It is widely accepted that monitoring programs are important for dam safety. Monitoring programs provide the information necessary to understanding the on-going performance of the dam, as well as the ability to detect a change in this performance, which can be critical in identifying the need to take actions to avoid the consequences of a dam failure. Monitoring programs generally consist of visual observations and measurements of specific pa...

This webinar is designed to provide dam owners, emergency managers, and other relevant stakeholders with information needed to define and estimate loss of life consequences for dam failure scenarios. The course will provide participants with an overview and description of current consequence estimation methodologies, including information on the technical capability and resource requirements for each. The course will highlight the importance...

Tolerable risk guidelines are used to guide the process of evaluating whether or not dam safety risks are low enough. They provide a means of relating dam safety risks to other risks to which people are exposed as a result of technological hazards. While these guidelines should not be used as the only basis for dam safety decisions, they can play a useful role in making the case for a decision. This webinar will provide both examples of pract...

This webinar will focus on the many applications of RCC in dam engineering, including RCC dams, RCC overtopping protection, and RCC use in cofferdams. Other topics to be covered will be RCC for raising and rehabilitating existing concrete dams and RCC for grade control structures and stilling basin erosion protection. Emphasis will be placed on small to medium volume RCC projects including hints on cost effective design and and estimating. In...

Although major dams are not designed or intended to fail, the unexpected occurs with tragic consequences. In the unlikely event of such a tragedy, the legal system provides remedies to compensate the victims and their families for their losses. While each state is a separate jurisdiction free to adopt its own legal rules, regulations and theories of relief, they will generally utilize the common-law theories of negligence and strict liability...

Evaluation of potential seepage failure modes in embankment dams and in particular around outlet works penetrations is a very important aspect of dam safety evaluations. Assessing potential seepage failure modes typically requires designing and evaluating investigation and instrumentation programs, and a variety of engineering analyses. Experience has shown that adverse seepage and piping conditions can develop and remain difficult to detect u...

This webinar provides an introductory discussion of the processes governing earth and vegetated earth spillway design and performance. Topics include the history of vegetated earth spillway use by the USDA and the associated design criteria, the concept of stability and integrity design, the importance of maintenance, and the erosion processes quantified in the SITES program. Examples from USDA NRCS experience and USDA ARS research will be use...

Physical models have been used as part of the design process for spillways and other hydraulic structures for centuries. Their use has proven to be extremely effective for validating hydraulic design schemes for new and rehabilitated spillways, for the discovery of hydraulic design problems that previously had not been expected, and in reducing construction costs. Physical modeling is also important for public relations, for reducing risk and...

With the development in Europe in the later 1800s of a rational method for evaluating structural stability combined with practical experience, U.S. engineers gained greater confidence in increasing the structural height and loadings on masonry dams, as they were known then. This lead to record setting heights in the U.S. for several gravity dams built for water supply purposes for major U.S. cities. As records were being set, a few dramatic co...

This webinar is intended to provide an introduction to emergency action plans (EAPs) for dam safety emergency planners, dam owners, dam regulators, and consultants. The information presented will be a condensed version of subjects included in ASDSO’s two-day seminar titled Emergency Action Planning for Dam Safety. The webinar will include information that will be useful to participants in developing new EAPs and improving the effectivene...