The original Oroville dam spillway has a major design flaw. This spillway has no provisions for thermal expansions-contractions due to temperature fluctuations. This spillway does rest on soil which will also create friction. A free floating or standing concrete wall is free to expand or contract.

This constant shifting does exert much strain in to the concrete and the re-bars especially during

contractions. During contraction the concrete and the re-bars go in to tension, re-bars undergo “necking” and ultimately tear apart. Cracking in the concrete will occur, water will enter, re-bars will corrode and expand further intensifying the problem. Water flow through the cracks will washout soil creating cavities. Such cavities will weaken the concrete slab and the throbbing water during a spillway discharge will then ultimately cause a slab upheave – and here we have then the damage result .

The above original drawing has a construction problem due to the cavities between the existing spillways and the new one.

The intent is to use the existing spillway as a form for the new panel.

The new shotcrete panel will be reinforced with 6x6x1/4" wire mesh and glass fibers.

The new panel can expand or contract on top of the existing (old) spillway slab see drawing details.

The new panel also has an incline change near the end section, this change will throw the water flow upward, inject air and make the water fluffier and therefore reduce friction to the new panels as well - less friction = lesser tension loads.

Not all details shown; i.e. water protection at the base of the spillway, debris and rebound removal,

scaffolding, drilling for anchor posts, slip pan at slip joints, concrete cu yards and steel reinforcement, material delivery and others. Estimated construction time three months…

Designed by

Rudy Niederer Oroville Dam_02

Oroville CA DamSpillway

The original concept – please see the revised plans.

Des by R.N.Oroville DamCAD drawing

15°1

''

6x6x.25" welded wire mesh.We used this application atthe S Cal Florence Lake Dam.(Big Creek system)

180'

New floatingspillwaypanel

Bed Rock

Overburden

Anchor posts in to bed rock

Anchor posts in to bed rock

Slip joint over lap 6 feet

10 segments are needed

306'6'

770'

3000'

Oroville CA dam main spillway corrections.The originally built spillway is 3000 feet long and has no expansion joint possibilities. Thisold design does strain the spillway slab to enormous tensile stress.

The design below does address this problem with the sub floating panels. The new floatingpanels will be on top of the old spillway. The anchor posts will penetrate the bed rock andprevent a downward slip.

This design does solve the thermal coefficient expansion-contraction action. A contactbarrier between the old and the new slab must be installed. "Not to scale, illustrative only"

New Oroville spillway panels. The new panels are in segments of 300 feet lengths and rest on top of the existing spillway. The new panels provide thermal expansion and contraction allowance, thus reduce

cracking in the concrete and possible failure of the spillway.

Oroville Dam_02

Slope change area

Bed Rock

OverburdenAnchor posts in to bed rock

Slip joint over lap 2 feet

10 segments are needed

Some details at the panel overlap. Note; at this point the upper panel will slip up or down over the next lower panel. There is a slight slope

change just above the panel lip. This will reduce the water pressure at the 2 foot lip section because the water will shoot over the lip.

6"

2"

2'

2x 6 MIL plastic sheathingto reduce frictionbetween old spillwayand new panel

Existing spillway slab

New reinforced, steel and fibershotcrete panel, panelthickness not determined Opening in existing spillway

panel where the posts will be,no continuous openingacross the existing spillway.

Median clearance 6"thermal expansion up to3" per panel, will varydepending on concreteaggregate type.

Oroville Dam_04Des by R.N.

Side view of spillway wall. Note the clean out opening, this is to flush out possible sand accumulation over a period of time. The covers are to prevent

animal intrusion – openings are on both sides. Access shaft not shown.

Oroville Dam_05Des by R.N.

New panelsat back of wall

Spillway side wall

Clean out openingwith cover platenot shown

Cross sectional view with solutions for the new spillway construction; note the addition of the water throw return. Not to scale.

Existing spillway wall and spillway

New floating panel

Buffer membrane on each side

New extended side wall with water throw return,this will reduce erosion outside the spillway wall.

Oroville Dam_03Des by R.N.

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Oroville DamPhoto_02

Drill holes for blastingillustrative only

Sec one

Sec two

Sec three

Explanation for an economical solution for the lower segment of the Oroville spillway upgrade. Slope in filled area may vary. Rock material will be covered with concrete and later where needed reinforced with wire mesh. Wall on NE

bank is not shown in this drawing exhibit. Not to scale.

