Studies on Cemented Material Dam and its Application in China

Jia Jinsheng, Zheng Cuiying, Ma Fengling,Xu Yao

China Institute of Water Resources & Hydropower Research, 100038, Beijing, China
Abstract: CSG dam (Cemented Sand and Gravel dam), Hardfill dam, masonry dam, and etc. are
dam types developed for many years. Cemented Material Dam (CMD) is proposed to summarize
previous experience and promote safer, quicker construction, lower investment and environmentfriendly technologies based on new understanding from studies and project application. CMD is
constructed with Cemented Material under new concept of optimizing dam structure to make
better use of local materials, comprising CSG dam, hardfill dam and Rockfilled Concrete (RFC)
dam, which is proposed in China in recent years and developed quickly. Cemented material is a
composite construction material with certain compressive strength and shear strength composed
primarily of aggregate (including sand, coarse gravels, crushed rocks, rocks and etc.), cement
materials (including cement and fly ash or slag cement, mortar, concrete and etc.) and water.
Studies on design and construction and its application of CMD are introduced in this article.
Keywords: Cemented Material Dam (CMD), Cemented Sand and Gravel (CSG), Rockfilled
Concrete (RFC)

1. Concept and Types of CMD

CMD emphasizes the new concept of optimizing dam structure to make better use of local
materials. CMD is a dam type which is different with earth dam, rockfill dam and concrete dam.
RCC dam developed to nowadays are similar to concrete dam in many aspects. CMD can be
considered a dam type between rockfill dam and concrete dam (RCC dam). The main principals of
CMD can be summarized as follows,
(1) Build a dam with cemented material based on better use of local materials;
(2) Try to design the dam under compressive stress status. For the parts of dam with
possible tensile stress during construction or operation,special material such as rich cemented
material,RCC, concrete will be used;
(3) Determine the dam cross section basically between CFRD and RCC. CMD can be
constructed with mix of several types of materials and structures;
(4) Guarantee dam safety, especially for safety in case of over-topping, earth quake and etc.;
(5) Simplify construction equipment and to use modern technology to verify the reliability
of the quality related to dam safety during dam construction and dam operation;
(6) Reduce the material waste and to be environment-friendly and economic.
CMD consists of CSG dam, hardfill dam,Rockfilled Concrete (RFC) dam which is developed
quickly in China recently and other dams.
In reference to experience of France, Japan, Turkey ,Greece and other countries, China
studies CSG technology from 1995, and conducted extensive research and exploration on CSG
material characteristics, dam stability, stress analysis, seepage control system and construction
technology[1]. In 2004, China built the first CSG projectthe downstream cofferdam of Jiemian
Hydropower Station with the height of 16.3m in Fujian Province [2]. Through many years of
research, development and practice, China has obtained a lot of experience. Currently, China has
built several CSG cofferdams, including Jianmian CSG cofferdam and Hongkou CSG cofferdam
in Fujian, Gongguoqiao CSG cofferdam in Yunnan, Shatuo CSG cofferdam in Guizhou,

Feixianguan CSG cofferdam in Sichuan, etc. In addition, a number of CSG dams, such as
Shoukoubao Dam (H=60.4m), are under planning and design [3].
Rockfilled Concrete (RFC) dam is another type of CMD. A large deal of rock is filled into
the silo, then the self compacting concrete with high liquidity, fallibility and segregation resistance
is poured within it for dam. It is a new technology rapidly developed by means of new
construction method on the basis of traditional approaches [1]. RFC dam makes use of a large deal
of rock, and the rock proportion in the concrete can reach generally 55%-60%. The preliminarily
mined rock or massive rock excavated can be fully used, thus reducing the consumption of
cementing material to the largest extent. At present, RFC dam can be applied to RFC arch dam or
gravity dam, RFC core wall rockfill dam, rock-fill concrete and rock-fill mixed dam, etc. RFC
technology has been applied to Henan Baoquan Pumped Storage Power Station Project (Auxiliary
Dam), Zhongshan Changkeng Reservoir Rehabilitation Project, Shanxi Linfen Qingyu Project,
Xinjiang Buerjin Shankou Hydropower Station and Yunnan Tiger Leaping Gorge Reservoir
Project, etc., which have achieved the successful experience and remarkable benefit.
CMD is derived from Roller Compacted Concrete Dam. However, with new development,
there are already a number of research results and application projects all over the world that is
quite different compared with RCC. China has a technical guide for CMD design and
construction.

