PLANNING AND DESIGN CRITERIA FOR PROTECTION DAMS

AGAINST DEBRIS FLOWS

Milton A. Kanji *, Paulo T. Cruz *, and Faiçal Massad *

*
Escola Politécnica, Universidade de São Paulo
Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
e-mail: milton.kanji@gmail.com

Keywords: Dams, Debris Flows, Design Criteria

Abstract. The paper covers the criteria for the planning and design of dams for the control
of debris flows with the purpose of protection of population and infrastructure installations
vulnerable to their occurrence.
With respect to the planning, the several types of dams for the control of debris flows are
mentioned as well as their functions and optimal location. The criteria for their design is also
presented and discussed, such as discharge capacity, erosion control, stability analysis,
impact forces, etc. Some inedited non-conventional ancillary structures are presented.
Finally, the paper describes a pioneer application of control dams and protection works at
an important Petrobrás refinery at Cubatão, Brazil, hit by catastrophic debris flows in 1994
and their behavior up to date.

1 INTRODUCTION.

Debris Flows are among the most destructive natural disasters. They consist of large
masses of water, mud, stones and big boulders travelling downslope along rivers and creeks
with high velocities, sometimes as much as 10 to 15 m/s. The volumes of the masses may
reach millions of cubic meters. The larger boulders float on the mass and concentrates in the
front of the wave. Very frequently they also include trees and logs. Only when the riverbed
decreases their slope the mass decelerates and starts to deposit.
In their travel they erode the river bed and margins and destroy vulnerable structures on
their way. In populated regions debris flows may cause great number of causalities. Some
extreme cases triggered by intense rains are Caraguatatuba (Brazil, 1967) with about 600
deaths and Venezuela (1999) with estimated 30,000 deaths and lost people.
In tropical regions they are triggered by heavy and intense rains. In arid but seismic zones
they may be started by earthquakes, and in cold countries the instability may be caused by
snow avalanches or slides. In all cases they occur in slopes of medium to high declivity where
there is material that can be removed: thick residual soil, tallus or colluvium, loose rocks,
snow, trees, etc.
Some measures are taken to prevent or to mitigate the undesirable effects of debris flows
but the most effective one is the settlement of dams for their control, which is the main focus
of this paper.

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TYPES AND FUNCTIONS OF DAMS AND AUXILIARY STRUCTURES FOR

DEBRIS FLOWS.

The basic objectives of the works for debris flows control aims at the decrease of the
energy of the mass, to avoid erosion, to retain solids, and to conduct the liquid flow to main
streams. For each main drainage channel in a hydraulic basin subjected to debris flow the type
of dam depends on the desired function. Therefore, the dam types may vary along the
drainage channel or creek, and of the accessibility to the site. Normally the structures to
decrease the energy are sited upstream where the debris flow is started and the creek is more
inclined, the dams for retention of sand and stones in the middle part, and the deposition and
sedimentation of fines in the lower portion of the creek and of the reach of the flow.
Basically the dams or retaining structures and other auxiliary elements may be divided into
the following functions:
- Separation of larger boulders to decrease the destruction potential
- Decrease the energy of the flow current
- Retain solids but allowing the liquid phase to pass
- Deviation or screening structures
- Accumulation basin to sediment fines
- Channels to conduct the liquid flow to rivers
Some of the examples shown were built at the Petrobrás Refinery at Cubatão, Brazil,
RPBC, for control of debris flows, designed by the authors. The site had been affected by a
large debris flow in 1994 triggered by a 40mm per hour rains, causing the interruption of the
operations for two weeks, with a loss of about US$ 40 million. Other examples were selected
from registers taken during the authors visit to workings in Japan and in Austria.

2.1 Separation of large boulders.

This type of structure aims at retain large boulders at the start of the debris flow, and its
structure can consist of a layer of steel bars or rails or even concrete beams over which the
flow passes, retaining the large boulders but letting the more fluid phase to pass between the
bars.
Very commonly the steel grid structure is used to “sieve” the flow, retaining the large
fragments allowing the flow to pass through it. A typical example is shown in Photo 1. More
recently flexible steel cables barrier as the one shown in Photo 2 have been developed to
retain larger fragments letting smaller ones and letting pass the liquid phase, with the
additional advantage to absorb the debris flow energy.

