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 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.

Some amount of seepage passes through and under all embankment dams. The collection, monitoring, and analysis of seepage is crucial in the successful execution of any dam safety program and is helpful in deciding if it is expected ambient seepage or indicative of a more serious condition. Seepage collection methods typically include toe drains, blanket drains, and relief wells. Monitoring schemes can be grouped into several categories includi...

Failure mode evaluation or what now is more commonly referred to as potential failure mode analysis (PFMA) for dam safety has become routine practice for many in the profession. The process became more formally organized by the US Bureau of Reclamation in the early to mid 1990’s and gained wider industry exposure in the early 2000’s through the publication of FERC’s Engineering Guidelines, Chapter 14 – Dam Safety Perfo...

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...

Notice: For this special webinar for dam owners and operators, the discounted fee of $50 provides access to the archived recording of the webinar, and does not include a quiz or certificate for professional development hours (PDHs). This seminar provides an introduction to inspecting and evaluating dams. The target audience is dam owners and personnel responsible for the operation and maintenance of dams. The principles, concepts and procedur...

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...

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...