ALLOCATION METHODOLOGY OF ROCKFILL MATERIAL IN BAKUN CFRD DAM

EMANKMENT CONSTRUCTION

XIANG JIAN
Sinohydro Bureau 7 Bakun Project Management Team in Malaysia

[Abstracts] In the course of rock-fill dam construction, to minimize the project cost mainly depended on synchronization
of excavation & embankment strength at the same time point, synchronizing of excavation/embankment strength at the same
point is the key issue to solve the question how to save the cost in course of excavation/embankment works, here is to
introduce a solution aiming to the above question based on the practice of Bakun Project construction.

[Key words] Bakun Project , Rock-fill dam, Excavation-Embankment Balance, Rock allocation

1. Introduction
To effectively control the cost of rock-fill dam construction mainly depended on the extent of balanced
allocation on earth/rock excavation/embankment. Maximally utilize the rock materials from main structures
foundation excavation and directly transport them to the filling zones instead of stocking and secondary
transporting to the filling zones is the economic way to achieve the cost control
However, in the work practices, we usually are very difficult to manage the direct transportation of excavated
materials from structure foundation excavation to dam filling zones without secondary transportation, that is
because the contradiction of supply/demand from excavation/embankment is always hard to be integrative at a
certain time point, mainly due to the following reasons:
Completion of dam foundation excavation is the critical condition to start the dam embankment
work, and conduction of dam foundation excavation work should take up a certain period of work
duration while foundation excavation work at every other structure since is restrained by
completion time point has to be commenced not late than a certain time point, in this regard, the
excavated material from structure foundation excavation at early stage should have to be stocked at
that time instead of directly to be utilized for dam embankment;
After completion of dam foundation excavation, although the excavated materials from other
structure foundation excavation can be directly utilized, however, the work strength of dam
embankment is lower than of structure foundation excavation, or otherwise, therefore the surplus
material at the same time point should have to be stocked or disposed.
In view of the above reasons, shortening the time of dam foundation excavation, starting dam embankment
in advance as well as by adjusting work strength of excavation/embankment can reduce the amount of disposed
materials or secondary transportation for temporary stocked material. Thus, when planning of main structure
foundation excavation and dam embankment work, systematically working out of a reasonable excavation
/embankment work programme at every time interval is an effective way to achieve economic benefit. Its purpose
is under the condition of satisfying completion date of structure foundation excavation, to maximally utilize the
excavated materials from structure foundation excavation directly into dam embankment and reduce the
secondary transportation. The mathematical model hereinafter is built up to show how to minimize the amount
required for secondary transportation of suitable materials obtained from structure foundation excavation

2. Supply & Demand Strength Curve of Rock Excavation-Embankment Works

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 To easily analyze, firstly make the work strength / time curve chart including of work strength for suitable
materials obtained from structure excavation to time and for embankment to time, please refer to Chart 1 as
below:
2.1 Analysis to several circumstances According to the demand strength of filling material and different
allocation of work strength at structure foundation excavation it is known there are several circumstances
as below:
The occurrence of disposal of excavated materials from structure foundation excavation at early stage,
see Chart 1- Zone 1 area: the amount of materials disposed at this stage.
During the same period of excavation/embankment construction, in a certain time interval, when the
work strength of structure foundation excavation lower than of dam embankment, then the shortage of
dam filling material occur, and the material from quarry other than structure foundation excavation or
stock area is required, see Chart1-Zone 2 area: the amount of supplement materials demanded at this
stage.
During the same period of excavation/embankment construction, in a certain time interval, when the
work strength of structure foundation excavation surpass of dam embankment at early stage, the
disposal of surplus excavated material occur, see Chart 1-Zone 3 area: the amount of materials disposed
at this stage.
After completion of structure foundation excavation, the filling materials for dam embankment should
only be obtained from quarry other than structure foundation excavation, see Chart 1-Zone 4 area: the
amount of supplement materials demanded at this stage.
By studying the Chart 1, it can tell:
a) Advancing/postponing of start time point of dam embankment /structure foundation excavation
can reduce the disposed volume of excavated materials from structure foundation excavation;
b) Decreasing down/increasing up of work strength at Zone 2/dam embankment can also reduce the
disposed volume of excavated materials from structure foundation excavation;
However, constrained by the completion date of dam/structure foundation excavation, it is quite difficult
to control the disposal of excavated material from structure foundation at early stage, in this regards,
here study will ignore this issue and only focus on possibility of maximally utilizing the excavation
materials from structure foundation excavation under the constrained conditions as following:
c) Fixed start/completion date of excavation work and overall construction duration cannot be
advanced or postponed
d) Fixe start/completion date of embankment work and overall construction duration cannot be
advanced or postponed
e) Excavation/embankment work constrained by capacity of work resources and circumstance of
work operation,

