30 Years History of Roller-compacted Concrete Dams in Japan.

Isao Nagayama
Public Works Research Institute, Japan

Shigeharu Jikan
Water Resource Development Public Corporation, Japan

ABSTRACT: Japan is the country where the worlds first roller-compacted concrete dam was constructed in
1980. Since then, about 40 roller-compacted concrete dams have been constructed in Japan. Japanese
roller-compacted concrete dams are called RCD dams and are distinguished from the other roller-compacted
concrete dams because there are some differences in their design and construction philosophies. This paper
describes the history of RCD dam construction in Japan. The paper also describes a new type of dams called
the trapezoidal CSG dams that are being comprehensively studied and field-tested in Japan.

Sand and Gravel) dams. The technology will first be

applied at the Okukubi dam with height of 39 m and
volume of 339,000 m3. Trapezoidal CSG dams are
classified as a new type of dams (not a new type of
construction method) because their structural features
differ from those of conventional triangular concrete
gravity dams (described in detail in Chapter 6).
Because they are such a new type of dams, they can
use extremely low quality material such as riverbed
materials or rock muck without washing, screening and
grading processes.
This paper presents the history of RCD dams and an
outline of trapezoidal CSG dams in Japan.

1. INTRODUCTION
Japan is the country where the worlds first
roller-compacted concrete dam was constructed. The
89 m high Shimajigawa dam with volume of 317,000
m3 was completed in 1980. Since then, about 40
roller-compacted concrete dams have been constructed
in Japan.
Japanese roller-compacted concrete dams are called
RCD (RCD is the abbreviation of Roller-Compacted
Dam concrete) dams in order to distinguish them from
the other types of RCC (RCC is the abbreviation of
Roller-Compacted Concrete) dams. The reason is that
RCD dams are not considered to be a new type of
dams (i.e., they are classified into concrete gravity
dams.), but are considered to be dams constructed with
a new construction method. The required performance
of the RCD dams should be completely the same as
that of conventional concrete gravity dams. For
example, transverse contraction joints are installed
every 15 m in order to prevent temperature cracks in
the dams, conventional concrete with high quality is
placed at the upstream and the downstream surfaces of
the dams in order to obtain water-tightness and high
resistance to freeze-and-thaw action caused by climate
change, and lift joints (lift surfaces) are treated in the
same way as in the case of conventional concrete dams
in order to assure good bond and water-tightness
between the lifts, and so on.
On the other hand, Japan is now developing
trapezoidal CSG (CSG is the abbreviation of Cemented

2. DEVELOPMENT OF RCD CONSTRUCTION

METHOD
CONSTRUCTION OF THE SHIMAJIGAWA
DAM
2.1. Development of the RCD Construction Method
Construction of safe and economical dams is the
objective of dam engineers.
In ancient times, earth dams were constructed by
trial-and-error or empirical methods. The first earth
dam referred to in Japanese historical sources was the
Sayamaike Dam with height of 15 m built in the 6th
century. This dam was modified and raised and is still
in use.
The first dam constructed using modern technology
was the 33 m high Nunobiki Gohonmatsu Masonry
Dam built in 1900. And the 79 m high Komaki Dam
1

conditions had further increased the volumes of

concrete gravity dams and raised their construction
costs.

constructed in 1929 was the first concrete gravity dam

built using modern machinery construction technology.
Concrete gravity dams were considered to be a safe
and economical type of dams and many concrete
gravity dams followed. Of course, earth dams were
constructed at the same time, but they were limited to
small pond construction.
The second stage of dam construction was the age of
concrete arch dams. The concrete volume of dams
could be drastically reduced utilizing the arch action.
The first large arch dam in Japan was the 110 m high
Kamishiiba Dam constructed in 1955. Many arch dams
were constructed in the 1950s and 1960s. However,
concrete gravity dams were still constructed at many
sites because the sites with good foundation rock which
were required for concrete arch dams were limited.
However, high economic growth in the 1960s and
1970s increased labor costs. Then, complicated
construction techniques using a lot of labor, which
were typical of concrete arch dam construction,
obstructed economical dam construction. And dam
construction using many machines was encouraged
and rock fill dam construction was started. An example
of rock fill dams in the early stage was the 131 m high
Miboro dam. Rock fill dams were economical in wide
valleys where spillways were easily constructed, but in
Japan, valleys were generally so steep that rock fill
dams could not be economically constructed in many
places. So, efforts to find economical concrete dams
construction methods began.
The Committee for the Economical Construction of
Concrete Dams was established in 1974 by the
Ministry of Construction (now reorganized as the
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.), and
made a comprehensive study on the economical
construction of concrete dams (Hirose, 1985, Kokubu
et al., 1985). The basic philosophy of the committee
was as follows:

