A solid concrete dam is to be built to hold back a depth D of water. For ease of construction the walls of the dam must be planar. Your supervisor asks you to consider the following dam cross-sections: a rectangle, a right triangle with the hypotenuse in contact with the water, and a right triangle with the vertical in contact with the water. She wishes you to determine which of these would require the least amount of concrete. What will your report say? You decide to look at one more possibilit

Building a stream dam from concrete

A small waterfall flows over a concrete dam in a wooded area

small grass straw and moss with leaking water from concrete dam

Pump Station Facility at Lake Water Resrevoir with Pipes Passing Through Concrete Dam