Definition

A spillway is the overflow section of the dam, over which surplus discharge flows from the reservoir to the downstream. A spillway is, therefore, called a surplussing work, design to carry this flood water not required to be stored in the reservoir, safely to the river lower down.

A spillway is the safety valve for the dam, because many failures of the dams have been caused by the improperly designed spillway. A spillway must have to capacity discharge major flood without damage to the dam, at the same time keeping the reservoir level below some predetermined maximum flood level.

Types of SpillwayOgee or overflow spillway Free overfall or straight drop spillway Side channel spillway. Chute or open channel or trough spillway. Conduit or tunnel spillway. Drop inlet or shaft or morning glory spillway. Siphon spillway.

Ogee or overflow spillway:

The profile of the spillways is of ogee or S shaped. The overflowing water is guided smoothly over the crest and profile of the spillway so that the overflow water does not break contact with the spillway surface. If this is not assured, a vacuum may form at the point of separation and cavitation may occur. In addition to that cavitation, vibration form alternate making and breaking of contact between the water and face of the dam may result in serious structural damage. Hence the upper profile of the ogee is made to confirm with the lower nappe of a freely falling jet of water over a sharp crested weir, when the flow rate corresponds to the maximum designed capacity of the spillway. Here the essential difference between the straight drop spillway and the overflow spillway should be clearly noted. In the former type, the jet falls clearly away from the face of the spillway the falling water is made to guide over the curved profile of the spillway. A smooth gradual reverse curvature on the downstream face of the spillway is provided. This reverse curve turns the flow on the apron of a stilling basin or into the spillway discharge channel.

Straight drop spillways:

This is t the simplest type of spillway which is constructed in the form of low height weir having downstream face either vertical or nearly vertical. Water drops freely from the crest and the underside of the following nappe is ventilated sufficiently to preventing pulsating and fluctuating gate jet. Occasionally, the crest is extended in the form of an overhanging lip to direct the small discharges away from the face of the overflow section. shows a straight drop spillway constructed on sound rock. However, after some time, the falling je will form a deep- plunge pool. Where erosion is not permissible, a low secondary dam may be constructed to create an artificial pool or concrete apron may be p provided. If tailwater depths are sufficient, a hydraulic jump will form when the free jet falls on the flat apron. This type of spillway is not recommended for high head since the vibrations cause by the falling jet might crack or displace the structure, with danger from failure by piping or undermining.

Side channel spillway:

A side channel spillway is the one in which the flow, after passing over a weir or ogee crest, is carried away by a channel running essentially parallel to the crest. Discharge characteristics of a side channel spillway are similar to those of an ordinary overflow and are dependent on the selected profile of the weir crest. However this flow may differ from that of overflow spillway in that the following in that the flow in the trough may partly submerged submerge the flow over the crest. Side channel spillway is suitable for earth or rock fill dams in narrow crayons and for other situations where direct overflow is not permissible. Side channel spillway is also the best choice where a long overflow crest desired in order to limit the surcharge head and the abutments are steep and precipitous. This type of spillway is also desirable where the spillway discharge is to be connected to a narrow discharge channel or tunnel. Fig.11.4 (b) shows the schematic diagram of flow through a spillway. The hydraulics and design of side channel spillway is beyond the scope of this book and hence has not been included.

Chute or trough spillway:

A cute spillway is the one which passes surplus discharge through a steep sloped open channel, called a through or chute, placed either along a dam abutment or through a saddle. Generally, this type of spillway is provided n earth or rockfill dam, and is isolated from the main dam. Its crest is kept normal to its centre line. It consists of a discharge channel to the river in an excavated trench in which is usually paved with concrete in whole or in part. The crest or spillway proper is usually of insignificant height or actually flat, as sown in fig.11.5 (c). The chute is sometimes of constant width, but is usually narrowed for economy and then widened near the end to reduce discharge velocity. Factors influencing the selection of chute spillways are the simplicity of their design and construction, their adaptability to almost any foundation condition, and the overall economy often obtained by the use of large amounts of spillway excavation in the dam embankment.

Conduit or tunnel spillway:

Conduit spillway or tunnel spillway is the one in which a closed channel is used to convey the discharge around or under a dam. The closed channel may be in the form of vertical or inclined shaft, a horizontal tunnel through earth dam or a conduit, constructed with open cut and backfilled with earth materials. These spillways are designed to flow partly full. Full flow is not allowed in the tunnel or conduit, lest the siphonic action may develop and negative pressures may e created in the conduit. To insure free flow in the tunnel, the ratio of free area to the total tunnel area is often limited to 75% and air vents are provided at critical point along the tunnel or conduit to insure an adequate air supply which will avoid unsteady flow through the spillway.

Shaft spillway:

Drop inlet spillway, shaft spillway or morning glory spillway is the one which has a horizontally positioned lip- through which wat6erenters and then drops through a vertical or slopping shaft, and then to a horizontal conduit which convey the water past the dam. A shaft spillway can often be used where there is inadequate space for other types of spillways. It is generally not desirable to use a spillway over or through an earth dam. Thus, on an earth dam location if there is no enough space or if the topography prevents the use of a chute or side channel spillway, the best alternative would be to use shaft spillway. A shaft spillway normally consists of three elements: (i) over flow control weir (ii) vertical control (iii) Closed discharge channel. Small shaft spillway may construct entirely of metal or concrete pipe or clay tile. The vertical shaft or large structures usually made of reinforced concrete and the horizontal conduit is tunneled in rock. Sometimes the diversion tunnel, used for diverting river water during the construction, may be plugged at the upstream end, and then connected to the vertical shaft of shaft spillway as shown in fig.11.6 (a) and (b) There are two types of shaft spillways: (i) Standard crest type and (ii) Flat crest type. In the flat crest type (Fig.11.6 (d)), the weir section preceeds free fall section, and while in the standard crest types (Fig.11.6 (c), there is no weir section and the water begins its free fall immediately upon tearing the crest. The standard crest type has the advantage of having smaller crest diameter since its coefficient of discharge is greater than that of flat crest. However flat crest design has smaller funnel diameter, and is, therefore, proffered in cases where shaft has to be excavated in rock.