The construction method used at Alpe Gera dam in

Italy where dump truck were used for concrete
transportation on the dam, and the roller-compacted
concrete construction that was studied at the Lost
Creek Dam in the USA were referred to in order to
accomplish rapid and economical construction.
After comprehensive research and discussions the
following conclusions were reached.
(1) Concrete should be transported by simple
machinery from a mixing plant to the construction
area.
(2) The construction surface of dams should be so flat
that dump trucks can transfer concrete from a
ground hopper on the dam to concrete pouring areas.
(3) Concrete should be compacted by vibrating rollers
in order to speed up its consolidation.
(4) Concrete should be stiff enough to be compacted by
vibrating rollers.
(5) Concrete should be workable enough to be
consolidated by vibrating rollers.
(6) Concrete lift should be thin enough to be
compacted by vibrating rollers.
(7) Concrete should be spread uniformly (without
segregation) by bulldozers.
(8) The upstream and downstream surfaces should be
covered by high quality concrete to maintain
water-tightness and to protect the concrete from
freeze-and-thaw attack.
(9) The surface concrete and internal concrete should
be cut by vibrating blades at 15 m intervals to
prevent temperature cracks.
(10) Lift surfaces should be treated by green cutting
and mortar spreading to obtain good bond for shear
stress and water-tightness.

(1) Reduction of the unit cost of concrete should be

studied because of recent high labor costs. Reducing
the concrete volume as in the case of concrete arch
dams and concrete hollow gravity dams provided no
benefit. Efforts should be made to reduce the unit
cost of concrete.
(2) Reduction of the unit cost of concrete should be
studied, because worsening foundation rock

2.2. Mixture of RCD

The success of RCD construction depends on the
mixture design of RCD. So the concepts of the
coefficients and were introduced. The coefficient
is the volume ratio of cement slurry to the voids
between sand particles (fine aggregate) and it must be
designed as larger than 1. The coefficient is the
2

volume ratio of mortar to voids between gravel

particles (coarse aggregate) and it must also be
designed as larger than 1.
Compaction energy is also an important factor in
determining the strength of RCD. So the consistency of
RCD mixture was measured with the VC meter shown
in Figure 1 and Table 1. Concrete specimens were
made using the large specimen compaction device
shown in Figure 2 and Table 2.
The RCD mixture is designed by the following
process.

of the RCD mixture.

(3) Determination of sand aggregate ratio that gives
RCD the lowest VC value. Usually a ratio around
30 % to 35 % is adopted.
(4) Determination of water content. Water content that
gives RCD 20 second of VC value is optimum.
Usually 80 to 100 kg/m3 of water is adopted.
(5) Strength and surface appearance of RCD (without
honeycomb voids) were evaluated with the large
specimen compaction device.
Typical features of RCD mixture from these tests are
shown in Figure 3 to Figure 5.

(1) Determination of the maximum size of aggregate.

Usually 80 mm is adopted.
(2) Determination of cement content. Usually 120
kg/m3 is adopted in consideration of the high quality

Figure 2. Large Specimen Compaction Device

Figure 1. VC Meter

Table 2. Specification of Large Specimen

Compaction Device
(1) Vibrating Mass

Table 1. Specification of VC Meter

(1) Vibrating Table

Item

value

Item

Value

Full Amplitude

2.4 mm

Full Amplitude

1 mm

Frequency

1900 cpm

Frequency

3000 cpm

Mass

648 kg

Loading Mass

20 kg
(2) Specimen

(2) Specimen
Item

Value

Item

Value

Diameter

24 cm

Diameter

48 cm

Height

20 cm

Height

40 cm

1000

Table 3 RCD Mixture at Shimajigawa Dam

VC Value (s)

C=120 kg/m3 s/a=32%

100

10

1
70

80

90

100

110

120

Item

Value

Maximum Size of Aggregate

80 mm

Water

105 kg/m3

Cement

84 kg/m3

Fly-ash

36 kg/m3

Sand Aggregate Ratio

34 %

Fine Aggregate

752 kg/m3

Coarse Aggregate

1482 kg/m3

Air

1.5 %

130

Unit Water Content (kg/m )

