Lechago dam: a case study

Abstract

Lechago dam (Teruel, Spain) is a 40 m high zoned earth and rockfill dam founded on soft continental deltaic deposits. A relatively narrow central clay core is stabilized by wide rockfill shoulders. The dam was completed in January 2009 and impounding will probably start at the beginning of 2011. The dam was well instrumented and continuous records of stress development, pore water pressures and horizontal and vertical displacements are available for the construction period. The clay core material was investigated by means of tests performed on compacted specimens of Tertiary clays. Rockfill samples were excavated in outcrops of highly fractured Cambrian quartzitic shale. In the years to follow the dam design, an extensive testing program on compacted rockfill gravels was conducted under Relative Humidity control in large diameter oedometer and triaxial cells. The results of this research have been reported in a number of papers. A coupled FE model has been developed to analyze the dam behaviour during construction. Model predictions, essentially based on laboratory tests, are compared with measurements during construction.