

2.) Later, any feathered edges were

trimmed back 0.1 to 0.2 meter to firm
RCC and covered with the bedding
mortar just prior to placing the foot for
the start of the next sloping layer. Any
feathered edges at the top of the sloping
layers were cut back to a thickness of 50
to 70 millimeters as part of the green
cutting and lift joint preparation process; this was easily achieved using highpressure air-water jetting to lift off any
poorly bonded material.
Besides ensuring improved lift joint
quality, the sloped layer method allows
the surface preparation, curing, and lifting of formwork to be performed
largely independent of the RCC placement. In addition, the amount of time
available for lift surface clean up and
preparation is increased tenfold when
using 3-meter lifts.
Because the sloped layers of RCC
can be placed before the lower lift
reaches final set condition, the formwork and its anchorage into the RCC
must be designed to resist a greater
load.
For inclined downstream faces, the
best arrangement appears to be to use
vertical steps.When formwork is used,
the step height is equal to the lift
height. For example, at Tannur Dam, a
lift height of 1.2 meters using four 0.3meter sloped layers per lift was adopted.
This matched the design height of the
steps on the downstream face, suiting
the formwork system that had been
originally supplied for horizontal layer
construction.
At Jiangya Dam, reusable, precast
concrete blocks formed the 1-meterhigh, stepped downstream face.This system was retained when the change was
made to sloping layers. Blocks were
simply added ahead of the advancing
layers as the horizontal RCC steps were
constructed and a base for the blocks
became available. Sheets of steel plate
against the blocks separated the blocks
from the RCC. The steel plates extended some 1.5 to 2 meters beyond
the leading block to provide interim
support for the zone of sloping RCC
just ahead of the horizontal surface of
HRW / July 2003 3

A sloped layer of RCC is being placed at the recently completed, 60-meter-high

Tannur Dam, owned by the Jordan Valley Authority, in Jordan. At this dam, a
lift height of 1.2 meters using 0.3-meter-thick sloped layers was adopted. The
lift height matched the design height of the steps on the downstream face,
suiting the formwork system that anticipated horizontal layer construction.

the step formed behind. Using this stepprecast block-steel plate system would
appear to be ideal where more than one
step is required to match the selected lift
height. Relocation of the blocks and
steel plate is simple and repetitive; it can
be easily achieved with a few laborers
and a small mobile crane or front-end
loader.
The sloped layer method has been
shown to work well in conjunction
with grout-enriched RCC used for

facing the upstream and downstream

faces of the dam and connecting the
RCC to the rock abutments. In particular, RCC progress is not delayed while
awaiting delivery and placing of conventional concrete facing.
Placing a sloped layer generally involves commencing at the downstream
face and moving across to the upstream
face, working over the full height of the
lift and compacting in the up-down
slope direction.The placement area can

be roughly divided into three sub-areas;

placement begins by dumping RCC
first in the downstream sub-area, then
progressing to the upstream face, followed by the spreading and compacting
operations accordingly.
When placing RCC in the narrow
river channel area, the sloped layers can
be oriented in an upstream-downstream direction. Obviously, the layers
must slope upwards from upstream to
downstream, since otherwise the shear
resistance along a cold layer joint
would be severely reduced by the reduction in the effective angle of friction. When the distance between the
upstream and downstream faces of the
dam equals the distance between abutments, i.e., forming an essentially
square placement area, the orientation
of the slope can be redirected and placement can proceed from abutment to
abutment as shown in Figure 1.
In the traditional horizontal layer
method, the RCC layers typically are
placed with a 2 to 3 percent crossfall
toward the upstream to drain rainfall, as
well as wash water generated from lift
surface green cutting, clean up, and general lift surface preparation.This crossfall can be retained in the sloped layer
method.
Comparing the pros
and cons of the method

