Hrb Waldbärenburg : First Rcc Dam Experience in Germany

SUMMARY No RCC dams have been built in Germany to date. HRB Waldbärenburg could be the first one. This project is part of the national flood control programme of the Federal State of Saxony in Germany and will go into the approval procedure at the end of 2012. The RCC dam technology has been chosen as it provides environmental advantages against other design alternatives: essential lower impacts in nature and scenery, shorter time of construction and a better ecological continuity through the dam. An overview of the general time schedule and further steps leading to the final implementation of the project are presented in this paper. Some challenging aspects that need to be faced during the design and construction of this 40m-high dam are the short target RCC construction period-3 months– and the relatively extreme environmental conditions at the site during winter time. A preliminary evaluation on a possible dam layout and construction planning has been outlined and is presented here. In addition a discussion on potential suitable materials and RCC mixes has been initiated. The use of a high fly-ash RCC mix concept has been proposed to reduce the heat generated in the concrete mass and to extend the setting time of the mix. A preliminary thermal and structural analysis has already been developed showing the sensitivity of various parameters in the dam design.