Review of the book “Ust-Khantaika dam” [1]

Abstract

The book under consideration is devoted to the extremely critical and real problem of constructing dams from earthen materials in the Far North. This problem has very abruptly confronted builders, designers, and researchers in connection with the extensive nationaleconomic exploitation of the north and northeast regions. The publication of this book, which is comparatively small in volume but filled with factual data, is therefore extremely useful.The book is written by persons who participated in the construction of the complex layout of engineering structures making up the Ust-Khantaika hydroelectric plant and contains a description of the basic structural solutions and new technological procedures employed in raising the dam. In this case, the authors attempted to analyze this experience, compare it with available domestic and foreign construction experience, and state the basic nodal problems that still require further development and study. The orderly format of the book and clear-cut accounting on a good engineering level promote utilization of the perused material.The first two chapters are devoted to a description of construction conditions and general information about the hydraulic facility and to the special features of the structural solutions adopted for the dams, whose foundation is composed of both rock (the channel dam) and loose thawed soil with inclusions of permafrost lenses (the right-bank terrace dam).The third chapter, which, in our opinion, is one of the most interesting, presents data on procedures for preparing cohesive soils for placement in the antiseepage components of the dams. The principal method employed to prepare cohesive soils for winter placement in the body of the dam was first developed and implemented during construction of the Viluisk hydroelectric plant; however, certain natural climatic characteristics of the region encompassing the Ust-Khantalka plant required changes in a number of technological operations, which are outlined in detail in this chapter. In the Far North where the useful stratum of quarries is extremely thin and usually limited to the seasonal-thaw layer, and the soils themselves are of poor quality in terms of gradation and are frequently saturated, the construction of an earth dam from a quarry operation is virtually impossible.