Photo 1. Grid structure to separate large Photo 2. Flexible steel cables dam retaining
stones from the current flow in Austria. material from a debris flow (www.geobrugg.com)

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 Milton A. Kanji*, Paulo T. Cruz*, Faiçal Massad*

2.2 Fixing the riverbed.

Small concrete dams as the one shown in Photo 3 avoid the removal of material from the
river bed upstream.
Another unconventional structure is the “stone collar”, taking advantage of the presence on
the river bed of large boulders from previous debris flows, which can be drilled across and
linked together by steel cables within plastic hoses grouted in order to prevent corrosion,
anchored in the margins. A typical one is depicted in Photo 4. The stone collar is a flexible
structure that retains large boulders letting pass the rest of the flow.

Photo 3: Upstream View of a small dam to Photo 4. Stone collars across a creek (RPBC).
protect the river bed from material removal
upstream (RPBC).

2.3 Decrease of the debris flows energy.

The most common structure for this purpose is the “slotted structure”, which divide the
incoming flow into several smaller ones. The structure shown in Photo 5 has upstream face
inclined in a concave shape to deflect upwards the flow, which also decreases the flow energy
and velocity. The small dam shown in Photo 5 is designed to reduce the river bed removal. A
variety of other types of structures with the same purpose can be found elsewhere.

Photo 5. Slotted dam built at the Pedras Creek (RPBC).

2.4 Retention of Coarse Material.

These types of dams must retain coarse material but also must let pass the liquid phase
with small pebbles, sand and clay. They may be structures of the type of gravity dams with a
central part as spillway, both continuous or with spaces or holes.

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 Milton A. Kanji*, Paulo T. Cruz*, Faiçal Massad*

When the site can be accessed by construction equipment and materials, the dam may be of
the concrete type, either reinforced or mass concrete. If the dam is of mass concrete, it works
as a gravity dam with holes to allow the liquid phase to pass, retaining the coarse material, as
the ones shown in Photos 6 and 7. The dam also breaks the energy of the flow.
Differently from the other gravity dam which has the downstream face inclined, for debris
flows control the gravity dam has the downstream face vertical. This is to allow the flow of
water and smaller stones to drop vertically avoiding erosion of the concrete. Therefore, it
must have sufficient volume to be stable against sliding and toppling. To decrease the flow
energy and to avoid erosion downstream the dams must have a stilling basin formed by a
“subdam” downstream to dissipate hydraulic energy and/or a slab of adequate length.

Photo 6. Concrete gravity dam with holes at Photo 7. Reinforced concrete dam with lower hollow
RPBC. to allow drainage and slab at the spillway (Austria)

In regions where steel is more available than concrete, a reinforced concrete structure is
preferred, and it may have the shape of a wall in diverse forms, also with open areas to let the
liquid phase to pass, as the example shown in Photo 8.

Photo 8. A structure to retain coarse Photo 9. Steel frame dam and downstream slab
material allowing the flow of the liquid built on alluvial foundation.
phase in Austria.

In regions of difficult access to materials and building equipment, the dam may be
constructed with the stones found on the river bed placed inside steel framed structures,
which can be transported in parts or by helicopters and assembled in place. An example of
such structures is shown in Photo 9. One advantage of such type of structure is its flexibility,
allowing to deform along the deformation of the foundation. For this reason, it can be used on
sandy alluvial areas, provided there is an adequate downstream slab to avoid erosion.
All of these retention dams must have sufficient volume of their reservoir for the estimated
volume of coarse solids, and must be cleaned after filled by one or more event. If not cleaned,
they have only a minor effect in breaking the energy of the flow.

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2.5 Reservoir to cause sedimentation and deposition of finer solids.

The larger volume of the debris flow will be the liquid phase which must be retained in
reservoirs large enough to accommodate most of the estimated volume of material. These
reservoirs are normally in the lower portion of the flow. A dam is required to create the
required volume of accumulation as well as a spillway to discharge slowly the liquid phase.
Since there is a spillway, the dam can be of any type. The pebbles, sand and clay accumulated
also must be removed when the reservoir is full, to allow space to the next events, wince they
are periodical.
The large amount of trees and branches that come with the flow may be retained at the
spillway entrance and may clog it, allowing overtopping and inundation of the downstream
area to be protected. In order to avoid this fact, two usual measure are taken: (i) a grid
structure or an open fence, as the one consisting of rails tied to a concrete slab shown in
Photo 10, and (ii) log booms made with floaters on steel cables across the reservoir upstream
of the spillway, as shown in Photo 11 depicting a retention reservoir.

