Kangaroo Creek CFRD: a balanced approach to the design of upgrade works

The Kangaroo Creek concrete faced rockfill dam (CFRD) was constructed in the 1960s. To ensure compliance with modern standards, a number of upgrades are being implemented. The upgrade design is aimed at increasing flood capacity, reducing vulnerability to seismic loading and retrofitting waterstops designed to accommodate large joint openings. The issue of poor quality rockfill was addressed in the design of the upgrade works, which considered the dam as both an earthfill embankment and a rockfill dam. Earthquake-induced settlement was estimated, and the expected joint openings were estimated based on this settlement. External omega-type waterstops were incorporated into the upgrade design to accommodate the maximum expected joint openings. This is the first reported use of external omega-type waterstops for a CFRD face slab in Australia.