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 Chart 1

2.2 Decision Variables

By referencing to the above analysis and Chart it is known: the time point strength of structure excavation qe I and
embankment qf I is the decision variables on this question. The optimization strategy is through solving the
optimal qe i and qf i , to make the strength of excavation matching with embankment and as much as possible to
reduce the volume of disposed materials.
2.3 Target Function
By referencing to the above Chart, it is known: adjusting of the strength allocation of structure excavation/dam
embankment can minimize the stock volume of suitable materials from structure foundation excavation or in other
word maximally reduce the secondary transportation work. However, under the precondition restrained by project
duration, the amount of material by secondary transportation should depend on the total difference at certain time
point of demand strength of filling material for dam embankment minus supply strength of suitable materials
obtained from structure excavation. Thus, the target function can be formulated as below:

n
qe i qf i* ti [ if qe i qf i0then
min Qd=
qe i

i=1 qf i=qe i qf iotherwise qe i qf i=0 ]

min Qs=qf i qe i* ti [if qf i qe i0then

qf i qe i=qf i qe i otherwise qf i qe i=0 ]
In which
Qdtotal amount of suitable but disposed materials from structure foundation excavation
Qsmaterials from other source (such as quarry or stock area) other than structure excavation to compensate
the shortage
n numbers of time interval divided by overall duration for excavation/embankment work
i item number of a certain time interval divided by overall duration for excavation/embankment work
In view that the material obtained from structure excavation may come from several structures such as
powerhouse, spillway etc., its total amount can be shown as below:

mn
Qe= ti
j=1i=1
qeij

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 In which
Qe: total volume of suitable materials obtained from structure excavation
mnumbers of zones at structure excavation area;
nnumbers of time interval divided for excavation/embankment work;
ti time at time interval i
Qeconstant( determined by volume of suitable materials from structure foundation excavation);
nnumbers of time intervals divided for excavation/embankment work, same as the above n.

n
Qe =
n
qi * ti t=ti

i=1
i=1

Here, t means overall construction time, under the condition of fixed overall construction time, t is as
constant, to simplify the calculation, the unit of t is regarded as months viz.

t1= t2 =ti= tn=1 (month) qi is as work strength (unit : m3/month)

In this case
n
Then t=nQe
i=1
= qe i

mn
Qe=

j=1i=1
qe ij

m
qeij
qe i=

j=1
By study the above chart, it can tell our optimized target is to adjust the work strength curve of
excvation close in on of embankment. So the target function can convert as:

n
min Qd=

i=1
qe i qf i [qe i qfi0otherwise qe i qf i=0 ]

2.4 Determination of ultimate strength of excavation

The ultimate excavation strength at every work area [qij]=ft
, i=12, n as time interval; j=1
2,n as work area is the highest work strength at the time point under the condition constrained by work
resources and operation environment , it is very complicated function and difficult to be formulated by a

certain analytic formula that is because the above assume t1= t2 =ti= tn=1 (month )then

accordingly converting to at every work area the ultimate excavation strength [qij]= f ijx1x2. the
ultimate embankment strength [q i0]= g yi 1y2..and (x1x2. as well as y1y2..represent
complicate variables ( the factors of work enviroment and resource etc that may determine work capacities at
every work area) .
[qij]: depending on size of work face, efficiency of single unit of excavating machine, numbers of
equipment, and ultimate traffic flow on haul road
[q i0]: depending on size of work face, efficiency of single unit of embankment machine, numbers of
equipemnt, and ultimate traffic flow on haul road ;
[qij] &[q i0]: derived according to work face condition, resources status, layered geological condition and
topograph condition.

