Grouting Concrete Dams

Repair and rehabilitation of aging concrete dams has been undertaken using various techniques in recent years. Removal and replacement of deteriorated sections of a concrete dam is often the method used when major rehabilitation measures are undertaken to upgrade an entire project. This method often involves installation of grouted anchors to improve bonding of old and new concrete. Typically, these repairs are made for improvement of safety for gate piers, spillway surfaces or mass concrete non­overflow sections near and above normal water surface where deterioration is most pronounced or for aesthetic reasons. An additional and sometimes alternative measure which has been used to seal leakage, arrest deterioration and improve stability is chemical or cement grouting. Two concrete dams which had leakage through construction or lift joints or through the mass of the masonry structure were treated by chemical and cement grouting techniques without undertaking removal and replacement of any of the concrete mass of the structure. This paper briefly discusses the techniques used in chemical grouting of concrete at Soda Dam and cement grouting of masonry at Boyd's Dam.