ABSTRACT
Buttress dams consist of two principal structural elements: (1) a sloping upstream deck that supports the water, and (2) the buttresses or vertical walls that support the deck and transmit the load to the foundation. According to the structure of the dam deck, one can distinguish three basic types of buttress dams (Fig. 19.1): (a) buttress dams with a massive head, formed by means of flaring the buttress on the upstream face; (b) buttress dams with a flat-slab deck; and (c) buttress dams with thin curved multiple-arch deck. In addition to the slabs and buttresses, as additional structural elements, there can also be used longitudinal beams (5) for stiffening and bracing the buttresses. Sometimes there is also constructed a foundation slab (6) below the entire dam, provided with drainage openings (7) for eliminating the uplift pressure.
