CLASSIFICATION OF CHECK DAMS

, The check dams are classified as:

Temporary structures. The temporary check dams or structures are constructed to serve the following
purposes:
1. To collect sufficient amount of soil or sediments on their upstream portion to· build up a huge vegetative
cover.
2. To check the gully erosion until sufficient vegetation has been established at the critical points of the gully.
The check dams are used for controlling the runoff and soil erosion, especially from the small and medium size
gullies. These dams are also preferred in those areas, particularly where permanent protection work is sought
for stabilizing the vegetative cover, because they immediately check the flow velocity, causing the vegetations
are fully developed, which last for longer duration. The check dams are used in combination of vegetations; not
as the substitute. Various types of temporary gully control structures are described as under:
Brushwood Check Dam
The main requirement of temporary gully control structures is that, they must be quick and easy to construct
anti should be, constructed by using cheap and readily available materials in nearby areas. In wood land areas,
where woods are readily available, the brush wood check dams are preferred. The construction procedure of
this check dam is given as under:
(i) Single-row brushwood dam. This type of dam consists of single row of posts, which is constructed across
the gully with the brush wood materials, keeping the butt ends towards u/S. The brush woods are kept in position
by tying to the posts, Before the dam is started to construct, the sides of the gully should be sloped to 1:1 and
the gully bed should also be excavated for 15 cm depth across the entire gully width over which brushwoods
are placed. In addition, 15 cm excavation is also done into the bank to provide necessary strength. The loose
earth is piled on the u/s side giving a slope of 1:1 to prevent direct striking of water on the dam. After excavation,
the wooden posts of. About 10 cm in diameter are driven in a line across the gully at an interval of about 90 cm
up to the depth of 75 cm in the gully bed. The top of wooden posts is kept at such a height as to form a notch of
required size. Few lines of such posts are also erected at regular interval of 90 to 120 cm from the first line. The
height of posts is kept successively smaller than the first line and are buried to a depth of about 45 cm in the
gully bed. The brushwoods are laid along the direction of flow of water with their butt ends towards u/s side.
The brushwoods are tied from the front line. For providing a good strength, the wooden posts are tied using
galvanized wire. It should be kept in mind that, the lowest layer of the brushwood must be the longest. Me
procedure is repeated till the dam attains a required height and a proper notch. The sectional view of single row
brushwood check dam is shown in Fig. 4.3.

(ii) Double row brushwood dam. The double row brushwood check dams are suitable for 2 to 2.5 m deep and
about 6 m wide deep and about 6 m wide gullies, with contributing watershed area of about 40 hectares. Though,
it requires more wooden posts and labour cost for its construction, but it is being definitely superior than the
single row post brushwood check dam regarding the strength and durability. For construction of this. Type of
check dams a trench of about 90 cm wide and 30 cm deep is dug across the gully. The sides of trench are formed
slopy in the range of 1:1. After digging trench, the wooden posts of about 15 cm diameter are placed at 180 cm
apart up to depth of 75 cm in the bed in two rows along the trench. Another line of stakes is also constructed at
about 150 to 180 cm lower. After that two layers of brushwood materials are laid along the flow of water; and
are tied to the posts and stakes with galvanized wire. The brushwoods are also laid between the posts and
thoroughly packed. When it is reached at required height, a notch of rectangular cross-section is also constructed
to conduct the flow, smoothly. Thereafter the posts are tied with each other using galvanized iron. Double row·
brushwood check dam is shown in Fig. 4.4.
Semi Permanent Structures :
Loose Rock Fill Dam.
This type of check dam is simple in construction and very effective for gully control. These dams are preferred
in that areas, where plenty of loose rocks are available in nearby area of the gully. The loose rock-fill dams are
constructed with the help of stones. The stones are kept across the gully width, anchored with wire netting made
of fairly stout gauge of galvanized wire. The wire netting of about 2 meters or more in width is laid across the
gully bed and over it the loose rocks are packed approximately upto half of the width of netting. The other half
of netting is wrapped over the stones and laced to the other edge. In this way, it forms a bolster of rocks wrapped
with the wire netting. Loose rock fill dams can be constructed more substantial structure, using several layers
of rock bolsters. This type of check dam is shown in Fig. 4.5. At the location where flow velocity is very high,
the loose rock dams constructed as per above are not found stable. They are likely to get washed away. In this
condition, these dams are constructed with foundation. In this method the construction of loose rock fill dam is
performed by converting the slope of side walls of the gully. Into 1:1 at the proposed location of dam
construction. Thereafter, the foundation is dug across the gully width to a depth of about 1.5 m. The width of
foundation is kept about three times the proposed width of top of the check dam, so that it can provide a good
stability to the dam. The side walls of the gully are also dug for anchoring the wing walls of the dam. Towards
upstream side of the dam. a foundation is also dug for the depth of about 15 cm for apron construction. After
digging the foundation, the stones are packed in layer form over the foundation. As precautionary measure, the
large size stones should be laid at the bottom and smaller stones at the upper reaches of the dam. This makes
the shape of dam, better. The stone packing should be accomplished in the form of steps facing u/s side, and
towards d/s side it should be maintained as vertical wall. When height of dam attains about 0.7 m above the
gully bed a notch of suitable size is also constructed in the middle of the top of the wall. The size of notch should
be sufficient to discharge the runoff flow safely. Usually, its depth is kept 0.30 m and length is about half of the
span of check dam. Apron is also constructed infr6nt of the dam's main wall, i.e. on u/s side. The function of
apron is to reduce the impact of water flow on the main wall by dissipating the flow velocity.

