21st Century Dam Design Advances and Adaptations

31st Annual USSD Conference San Diego, California, April 11-15, 2011

Hosted by Black & Veatch Corporation GEI Consultants, Inc. Kleinfelder, Inc. MWH Americas, Inc. Parsons Water and Infrastructure Inc. URS Corporation

On the Cover
Artist's rendition of San Vicente Dam after completion of the dam raise project to increase local storage and provide a more flexible conveyance system for use during emergencies such as earthquakes that could curtail the regions imported water supplies. The existing 220-foot-high dam, owned by the City of San Diego, will be raised by 117 feet to increase reservoir storage capacity by 152,000 acre-feet. The project will be the tallest dam raise in the United States and tallest roller compacted concrete dam raise in the world.

U.S. Society on Dams

Vision To be the nation's leading organization of professionals dedicated to advancing the role of dams for the benefit of society. Mission USSD is dedicated to: Advancing the knowledge of dam engineering, construction, planning, operation, performance, rehabilitation, decommissioning, maintenance, security and safety; Fostering dam technology for socially, environmentally and financially sustainable water resources systems; Providing public awareness of the role of dams in the management of the nation's water resources; Enhancing practices to meet current and future challenges on dams; and Representing the United States as an active member of the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD).

The information contained in this publication regarding commercial projects or firms may not be used for advertising or promotional purposes and may not be construed as an endorsement of any product or from by the United States Society on Dams. USSD accepts no responsibility for the statements made or the opinions expressed in this publication. Copyright 2011 U.S. Society on Dams Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Control Number: 2011924673 ISBN 978-1-884575-52-5 U.S. Society on Dams 1616 Seventeenth Street, #483 Denver, CO 80202 Telephone: 303-628-5430 Fax: 303-628-5431 E-mail: stephens@ussdams.org Internet: www.ussdams.org

DESIGN OF THE DAMS OF THE PANAMA CANAL EXPANSION Lelio Mejia1 John Roadifer2 Mike Forrest3 Antonio Abrego4 Maximiliano De Puy5 ABSTRACT Together with new Post-Panamax locks at the Pacific entrance, the Panama Canal Expansion will include a 6.7-km-long channel to provide navigation access from the new locks to the existing Gaillard Cut section of the Canal. Two dams with a combined length of nearly 4 km and up to about 30 m high, known as the Borinquen Dams 1E and 2E, are needed to form the new channels eastern bank. Two additional dams, referred to as the Borinquen Dams 1W and 2W and totaling 1.4 km in length, are necessary along the western bank. The dams will retain Gatun Lake, the main waterway of the Panama Canal. Therefore, they are critical components of the Canal expansion and must be built to withstand their design loads with a high level of reliability. Design of the dams posed multiple challenges including: 1) variable foundation conditions with occasional weak features, 2) sole availability of residual soils derived from rock weathering as impervious materials for a dam core, 3) a wet tropical climate with a short dry season, 4) a high seismic hazard, including possible surface fault rupture across the dam foundations, and 5) potential for grounding of Post-Panamax-size ships against the inboard face of the dams. This paper describes the dams of the Panama Canal Expansion and the challenges associated with their design. It presents the site geologic and seismic setting, the design criteria including foundation fault rupture displacements and ship impact conditions, and the design rationale and key characteristics of Dam 1E, the largest of the Borinquen Dams. INTRODUCTION In the century since the Panama Canal was built, the size of ships has increased dramatically and global maritime traffic has multiplied several fold. Currently, most ships using the Canal need the full width of its locks to successfully navigate it, and the Canal operates practically at capacity. To keep up with the increasing demands of maritime traffic, the Government of Panama through its Panama Canal Authority (Autoridad del
Principal Engineer and Vice President, URS Corporation, Oakland, CA, Lelio_Mejia@urscorp.com Senior Geotechnical Engineer, URS Corporation, Oakland, CA, John_Roadifer@urscorp.com 3 Vice President, URS Corporation, Oakland, CA, Michael_Forrest@urscorp.com 4 Senior Earthquake Engineer, Geotechnical Section, Autoridad del Canal de Panama, Panama, AAbrego@pancanal.com 5 Manager, Geotechnical Section, Autoridad del Canal de Panama, Panama, MDePuy@pancanal.com
2 1