Siphon spillway:

Instead of allowing water to spill over the crest of the dam or the weir, the surplus water may be discharged downstream through a siphon spillway consisting of one or more siphon units. A siphon spillway is one which utilizes the siphonic action to discharge the surplus water. Generally siphon spillway consists of a closed conduit system formed in the shape of an inverted U. There are generally two types of siphon spillway:Saddle siphon spillway Volute siphon spillway

Saddle siphon spillway:

Shows the saddle type of spillway. It essentially consist of reinforced concrete hood constructed over an overflow section of gravity dam. The inlet or the mouth of the main hood is kept submerged in water so that floating debris etc. do not enter the siphon. A small deprimer hood is kept above the main hood, and both these hoods are connected through an air vent. The inlet of the deprimeter hood is kept just at the reservoir level. The lower limb or leg of the main hood is generally kept submerged in the tailwater so that there is no air entry from the downstream end.

Volute siphon spillway

Volute siphon spillway is a special typ0e of siphon spillway designed in India by Ganesh Iyer. It consists of a vertical barrel or shaft bent at the discharge end and opened out in the form of a funnel at the top. The top pr lip of the funnel is kept at the reservoir level, and a number of volutes (like blades of centrifugal pump or turbine) are fixed in the funnel to induce a spiral motion to the passing along them. A dome, supported on number of pillars, is placed over the funnel. Over the main dome is attached a deprimer dome. The entrance end of the deprimeter dome is kept just at the reservoir level.

CAPACITY OF SPILLWAYS

The capacity of spillway is the discharge that passes over a spillway. It is expressed in cumecs (m3\s). The capacity is given by the equipment below for ogee shaped open spillways. Q=CLH3/2 Q=discharge IN M3/S L=Effective length of spillway =gross length ---end spillway=L-0.1NH N = number of end contractions H=total head measured on u/s of spillway C=Coefficient of weir 1.74 to 1.88 The coefficient of weir is difference from the coefficient of discharge this depends upon the head, shape of the crest ,gates, pires, pressure, direction of flow, etc.

The maximum discharge that a spillway can pass is generally known as its capacity. This is decided on the basis of hydrology. i.e. MFD, provisions of emergency spillway, and the flood absorption capacity of the reservoir. As the flood entre the reservoir after the reservoir is filled up to. FTL, spillway starts. This rise is slow and at these levels, the water spread goes on continuously increasing, requiring more and more time for the water level in the reservoir to rise. this time is called flood dention time, usually between 2.5 to 24 hrs. Obviously the discharge that passes over the spillway is reduced as compared to MFD. The flood absorption capacity is defind as the capacity between HFL and FTL. Design discharge (capacity of spillway )=MFD-FAC/T FAC=Flood absorption capacity (m3) MFD= maximum flood discharge m3/s T=time in seconds (usually 21/2-6hrs.) Q= design discharge of spillway or spillway capacity m3/s.

ENERGY DISSIPATRS

For the clear over fall type of spillway, the difference in u/s and d/s water levels is more. This cause very high velocity to the flow having a large discharge. The high velocity flow has a very high kinetic energy. This energy can cause dangerous scoure of the channel bed, causing failure of the spillway wall or even the dam. Thus it is essential to reduce or dissipate the kinetic energy of flow, before it enters in the tail channel. This is done by the energy dissipator. Thus the energy dissipater is the structure, constructed near the toe of spillway to reduce the high energy of flow. There are different types of energy dissipaters as 10 hydraulic jump type 20 bucket type 30 jet diffusion type (not discussed).

1)hydraulic jump type dissipaters-

Yhe hydraulic jump is a very effective means of energy dissipation. If the fall is up to 1m, thick concrete flooring serves the purpose. 1-5m, water cushions shown in are provided. When the fall is large, specially designed, basins are constructed. according to modern practice, the design of the basin is based on the Froude number of flow at toe. 2) bucket type dissipaters These are suitable under any conditions of tail water, provided good hard rock is available these are more economical than the the jump type. The radius and other dimensions depends upon head, fall and tail water level. The roller bucket is used when there is sufficient depth of tail water and rock is not very. The ski-jump bucket is used when tail water depth is less and very hard rock is available.

Taiter Gate
Introduction: The taiter gate is considered the most economical, and usually the most suitable, type of gate for controlled spillways because of its simplicity, light weight & low hoist-capacity requirements. The principle elements of a taiter gate structure are the skinplate assembly, the members supporting the skinplate assembly, the end frames, the trunnion, the anchorages and the hoisting machinery.

Advantages of taiter gate:

The radial shape provides efficient transfer of hydrostatic loads through the trunnion. A lower hoist capacity is required. Taiter gates have a relatively fast operating speed & can be operated efficiently. Taiter gates geometry provides favourable hydraulic discharge characteristics. Side seals are used, so gates slots are not required. This reduces problems associated with cavitation, debris collection.

Disadvantages of taiter gate :The hoist arrangement may result in taller piers especially when a wire rope hoist system is used larger piers increase cost due to more required concrete & will usually result in a less favourable seismic resistance due to greater height & mass. End frame member may encroach on water passage. This is more critical with inclined end frames.

Uses :Spillway taiter gates are effectively applied for use on spillways of various projects due to favourable operating & discharge characteristics. Gates are used on flood control projects, navigation projects, hydropower projects & multipurpose projects.