Photo 10. A fence of rails embedded in a concrete Photo 11. Log booms before the spillway in a
slab at the entrance of a deposition reservoir at deposition Reservoir at RPBC.
RPBC.

2.6 Complementary structures.

Some other auxiliary structures may be employed in the control of debris flows. In their
way at the upstream portion of the event, the erosion caused by the flow can be minimized by
installing rockfills of large stones partially filled with concrete at the margins, as the one
shown in Photo 12.
In the case of concrete dams where the river bed is alluvium, an unconventional measure
was used downstream of the B5 dam at RPBC, consisting of a layer of 1m cubic gabions tied
together by steel chains or cables, allowing flexibility of the ensemble. The first lines are fully
cemented gabions, the next lines are of gabions intercalated with spaces with steel bars in the
form of stars or “asterisks” (*) to collet stones, followed by steel stars tied by chains to the
ensemble of gabions. This installation, presented in Photo 13, has endured very well some 20
years of operation.
Concrete or lined channels are required to conduct the liquid flow of water with some
remaining silt and clay to the neighbor rivers.

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 Milton A. Kanji*, Paulo T. Cruz*, Faiçal Massad*

Photo 12. Rockfill of large stones Photo 13. Ensemble of gabions and steel stars to
superficially filled with concrete. control erosion of alluvium downstream of concrete
dam B5 at RPBC.

3 PARAMETERS REQUIRED FOR THE DAMS DESIGN.

A complete presentation of occurrence, control structures and parameters of the debris

flows is contained in Massad et al. (2003)1, Cruz et al (2003)2 and Kanji et al. (2003)3. Here
the most important parameters required for the design of such control dams are mentioned.

3.1 Triggering rains.

Based on the back analysis of several cases of rains and events of landslides and debris
flows Kanji et al (1997)4 established a critical line which define the probable triggering of
landslides, that can be expressed by the following equation:
P = 22,4 (t) 0.41 (1)
in which P is the accumulated rainfall, in millimetres (starting after a dry period), and t is the
corresponding period of time, in hours. The Zone A in Figure 1 corresponds to simple or only
a few landslides. Other curves define the area where multiple landslides occur in the area,
with possibility of occurrence of debris flows, corresponding to Zone B, and the Zone C
corresponds to landslides of catastrophic consequences, always accompanied by debris flows.

Figure 1. Graph of accumulated rainfall with time indicating

zones A for landslides, B for severe and multiple landslides and
C for catastrophic landslides and debris flows.

3.2 Peak discharges

Similarly, to hydrographs for the case of water discharges, it is necessary to adopt a

“debrisgraph” for the debris flow. In empirical observations it is concluded that the peak
discharge of a debris flow can be 10 to 20 times larger, but the time interval will be 1/30 to

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1/60 times smaller when compared to that of water. To the authors' knowledge there are no
mathematical formulae to build a "debrisgraph" because it may vary quite widely from site to
site and also because the theoretical assumptions so difficult to obtain that the result may be
questionable.
Massad et al. (1997)5 related the basin area A, the rain intensity in the preceding hour and
the solid concentration to propose the following formula, that matched well with empirical
data:
2
qT   A  I1 (2)
(1  c)
Anyhow a ´peak discharge must be adopted, and the peak discharge has to be decreased
progressively by the diverse types of structures above mentioned.
The concentration of solids “c” is defined as a proportion of the volume of solids VS to the
total volume VT. According to Takahashi (1991 and 2007)6,7 it may range from 30% to 54%
for debris flows but it is usually assumed to be about 50% solids to 50% liquid phase.
Therefore, only the volume of solids is to be retained.