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Canal de Panama, ACP) is undertaking a program of expansion of the Canal, which will nearly double its capacity. The $5.2 billion expansion program will include the construction of two new sets of Post-Panamax locks at the Pacific and Atlantic entrances to the Canal, and a new channel on the Pacific side to provide alternate access to the waterway across the isthmus, bypassing the existing locks at Pedro Miguel and Miraflores. As shown in Figure 1, the new channel will provide direct navigation access from the new locks structure, located just southwest of the existing Miraflores Locks, to the existing Gaillard Cut section of the Canal, just north of the Pedro Miguel Locks. Referred to as the Pacific Access Channel (PAC), the new channel will be 6.7-km-long and 218 m wide at its base, and traverse adjacent and roughly parallel to the existing navigation waterway within Miraflores Lake.
Gaillard Cut Existing Pedro Miguel Locks Existing Miraflores Locks

Fabiana Hill

Miraflores Lake

Cocol River

New Pacific Access Channel

1939 Excavations New PostPanamax Locks

Figure 1. Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal and location of the new Pacific Access Channel Because water in the PAC will be at the level of Gatun Lake, almost 11 m above the level of Miraflores Lake and 27 m above sea level, two dams with a combined length of almost 4 km are needed to form its eastern bank. They will be known as the Borinquen Dams 1E and 2E. Two additional dams, with a combined length of about 1.4 km and referred to as the Borinquen Dams 1W and 2W, are necessary along the western bank to keep the canal waters out of the drainage of the Cocoli River. Construction of the PAC requires excavation of over 50 million m3 of soil and rock, placement of 12 million m3 of fill for the dams, and dredging of 4 million m3 to dig out

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underwater materials at the juncture with the Gaillard Cut. The work is being done in stages under five contracts, the first three of which are nearly complete as of this writing and have removed more than 23 million m3 of rock. The fourth contract was awarded for construction in January 2010, and includes 25 million m3 of excavation and construction of the Borinquen Dam 1E, the north dam on the eastern bank of the PAC. The fifth contract, a design-build procurement, was awarded in December 2008 and encompasses construction of the new locks, partial excavation of the channel prism, and construction of the south dam on the eastern bank (Dam 2E) and of the two dams on the western bank (Dams 1W and 2W). This paper describes the Borinquen dams and the challenges associated with their design. It presents the site geologic and seismic setting, the design criteria (including foundation fault rupture displacements and ship impact conditions), and the design rationale and key characteristics of Dam 1E, the largest of the Borinquen Dams. THE BORINQUEN DAMS Dam 1E will extend 2.3 km over the existing grounds west of the Pedro Miguel Locks and over low-lying land covered by mangroves and the waters of Miraflores Lake, as shown in Figure 2. The south end of the dam will abut Fabiana Hill whereas its northernmost section will parallel the Pedro Miguel Locks and make a short right turn to meet the locks structure near one-third of the way from its northern end.

Figure 2. Plan view of the Pacific Access Channel and Locations of the Borinquen Dams 1E, 2E, 1W and 2W To the south, Dam 2E will stretch 1.5 km from Fabiana Hill to the structure of the new Post-Panamax Locks. It will cross over the Cocoli River and over grass-covered flat ground and lagoons left from the excavations for the 1939 Third Set of Locks project, which was halted indefinitely by World War II. On the PAC west bank, Dams 1W and 2W will close 0.6- and 0.8-km-long low-land gaps across and south of the Cocoli River.