Spillway elevation

Exposed granite

15°'

Blasting drill hole angle

Northeast bank

Southwest bank

x

Blast material throw

x

Filled in area

General diagram outlineDes by R.N.Oroville Dam_06

New and wider lower spillway section

xx

Concretedeck

Additional solutions for the spillway upgrade

Single overturn ending at theTermalito Diversion Pool.Lower flow velocity will reducepool wash impacts

Create a two way overturn pool forwater flow acceleration brakeand impact dampening.There will be no rock mill in the pool.Weep holes not shown.

Control gate area

Current spilway break

New vertical reinforcedconcrete wall with rockbolts as needed.Drop elevation notspecified.

Heavy duty plunge poolto resist water flow impacts atall flow rates

Possible plan to repair the current Oroville Main Spillway

Possible additional pool - sas shown above, dependingon slope degree angle.Creating additional pools willlower the slope degrees andreduce flow velocity.

Oroville Dam_06aDes by R.N.

Section with slip panels

Additional solution to solve tail-race elevation problems. Bore a 2.64 mile or 4.25 Km long relive tunnel from the power house to the lower part of the Feather River. Power house outflow elevation 227’ or less, lower Feather River elevation 153’ +/-. The tunnel will have flow control gates (alike

Florence Lake) to regulate the tunnel outflows including total shutoff. Note: New drum gate – normally open, but during high spillway discharge closed. This will allow the power plant operation

during a flood condition, therefore increase reservoir outflows.

Note the turning vanes. This is to turn the water flow from the tunnel in to the direction of the downstream river flow – no back wash. Note the arch angle difference, this is to rapidly reduce the water flow elevation from the tunnel

flow, therefore accommodating additional water flow from the existing gates.

Oroville Dam_08Existing gates

Turning vanes to 75% of tunnel height

Not to scaleDes by R.N.

This levee design is for where dike levees are not possible, (New Orleans) for example. Concrete components are precast and steel pre-stressed at central locations, this will allow quick and economical assembly.

The measurements are in metric and only visually as a recommendation. The arches belly inwards so as to put the concrete in to compression

during flood loading. Install the hydraulically powered water jet pumps openings in the flow

direction. The pumps with the needed plumbing and can be retrieved via an stainless steel cable for service.

This approach will increase flood drainage, this approach may be used at

other levees as well. Note; the levee channel may increase down the line.

Des by R.N.

Example only for the proposedArched Levee Wall systemwith Posts.Single section exhibitimplemented in multi archconfigurations.Posts = pre stressed anddesigned forHydraulic or Diesel HammerdrivingArch wall = wire meshreinforced

Normal Sea Level

Arch concept Des. by R.N. 09-16-2005Post configuration Des. by R.N. 09-16-2005Post system by US Army Corps of Engineers ?

Viton or SiliconeSeal

18.4

9.55.0

2.6

Arch segment =<4.3 cuy> = <6.9 t>

Post segment = <2.7 cuy> <4.3 t>

Concrete requirement per mile= <1540 cuy>

105°R51

1.40.6

0.02

Exerted pressure @ 5' =<18.5 t per wall section>

0.4

24.31

105°13°

0.63 1.6

24.0

24.0

Levees

Top view of the Levee or Flood Wall in by directional application.The configurations in with can be made as needed, parallel or otherwise.If abutment is against a lake or the sea, then only the single wallconstruction will be required. [Start and ending not shown.]The red doted line = water jets near the bottom of the canal - the waterjets will accelerate the velocity flow for drainage in the canals. Install thejets every 250m or as needed. This arrangement will increase the drainagecapacity in the given canal and lowering the elevation and stress in theconfined area. Supply the jets with screened and pumped drainage water.Sizing for the jets as needed. Horizontal deviation = 3 deg,vertical = 1 deg.> and facing up.

Des. by R.N.09-26-2005

Levees_tangent

Explanation for modified levees along rivers. With this setup we can provide controlled flooding to adjacent farmland areas during high-water conditions. This will also help to raise the ground-water table but without farmland crop destruction, some sediments and nutrients may also be added. Apply this sectional all along the embanked river systems. We must preserve water and help the environment. The level contour dikes will hold the water in a uniform way.