2.3. Construction of the Shimajigawa Dam

Figure 3. Unit Water Content vs. VC Value

The Shimajigawa Dam (height = 89 m, completed in

1980 by the Ministry of Construction) was selected as
the first RCD dam, because its height was moderate
and the installed structures in the dam body were very
simple. The dam is located on the Saba River in the
Chugoku Region. At the test yard, test filling was
performed to study the lift thickness, the number of
passes of a vibrating roller, and so on (Figure 6).
At the Shimajigawa Dam, a 75 cm lift (25 cm x 3
layer spreading) was planned at first. But, because it
was noted that the upper layer was weaker than the
lower layer after vibration, the lift thickness was
lowered to 50 cm (17 cm x 3 layer spreading).
However, good quality was revealed by the later test
fill, and a 75 cm lift was adopted (25 cm x 3 layer
spreading) in the upper part of the dam. The standard
mixture proportion is shown in Table 3.
A typical feature of Japanese roller-compacted
concrete dam construction is adoption of high lifts that
can reduce the number of weak planes between

100

VC Value (s)

W=100 kg/m3 C=120 kg/m3

10

1
26

28
30
32
34
36
Sand Aggregate Ratio (%)

38

Figure 4 Sand Aggregate Ratio vs. VC Value

Compressive Strength (MPa)

25

20

15
10

C=120 kg/m3 s/a=32%

0
70

80
90
100 110 120
Unit Water Content (kg/m3)

130

Figure 5 Unit Water Content vs. Compressive Strength

Figure 6. RCD Construction Method

the cutting plane to prevent closing (Figure 8). And at

the upstream and downstream edges of the dam,
galvanized steel plates were installed in advance. Then,
water-stop plates and drainage holes were set in the
upstream galvanized steel plate (Figure 9).
Lift joints were cleaned (green-cut) 24 to 48 hours
after concrete placement (depending on the season). A
motor sweeper or water jet was used for green cutting.
Mortar with thickness of 1.5 mm was then spread
before the above lift was placed.
Figure 10 is a perspective view of the completed
Shimajigawa dam. Its features were the completely the
same as those of conventional concrete gravity dams.

successive lifts. Roller-compacted concrete is spread

into thin layers by bulldozers, and then they are
compacted by vibrating rollers. Thin layer spreading of
roller-compacted concrete was the key factor that
makes thick lift placement possible.
Roller-compacted concrete was consolidated by
vibrating rollers. Vibrating rollers were passed over
roller-compacted concrete twice without vibration and
9 times with vibration at the Shimajigawa Dam
(nowadays, 5 to 6 passes are the norm).
Concrete was transported from the concrete batching
and mixing plant to the dam by a fixed 13.5 t
cableway-type crane. Concrete was received by a
ground hopper and was transferred by dump trucks
from the ground hopper to the placement area (Figure
7). Contraction joints were cut by a vibrating blade
machine and galvanized steel plates were installed in

Figure 7 Concrete Transportation

Figure 9. Installation of Water-stop and Drainage

Figure 8. Installation of Transverse Joint

Figure 10. Shimajigawa Dam

3. ESTABLISHMENT OF RCD CONSTRUCTION

METHOD
CONSTRUCTION OF THE TAMAGAWA
DAM
3.1. General
The Tamagawa Dam is a 100 m high concrete
gravity dam with volume of 1.15 x 106 m3. The dam
was constructed on the Omono River in the Tohoku
Region in 1987 by the Ministry of Construction. Figure
11 shows a view during construction, and Figure 12 is
a perspective view of the completed dam. The RCD
construction method developed at the Shimajigawa
Dam was really established through the experience of
the Tamagawa Dam.
The Tamagawa Dam was located in a cold region
where snowfall accumulates to 2 m and the air
temperature falls as low as 15C. Construction work
of the dam had to be suspended for five months in the
winter. To economically construct a high dam under
such climate conditions, the RCD construction method

