This webinar will provide participants with information on the importance of preparing operations and maintenance (O&M) manuals for dams. It will include an overview of some of the key federal agency and state requirements and formats for dam O&M manuals. Operations and maintenance guidelines will be presented for both embankment and concrete dams and key dam appurtenances, such as spillways and outlet works. Many examples will be prov...

Quality control on projects for the construction or rehabilitation of dams is the responsibility of the construction contractor. Contractors have control of the site during construction and are responsible for understanding and complying with the requirements of the contract documents. It would be remiss on the part of the owner however, to solely rely on the contractor for this task. To verify contract compliance, construction of complex and...

Earthquakes represent a hazard to dams in many parts of the United States and therefore are of interest to design engineers and dam safety officials. The hazard from earthquakes includes strong shaking, fault rupture displacements, reservoir seiche and earthquake-induced landslides, all potentially damaging to dams and reservoirs. This webinar will discuss the physics and geology of the earthquake process and the methods used to identify seis...

This webinar is the third and final course in the series on Concrete Gravity Dams. The first webinar entitled “Introduction to Concrete Gravity Dams” (July 2012) presented information regarding the types of gravity dams, historic design and construction practices as well as lessons learned from noteworthy gravity dam failures. The second webinar in this series entitled “Stability Evaluations for Concrete Dams” (Oct. 20...

This webinar will address a wide range of foundation preparation and treatment methods applicable to construction of new dams, rehabilitation of existing dams, and enlargement of existing dams. Topics to be covered include: 1) treatment of surface rock exposures in dam foundations, 2) rock grouting, 3) treatment of foundation soils, 4) foundation seepage barrier walls and upstream blankets, and 5) foundation seepage collection and control methods.

Introduction to Armoring Embankment Dams and Earth-Cut Spillways with ACBs Over the past 23 years numerous embankment dams and earth-cut spillways in the United States have been armored with Articulating Concrete Blocks (ACBs) to provide overtopping protection and to extend the life of the structures. With the current focus on evaluating and rehabilitating dams throughout the United States to pass increased design flows, the use of this const...

This webinar will provide participants with an understanding of the hidden dangers at low head dams and effective strategies for improving public safety. The instructors will illustrate their presentation with several examples drawn from their own experiences as hydraulic/civil engineers, expert witnesses, authors and engineering designers. Lessons learned from experience with litigation related to drownings at low head dams will be presented...

Historically, concrete dam analysis focused much of the attention on material property assumptions, which has been and continues to be important. But more recently, the focus is primarily on the modes of failure experienced by these types of dams. This webinar will present a more in-depth review of stability evaluation methods for concrete dams; the basics of which was first presented in the previous webinar entitled “Introduction to Co...

Labyrinth weirs are widely used in spillway rehabilitation to upgrade existing dams to meet updated spillway design flood criteria. In addition to increasing discharge capacity, these weirs are also well suited to regulating upstream pool elevations for flood control or at intake structures. The hydraulic design of a labyrinth spillway requires the consideration of complex flow characteristics and optimization of multiple geometric parameters...

Effective energy dissipation of flows from outlet works and spillways is an extremely important component in dam safety. Undersized or ineffective structures can lead to damage and failure, possibly endangering the dam or the flow channel and properties downstream. Generalized design criteria for many different types of energy dissipaters and/or stilling basins exist from several different government agencies, both federal and state (including...