Log Check Dam.

When large size timbers are readily available in the nearby area of gully, then log check dams are found suitable
for checking the gully. In this dam the logs are used for construction which make the structure more substantial.
In log check dam two rows of vertical wooden posts are formed by inserting the wooden posts in line into the
gully bed and extending upto the sides above the flood level; and logs are packed between the two rows. The
vertical posts should be at least 10 cm in diameter and 2 m in length. The spacing is kept about one meter
between each row. In wide and shallow gullies, it is better to keep all vertical posts to a height of 60 cm above
the ground surface. If the gully has steep bed then for better effect. It should have a rectangular notch in the
centre. The notch must be enough to pass the runoff. A common error which makes place in the construction of
this kind of dam, is constructing the notch too small which causes the flow to over top. Under such condition
there is probability to start scouring at the ends of the wall. The vertical posts on either sides of notch dissipate
the kinetic energy of flowing water. For better effect, the logs should not be swept down by the flow, for which
stout posts must be driven to a greater depth than the others. If the logs are fully packed between the rows of
posts, then bottom layer should be sunk below ground surface so that the scouring below the dam may be
checked. At last, after placing the top logs properly, they are tied by strong wire between vertical posts, for
keeping them in position.
Netting Dam.
In this dam wire netting is used to form a small check dam. These are usually located near the top end of the
gullies. This dam consists of wooden posts, which are driven into the gully bed to support the strip of wire
netting; and to form a low wall across the gully. The height of dam is kept about 60 cm or so. The lower edge
of the netting is buried into the gully bed. The brush or straw is also piled loosely towards upstream: side of the
netting wall to form a barrier, Which is porous in nature, slows down the flow velocity and results into deposition
of sediments on the upstream side. Netting dam is shown in Figure 4.6.
DESIGN OF CHECK DAM
In gully control the structural measures protect the soil against erosion and also help to conserve the rainwater.
The earth plugs and check dams form water storage in the· gully which can be used as per need, later on; Also,
due to obstruction on moving runoff, the soil scouring through gully section gets controlled. Various design
aspects of check dams regarding gully control are outlined as under:
Number of Check Dams. It is determined on the basis of longitudinal profile of the gully. The number of check
dams for gully channel can be calculated by using the following formula:
𝑎−𝑏
N =
𝐻
where,
a = total vertical distance. It is calculated based on the average gully bed gradient and the horizontal distance
between the first and last check dams in that portion of the gully bed.
b = total vertical distance. It can be computed on the basis of compensation gradient and horizontal distance
between the first and last check dams in that portion of the gully bed.
H = average. Effective height of check dam, excluding the depth of foundation.