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The inboard toe of the four dams will run along the edges of the PAC floor, 9 m above sea level. The outboard toe of Dams 1E and 2E will lie generally below the level of Miraflores Lake, whereas that of Dams 1W and 2W will lie either on high ground or below the level of lagoons in the Cocoli river drainage, which is about 17 m above sea level. GEOLOGIC SETTING The PAC area sits at the northern edge of a low relief coastal plain punctuated by small hills and underlain by igneous and sedimentary rocks of Miocene age. Volcanism hypothesized to have resulted from subduction of the Caribbean Plate beneath the Isthmus emplaced the igneous rocks, strong basalts and gabbros of the Basalt Formation and pyroclastic agglomerates and tuffs of the Pedro Miguel Formation. The sedimentary rocks are largely derived from erosion of the volcanics and range from moderately strong to weak sandstone and siltstone of the La Boca Formation to very weak clay shale of the Cucaracha Formation (URS, 2008b, 2009). The Basalt rock originated from mostly intrusive volcanic pulses forming large sills within enclosing sedimentary strata, and ranges from massive to columnar to highly fractured. Basalt dikes cut through the sedimentary rocks of the La Boca Formation to form some of the hills in the area. The La Boca sedimentary strata are typically relatively flat-lying with steep, unconformable contacts where they have been intruded by the volcanic rocks. The sandstone beds of the formation are generally massive ledges that break down into blocks with well-rounded corners and edges, whereas the siltstone intervals are laminated and weather into small fragments. Tropical weathering has produced a widespread mantle of weathered rock and residual silty and clayey soils of variable thickness, but often well over 5 m thick. Massive earthworks were undertaken in the area of the dams during original construction of the Canal, as the locks at Pedro Miguel and Miraflores were built and as the navigation channel was excavated. Thick uncontrolled fills were placed in the area of the Dam 1E foundation to dispose of the excavated materials, and that area continued to receive disposal materials from periodic dredging of the Canal until recently. Thick fills were also dumped in the area of Dam 2E during the 1939 locks project excavations. SEISMIC HAZARD Contrary to the prevailing view of a century ago, Panama is now known as a region of relatively high seismicity driven by the motion of the Cocos and Nazca tectonic plates that underlie the Pacific Ocean, and of the Caribbean and South American plates. Thrusting of the Caribbean and Nazca plates under the Isthmus occurs along subduction zones known as the North and South Panama Deformed Belts. Subduction beneath central Panama formed the present day system of crustal faults in the area of the Canal, including the nearly parallel, north-south trending Pedro Miguel and Miraflores faults

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that cut across the PAC and the foundations of the Borinquen Dams, just north and south of Fabiana Hill. Extensive studies undertaken for the Canal Expansion Program (Earth Consultants International, 2006; William Lettis and Associates, 2007), including multiple paleoseismic trench investigations, indicate that the regional faults probably initiated as basin-bounding normal faults in the late Oligocene, and have been reactivated in the modern stress field. The studies revealed that the faults are steeply dipping and their current sense of displacement is predominantly strike-slip with a minor component of dip-slip. As shown in Figure 3, two branches of the Pedro Miguel Fault are mapped to intersect the foundation of Dam 1E at an angle of about 30 degrees from its axis (Earth Consultants International, 2007). The east branch of the fault is mapped along the north side of Fabiana Hill near the southern end of the dam foundation, and the west branch (believed to be the main trace of the fault) is mapped one third of the way north along the dam axis. Furthermore, the possibility of unrecognized smaller secondary faults in the dam foundation cannot be precluded, particularly between the two traces of the Pedro Miguel Fault. Figure 4 shows that the Pedro Miguel Fault also underlies the foundation of Dam 1W, whereas the Miraflores Fault and other smaller unnamed faults underlie the Dam 2E and Dam 2W foundations.

Figure 3. Geologic bedrock map of Dam 1E area and location of branches of the Pedro Miguel Fault The Pedro Miguel Fault has a length of about 48 km and exhibits a right-lateral strike-slip sense of displacement. The studies concluded that the fault could rupture together with the 28-km-long Limon Fault to the north, and release an earthquake of magnitude 7.0

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(Earth Consultants International, 2007). Such an earthquake would generate very strong shaking in the PAC area, and possibly create surface offsets greater than one meter in the Borinquen dam foundations. The fault also appears to merge with the Miraflores Fault just south of the Canal. Although the latter was found not to be seismogenic because of its short 12-km length and weak geomorphic expression, it could displace sympathetically in response to a large earthquake on the Pedro Miguel Fault.