3.3 Estimation of the accumulation volume to be retained.

Many authors have tried to correlate the peak discharge qT with the total volume of debris-
flows VT. Massad et al. (2003)1, based on the data presented by Takahashi (1991)6 derived
the following equation, relating the peak discharge qT with the volume VT of the debris flow:
VT  500  qT (3)
Combining equations (2) and (3), Massad et al (2003)1 proposed the following expressions
to estimate the total volume and the of solids of the potential debris flow, as a function of the
basin area (A, in km2) and the rainfall intensity accumulated in the hour that precede the
event (I1, in mm/h), and the solids concentration:
1000
VT   A  I1 (4)
(1  c)
and:
1000  c
VS   A  I1 (5)
1  c
The total volume of a debris flow may be estimated from the slip area Ae in a basin that
feeds a debris flows and the porosity n of the soil in its natural condition (usually ranging
from 30% to 50%), adopting the thickness of the translational slides in 1m, according to the
following expression proposed by Massad (2002)8:
I 1'
Ae  (6)
1   
3.4 Velocity and impact forces.

The velocity may be computed by Rickenman’s (1995)9 formula as:

g 0 ,2
v  1,3  sen 0 ,2 (  )  q00 ,6  (7)
0 ,4
d 50
where  is the slope; g, the acceleration of gravity; d50, the average grain size; and qo, the
specific discharge flow, given by:
Qo
qo  (8)
b
b is the channel width and Qo is the 100 year estimated water discharge for the basin.
Equation (8) has given reasonable values in back analysis of debris-flows.

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According to Cruz et al. (2003)2, the impact forces and the pressure acting on the dam face
can be estimated by the expression:
F    A   v2 / g (9)
where is a coefficient that varies from 1 to 2; v, the velocity; , the density of the debris-flow
 (unit weight); g, the acceleration of gravity and A, the area of impact.

4 DESIGN ASSUMPTIONS AND CRITERIA.

The dams, concrete or steel frame, are designed statically, according to the current
practice, with the inclusion of impact forces. The dissipation basins and the "subdams" are
designed according to the usual principles of hydraulics, assuming a rainfall intensity
associated to some period of recurrence. In this way, the inflow and the outflow peak
discharges may be evaluated.

5 CONCLUSIONS.

Debris flows are one of the most destructive natural disasters and people and vulnerable
structures must be protected against their terrible effects. The protection structures are mostly
dams to hold solid material letting the water pass. As any other dam, the design will require
parameters related to peak discharge, volumes of solids and water, velocities, impact forces
and suitable foundation. Maintenance is required after a debris flow, mainly to remove the
solids retained behind the dams.
After the site of the Petrobrás large refinery (RPBC) at Cubatão, Brazil, was hit in 1994 by
la large debris flows, proper debris flows control has been achieved in the area with the work
of these authors. Theoretical formulae besides tentative empirical formulae based on
precedents were used in the design of the dams built there, that are performing well up to
nowadays.

REFERENCES

[1] Massad, F., Cruz, P. T., Kanji, M. A. and Araújo Filho, H. A. - Prediction of Peak
Discharge and Volume of Sediments of Debris Flows Generated by Slope Failures, Panam.
Conf. Soil Mech and Geotech. Eng., Boston, USA, 6pp (2003)
[2] Cruz, P. T. , Massad, F., Kanji, M. A. and Araújo Filho, H. A. - Control Works for
Debris Flow Protection Near an Oil Refinery in Cubatão, Brazil, Panam. Conf. Soil Mech
and Geotech. Eng., Boston, USA, 6pp (2003)
[3] Kanji, M. A., Cruz, P. T., Massad, F. and Araújo Filho, H. A. - Triggering Conditions
and Assessment of Susceptibility of Debris Flow Occurrence, Panam. Conf. Soil Mech and
Geotech. Eng., Boston, USA, 6pp (2003)
[4] Kanji, M. A., Cruz, P. T., Massad, F., Araújo Filho, H. A. - Basic and common
characteristics of debris flows, 2nd. Panam. Symp. Landslides / 2º COBRAE, Rio de Janeiro,
1:223-231 (1997).
[5] Massad F, Cruz P.T, Kanji M A and Araujo Filho H A de (1997), Comparison between
estimated and measured debris flow discharges and volume of sediments. 2nd Panam. Symp.
Landslides / 2º COBRAE, Rio de Janeiro, Vol 1: 213-222 (1997).
[6] Takahashi T. (1991): Debris-flows. Monograph Series, Balkema, 165 pp.
[7] Takahashi T, (2007): Debris flow: Mechanics, Prediction and Countermeasures. Taylor
and Francis Goup, London, UK, 448 pp.