At Jiangya Dam, each sloped layer was placed first at the downstream stepped
form with the dumping-spreading-compacting procedures progressing across
the dam to the upstream face. Here the width of the dam is approximately
50 meters.
4 HRW / July 2003

The most important advantage of using

the sloped layer method in an RCC
dam is undoubtedly the improved safety
achieved by producing homogenous,
monolithic RCC across the joints between layers. This is accomplished by
limiting the number of cold lift joints to
one every 3 meters, thus reducing the
number of horizontal lift joints by up to
90 percent, or by 50 percent compared
to a conventional internally vibrated
concrete dam. Other significant advantages of the method are:
Increasing overall placement rates,
potentially by 30 to 50 percent;
Reducing clean up, lift joint treatment, and bedding mix application by
up to 90 percent, with associated cost
savings;

 Taking green cutting and initial lift

joint preparation off the critical path,
allowing up to ten days for this work to
be done before placing the next lift of
RCC;
Preventing
wash-down/cleanup
waste from encroaching on current
placing areas;
Removing the final lift joint clean
up from the critical path and allowing
up to 90 percent more time for joint
preparation prior to placing the next
layer of RCC;
Eliminating the need for green
cutting and layer surface preparation of
the grout-enriched RCC or the conventional vibrated concrete facing; the
material is often so fresh that poker
vibrators penetrate into the previously
placed layer of facing;
Allowing upstream and downstream formwork to proceed off the
critical path, potentially days ahead of
being required; this permits formwork
to be left in place longer for thermal
protection of the concrete during curing in colder climates or, by adopting a
leap frog procedure, achieving a 40 to
50 percent reduction in the quantity of
formwork required;
Reducing the total surface area of
RCC required to be cured;
Reducing the area of exposed
young RCC that could be damaged
by rainfall or freezing conditions and,
consequently, the volume of RCC

that may require removal and replacement;

Reducing the potential for cooled
RCC to gain heat from hot ambient
conditions; and
Providing (most of the time) a
notch in the crest of the dam capable
of passing floods in excess of the normal diversion capacity; this provides a
more secure plant and equipment
parking zone above flood water level
and potentially reduces the clean-up
work following the flooding, permitting an earlier resumption of RCC
placing.
Aspects of the sloped layer that may
appear disadvantageous are:
Limiting downstream formwork
options by requiring either high steps
(equal to the selected lift height) or a
precast concrete block/steel plate step
construction system with some associated minor complications in progressive
block placing;
Increasing the rate of rise against
the formwork, requiring additional
formwork anchorages;
Requiring care and attention of the
toe of the sloped layer to prevent thin
feathered edges, where aggregate could
be easily crushed under the roller potentially creating preferred seepage paths;
Requiring the removal of the
feathered edges of RCC that can occur
where the sloped layer ends at the top
of the lift;

Somewhat complicating survey

control, with slopes both parallel and
transverse to the dam axis (although
laser survey systems can accommodate
this complexity); and
Somewhat complicating the finishing of the downstream step horizontal
lift surface concrete facing (groutenriched RCC or conventional internally vibrated concrete).

Conclusion

Seeking better ways to prove the quality

and safety of RCC dams and to reduce
their cost and effect on the local environment is essential as RCC dams become more costly and time-consuming
to build.The recently developed technique of placing multiple layers on a
slope to achieve a much thicker lift
largely eliminates the vexing problem of
lift joint bond, allowing monolithic,
homogeneous RCC to be achieved in
lifts up to 3 meters thick. Eight- to 10meter-long monolithic concrete cores
showing no evidence of lift joints have
been extracted from recently completed
RCC dams in China where layers have
been placed within the initial set time.
This sort of evidence will give engineers
the confidence to design the 200-meterhigh RCC dams of the future.

Mr. Forbes may be contacted at

GHD Pty. Ltd, GPO Box 668, Brisbane
Q4001, Australia; (61) 7-33163601;
E-mail: bforbes@ghd.com.au.

HRW / July 2003 5