Figure 4. Geologic bedrock map of the area of Dams 2E, 1W, 2W and locations of Miraflores Fault and unnamed faults DESIGN CRITERIA In addition to the usual requirements for structural stability, tolerable deformations, and control of seepage and erosion under long-term operating conditions, the dams are designed for high seismic demands and the unusual loads of potential ship impact (i.e. grounding). The design criteria require that the dams and abutments be able to withstand the 2500year earthquake without release of Gatun Lake or overtopping. The dams must also be able to withstand the 975-year earthquake shaking without damage that mandates emergency response and repairs, or impedes operation of the Canal. Thus, seismicallyinduced deformations of the dams under such earthquakes must be limited, so that their seepage control features remain functional and their ability to retain the reservoir is not compromised. Probabilistic analyses of earthquake ground motions, conducted as part of the seismic hazard investigations for the Canal, indicate that the 2500- and 975-year earthquake motions at the dam sites would be characterized by peak horizontal accelerations of 0.97 g and 0.72 g, respectively (URS, 2008a). De-aggregation of the calculated hazard indicates that for both design levels the controlling event is a magnitude 7 event on the Pedro Miguel Fault. 122 21st Century Dam Design Advances and Adaptations

The dam design also has to accommodate the potential for foundation fault displacement and reservoir seiche associated with the maximum earthquake on the Pedro Miguel Fault, albeit with possible damage and need for subsequent repair. Although damage to the dams is expected to result from fault surface rupture, leakage resulting from possible cracking induced by the foundation offsets must not lead to continued internal erosion or piping of the dams or their foundations. Paleoseismic investigations of the Pedro Miguel Fault indicated that it has ruptured previously with surface horizontal displacements of up to 2 to 4 m at various locations along its length. Measured offsets of paleo-channel margins near the PAC ranged from 2.0 to 2.5 m for the most recent event (Earth Consultants International, 2007). Based on the paleoseismic data, a displacement of 3 m was calculated to be the 80th-percentile estimate of the potential horizontal offset during surface rupture of the fault at the PAC (URS, 2008c), and was adopted as the design fault horizontal displacement for the dams. Because such displacement could be accompanied by a small amount of vertical offset, a vertical displacement of 0.5 m was also specified for design. Table 1 summarizes the design foundation fault displacements for the dams. Based on hydrodynamic analyses of the response of the PAC water body to the design surface displacements on the Pedro Miguel Fault, the design seiche wave height was estimated to be 1.75 m above the still water elevation. Table 1. Design Foundation Fault Displacements Horizontal Vertical Fault Displacement style offset (m) offset (m) Right-lateral and thrust Pedro Miguel 3.0 0.5 slip, up on the west Right-lateral and thrust Miraflores 1.0 0.5 slip, up on the west Unnamed Oblique with normal 1.0 0.5 beneath Dam 2E slip, down on the west The dams are designed for ship impact even though such loading condition is uncommon in dam design. Although navigation through the Canal is only allowed by highly trained and experienced pilots and is subject to strict traffic control and security measures, accidental loss of ship steering could lead to grounding on the dams. Thus, the design criteria require that the dams withstand impact of a fully laden Post-Panamax ship, and that any damage to the dam be readily repairable and not affect the main water retention or seepage control elements in the structure. Such impact could involve grounding forces of up to 200 MN at a penetration distance of up to 30 m into the dam. The characteristics of the vessel grounding to be used in design of the dams for ship impact are presented in Table 2. In addition to a fully laden vessel, the design of the dams was checked for grounding of a ballasted ship with a 40,000-ton displacement, which would impact the dam face at a depth of about 6 m below the water surface, about 9 m higher than a fully laden ship.