was adopted.
3.2. Characteristics of RCD Construction Method at
the Tamagawa Dam
The principal features of the RCD construction
method at the Tamagawa Dam were the challenge to
high construction speed and thick lift of concrete
(Yamauchi,et al., 1985, Yamaguchi, et al., 1988).
At the Tamagawa Dam, the concrete batching and
mixing plant was built at the crest level of the dam.
Mixed concrete was loaded on the transfer-car. Then it
was loaded on the bucket-cars that ran on the inclined
railways. Then, concrete was dumped into the hopper
station at the construction level and was transported to
the pouring area by 20 t dump trucks.
The incline system consisted of two bucket-cars and
two rows of railways. The maximum height difference
of the railway was 94.5 m and maximum speed of the
bucket-cars was 150 m/min (Figure 13). This incline
system recorded 270 m3/h of concrete transportation at
the peak time. It revealed that the incline system was
superior to the conventional cableway-type crane
system in terms of its transport capacity, easiness of
operation, safety of operation and so on. For these
reasons, the incline system has been adopted at many

Figure 11. RCD Construction Method

Figure 12. Tamagawa Dam

Figure 13. Incline System

dams since the Tamagawa Dam.

In order to speed up construction and to reduce the
number of lift surface treatments, lift thickness had to
be increased. But it was accompanied by a risk of
inadequate compaction of RCD. At the Tamagawa
Dam, 1 m of lift thickness was made possible by thin
layer placement. A 1 m thick lift was divided into four
thin layers that were spread by bulldozers. After
spreading, the entire lift was compacted by vibrating
rollers. Furthermore, in order to control the quality of
RCD after compaction, density control was executed
with an insert-type radioisotope density meter. These
measures permitted thick lift placement without
inadequate compaction.
The thin layer spreading method used in the RCD
construction completely differs from compaction in
RCC construction which adopted compacting concrete
in a single layer. Thick lift placement, as used in
conventional concrete dam construction, prevents the
formation of a possible weak plane on the lift surface.
After experience of constructing 1 m thick lifts at the
Tamagawa Dam, new vibrating rollers with high
vibrating force have been developed and used for all
RCD construction.
Because the Tamagawa Dam was the first high dam
built by the RCD construction method, a wide-ranging
surveys and research on temperature control were
carried out. In order to reduce the cement content, 150
mm of maximum size of aggregate was used and the
cementitious material content was limited to 130 kg/m3.
Moderate heat Portland cement was used and 30 % of
it was replaced by fly-ash. Table 4 shows the design
mixture of RCD at the Tamagawa Dam.

Thanks to the use of the RCD construction method

in this way, 1.15 x 106 m3 of concrete were placed in
26 months excluding a break period during the winter,
and a calculation has showed that using RCD
construction method at the Tamagawa Dam shortened
the concrete placing period 5 to 7 months compared
with the conventional block construction method.
4.

POPULARIZATION OF THE RCD

CONSTRUCTION METHOD
4.1. General
The completion of the Tamagawa Dam confirmed
that the RCD construction method is a rapid and
economical concrete dam construction method. Since
then, it has been widely applied to many concrete
gravity dams throughout Japan, not only those
constructed by the Ministry of Construction and the
Water Resource Development Public Corporation, but
also those constructed by local governments (Toyoda,
et al., 1991). With about 40 completed RCD dams and
about 20 RCD dams at the design stage, this
technology has now matured.
Technology development of the RCD construction
method started with the introduction of vibrating roller
compaction, and it extended to the improvement of
concrete transportation systems. Other related studies
such as temperature control, quality control, and
peripheral technologies such as installed structures and
contraction joint cutting have also been improved. In
these improvements, the improvement of RCD mixture
and improvement of transportation machinery are
described below.
4.2. Improvement of RCD Mixture
The mixture design of RCD has been improved
throughout the history of RCD dam construction. In
particular, the filling properties of concrete, i.e., the
appropriate values of the parameter (the volume ratio
of cement slurry to the voids between sand particles)
and the parameter (the volume ratio of mortar to
voids between gravel particles) have been studied in
detail. The results have shown that compared with the
= 1.5 to 1.8, = 1.2 to 1.5 of conventional dam
concrete, and = 2.1 to 2.4, = 2.0 to 2.3 of structural
concrete, = 1.1 to 1.3, = 1.2 to 1.5 are suitable
values for RCD. It is noted in particular that the
volume of cement slurry is close to the volume of