2.5 Constraint equation

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 n
q ij = Qj
i=1

total volume at No. j structure excavation area

m
q j=q
i i
j=1

sum of work strength of suitable materials obtained from m excavation areas at time interval i

n
q 0i =Q0 (total volume of embankment)
i=1

According to the q i and [q i] derived from the above, can further derive:
q ij [q i]
qi0[q 0i]
qi00
qij0
In consideration of having m structure excavation areas, then the formula can convert to:

Target function
n m m
min Qd= qij q i 0
[if
qij q i 00then
j=1
i=1 j=1
m m m

j=1
qij q i 0=
j=1
q qij q 0j
otherwise
j=1
q ij q i 0=0]

in which m

j=1
q ij qi 0

which meansthe difference of total sum of excavation strength for suitable materials excavated
simultaneously at time interval i(month) at structure excavation areas m less embankment strength at same
time interval i(month), viz. the amount of disposed materials at time interval i(month) which is
nonnegative value.
(month) m
n
min Qd=
q ij q i 0
j=1
i=1

which meansat time interval n, reaching the minimum amount of disposed materials in total

3. Solution Steps

3.1 Calculate out the total amount of structure excavation Qj according to the topography, geological

condition and design drawings, and then calculate out the amount of suitable material from each bench
excavation regarding the bench height of excavation/blasting as step length. As for total amount of
embankment, calculate out the amount of each layer of embankment subject to the certain step length.
3.2 With reference to the overall construction duration, determine the excavation start/completion date of
each structure, and according to the tentative work resources determine the start/completion date of
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 availability of supplying the excavated material for embankment. And subject to the one month as step
length determine the excavation time intervals. Determine the embankment start/completion date and
subject to the one month as step length determine the embankment time intervals.
3.3 According to the work face, topography, geological condition, haul road and equipment/plant condition
etc. determine the monthly restrained work strength including for excavation and embankment.
3.4 Calculate out monthly restrained work strength, including embankment strength [qf i] and strength for
supplying excavated material [qf i j], and then fill them in the table of constraint equation as below:
3.5 Formulate the target function equation.
3.6 With reference to the table data, the method of linear programme can be adopted for solutionhere not
going into details.
Constraint Equation
Excavating
1 2 j m Filling zone
Zone

1 q11[q11] q12[q12] q1j[q1j] q1m[q1m] q1j =q1 q10[q10]

2 q21[q21] q22[q22] q2j[q2j] q2m[q2m] q2j =q2 q20[q20]
Work duration(M)

i qi1[qi1] qi2[qi2] qij[qij] qim[qim] qij =qj qi0[q10]

n qn1[qn1] qn2[qn2] qnj[qnj] qnm[qnm] q1j =qn qn0[qn0]

qi1=Q1 qi2=Q2 qij=Qj qin=Qm qn0= Q0

In total [m+1*n+1] Equations excluding non-negative condition

4. Graphic Method
To simply the solution equation, the graphic method can be adopted for direct solution which its solution
step is as: calculating out the basic data described in the above, plotting the strength curves respectively
for embankment and excavation/supply (see Chart 2 as below); By following the constraint condition,
with graphic method, adjusti the both strength curves of excavation/embankment so as able to make the
two curves close as much as possible, in other words, to reduce the area of Zone 1, 2 ,3 and 4 shown in
the above Chart 1, but the attention should be drawn that the adjusted strength curve of excavation
should be within the scope of ultimate strength curve of excavation/supply; Solving for embankment
strength at every time interval and its corresponded excavation strength at every area at every time
interval. The virtue of graphic method is able to show the time-point strength process visually. During
execution period, with reference to the statistic data collected from past time interval, timely adjusting of
the curve at future time interval can dynamically realize the optimal control.

