ASDSO Dam Safety Toolbox

On-Demand Webinar: Stepped Chute Spillway Design for Embankment Dams

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Association of State Dam Safety Officials, 2014



Changing demographics in the vicinity of dams has led to hazard creep in a number of dams worldwide. Many of these dams now have insufficient spillway capacity as a result of these changes in hazard classification from low to significant or high hazard. Stepped chutes applied to the embankment dams offer an advantage by providing increased spillway capacity. This webinar provides an overview on stepped chute research conducted at the USDA-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Hydraulic Engineering Research Unit in Stillwater, OK. Scientists have developed relationships and compared them to those available in literature for the design of stepped chutes applied to embankment dams.

Key Take-aways:

  • Background and basis for stepped chute research and the development of design relationships with regards to the USDA.
  • Methods for determining the inception point location, flow depth, clear-water flow depth, average air concentration, bulked flow depth, and energy coefficient.
  • Impact parameters like unit discharge, step height and chute slope have on training wall height and stilling basin design requirements.
  • Use of USDA-ARS methods for design of stepped chutes (design example).
  • Discussion of designing converging stepped chutes.


Access Training Here

Speaker(s): Sherry L. Hunt


Revision ID: 2245
Revision Date: 08/19/2022