Spacing of Check Dani. The spacing between check dams is determined on the basis of compensation gradient
and effective height of the check dams. The compensation gradient refers to the gradient between the top of
lower check dam and bottom of the upper one. Figure 4.7 shows the view of measurement of compensation
gradient and gully bed gradient. The compensation gradient is the future or final gradient of the gully channel.
It is formed when materials carried by flowing water fill the check dams to spillway level. Experimentally, it
has been observed that the compensation gradient of gullies is not more than 3%. The location of first check
dam should be at a stable point of the gully. The points such as rock outcrop, the junction point of the gully to
a road, the main stream or river etc are normally preferred for locating the first check dam. In the condition,
when such stable points do not exist, then a counterdam should be constructed. Tile distance between tire first
dam and the counter-dam should be at least two times the effective height of first check dam. At the second
point, the effective height of second check dam is marked at the edge of the gully by considering gully depth,
depth of spillway and maximum height of the check dam.
While deciding the construction of check dams, the narrowest parts of gully should preferably be taken into
account, because at such points the construction cost of check dam gets reduce. In this case, to establish the
compensation gradient between the proposed check dams, the foundation depth of upper check dam should he
proportionately increased to extend the spacing between the lower and upper check dams. And spacing can he
shortened by decreasing the foundation depth. As precautionary measure the depth of foundation should not be
increased to the extent that the total height of check dam (effective height plus foundation depth) becomes more
than the maximum permissible total height.
Maximum Discharge and Spillway Dimension: The maximum discharge (Qmax) of the gully catchment to be
handled by check dam can be computed by using the Rational formula, given as under:
𝐶𝐼𝐴
Qmax =
3.6
in which, C is the runoff coefficient, varies from 0.20 to 0.50 depending on the soil type, land use and
topography; I is the rainfall intensity, is determined based on the time of concentration of the flowing water
from the bounding of catchment to the point of check dam location. The rainfall intensity should be calculated
based on the maximum (one hour) rainfall intensity (mm/h) with 5 to 10 years return period; and A is the area
of gully catchment above the proposed check dam (sq. km). The value of Qmax is obtained in the unit of m3/S.
The Rational formula is suitable to use only when rainfall intensity (I, mm/h) data of given frequency is
available. However, If there is no intensity data, then using the following formulae the discharge rate can be
predicted:
1. Main Kresnik formula
𝑎.32.𝐴
𝑄𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 0.5+𝐴0.5

2. Simple Kresnik formula

𝑄𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 25𝐴0.5
in which, A. is the area of catchment of gully above proposed check dam (sq.km); Qmax is the maximum
discharge of the gully catchment at the proposed check dam (m3/s) and a is the coefficient varies from 0.6-2.0
depending on the type of land use, If there already has been developed such relationships for the proposed area,
then they must be used for computing the runoff. As precautionary measure, before using any empirical formula
they must be verified for the given area. If it is found suitable then it should be used, otherwise no.
General Run-off Formula
Q=AV
in which, A is the cross-sectional area (wetted area) of main gully for the highest flood water level at the
proposed check dam site (sq.m); and V is the velocity of flowing water at that point (m/s). The value of V can
be computed by using the Manning's formula, given as under:
1.486 2 1
V= 𝑛
𝑅3𝑆 2

in which, n is the Manning's roughness coefficient of gully. For gully section the value of n can be taken as
0.025; R is the mean hydraulic radius, which is the ratio of wetted area to the wetted perimeter (m) of gully
section. The value of R is computed for the point where cross-sectional area of the gully. Has been measured
considering highest flood level; S· is the gully gradient (%) and V is the velocity of flowing water at the proposed
check dam site (m/S).
The simple Kresnik formula estimates more accurate value of Qmax for the gullies having the catchment area
less than 20 ha. However, in case of torrent an accurate value of Qmax can also be computed by using this formula
for the catchment of maximum 300 ha area.
Spillway Dimension: The dimension of spillway used in check dam for safe disposal of runoff, can be computed
by using the following formula:
𝑄 = 𝐶𝐿𝐷1.5
in which. C is the coefficient taken as 3 for, loose rock and brushwood check darns, and 1.8 for gabion and
cement masonry check dams; L is the length of spillway (m); D is the depth of spillway (m) and Q is the
maximum discharge of gully catchment at the proposed site of check dam (m3/S).
Construction Procedure
The following points are taken into consideration for construction of check dam to control the gully:
 The construction of check dams or earth plugs should be started from the, lower end of gully; and
proceed to the upward.
 If rock materials are required to transport from the lower end to upper end of gully for check dam
construction, then construction should be started from the upper end of gully.
 Before starting the construction of check dam the gully head should be stabilized by constructing
suitable check.
 The activities must be planned in such a way that all construction works would get complete before
rainy season. Otherwise, there is possibility of damage of incomplete structure.
Maintenance of Check Dam
It is done under following aspects:
 The maintenance of check dam must be Continued for at least two years after treatment year.
 The treated areas should be kept in proper inspection for at least one year.
 The trees and grasses· established in gully catchment should be protected against wood-cutting, grazing
and encroachment. If the revegetated areas are properly managed for several years after treatment, then
some fuel wood gets produced from tree plantations; and fodder can also be obtained from the grasses
and tree plantations.