Restoration of Dam Components Subjected to Dynamic Loads Using Geosynthetics: A Case Study of Ukai Dam, India

India has been known for having a large number of multipurpose dams. Some dam components are required to be designed for taking hydrodynamic loads. Divide bund or guide bund separating flows from the spillway and the hydropower turbines needs to have an armor that can take care of cyclic loads. In majority of old dams, such protective armors used to be in the form of rubble mound or pitching of suitable thickness. Their deterioration under the effect of trains of water waves required a mandatory periodic repair. Divide bund of Ukai dam of India used to require heavy repairs. It was restored using geosynthetics instead of conventional materials. As a flagship task, its design required to be founded on principles and approaches applied to some other kinds of problems. Promising results of this pilot project have prompted documenting experiences so as to encourage application of geosynthetics in designs of many parts of the dams subjected to hydrodynamic loads and hence this paper.