Various Types of Dams on the basis of functionalities & structure and design

A dam stands for a hydraulic structure made with somewhat watertight material. Dam is constructed over a river to form a reservoir on its upward side for holding water for different applications like Irrigation, Hydropower, Water-supply, Flood Control, Navigation, Fishing and Recreation. Dam can be categorized as Single-purpose and Multipurpose Dam.

Different parts & jargons of Dams:

? Crest: It denotes the uppermost part of the Dam that is utilized for arranging a roadway or walkway over the dam.
? Parapet walls: Low walls which provide protection on either side of the roadway or walkway on the crest.
? Heel: Part of Dam that touches with ground or river-bed at upstream side.
? Toe: Part of dam that touches with ground or river-bed at downstream side.
? Spillway: It is placed (kind of passage) adjacent to the top of dam for transferring the extra/ excessive water from the reservoir.
? Abutments: The valley slopes on both side of the dam wall to which the left & right end of dam are attached with.

? Gallery: Level or mildly sloping tunnel like passage (small room like space) at transverse or longitudinal inside the dam containing drain on floor for outflow of water. These are usually arranged for accommodating space for boring grout holes and drainage holes. These are also utilized to adjust the instrumentation for reviewing the operation of dam.
? Sluice way: Opening in the dam adjacent to the base and it is placed to clean the sediment that is amassed in the reservoir.
? Free board: The gap among the uppermost level of water in the reservoir and the top of the dam.
? Dead Storage level: Level of perpetual storage underneath which the water will not be reserved.

? Diversion Tunnel: Tunnel is built up to turn or alter the direction of water to evade the dam construction site. The dam is developed when the river runs through the diversion tunnel.

Types of dams: On the basis of functionalities, Dams are categorized as Storage dams, Diversion dams, Detention dams, Debris dams, Coffer dams.

On the basis of structure and design, dams are categorized as gravity dams, earth dams, rockfill dams, arch dams, buttress dams, steel dams, timber dams.

To get detailed information on these types of dams, go through the following link www.civileblog.com/types-of-dams