2. Research Progress of CSG Dam

2.1 Material mix design and relevant performance research
CSG differs from the traditional concrete dam including RCC because it is not necessary to
make grade aggregates with screen and the quantity of cementing material required is much less
compared with RCC and concrete. Such difference results in the different design and performance.
The cofferdam in China was constructed with simple equipment based on experimental study
including the mix design, strength test, deformation test, durability test and permeable corrosion
test, etc..
The mix design method for the cofferdam adopted by China is similar to but different with
that in Japan. The mix design method of CSG differs from that of the traditional concrete. For the
gravel, just the particles with diameter lager than 300mm should be removed or crushed, while
grade classification is not needed in principle. In order to guarantee the reliability of strength
which has large discreteness of strength usually, the mix design method of CSG is proposed: 1)
Screening test should be conducted for the base material of gravel concerning the diameter so as to
obtain the coarsest grading, the finest grading and average grading of raw materials. 2) After
removal those with the diameter more than 150mm(for real dam and it will be 300mm for
cofferdam), sand and gravel used for the mix proportion test should be screened into four grades
of coarse aggregate, i.e. diameter in 150mm-80mm, 80mm-40mm, 40mm-20mm and 20mm-5mm,
and the sand less than 5mm. They are separately weighed and prepared in testing so as to ensure
the test accuracy. 3) According to the mixing strength of CSG, 2 or 3 cement material content are
selected. For each cement material content, different water content are selected for the strength
test in the wide range according to sand and gravel ratio of the coarsest grading, the finest grading
and the average grading respectively. Set up the relationship between compression strength (28d
and design age) and water content and determine the range of appropriate water content and
corresponding appropriate strength range required by the construction VC values, i.e. Mix
proportion control range. The water content can fluctuate within the control range. Strength of
CSG is controlled by belt or boundary value and the water content and strength vary with the

grading (see Fig. 1). In the mix design test, the minimum strength of the average grading in Mix
ratio control range should meet the requirements of mixing strength and minimum strength in
Mix ratio control range should not be less than the design strength. Therefore, CSG with any
grading and different water content can obtain higher strength, thus the strength of CSG can meet
the requirement of design. 5) 450mm cube specimen (whole grading) CSG strength test should be
conducted to obtain the strength corresponding relation of large and small specimens with
different grading and age.

Fig. 1 Relationship between unit water content and Compressive Strength in Design Age with Different
Grading

According to a large deal of experimental research, the mix design parameters are
recommended as following: 1) The content of cement material is not less than 80kg/m3, in which
the cement clinker content is not less than 32kg/m3. 2) When Portland cement, ordinary Portland
cement, medium-heat or low-heat Portland cement are used, the total blending amount of fly ash
and other admixture should be 40%-60%. When the Portland slag cement, Portland pozzolana
cement, Portland fly-ash cement, composite Portland cement are used, the total mixing amount of
fly ash and other mixture should be less than 30%. 3) The better sand proportion in CSG is
18%-32%. If the requirement is not met, the grading can be adjusted by increasing the content of
cementing material or mixing sand or gravel. 4) The water-binder ratio should be determined
according to CSG strength requirement proposed in the design and the characteristics of the sand
and gravel, and it should be controlled in 0.7-1.3. 5) The slurry (mortar) composed of water,
cement and mixture should fill all gaps of sand and envelop all sand. The mortar composed of
grout and sand should fill all gaps among gravel and envelop all gravel. That is, the fine aggregate
cement slurry enveloping rate and the coarse aggregate mortar encapsulation rate should not
be less than 1.
Through laboratory test, the permeable dissolution of CSG under the long-term permeation of
pressured water is studied. The test adopts the multi-function pressure concrete dissolution
equipment, and the test age of specimen is 28d. The permeable dissolution test results indicate:
there are plenty of factors to affect the dissolution of CSG, in which the main influence factor is
the compactness. For a CSG dam, anti-seepage should be paid special attention to prevent CSG
from long-term penetrable dissolution. According to innovative tests, Grout Enriched Vibrated
CSG and rich-mix CSG have anti-permeability grade over W10 and good frost resisting capability
(300 times of freeze-thaw cycle), so can be used as the upstream/downstream impermeable and
frost-resisting layer of CSG dam.
2.2 Anti-sliding stability and stress control standard and structure design research progress

