Question

At a given elevation, the thickness of the arch ring is proportional to the radius of the arch.

(a) True

(b) False

I had been asked this question by my college professor while I was bunking the class.

Enquiry is from Arch Dams topic in portion Arch and Buttress Dams of Irrigation Engineering

Answer 1

The correct option is (a) True

Explanation: The thickness of the arch ring (t) under limits is given by –

t = ϒw . h. r / fc where r is the radius of the arch, h is depth, fc is the allowable compressive stress for the arch material and ϒw is the unit weight of water.

It is clear from the above equation that the thickness of the arch is proportional to the radius of the arch at a given elevation.