2.
Topography
and Geology
The
dam is situated in the
Kurobe
Gorge between Mt. Tateyama
and Mt.
Ushiro-Tateyama
of the
Kita Alps
Mountains.
The right
bank is steep to a high
elevation, while the left bank is not
so steep up
to EL.
1400m and becomes
precipitous
above
EL. 1400m. Overburden
is
generally
thin on the right bank
and 50
{0m thickness
up to EL. 1400m on
the
left
bank. As
there are dales downstream
of the both abutments, the ddge
of the abutments
are
relatively thin toward
thrust
lines
of the dam.
Howevet, on the upstream of the
present
site, the
valley
width
is much wider
and the overburden
on
the left
bank is
thicker. And so the dam
site
was
selected
The
dam foundation
is composed mostly
of biolite
granite which
contains biotite weathered
or chloritized and
is
gener-
ally
semi-hard.
The
granite
is pa
ly aplitic and fairly hard in lithology,
but
is partly
greisenized
and
soft.
In-situ
rock tests $rere
conducted by using a unprecedent large
scale test block of 10mr to
ensure the
non-uniformily of
the
rock.
Such test blocks of 25
pieces
were
used for block shear test, rock shear test
and fault
shear test, and as well as
for tdaxial
compression
tests of the rock and the
fault
breccia. The in-situ
tests also involved
seismic
prospecting
tests,
iack
tests and water
chamber tests. Laboratory
rock tests
were also
conducted with smaller
test
pieces.
These
in-site
rock tests of Kurobe Dam
took the initiative
in the field
of rock mechanics
in the world, and
greatly
con-
tributed
to
the study
of the actual behavior of rock mass.
Model tests
were conducted with a 1/90-scale
model
to study the static behavior,
and with a
1/180-scale model to study
the
dynamic
behavior.
Smaller
model
tests of over 40
pieces
were
also conducted with
a 1/500-scale model
for the static
tests
of several types
of the dam with different
shapes
and rupture tests.
Other
laboratory tests included
photoelastic
tests to study
the
behavior of the foundation
rock and to determine the
methods
of the foundation treatment.
4. Design
A dome
in the
centml
portion
of the dam is designed as
a double orvature
arch on the basis
of the
"inclined
arch"
concept.
The inclined
arch was adopted from
the
reason that the foundation rock mass at upper
elevations on both banks is in-
adequate
to
support a large scale dam in view of deformability and strength, and besides the ridges
of the abutments are thin.
Gravity type wing
dam,
with
the axis line almost
perpendicular
to dome axis, was constructed
on both abutments over EL.
1390n.
The
ioint
of the wing dam and the dome is
provided with open slots so that both structures
may behave independently.
5.
Construction
The
excavation
of foundation
rocks,
in total amounting
about 1.3x1ffm3,
was
started from
August,
1958.
Placcement
of mncrete in 3m lift began from September,
1959. The maximum size of aggregates is 180mm.
Compacting
the concrete was done by bulldozers equipped
with
six
vibrators. The
maximum
placement
rate reached as
much
as 147,000m3
a month in August, 1960, and this marked
th€ world record.
The foundation
tTeatment
for
the
fractured
and
other soft zones involved consolidation
grouting
work and replacement of
soft bedrock with
concrete, which amounted to 48,000nf
on the left abutment and 11,000m'on
the
right abutment.
A huge
curtain
grouting
was
pedormed
in the upstream
of the both abutments in order to
prevent
seepage
through the
bedrock.
The
total length of the curtain is 110,000m
and the total
quantity
of
cement
used for the
grouting
amounted
to
16,000t.
6. Filling of
the reservoir
Filling began ftom
October,
1960, about one
year
after
the start of concrete
placing
and
power generation was partially
started from
January, 1961. The.height of the dam
for this intermediate filling
was
120 meters.
The water level
had been
gradually
elevated since then at a
rate of L0-15 mete$ a
year
and reached the normal watet level
in 1969,
ten
years
after the start of water filling and six
years
after the completion
of the dam. The
purpose
of the filling over
such a long
time was to minimize the deformation of
the foundation
rock and to adapt itself
gradually
to the changing load
conditions.
o o20r4050
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UPSTREAM
VIEW
45