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 Chart 2

5. Earth/Rock Allocation Method in Bakun Project

5.1 Brief Introduction to Bakun Project
Bakun Hydro Project is located at the middle of Balui River in Sarawak East Malaysia, its main
structures include concrete-faced slab rock-fill dam, open spillway and powerhouse with power capacity
of 2400MW. The dam type is concrete faced rockfill dam(CFRD) with its height of 205.00m, the length
at dam crest as 780.00 mtotal capacity of reservoir is of 44 billion m3, the volume of dam foundation
excavation is approx. 4400 thousand m3total embankment volume of dam body is approx.. 16300
thousand m3or 15330 thousand m3 excluding of 1A&1B material at upstream area. The spillway
includes approach channel, overflow weir, chute section, and flip bucket in which, the type is open
spillway, the highest point of overflow weir is 34.00m high, the width and length of chute section is 50
m and 608.00 m respectively, designed maximum flow capacity is 15000m3/s and the volume of
foundation excavation is approx.. 10500 thousand m3. The intake structure is as of independent intake
tower with size of 170 m x 63 m x 56 mL x W x H, the method of inflow control is taking top-level
water through stop log gate, gates at intake include service gate and bulkhead gate, and the volume of
structure foundation excavation is approx.. 5340 thousand m3. The powerhouse type is ground bank
slope , total capacity of 8 units is 2400 MW, the powerhouse structure dimension is 256.50 m x 49.00 m
x 64.00 m and the volume of structure foundation excavation is approx.. 2400 thousand m3. The power
tunnel comprises upper horizontal section, shaft, lower horizontal section and steel liner section, the
length of single tunnel is vary from 537m to 589m, and its total length is approx.. 4501m, the tunnel
diameter after lining is as of 8.50 m/7.0m/4.85 m , the length of upper horizontal section is vary from
75~43m, the length of upper elbow section is 37m, the length of shaft is vary from50~53m, the length of
lower horizontal is vary from161~109 m, the length of steel liner is 217m, and maximum excavation
diameter is of 9.9m and the volume of tunnel excavation as main quantity is approx. 320 thousand m3.
5.2 Determination of basic data
a) Determine the total amount of suitable excavated materials at every area: in Bakun project there are
6 structure excavation areas: i) power intake/spillway weir/gate foundation excavation area, ii)
spillway chute/outlet section foundation excavation, iii) power house slope/foundation excavation
area, iv) dam foundation excavation, v) quarry area, vi) power tunnel excavation, in view that the
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 disposed materials from dam foundation is not suitable for embankment and the quantity of
suitable material from dam foundation/tunnel excavation is quite small, the material from
dam/tunnel excavation here will not be considered. In consideration of foundation of spillway
adjacent to power intake, the two areas can be regarded as one excavation area.
b) Determine the total amount of suitable materials obtained from structure excavation Qj at every
excavation area according to the topography, geological condition and design drawings.
Suitable materials Suitable materials
obtained from obtained from Suitable materials
Total amount of powerhouse intake/spillway obtained from
dam embankment excavation excavation quarry
Q0 Q1 Q2 Q3

b) qij= 15,332,254 889,239 5,290,000 9,153,015

Qj

c) Calculate the total amount of embankment, determine the rolling passes, quantities/efficiency of
equipment, and haul road condition subject to the level of work face, calculate the amount of
embankment at every layer, then finally obtain the monthly ultimate embankment strength [qi0].
d) Determine the start/completion date of excavation at every structure area subject to the overall
construction duration; determine the start/completion date of supplying excavated materials for
embankment with reference to the initial work resources plan, determine time interval at every
excavation area with regarding one month as time step length , and determine the start/completion
date of embankment and time interval of embankment in one month as step length.
e) Calculate the amount of ultimate excavation at every area at every time interval (unit in month)
subject to constrained factors such as planned bench height for blasting/excavation, work space at
work face, equipment efficiency and haul road condition etc.; calculate the amount of suitable
materials for embankment obtained from ultimate excavation at time interval subject to geologic
topographic maps, and then get the constraint work strength [qij](m3/month) as below table:

[qij] [qi0] [q i1] [q i2] [q i3]