According to the material testing, CSG is a kind of elastoplastic material with the similar
properties to RCC but relatively low strength, elastic modulus and other performance parameters.
At present, the existing CSG dams usually adopt the trapezoid section with equal upstream and
downstream slope ratio. Due to the large section, the dam stress under various load cases is low.
Compared with concrete gravity dam, stress distribution at the bottom of dam is relatively low and
even.
As strength of CSG is relatively low, CSG dam is generally designed only with compressive
stress. The allowable compressive stress of CSG is the ultimate compressive strength divided by
safety factor. Give full consideration to various uncertain factors, including the difference between
laboratorial strength test value and prototype material strength, the possibility of load surpassing
the design assumption, non-uniformity in construction, and etc. To ensure the safety and durability
in long term, the value of safety factor is normally determined according to project experience.
According to test and comparative research with concrete gravity dam, compression safety factor
of CSG dam is set as 4.0 for normal loading cases and 3.5 for non-normal loading cases.
To meet the requirements of rapid construction, CSG dam usually adopts CSG with the same
grade and temperature control is not needed generally. Longitudinal joints may not be set and the
transverse joints can be reduced according to the dam foundation. For dams lower than 70m, the
number of gallery may be reduced to the greatest extent according to the actual conditions of the
project.
2.3 Research progress of construction technique
1) Preparation of raw materials and their quality control
The maximum grain size of the sand and gravel is 150mm. Aggregates with size over 150mm
should be removed. The material grading and other properties at the construction and mining stage
and the stockyard research and survey stage may be different. Therefore, the permitted sand and
gravel grading at the stockyard shall be re-surveyed.
The reserve of the sand and gravel material piles shall take into account of the time needed to
modify the mix ratio when significant changes happen to the grading and features of the material.
It is recommended to prepare the construction materials which can be used for at least one month.
Primary storage pile shall be set at the production site for the raw materials of sand and gravel.
And secondary storage pile shall be set nearby the belt feed inlet of the mixing station. When
carried from the primary storage pile to the secondary storage pile, the sand and gravel shall be
fully mixed to reduce its discreteness.
The main difference between the quality control of CSG raw material and that of normal
concrete lies in the quality control of sand and gravel. The primary storage pile of sand and gravel
shall be detected every day for its surface dry density, water absorption, grading, surface moisture
content and silt content, etc. As the strength of CSG is co-controlled by the grading of sand and
gravel and unit water content, the grading of sand and gravel and surface moisture content shall
also be measured at the secondary storage pile on the day of construction to confirm the range of
grading variation and unit water content of CSG. The measuring frequency is decided based on the
range of high-frequency measurement results at the initial stage, but at least once for every shift.
The mix ratio shall be modified when the property or grating of the material is discovered to have
significant changes. Therefore, the quality control of sand and gravel material shall be done one
month before construction, the measuring items mainly including: color, shape, grading, surface
dry density, and water absorption, etc.
2) CSG construction

For permanent projects, continuous mixer (see Fig. 2 for the mixing system) shall be adopted
for CSG mixing. The weighing system of the mixer shall be sensitive, accurate, reliable, and
verified regularly so as to meet the weighing accuracy requirements in the production process. The
feeding sequence, mixing amount and time of CSG shall be decided through on-site production
tests.
The construction processes of transportation, unloading, close-out, rolling, and surface
processing of CSG are similar with those of roller compacted concrete (RCC). The rolling
thickness and times shall be decided through on-site rolling production tests.
The quality control of CSG mainly includes testing the mixtures field VC value,
compressive strength, density, rolling times, aggregate separation, the allowed exposure time of
the mixture, paving thickness, time interval between the layers, surface of the layers, and so on.
The density of CSG can be detected by layers by adopting nuclear moisture density meter in
combination with excavation and watering. It can also be detected by way of excavation and
watering and determined through analysis. The relative density of CSG shall not be less than the
design value. The test pieces for strength inspection and evaluation shall be sampled at the mixer
mouth. The production quality control shall be subject to 150mm standard cubic test pieces and
the compressive strength maintained to the design age. Meanwhile carry out 450mm cubic
all-grading strength test to review. It would be best to do drilling and coring test for the
comprehensive evaluation of the construction site of the CSG dam, the core diameter being no less
than 200mm. When necessary, such means as in-whole TV camera, infrared imager, and in-hole
sound wave test can be adopted for evaluating the quality of CSG.

Fig. 2 CSG Mixing System

3. Research Progress of Rockfilled Concrete (RFC) Dam

RFC is a kind of complete, compacted, low-hydration heat mass concrete formed by making
use of the self-compaction and filling properties of self-compacting concrete to fill
naturally-accumulated (or partly manually-accumulated) rockfilled gaps. The rockfill materials for
RFC are fresh, intact and hard rocks with a shape of pebble or rubble and a grain size of no less
than 300mm. In addition to having high mobility of common self-compacting concrete, the
self-compacting concrete for RFC, by adding the amount of powder, selecting high-quality and
high-efficiency slushing agent or high-performance slushing agent to improve the stickiness and
mobility of the slurry, also have the characteristics of low cement content, low hydration heat,

capability of uniform flowing and filling rockfilled gaps.