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Table 2. Design Criteria for Ship Grounding Post-Panamax bulk carrier Vessel size and type or container ship Laden weight 160,000 tons Approach angle 30 45 Approach velocity 8 knots 4 knots FOUNDATION CONDITIONS Most of the Dam 1E footprint is underlain by uncontrolled fill ranging in thickness from a few meters to over 15 m. Soft lake sediments are encountered along the dam segment overlying Miraflores Lake, and alluvium is present in the former channels and floodplain areas of the Grande and Magallon rivers. The fill and alluvium are underlain by residual soils, sandstone, and siltstone of the La Boca Formation, except beneath a 700-m segment at the southern end of the dam footprint (see Figure 3). Beneath that segment, the Pedro Miguel Formation overlies the La Boca Formation and the surficial soils are partially underlain by strong Pedro Miguel agglomerate. The Fabiana Hill abutment is a complex arrangement of the La Boca, Pedro Miguel, Cucaracha and Basalt formation rocks. Fill consisting mostly of dumped basalt cobbles and boulders in a fine-grained soil matrix, up to 20 m thick, and thin residual soils underlie the Dam 2E footprint. The soils are underlain by strong basalt rock except over a 300-m transverse band, just south of the dam midsection, which is underlain by siltstones and sandstones of the La Boca Formation. A 100-m-wide tongue of tuff and agglomerate of the Pedro Miguel Formation projects partly under the dam footprint about 300 m south of the Fabiana Hill abutment (see Figure 4). Residual soils up to 10 m thick and basalt bedrock underlie the Dam 1W area. The soils are soft to medium stiff, highly plastic clay with weathered basalt fragments. The weathering of the basalt ranges from thinly soil-coated hard boulders to complete disintegration of the fragments into saprolite. The Dam 2W area is underlain by basalt fill and thin residual soils, in turn underlain by the La Boca Formation, over the southern two thirds of the dam area, and the Basalt, over the northern third (Figure 4). A small basalt hill will separate and serve as abutment for the two dams. The fill materials are generally loose and heterogeneous, ranging from fine-grained and sandy soils to basalt boulders. Their highly variable nature makes strengthening of the materials difficult and installation of a reliable seepage cutoff costly. Because of their low strength, high compressibility, and potential for liquefaction under earthquake, they are not suitable as foundation for the dams. Similarly, the strength of the residual soils ranges widely from medium stiff to hard, and is generally unreliable for a dam foundation. Bedrock of the Basalt and Pedro Miguel formations, is sufficiently stiff and strong to provide adequate support for the dams, and can be grouted to cutoff foundation seepage.

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The bedded nature of the siltstones and sandstones of the La Boca Formation imparts highly anisotropic strength, compressibility, and permeability characteristics to the formation. Whereas the rock is generally strong and impervious across bedding, it can be semi-pervious and very weak along the beds. Extensive investigations of the foundation conditions for Dam 1E revealed the presence of shear zones, gouge, and fracture slickensides within the La Boca Formation over a 600-m length of the foundation towards the southern end of the dam. Such zones were likely crushed and sheared by movement of the rock mass, possibly associated with fault displacement on the Pedro Miguel fault branches that cut across the dam foundation. Fully softened shear strength parameters, based on the results of direct shear and triaxial compression tests on remolded samples, and consistent with back calculations of previous slope failures along the Canal, were used in the stability analyses of the dams to account for unknown bedding plane shears and weak zones within the La Boca Formation. Such strength parameters correspond to an effective stress cohesion intercept of c = 38 KPa, and a friction angle of = 19. Groundwater levels at the lower elevations in the area are controlled by Gatun Lake north of the Pedro Miguel Locks and by Miraflores Lake to the south, and are within 1 to 3 m of the ground surface. At the higher elevations, they are generally within 10 m of the ground surface, although they vary seasonally by as much as 2 m with increasing distance from the lakes. CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS Excavation of the PAC will generate large quantities of Basalt, Pedro Miguel agglomerate, La Boca sandstone and siltstone, and residual soil, which would be available for construction of the dams. Borrow areas of residual soil outside the PAC have also been identified and investigated, in case they are needed to generate finegrained impervious materials. Although the PAC excavation will also remove a large volume of existing fill materials, those materials are not suitable for dam construction, because of their highly variable character and wet insitu condition. The residual soils are generally highly plastic sandy silts and clays. They are gap-graded with interspersed cobbles and boulders left over from the weathering process. Where highly developed and thickly bedded, the soils can be mined effectively for construction of an impervious dam core. Screening of the materials will, however, be required to remove cobbles and boulders that would otherwise hinder compaction. The natural water content of the soils is typically well above optimum (about 6% on average) and it would be impractical to dry the materials and bring them to a lower water content in the local tropical climate. Thus, it will be necessary to compact them at their natural water content. As a result, the materials are expected to yield a fill of moderate strength and compressibility.