Duration Ultimate Capacity Ultimate Excavation Ultimate Excavation Ultimate Capacity
at Dam Capacity at Powerhouse Capacity at Power Intake at Quarry
Embankment Foundation /Spillway
Dec. 2003 472 7,182 12,007
Jan. 2004 6,508 13,626 14,010
Feb. 2004 17,050 27,380 13,258
Mar. 2004 20,783 32,667 14,881
Apr. 2004 44,447 90,840 32,006
May 2004 46,874 41,044 39,186
Jun 2004 6,670 43,962 137,340 41,277
Jul.2004 69,618 47,116 172,409 31,216
Aug. 2004 196,257 41,012 280,520 34,717
Sep. 2004 287,650 33,716 195,543 99,595
Oct.2004 395,769 24,654 186,011 151,798
Nov. 2004 480,989 20,489 191,614 163,529

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Dec. 2004 495,238 29,477 202,869 166,721
Jan 2005 509,486 42,378 214,246 268,260
Feb. 2005 523,735 39,939 311,644 268,884
Mar. 2005 537,984 44,504 295,409 260,717
Apr. 2005 552,233 36,701 269,409 266,843
May 2005 566,481 26,434 217,540 266,762
Jun 2005 580,730 21,080 216,956 254,043
Jul.2005 594,979 16,006 217,013 228,190
Aug. 2005 609,227 17,690 224,360 192,125
Sep. 2005 623,476 13,777 179,440 262,998
Oct.2005 637,725 28,169 142,998 298,425
Nov. 2005 661,973 9,344 200,796 290,876
Dec. 2005 712,326 29,251 253,206 261,802
Jan 2006 850,231 30,299 231,448 269,523
Feb. 2006 901,245 29,967 205,554 471,130
Mar. 2006 902,237 64,053 164,757 243,525
Apr. 2006 884,567 29,289 159,677 379,322
May 2006 854,567 10,112 145,435 458,197
Jun 2006 834,567 11,017 124,617 520,306
Jul.2006 803,234 12,668 128,452 453,331
Aug. 2006 761,777 0 72,488 506,061
Sep. 2006 705,687 0 45,965 290,743
Oct.2006 503,456 0 23,200 223,563
Nov. 2006 431,422 0 20,445 349,088
Dec. 2006 401,422 0 7,000 265,563
Jan. 2007 362,312 0 7,000 245,563
Feb. 2007 321,467 0 0 225,563
Mar. 2007 301,467 0 0 225,563
Apr. 2007 234,123 0 0 225,563
[Qj] 19,096,327 889,239 5,658,100 9,286,731

5.3 Formulating the target function

ZMin{(q q q )}
i3 i4 i0

5.4 Formulating the constraint equation

qi0[q i0 ]

qi1[q i1 ]

qi2[qi2]

qi3[qi3]

qi40
9
 qi0=[Q0]

qi6=[Q0]

{qi0,qi1,qi2,qi3}{[qi0],[qi1],[qi2],[qi3]}

{qi0,qi1,qi2,qi3}0
5.5 The ultimate work capacity is substituted into the equation, and the linear programming method written
into computer program is solved for the optimized allocation result of rock excavation/embankment as
below table:

Variable Variable Variable Variable Variable Variable

qi Variable qi2
i0 qi1 qi3 qi4 qi5 qi6
Monthly Strength
Time interval Power for suitable
at Dam at Power for all Secondary
intake/ at Quarry materials
embankment House structures Transport
Spillway obtained
Dec. 2003 0 472 7,182 12,007 7,654 19,661 19,661
Jan. 2004 0 6,508 13,626 14,010 20,134 34,144 34,144
Feb. 2004 0 17,050 27,380 13,258 44,430 57,688 57,688
Mar. 2004 0 20,783 32,667 14,881 53,450 68,331 68,331
Apr. 2004 0 44,447 90,840 32,006 135,287 167,293 167,293
May 2004 0 46,874 41,044 39,186 87,919 127,105 127,105
Jun 2004 6,670 43,962 137,340 41,277 181,302 215,909 222,579
Jul.2004 69,618 47,116 172,409 31,216 219,525 181,124 250,742
Aug. 2004 196,257 41,012 100,778 34,717 141,789 0 176,506
Sep. 2004 287,650 33,716 195,543 99,595 229,259 41,204 328,854
Oct.2004 395,769 24,654 186,011 151,798 210,665 0 362,463
Nov. 2004 347,041 20,489 191,614 163,529 212,102 28,590 375,631
Dec. 2004 482,495 29,477 202,869 166,721 232,345 0 399,066
Jan 2005 509,486 42,378 214,246 268,260 256,624 15,397 524,884
Feb. 2005 523,735 39,939 214,940 268,884 254,879 28 523,763
Mar. 2005 537,984 44,504 239,118 260,717 283,622 6,355 544,339
Apr. 2005 537,457 36,701 240,353 266,843 277,054 6,440 543,897
May 2005 514,572 26,434 217,540 266,762 243,974 0 510,736
Jun 2005 504,003 21,080 216,956 254,043 238,036 0 492,079
Jul.2005 504,003 16,006 217,013 228,190 233,019 0 461,209
Aug. 2005 504,003 17,690 224,360 192,125 242,051 0 434,176
Sep. 2005 504,003 13,777 179,440 262,998 193,217 0 456,215
Oct.2005 504,003 28,169 142,998 298,425 171,167 0 469,592
Nov. 2005 504,711 9,344 200,796 290,876 210,140 0 501,016
Dec. 2005 530,203 29,251 246,899 261,802 276,150 7,749 537,952
Jan 2006 534,267 30,299 231,448 269,523 261,747 0 531,270
Feb. 2006 561,454 29,967 205,554 433,763 235,521 107,830 669,283
Mar. 2006 504,711 64,053 164,757 243,525 228,811 0 472,336
Apr. 2006 562,162 29,289 159,677 379,322 188,967 6,127 568,289

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May 2006 561,454 10,112 145,435 456,202 155,547 50,296 611,749
Jun 2006 561,454 11,017 124,617 456,202 135,634 30,383 591,836
Jul.2006 562,162 12,668 128,452 453,331 141,120 32,289 594,451
Aug. 2006 541,138 0 72,488 475,810 72,488 7,161 548,299
Sep. 2006 504,003 0 45,965 290,743 45,965 0 336,708
Oct.2006 490,714 0 23,200 223,563 23,200 0 246,763
Nov. 2006 418,680 0 20,445 349,088 20,445 0 369,533
Dec. 2006 388,680 0 7,000 265,563 7,000 0 272,563
Jan. 2007 349,570 0 7,000 245,563 7,000 0 252,563
Feb. 2007 308,725 0 0 225,563 0 0 225,563
Mar. 2007 289,433 0 0 225,563 0 0 225,563
Apr. 2007 229,984 0 0 225,563 0 0 225,563

Qj=qi 15,332,254 889,239 5,290,000 9,153,015 6,179,239 1,211,103 15,332,254

5.6 Allocation curve subject to the solved data( see below curve charts)

5.6.1 Result Curve of Balanced Allocation for Excavation/Embankment at every work area

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 5.6.2 Result Curve of Balanced Allocation for Overall Excavation/Embankment

It is known from the above calculation result:

The optimized viz. minimum volume of secondary transportation as of 1,211,103m3.
The optimal monthly work strength at every work area and time interval (see the above table)
Shown on the above curve chart: disposed material mainly focusing on the early stage when the dam
foundation excavation yet to be finished for dam embankment, in this case , the suitable materials
from other structure foundation excavation impossible directly to be transported for dam embankment
and having to be stocked at stock area

6. Conclusions
The above allocation methodology, from the angle of adjusting of time point of work strength of
excavation/embankment, provided a kind of optimization method for balanced planning of the dam materials. This
method can easily reflect the dynamic and actual status of excavation/embankment work system, meanwhile, it
can more accurately calculate the volume of disposal at the relevant time interval, therefore, it can also be adopted
as guideline for reasonable planning of stock area for disposed materials. The solution of optimized work strength
of excavation/embankment at every time point can be as the basis of optimizing allocation of construction
resources and based on the planning result, through work process control the actual economic expectation can be
achieved .

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