Analyses of expected seismic performance of earthen dams subject to potential liquefaction hazard are routinely performed for high hazard dams. The State of Practice has increasingly evolved from simplified methods to the use of fully-coupled seismic pore pressure generation and nonlinear seismic deformation analyses (NDA) using either finite difference or finite element analysis frameworks. To evaluate the accuracy and reliability of these ND...

WinDAM software estimates the erosion and breach outflows from overtopping flows and internal erosion flows affecting earthen embankments. This webinar will provide an overview of the WinDAM model and the various inputs needed. The webinar will also cover output from WinDAM. The webinar will target users and designers more than researchers. Five Learning Objectives of This Course: How could overtopping affect my earthen dam? How could internal...

This course will provide a thorough overview of the fundamentals of specifying the fresh and hardened properties of concrete mixes; the review of applicable codes for concrete hydraulic structures; the design philosophy and methodology of reinforced concrete hydraulic structures; and issues associated with the construction process. The course will include actual design examples of frequently used hydraulic structures utilizing current design c...

Dam-related problems include blockage of fish migrations, drowning hazards, failure hazards, reservoir sedimentation, habitat loss, and tailwater erosion. Some environmental problems can only be addressed through dam removal while other issues, where removal is not a viable option, can be remediated by dam modification and nature-like fish passage. Traditional fish passage projects have typically focused solely on passage of single or few lar...

The overwhelming majority of dams in the world, and also in the United States, are embankment dams. This webinar is intended as an overview of embankment dams, to serve as an introduction for those relatively new to dam safety and a refresher for the more experienced practitioner. The webinar will begin with a review of the history of embankment dams from antiquity to today and comments on today’s inventory of dams. Types of embankment d...

The most common deficiency at dams in North America is inadequate spillway capacity. Inadequate spillway capacity can result in overtopping of a dam during flood events. This is especially a concern for embankment dams where overtopping of the dam embankment can cause breaching of the dam and uncontrolled release of the impounded water. This failure mode accounts for more than 40 percent of recent dam failures. A broad overview of the many app...

This course is based on 50 years of NRCS experience with investigating and remediating cracked earth embankments. The presentation consists of two main sections, covering: 1) the nature of soil cracking and the associated internal erosion failure modes; and 2) how to remediate cracked earth embankments. In the first section, general information is presented on which soils are most susceptible to cracking and which pose the greatest risk for fa...

Join us at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando September 8-12, 2019 for the premier dam and levee safety conference in the United States, Dam Safety 2019. This years event will bring together nearly 1,000 dam and levee safety professionals from across the country and around the world for a week of networking, knowledge transfer, and community building. With 2 general sessions, 38 concurrent sessions packed with over 115 present...

The seminar provides comprehensive instruction in inspection and evaluation techniques for dams. The principles, concepts and procedures taught will be readily adaptable to any organization conducting dam inspections and evaluating their compliance with current design standards. Participants learn about a variety of dam types and their appurtenances, the function of typical dam features, and common dam failure modes and the conditions that can...

In this classroom seminar, participants will gain a practical knowledge of methods for simulation of runoff from storm rainfall. The methods covered relate to the processing of historical and hypothetical (design-storm) rainfall data; estimation of losses (infiltration); transformation of rainfall excess to direct runoff with unit hydrographs; routing of flood waves; calibration of model parameters; and modeling of runoff from watersheds. Expe...