Table 4 RCD Mixture at Tamagawa Dam

Item

Value

Maximum Size of Aggregate

150 mm

Water

95 kg/m3

Cement

91 kg/m3

Fly-ash

39 kg/m3

Sand Aggregate Ratio

30 %

Fine Aggregate

657kg/m3

Coarse Aggregate

1444 kg/m3

Air

1.5 %

transport RCD to every pouring area on the dam. It

provides greater freedom of choice of the
transportation system from concrete batching and
mixing plant to the dam. These transportation systems
include direct transportation by dump trucks, belt
conveyors, inclines, tower cranes, cableway-type
cranes and so on.
The Pirika Dam (height = 40 m, completed in 1991,
by the Hokkaido Development Bureau) is a combined
dam consisting of a concrete gravity dam and a rock
fill dam with crest length of 1,480 m and with height of
40 m. Because of it topographical feature of the site,
the RCD construction method using the direct
transportation system by dump trucks was adopted for
the concrete gravity sections (the crest length is 755 m
of the left side). The road to the dam body was
designed as an embankment-type road. The direct
transportation system by dump trucks was applied at
the Shiramizugawa Dam (height = 54.5 m, completed
in 1991, by Yamagata Prefecture). The road to the dam
body was connected by a temporary bridge that was 30
m long and 4 m wide. The bridge raised itself every 50
cm. The use of the direct transportation system by
dump trucks is often applied to lower dams or the
lower part of the dams (Figure 14).
At the Tsugawa Dam (height = 76 m, completed in
1996 by Okayama Prefecture), a belt conveyor system
was used to transport concrete. Concrete transported
from the concrete batching and mixing plant by belt
conveyers was temporarily stocked in a ground hopper
installed on the dam, then was transported by dump
trucks to the pouring area (Figure 15). Transportation
of RCD by a belt conveyer system was performed at
the high dams such as the Gassan Dam (height = 123m,
completed in 2001 by the Ministry of Construction).
An incline system is a transportation method that is
often used at relatively large scale RCD dams because
it has large transportation capacity and is not dependent
on the dam site topography. Dams constructed by the
incline transportation system include the Tamagawa
Dam (height = 100 m, completed in 1987 by the
Ministry of Construction), the Sakaigawa Dam (height
= 115m, completed in 1993 by Toyama Prefecture),
and the Miyagase Dam (height = 156 m, completed in
1998 by the Ministry of Construction).
Concrete transportation by buckets such as the tower
crane and cableway-type crane methods are also used,

voids between fine aggregates. This result shows that

unit cementitious material (cement and fly-ash) content
is in the range of 110 to 130 kg/m3 and unit water
content is in the range of 80 to 100 kg/m3 for RCD.
However, reducing the cement paste content or
mortar content may cause the segregation of the
aggregates. It is improved by adding finer particles
(50 % grain size of about 50 m) to the fine aggregate.
At the Hiyoshi Dam (height = 67 m, completed in 1997
by the Water Resource Development Public
Corporation), a dry-process-type sand production
facility was adopted in order to increase the content of
finer particles. Then, workability was improved and the
unit cementitious material content was reduced to 110
kg/m3. And at the Urayama Dam (height = 156 m,
completed in 1999, by the Water Resource
Development Public Corporation), a dry-process-type
coarse aggregate production facility was adopted. The
finer particles produced during production of coarse
aggregates that were formerly discarded as industrial
waste material, were effectively used to improve the
workability of the RCD mixture.
Technological progress has been achieved in the
areas of admixture mineral, chemical admixture, and
cement. Fly-ash is generally used as admixture mineral
and 20 % to 40 % of cement is replaced by fly-ash. The
use of fly-ash contributes to lowering the heat of
hydration, improving consistency, and increasing long
term strength. At the Tomisato Dam (height = 111 m,
completed in 2000 by the Water Resource
Development Public Corporation), cement and fly-ash
were mixed at the dam site according to the season and
concrete mixture. Namely, 40 % of the cement in RCD
was replaced by fly-ash in the summer season and
30 % in the other seasons, and 35 % of the cement in
conventional concrete (external concrete) was replaced
by fly-ash in the summer season.
Special chemical admixtures for RCD and low
hydration heat type cements were also developed.
4.3. Improvement of Transportation Machinery
Noteworthy achievements in the RCD construction
method were the improvement of transportation
machinery and the diversification of transportation
system.
Because the construction surface of a dam built by
the RCD construction method is flat, dump trucks can
8

