The need for providing a more
economical design for dams located at sites favouring the use of arch dams has
prompted a new design to be proposed. Called the ‘Prestressed
Aluminium Arch
Dam’, it features a wall composed of horizontally curved multi-cellular box
sections fabricated from structural aluminium alloy and prestressed with high
tensile bolts. The bolts and wall section are anchored to
anchorage blocks
embedded in the banks. The principle design criteria are design of wall as a
tensile arch under prestressing load during reservoir empty condition and as a
conventional arch dam under hydrostatic load. The key elements of its design
and construction are discussed. An example illustrates the effectiveness of the
new design.