RFC has a large aggregate size, and its conventional performance indicators require
large-scale tests. Experimental studies have shown that, compared with the concrete with
corresponding labels, RFC has higher strength and modulus of elasticity, lower adiabatic
temperature rise, and relatively small volume deformation of its own.
After comparative studies of the compressive strength of RFC and self-compacting concrete
of different ages, the strength of RFC is 30% higher than that of the self-compacting concrete. The
compressive strength indicators of the self-compacting concrete standard specimen can be adopted
to represent for the field strength test and quality assessment. 90d-age compressive strength is
adopted for the compressive strength of RFC. The strength grade is determined according to the
standard value of cube compressive strength of self-compacting concrete, altogether 6 grades,
namely, R100, R150, R200, R250, the R300, and R350.

(a) Rockfill into the test mold

(b) Specimen molding

(c) Compressive strength test
Fig. 3 RFC Material Test
To dam with RFC, the relevant standards of the concrete structural design can be referred to
for the structural design of the dam.
The machines and equipment for RFC construction are all conventional equipment, which
reduces the amount of concrete production and placing, avoids the vibration sequences of concrete
placing, and reduces and removes temperature control measures and layer processing measures.
RFC dam construction flow is shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 4 Construction Flow of RFC at Each Layer

4. Engineering Applications
4.1 Shoukoubao CSG dam [3] [4]
In the area of Shoukoubao Reservoir of Shanxi province, there is a large distribution of sand
and gravel. Therefore the materials are sufficient for CSG dam type. After plan comparison and
argumentation, CSG dam type has apparent advantages in economy and environment protection.
As compared with the RCC plan, the comprehensive cost is reduced by 13%. According to a lot of
test researches and structural calculation analysis, isosceles trapezoidal cross-section (see Fig. 5)
with a slope (upstream and downstream) ratio of 1:0.6 for Shoukoubao Cemented Material Dam
(CMD) design. CSG is used inside the dam body. 3m and 3.5m-thick secondary grading RCC are
used respectively at the upstream and downstream to be the liner and protective layer. At the
working condition of basic combination, the anti-sliding stability safety factor of the dam body
along the foundation base is larger than 1.31 and the anti-clipping safety factor is larger than 4.08,
having larger safety remaining. Calculated according to the method of material mechanics and
finite element stress method, the stresses of CSG inside the dam body are all pressure stress under
all the load conditions, the maximum press stress being 1.293MPa, therefore the design strength of
CSG shall be 180d-age 6MPa.

Fig. 5 Typical Sectional Drawing of Shoukoubao CSG Dam

4.2 Hengshan arch dam reinforcement works [6]
Hengshan concrete hyperbolic thin arch dam, whose maximum height is 69m, dam axis is
146.2m long, dam crest is 2.5m wide, dam foundation is 15m wide, was built in 1960 and has
been Chinas first experimental arch dam. Since its establishment, a series of problems such as
insufficient anti-sliding stability of the dam abutment at the left bank, and cracks of the dam body
have emerged. In 1964, it was reinforced. Since then, the water level has been limited. In 2002, it
was appraised to be a dangerous reservoir and comprehensive reinforcement was demanded. After
research and argumentation, the plan of thickening the thick layer at the back of the dam, namely,
the dam foundation at the downstream side of the original dam body is thickened by 11.04m and
the dam crest is thickened by 1.0m (see Fig. 6).
As the construction site is narrow and uneasy to lay out, and as there is an important

historical relic ---- Xuankong Temple (built in 491 AD)--- to protect at 150m from the left dam
abutment at the downstream, the reinforcement plans with normal concrete and with RFC are
compared. RFC has a low adiabatic temperature rise, 10 lower than that of the normal concrete
and thus needs no water-cooling temperature control measures and the corresponding stress level
is relatively low; compared from the construction angle, RFC has a high degree of construction
mechanization, reducing the processes like close-out and vibration, and reducing the construction
period and reducing as a whole the comprehensive cost by about 10%. Finally, the reinforcement
plan with RFC is adopted.

5. Conclusion
According to the existing engineering practice, the Cemented Material Dam (CMD) project
has achieved favorable economic results . CSG technique has obtained the benefits of reducing the
construction period by 40-50% and reducing the comprehensive cost by about 25% at the four
cofferdam projects of Jiemian, Hongkou, Shatuo and Gongguo Bridge, and has saved 59 million
RMB Yuan investment; the comprehensive cost of RFC can reduce by about 20% as compared
with the normal concrete under the same conditions. CMD technique has extensive application
and promotion prospect in a large number of small and medium-sized construction projects in
China.

Fig. 6 Crown Cantilever Sectional Drawing of Hengshan Arch Dam Thickening Plan
Fig. 7 Site Reinforcement of Hengshan Arch Dam

References:
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2 Studies on CSG Dam Material Properties and Impact upon the Panel Anti-Seepage Body [R],
China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, 2005.
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Water Resources and Hydropower Survey and Design, and China Institute of Water

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4. Analysis of Cemented Material Dam Structure of Shoukoubao Reservoir [R], China Institute
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