This important research gap and the need for safety assessment of hydropower dams strongly motivates this project, where emphasis will be on the degradation processes of grout curtains in fractured rock, aiming to understand how hydrodynamic and geochemical processes control the grout degradation in fractured rock foundations of Swedish hydropower dams. This project aims to increase dam safety through a better understanding of the coupled processes of groundwater flow and geochemistry and their impact on hydropower dams, thereby enabling the determination of present state and prediction of when and where remedial actions may be needed.
project:
Jan 2023
Dec 2027
Ongoing
Hydrogeochemical impacts on hydropower dams
To determine the current and future safety level of dams, it is crucial to understand the degradation of grout curtains, rock bolts, drainage systems, and uplift pressure. Most previous studies and research projects in dam safety analysis have focused on mechanical analysis or permeability analysis, monitoring, alarm limits or remedial grouting. However, the impact of interacting hydrogeological and geochemical processes on the degradation of grout curtains in fractured bedrock beneath hydroelectric dams has not yet been comprehensively studied.