right banks. Two 9 m3 ground hoppers were installed

on the construction surface of the dam and concrete
was transported from the ground hoppers to the
pouring area by dump trucks (Yamamoto et al., 1994).
At the Tomisato Dam, 20 ton both-side-running
cableway-type cranes were installed as RCD
transportation system (Figure 16). This cableway-type
crane permitted transportation not only in the dam axis
direction but also in the river flow direction by 22 m.
This crane was fully used for installation of water
discharge facilities and pouring of the concrete around
the conduit pipe, and for pouring concrete of the upper
parts of the dam where working area was so narrow.
In addition, the automated transportation system and
automated concrete batching and mixing plant were
introduced.

because they permit three-dimensional transportation.

At the Sabigawa Dam (height = 104 m, completed in
1994 by Tokyo Electric Power Corporation), change of
the environment at the dam site was minimized by
installing two 13.7 ton tower cranes on the left and

5.

APPLICATION OF RCD CONSTRUCTION

METHOD TO EXTREMELY HIGH DAMS
5.1. The Miyagase Dam
The Miyagase Dam (completed in 1998 by the
Ministry of construction) is an extremely high RCD
dam with height of 156 m and with volume of 2.06 x
106 m3. The dam was located on the Sagami River in
the Kanto Region. Figure 17 shows a perspective view
of the completed Miyagase Dam.
At the Miyagase Dam, the major challenge to be
overcome was the problem of thermal stress in the
large RCD dams. To resolve this problem, thermal
stress analysis based on the restraint matrix method
was performed and a comprehensive study of the
starting time of concrete placement and the placement
schedule was performed (Hirose et al., 1988). When a
dam is raised uniformly as it is using the RCD
construction method, the concrete temperature at each
elevation of the dam is governed not only by the heat
of hydration but also by the seasonal temperature
fluctuation. At the Miyagase Dam, various studies of
the placement starting time and concrete placement
schedule were performed by restraint matrix analysis,
obtaining the conclusion that beginning concrete
placement in October would be most beneficial for
temperature control. In practice, inclined contraction
joints were installed in order to make concrete
placement efficient at the lower part of dam and in
order to reliably protect RCD from temperature cracks
(Figure 18).

Figure 14. Temporary Bridge

Figure 15. Belt Conveyor

Figure 16. Both-side-running Cableway type Crane

At the Miyagase Dam, the concrete was transported

by inclines where dump trucks were directly loaded

(Figure 19). Concrete mixed at the batching and

mixing plant was dumped into 20 t dump trucks, then
dump trucks with 9 m3 of concrete were transported to
the construction surface through two rows of inclines.
Dump trucks were carried on the incline at a speed of
180 m/min. Since this transportation method eliminates
the transfer of concrete from bucket to bucket, it
effectively shortened the transportation cycle time,
reduced the segregation of materials that occurs during
reloading, and restricted quality fluctuations such as the
temperature or consistency of concrete.
In addition, pre-cast products were efficiently used at
the Miyagase Dam. Pre-cast products were used for the
inspection galleries and the elevator shaft.
5.2. The Urayama Dam
The Urayama Dam is an extremely high RCD dam
with the height of 156 m and volume of 175 x 106 m3
constructed on the Ara River in the Kanto Region by
the Water Resource Development Public Corporation.
It was completed in 1999. Figure 20 is a view of the
completed the Urayama Dam.
From the results of a detailed study of the thermal
stress problem that was carried out based on experience
at the Miyagase Dam, it was concluded that the
thermal stress was under the regulated value even at the
maximum layer length of 170 m at the bottom of the
dam, as long as the concrete was raised rapidly and
constantly (Yamazumi. et al., 1994).
To increase the amount of concrete product per hour,
an integrated belt conveyor system was installed from
the quarry to the dam. This belt conveyer system

Figure 17. Miyagase Dam

Normal Water Level

EL.286.000m

EL.290.000m

1 :0

1:0.2

EL274.500m

.5

EL.210.000m

Inclined
Contraction Joint
EL.176.250m

Unit:m

1:0
.