Levees+_01

Contour dikeline - "level"

Small drum gate

Normal river stageLevee road

Controlled flooding area

Des by R.N. (re-drawn from the old web site"lightrail-hartbeat"

Flood river stage

Explanation for small modified levees along farm land. This is a cross section exhibit for a topsoil loss prevention application on farm land. The over flow drain pipes will be spaced along the berm, (not indicated in this drawing)

distance calculated and diameter sized to the need per surface area

Bermthreefeet high

During flood stage topsoil will settleout and not flow in to the stream,preventing topsoil loss, retaining andreduce pollution. Topsoil can bebulldozed back again once needed

Standard farmland elevation,topsoil and nutrients arewashed in to the stream, lostand pollute the watershed

Creek orsmall rivernormal flow

Over flowdrain pipe,strategicallyplaced

Increased groundwater replenishment

Little ground waterreplenishmentbecause of runn-off

Levees+_02 Des by R.N. (re-drawn from the old web site "lightrail-hartbeat"

Explanation for small farm pond reservoirs. Such ponds can store water runoffs and therefore provide this stored water for irrigation and waterholes for cattle and wildlife. This layout will also reduce flash washouts during severe downpours because of the controlled flow outlets. Only in extreme situations will we have the flood stage overflow. This will reduce scouring or ravine advance. No dam over-toping with this system – “Ka Loko dam Kauai HI failure could have been prevented”

Levees+_03 Des by R.N. (redrawn from "lightrail-hartbeat web site") Not to scale and illustrative only.

Controlled flood water outlet in small pond reservoirs

Floating debris shield

Flood stage overflowdown pipes have30 deg. slopes

Normal outflowFlood stage

Normal stagewith controlledvolume outlet

Irrigationwater outlet

Normal and flood outlet

X

Explanation; this is a top view for the flow controlled dam outflow. The debris shield will prevent floating material to clog the down pipes, the outflow water will make a upturn inside the debris shield (blue line) Note the elevations on the two outlet pipes. The lower pipe will drain the ponds holding area over a given time in a controlled flow output and therefor prevent gouging washouts or top soil losses. Only in rare situations will we have a extreme flood overflow outlet.

Floating debris shield

Normal outflow pipe

Flood stage overflow pipe

Bracing inside floating debris shield

Top view of down pipe system

Des by R.N.Levees+_03a

Floating debris shield

Floating debris

Outlet flow pattern allaround down pipes

Explanation for the large diameter concrete “earth movement withstanding” retaining rings. The rings will be stacked as needed to

stabilize the slide prone slopes. Applications are for highways, railroad corridors and housing. Original intent was for HWY 101 in CA

Roadways

Retaining Cans

Lake or River

Hill side,slide pronearea

Soil drainage

Additional diagonalanchors if req.

SchematicDes. by R.N.1986 and to CAD08-26-2005Slide and erosion areas

Curvedwall forwavebrake

Bed Rock

Alternative anchorvia the post systemin to the bed rock,however this willhave much bending stresses and will onlywork in shallow soilcovered areas

Explanation for the intended concrete retaining rings. The rings will be longitudinal applied as needed and also in the stacking manner.

Question to engineering companies: Are you willing to give me credit for all this innovative engineering work, would be nice. Do you want more solutions, I may have them…

Lake or River Bead

Slope, wooded or openFields

Stacked Concreteretaining Cans

6Schematic onlyDes. 1986 by R.N. for Ashtabula OHDrn. to CDA by R.N.08-26-2005

Note the churned water, the round cans will reduce tangent sand and gravel movement along the constructed seawall

Explanation; note the multi directional back throw of the waves. Miniature example photo depiction.

This is a farm bridge which I designed and built for Paul Bachmann and Sons – Peter, Reinhardt and Marcus/Michelle. The date of construction was 11/16/1976. The abutment wall construction was with silo staves in order to save money for the farmer. The township of Montana lost eleven bridges during an unusual harsh downpour. A main problem was the abutment design which encouraged the eddy forming, thus undermining the abatement structure and the breakdown of the bridges. This prompted me to re-design the abatement configuration to the arched design. This deign does no longer create the destructive eddies. It also has fish hideouts along the abatement wall. The picture below is a Xerox copy of the original drawing. Drawing is somewhat blurred due to age and re-copying. No CAD drawing available at this time.

R.N.