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A field compaction test fill, designed to obtain data on the engineering properties of the compacted residuals soils and to assist in the development of construction specifications, showed that the materials can be compacted at their natural water contents provided such water contents are no higher than 12% above optimum. The test fill also demonstrated that: a) adequate compaction and undrained shear strength of the basalt and agglomerate residual soils can be obtained using tamping foot compactors and 225-mm-thick lifts, and b) a hand-held vane would be an efficient tool for monitoring field compaction efficiency, in addition to sand-cone density tests and other conventional field testing. The weak sedimentary rocks of the La Boca Formation could be used as earthfill in dam zones that do not require high strength materials. Those rocks will break down during excavation and compaction into gravelly sands, silty and clayey sands, and sandy silt. Because of its bedded character, the formation will yield varying percentages of intermixed hard and soft materials, which would likely be unsuitable to make a reliable impervious core, unless they are selectively excavated or screened. The sound agglomerate and basalt will make a strong rockfill when adequately compacted. In addition, the sound basalt is sufficiently hard and durable for crushing, processing, and production of filter and drain materials. Where massive or in thick columns, the sound basalt can also be blasted effectively to produce rip-rap. Although the agglomerate is typically comprised of basalt fragments, it is not suitable for filter or drain material because the fragments commonly exhibit weathering rinds and are interspersed with soil-size particles and clay infillings. DAM DESIGN CONCEPT Multiple alternatives were considered for the dam design including: a) a rockfill embankment with a central or inclined earth core, b) a rockfill with an asphalt-concrete core or with a central plastic-concrete cutoff wall, c) a concrete-faced rockfill, and d) a roller-compacted concrete dam. A rockfill embankment with a central earth core was deemed as the optimum design concept in view of: a) the foundation conditions, b) the available construction materials, c) the short dry season in south central Panama, d) the high seismic hazard and potential for foundation fault rupture, and e) the exposure to ship grounding. The selected design concept is shown in Figure 5. The dam crest elevation is set at 32 m above sea level to coincide with the elevation of Gatun Dam, which retains the Lake on the Atlantic side of the Canal. A crest width of 30 m and an inboard face slope of 3:1 (H:V) are used to form a broad upstream shell to prevent ship penetration from damaging the dam core during potential grounding. The wide crest and a slope of 3:1 on the outboard face create a broad downstream shell to provide stability over possible weak bedding planes within the La Boca Formation. Moderate inboard and outboard slopes provide seismic stability by limiting embankment deformations under earthquake shaking. A wide downstream shell also offers a large discharge capacity for leakage flows that could result from cracking of the embankment or foundation caused by surface fault rupture, and which could lead to slope instability or

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a blow-out failure of the dam, if they were to build-up pore water pressure within the shell.

Figure 5. Typical cross-section of Dam 1E The core was configured to yield low hydraulic gradients with a moderate volume of impervious materials, which are cumbersome to place and compact in the regions tropical climate. In addition, a vertical central layout would permit relatively expedient repair of this critical zone and its underlying foundation, should they become damaged by fault offset or seismic displacement. The filter and drain zones are designed to stop internal erosion of the core or the foundation materials. The zones are sufficiently thick to absorb horizontal and vertical foundation fault offsets of 1 m and 0.5 m, respectively, anywhere in the foundation, and thus allow for displacement on possibly unrecognized minor faults along the dam length. Within 50 m of the crossings of the Pedro Miguel Fault, the thicknesses of the core and of the chimney filter and drain zones are increased to at least 1.5 times the design horizontal fault displacement of 3 m to provide an adequate margin against full offset of those critical zones and assure their continuity. Likewise, the thicknesses of the blanket filter and drain zones are at least 1.5 times the vertical fault displacement of 0.5 m. Cohesionless soils unable to support an open crack are to be used for the filter and drain zones so that they will slough into and shut any cracks that may tend to form in those zones under shear. This will ensure that the filter and drain zones remain continuous across any cracks that could develop through the core or its foundation. Continuity of those zones is necessary to stanch possible leakage flows within cracks through the core or its foundation and prevent continued erosion of the embankment or foundation materials from progressing to a breaching failure of the dam. The shells of the dam are to be built with sound agglomerate and basalt, and are to be founded on rock, even if somewhat weathered. The dam core is to be built with residual soils and is to be founded on rock, which is at most slightly to moderately weathered. Seepage through the foundation rock will be controlled with a 15-m-deep, two-row grout curtain (Figure 5). Excavation depths necessary to remove the existing fill and residual