38.195

1:0.3

1:1

.5

EL.134.000m
118.350

59.200

100.000

177.550

Figure 18. Inclined Contraction Joint

Figure 19 Dump Truck Mounted Incline

Figure 20. Urayama Dam

10

attached to the dam body. The access conveyors were

4-level conveyors with a trough angle of 18 and a lift
head of 40 m so that it could cover a dam height of 156
m . The RCD was transported at approximately 140
m/min. During these processes, hoods were placed on
the belt conveyors to prevent infrared rays and the belt
surface was moistened before material was loaded.

consisted of three kinds of conveyors, one for crushed

rock, one for aggregate, and one for concrete. The
quarry was located 4.5 km upstream from the dam site,
the aggregate production plant 2.5 km upstream from
the dam site, and the concrete batching and mixing
plant directly upstream from the dam site. The belt
conveyor for crushed rock was 1,050 mm wide, 1,500
mm long, and operated at a speed of 120 m/min. It
transported crushed rock with maximum size of 300
mm from the quarry to the aggregate production plant.
The belt conveyer for aggregate was 1,050 mm wide,
2,300 m long, and operated at a speed of 110 m/min. It
transported four grades of coarse aggregate and one
grade of fine aggregate produced at the aggregate
production plant to the concrete batching and mixing
plant (Figure 21, Figure 22). The belt conveyor for
concrete consisted of two parts: the main conveyor that
was 900 mm wide, moved at 120 m/min, and had a
trough angle of 30, and the access conveyor that was

6. DEVELOPMENT OF CSG AND

TRAPEZOIDAL CSG DAMS
6.1. Development of CSG at the Nagashima Dam
Site.
The 113m high Nagashima dam was a conventional
concrete gravity dam, because the many conduit gates
installed in the dam body prevented flat layer
construction such as the RCD construction method.
However, because the riverbed deposit was very thick
at the site, the RCD construction method was used to
replace the original riverbed and a conventional
concrete dam was constructed on it.
At first, the upstream cofferdam was to be made of
earth and rock because it was constructed on
deformable riverbed deposits. However, after a large
flood washed away the cofferdam, the dam constructor
decided to construct a new cofferdam with

Water-stop sheet &

Shot-concrete

River Bed Material

Facing Concrete
CSG

Figure 21. Belt Conveyor from Aggregate

River Deposit

Production Plant to Dam Site

Cut-off Wall

Rock

Figure 23. Cross Section of Nagashima Coffer Dam

Figure 22. Belt Conveyor and Ground Hopper

Figure 24 Nagashima Coffer Dam

11

soil-cement-like material. First riverbed material was

dumped at the site then cement was dusted on it. Then
a skeleton-type backhoe mixed the materials and a
vibrating roller compacted the materials. When the
water content was judged to be low, additional water
was sprinkled on it. This material is called CSG that is
the abbreviation of Cemented Sand and Gravel. The
cross section of the CSG cofferdam at the Nagashima
Dam is shown in Figure 23 and a perspective view in
Figure 24. The CSG cofferdam had properties similar
to soil-cement. It was confirmed that the structure
could resist overflow by flood water during the flood
season. CSG cofferdams have been constructed at
many dam sites since then.
CSG had the optimum water content from 6 to 8 %,
as the soil had. The water content was kept on the wet
side in the consolidating CSG to prevent honeycomb
voids and to keep the strength deviation relatively low.
Cement content was about 60 kg per unit volume (1
m3) of CSG.
This CSG was designed to allow for a wide range of
deviation of mechanical properties (unit weight,
strength, modulus of elasticity) and the existence of
entrapped voids, because it was used as the material for
temporary structures. For example, the strength range
of CSG was sometimes 2 to 10 N/mm2 on the 28th day.

constructed in the reservoir of the Nagashima Dam, its

safety requirements were relatively low. Economical
construction methods were, therefore, studied in
advance of construction (Yokotsuka et al., 2000).
As a result of the study, CSG was used to make the
dam body. Using skeleton backhoes to mix the CSG
was not effective because of the large volume of the
dam. Then, the continuously mixing drum-type mixer
was adopted. CSG materials were provided from the
river bed. Originally no grading process was planned,
but the variation of the grading of the materials proved
very high. So, a 20 mm sieve feeder was adopted and
CSG materials were classified into materials larger
then 20 mm (larger aggregate) and materials not larger
than 20 mm (smaller aggregate). They were stocked
separately. Furthermore, it was found that grain size
under 5 mm is very small, so fine sand was excavated
from a pool in the river and mixed into the smaller
aggregate (Figure 26).
In the design, the unit mass of CSG was assumed to
be 2,200 kg/m3, and 100 kg of cement and 100 kg of

