Title: The Round-Head Buttress Dam

Author(s): Fred A. Noetzli

Publication: Journal Proceedings

Volume: 29

Issue:

Appears on pages(s): 161-181

Keywords: none

Date: 11/1/1932

Abstract:
Describes a buttress t pressure is supported pe of dam in which the water By buttresses whose upstream portion is enlarged laterally into bulb-shaped heads joined with the buttress heads of the adjacent units thus providing a continuous upstream face for the structure. The buttress head of each unit has such a shape that the water pressure is transmitted through it into the buttress wall by direct compression. The dam functions substantially in the same manner as an ordi- nary gravity dam and the desi in principle similar to that o f n of a buttress unit is a vertical slice of a structure of the conventional gravity type. Typical de- signs are given for buttress units of 35, 50, and 60-ft spans along the water face, suitable for dams from 75 to 350 ft high. A short description is given of the Don Martin round head buttress dam built in Mexico.