Design Details Concrete Chute Spillways PDF

DESIGN DETAILS – CONCRETE CHUTE SPILLWAYS
Dr. Paul C. Rizzo, P.E., P.Eng. 1
ABSTRACT
The Oroville Chute Spillway problems of 2017 and subsequent inspections of other
concrete chute spillways have disclosed design details that stem from more than 40 years
of practice that should be improved. Most of the improvements are simple increases in
robustness while others are simply derived from experience with unsatisfactory
performance.
The author addresses such features as
Construction Joints in Slabs

Underdrain Design
Underdrain Exits
Waterstops
Cut-offs at Downstream Edges
Flip Bucket Cut-offs
Rock Preparation
Rooster Tail Impact Areas
Recommended improvements are developed and discussed.
INTRODUCTION
The Oroville Chute Spillway problems of 2017 and subsequent inspections of other
concrete chute spillways have disclosed design details that stem from more than 40 years
of practice that should be improved. Most of the improvements are simple increases in
robustness while others are simply derived from experience with unsatisfactory
performance. A list of “deficiencies” observed at a number of concrete chute spillways
includes the following that could be improved during design to improve the overall
robustness of the structure.
• Construction Joints in Slabs

• Underdrain Design and Underdrain Exits
• Waterstops
• Cut-offs at Downstream Edges
• Flip Bucket Cut-offs
• Rock Preparation
• Rooster Tail Impact Areas
1
Chief Technology Officer, RIZZO International, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA, paul.rizzo@rizzointl.com
Copyright © 2019 U.S. Society on Dams. All Rights Reserved. 1

CONSTRUCTION JOINTS IN SLABS AND WATERSTOPS
Shown below is a typical design detail which, generally speaking, has been used many
times over in the design of construction joints in chute slabs.
Figure 1. Typical Design Detail
We offer the following comments:
• The 1-5/8” lip at the joint is an all-important detail, which is often ignored by the
contractor and either missed or also ignored by the inspector.
• It is my experience that a 6 inch- 2 bulb waterstop should be upgraded to a 10

inch- 2 bulb waterstop, or at least to a dimension closer to the slab thickness, in
this case 12 inches. Furthermore, it should be applied at all joints, not at just a
select few.
• I also note that I have witnessed a number of older designs with no waterstops
whatsoever. This is not an acceptable practice and in my view, an owner having a
spillway without waterstops should correct the situation.
• The 3 inch cover on the top of the slab should be increased to allow for erosion of
the concrete on the surface, probably up to 5 inches depending on how often the
spillway is expected to be used.
• The overall thickness of 12 inches is minimal; thicknesses closer to 24 inches are

becoming much more common but admittedly, computational models supported
by field experience are lacking.
ROCK PREPARATION
Evidence, actually more anecdotal than critically documented except for the Oroville
case, has shown that rock preparation has not always been consistent with the intent of
the designer. Often, a contractor being in a rush or lacking a contractual means of being

paid for the extra rock-cleaning effort where required tends to reduce the effort,
especially at joint and fissures that extend several feet below the level of the spillway
slab. In our view, the preparation of the rock for a spillway chute should be as
comprehensive as that done for a gravity dam on rock. Cleanup tools should include air
lances, water lances, miniature excavators and treatment with high strength concrete to
fill voids, fissures and joints once the deleterious material has been removed as illustrated
on the following photos.
Figure 2. Initial Cleanup of a Rock Foundation
Figure 3. Final Cleanup of a Rock Foundation with Air Lances and Vacuums

Figure 4 below indicates typical details to be used for rock preparation. This set of
details originated with the US Bureau of Reclamation and has been modified, improved
upon and added to by practitioners over the years.
Figure 4. Rock Preparation Details
A recent issue encountered by the Author is what mix should be used for the dental
concrete. I had strongly recommended that the dental concrete should have strength and
compliance characteristics comparable to the country rock, a relatively hard
metamorphosed sandstone. On the other hand, my counterpart argued that the dental
concrete should have the properties of the concrete in the dam, in this case medium
strength Roller Compacted Concrete. Of course, this difference resulted in hours of back
and forth discussion
ANCHORING THE CHUTE TO ROCK
Designers occasionally anchor the Chute Slab to rock with unstressed dowels (not
anchors per se) as illustrated typically in Figure 5 below:

Figure 5. Typical Dowel for Chute Slab
In this example the concrete chute is anchored with dowels (#8’s with a 1 foot 3 inches,
90 degree hook over the reinforcing steel layer, embedded 6 foot on a 6 foot by 8 foot
pattern). The analytics used to support the bar size and embedment depth are not refined.
Heavy reliance on professional experience and what a contractor can do on a reasonable
schedule are often governing design.
We comment that all concrete spillway slabs on rock should be doweled to rock, not just
over limited areas. The design should be based on a conservative estimate of uplift
pressures, “drag” forces, and any other force that might cause the slab to move, such as
an adjacent structure or chute block or an adjacent landslide. This is a case where our
lack of knowledge has to be counteracted by conservativeness.
UNDERDRAIN DESIGN AND UNDERDRAIN EXITS
Most concrete chute spillways have an underdrain system to relieve uplift and to allow
for capture of flow thru the underlying rock where it was not sealed during the rock
preparation phase of construction, Estimating the uplift pressure is difficult and is an
effort parallel to designing the dowels mentioned above. Robust analytical models are
lacking and therefore the profession has to use conservativeness to counteract our lack of
knowledge. Generally speaking, the author suggests that the uplift to be accommodated
by the dowels and underdrain system is a multiple of the depth of water in the chute
during upset flow conditions.
An important detail in the design of the underdrainage system is the exit point of the
drains. Often in the past the designer exited the underdrain flow into the spillway on the
belief that the underdrain flow would mix with the spillway flow and differential
pressures would be minimal.
We comment that this not a sound practice and the exit points should be down at the toe
of the spillway, somewhat oversized, continuous, and basically free of “elbows,” and Tee

sections. The drains should have cleanouts and provisions for video monitoring and
“pigs” for cleaning, plus covering screens to discourage burrowing animals.
CHUTE WALLS
The side walls of the spillway chute are generally reinforced concrete rising up several
tens of feet in some designs. These should be conservatively designed. In some cases,
designing the walls is appropriate with at-rest lateral earth pressure and full hydrostatic
pressure even though most load cases would not call for such parameters or combinations
thereof. But this is an example of what we mean by conservative design to achieve
robustness. The design of the chute walls should have a drainage system that does not
rely solely on weep holes into the spillway for pressure relief.
FLIP BUCKET CUT-OFFS AND ROOSTER TAIL IMPACT AREAS
We comment on these two features as they are at the downstream of the spillway chute,
but both can contribute to undermining the chute if not properly designed. Quite often the
rock at the downstream end of the chute is not nearly as competent as the rock beneath
the spillway, and may be weathered, even to residual soil.
Consequently, the flip bucket design should include a cut-off wall constructed well into
the foundation rock.--I have seen vertical concrete walls slotted into rock and drilled
piers. If drilled piers are used, they should be secant-type wall or a tangent-type wall. The
main design consideration should be continuity and robustness,
In some situations or with certain flow conditions, the rooster tail coming off the spillway
flip bucket can impact the rock bottom and erode back to undermine the spillway.
Weathered rock will erode rapidly and reach back to the flip bucket. Such cases call for
the impact area to be paved.
CONCLUSION
The profession has learned a great deal through the last decade about spillway
performance and the impact of spillway design details. The author has had the benefit of
seeing and inspecting a number of concrete chute spillways and their design deviancies.
Many of the deficiencies are derived from the profession’s lack of refined models and the
use of “rules of thumb” which are not valid for the situation where they are being applied.

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DESIGN DETAILS – CONCRETE CHUTE SPILLWAYS

Dr. Paul C. Rizzo, P.E., P.Eng. 1

The author addresses such features as

Construction Joints in Slabs

Recommended improvements are developed and discussed.

• Construction Joints in Slabs

Copyright © 2019 U.S. Society on Dams. All Rights Reserved. 1

Figure 1. Typical Design Detail

We offer the following comments:

• It is my experience that a 6 inch- 2 bulb waterstop should be upgraded to a 10

• The overall thickness of 12 inches is minimal; thicknesses closer to 24 inches are

Copyright © 2019 U.S. Society on Dams. All Rights Reserved. 2

Figure 2. Initial Cleanup of a Rock Foundation

Copyright © 2019 U.S. Society on Dams. All Rights Reserved. 3

Figure 4. Rock Preparation Details

ANCHORING THE CHUTE TO ROCK

Copyright © 2019 U.S. Society on Dams. All Rights Reserved. 4

UNDERDRAIN DESIGN AND UNDERDRAIN EXITS

Copyright © 2019 U.S. Society on Dams. All Rights Reserved. 5

FLIP BUCKET CUT-OFFS AND ROOSTER TAIL IMPACT AREAS

Copyright © 2019 U.S. Society on Dams. All Rights Reserved. 6

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