6.2. the Nagashima Sand-Trap Dam

The Nagashima dam was constructed on the Oi
River by the Ministry of Construction. Because the
river flow of the Oi River includes much silt and sand
during flooding, a 34 m high sand-trap dam with
volume 50,000 m3 was constructed in the upper part of
the reservoir (Figure 25).
Because the Nagashima Sand-trap Dam was

Figure 25. Nagashima Sand-trap Dam

Turn Head Shoot

Rotary Drum Mixer
Capacity6080m3/h

Cement Supplier
20-0 mm
150-20 mm
Fine Sand
Apron
Feeder

Belt Conveyor with

Belt Scale

Belt Feeder

Belt Conveyor with

Belt Scale

Dump Truck

Concrete Hopper
4m34

Figure 26 Bathing and Mixing Plant (Continuously Mixing Type)

12

sand were added. These materials were weighed on the

belt scale. Also, the water contents of sand and smaller
aggregate were measured on a belt scale and adequate
water was added to obtain VC value of 20 seconds.
The result of the test fill was excellent and cement
content was reduced to 90 kg/m3.
CSG manufactured by the continuously mixing
drum type mixer was stocked in the hopper and a
dump truck transported it from the hopper station to the
dam. The compaction method and other processes
were almost the same as those of RCD except that
surface concrete (conventional concrete with 220
kg/m3 of cement) and bedding mortar were
manufactured at a local private concrete plant. Delay of
concrete supply was not observed.

with other concrete structures. This means that a

trapezoidal concrete dam can utilize even CSG as its
dam body material (Hirose et al., 2001).
On the other hand CSG does have low resistance to
freeze-and-thaw attack and high permeability. Then
conventional concrete should be placed in order to
prevent water leakage at the upstream surface, and in
order to prevent freeze-and-thaw attack at the
downstream surface.
Furthermore, leakage of water from the foundation
rock to the CSG should be prevented. Therefore, the
bottom of the dam along the foundation rock from the
heel of the dam to the drainage holes is covered with
conventional concrete and foundation grouting is
executed.
At the crest level of a CSG dam, 8 to 10m width is
adopted because the transportation of CSG by dump
trucks and the compaction of CSG by vibrating rollers
can be easily done.
Therefore, the typical cross section of a trapezoidal
CSG dam is as shown in Figure 27. Trapezoidal CSG
dams are now at the design stage of the Okukubi Dam
(height = 39 m), Sanru Dam (height = 50 m) and
Hommyogawa Dam (height = 64 m).

6.3. Concept of a trapezoidal CSG dam

A trapezoidal CSG dam is a new type of a dam that
combines a trapezoidal dam and CSG materials.
Conventional concrete gravity dams were usually
designed to satisfy three requirements: resistance
against overturning, resistance against sliding and
allowable compressive strength. In the seismic
coefficient method, middle third condition guarantees
the no tensile stress in the concrete gravity dam. But
under real earthquake conditions, the large tensile
stress is induced in the dam body. So, the compressive
strength of concrete should have much larger than the
allowable stress. However, if the shape of the dam is
trapezoidal with a slope of 0.8 : 1.0, no tensile stress is
induced even by the design earthquake. This means a
large safety factor is unnecessary.
At the same time, the maximum compressive stress
in a concrete gravity dam is relatively low compared

Reference
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Proceeding of ICOLD C,
- T. Yamaguchi, J, Harada, et al. 1985. Construction of Tamagawa
Dam by the RCD method, Proceeding of ICOLD, Q57-R6
- M. Kokubu, S. Shimizu, S. Jojima. 1985. Present stage and
problems of rationalized construction of concrete dams in Japan,
Proceeding of ICOLD, C7
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Temperature cracks in large roller compacted concrete dams,
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Protection Concrete

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CSG

Quality and temperature concrete for Tamagawa RCD Dam,

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Water Stop Concrete

RCD dam bodies, Proceeding of ICOLD, Q62-R9

Structure Concrete
Rich CSG

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Rationalized construction methods for concrete dams in Japan,

Grouting

Proceeding of ICOLD, C9
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Figure 27. Trapezoidal CSG dam

the plane construction method No-joint 170 m layer by the

13

RCD method. Proceeding of ICOLD, C6

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14