A Simplified Calculation Method of Seepage Flux for Slope-Wall Rock-Fill Dams with a Horizontal Blanket

Seepage flux is very important in many hydraulic projects such as in the upper reservoir of a pumped storage power station because of its effect on economic benefits. However, upper reservoirs with a relatively high altitude are generally located above the groundwater level; thus, their leakage is difficult to estimate accurately. Here, using steady seepage theory and Darcy’s law, we propose a simplified calculation method to estimate the leakage of slope-wall rock-fill dams with a horizontal blanket. Using a one-dimensional governing equation for unsaturated seepage flows with the assumption of porous continuous media, formulas are derived for calculating the seepage flux of the dam in a steady state with different groundwater levels, which are mainly divided into two situations: those that are lower or higher than the bottom of the horizontal blanket. Then, two engineering examples are developed to assess the proposed method; the relative errors between the analytical results and numerical results are less than 10%. The results obtained from other analytical methods introduced by other researchers are also compared with our numerical results. The comparison results show that the proposed method is reliable and can be used for the estimation of reservoir leakage in situations where rapid results are needed, such as benefit assessments and safety evaluations.