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soils above the specified foundation materials will generally be in the range of 10 to 15 m, but will approach 20 m within the original courses of the local rivers. Closure between the north end of Dam 1E and the west wall of the Pedro Miguel Locks will be achieved with a 90-m-long, secant-pile, plastic-concrete, cutoff wall extending from the dam core to the northern gate monolith of the locks. The cutoff wall will cut through the backfill of the locks wall and the existing fill around the locks structure, and be up to 18 m deep. CONSTRUCTION CONSIDERATIONS Key considerations for construction will be the management of the earthworks under the local climatic conditions and the control of groundwater in the work area. Special precautions will be required for excavation, handling, processing, and stockpiling of finegrained residual soil materials during the 7- to 8-month-long wet season, which is characterized by an average monthly precipitation of nearly 250 mm. In addition, the rates of placement and compaction of such materials in the dam core will have to be maximized during the dry season. Groundwater levels, which are near the level of Miraflores Lake over a broad area of the PAC, will need to be lowered by up to 20 m to allow construction of the dams in the dry. A 1,700-m-long, 20-m-high cofferdam will be required to retain Miraflores Lake above the foundation excavation level of Dam 1E. Space constraints associated with navigation requirements within Miraflores Lake dictated that the cofferdam be designed as a cellular sheet pile structure. An extensive system of dewatering wells, drainage ditches, detention basins, sumps, and pumps will be required to dewater the PAC area ahead of excavation and to control surface runoff from precipitation during construction. The existing Pedro Miguel Saddle Dam, which retains Gatun Lake by closing the gap between Paraiso Hill and the Pedro Miguel Locks (see Figures 2 and 3), will serve as a cofferdam during excavation of the PAC and the north end of Dam 1E. Although the dam has operated safely since construction of the Canal, under the head difference between Gatun and Miraflores Lakes, the structure will need to be reinforced against seepage under an increased head difference of 18 m during construction. Such reinforcement will be achieved with a 460-m-long, 18-m-deep, cement-bentonite, cutoff wall extending from Paraiso Hill to the northwest wing wall of the locks structure. CONCLUDING REMARKS The Borinquen Dams are critical components of the Panama Canal Expansion and its Pacific Access Channel. The dams will retain Gatun Lake, the main waterway of the Panama Canal, and are vital to the Canals operation. Thus, they must be built so that they withstand their design loads with a high level of reliability. Such loading conditions include foundation fault rupture and ship impact, which are unusual demands in dam design.

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In view of the available construction materials, the short dry season, the potential for foundation fault rupture and the exposure to ship grounding, a rockfill embankment with a central earth core is deemed the optimum dam type. The potential for very strong ground shaking, foundation fault rupture, and ship grounding call for a generous crest width, moderate slopes, and a plastic core flanked by thick filters of cohesionless materials so that the dams can accommodate the design fault displacements and ship penetration without loss of structural integrity, and are able to safely discharge potential leakage flows without erosion or blowout failure. Although the dams represent a modest portion of the Canal expansion cost, they guard approximately one-third of Panamas Gross Domestic Product. Thus, no effort has been spared to provide adequate redundancy with multiple lines of defense in their design and construction. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors thank the Autoridad del Canal de Panama (ACP) for permission to publish this article. They also wish to thank the large team of professionals from ACP and URS, and ACPs Geotechnical Advisory Board, who contributed to the design of the Borinquen Dams. REFERENCES Earth Consultants International, 2006, Geomorphic Evaluation of the Miraflores, Pedro Miguel, Azota and Caballo Faults report to the Autoridad del Canal de Panama, September. Earth Consultants International, 2007, Quantitative Characterization of the Pedro Miguel Fault, Determination of Recency of Activity on the Miraflores Fault, and Detailed Mapping of the Faults through the Proposed Borinquen Dam Location, report prepared for Autoridad del Canal de Panama, November. URS, 2008a, Development of Design Earthquake Ground Motions (Task Order 5, Task A), Report prepared for Autoridad del Canal de Panam, February. URS, 2008b, Foundation Materials Dams 2E, 1W, and 2W Geotechnical Interpretive Report, prepared for Autoridad del Canal de Panam, May. URS, 2008c, Characterization of Fault Displacement Hazards, Design of the Borinquen Dams, Technical Memorandum prepared for Autoridad del Canal de Panam, February. URS, 2009, Task A.1.4 Foundation Materials for Dam 1E Geotechnical Interpretive Report (GIR), prepared for Autoridad del Canal de Panam, January. William Lettis and Associates, 2007, Paleoseismic Evaluation of the Pedro Miguel, Rio Gatun and Limon faults, prepared for Autoridad del Canal de Panam, October.

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