Aims to present the data to the profession regarding failures, accidents, and major repairs at dams in the United States. This report analyses data with respect to the type of incident, frequency of incidents, dam size, type of dam, and age of dam. It also draws conclusions and recommendations to help prevent occurrences of similar incidents.

Written by civil engineers, dam safety officials, dam owners, geologists, hydraulic engineers, and risk analysts, this handbook is the first cooperative attempt to provide practical solutions to dam problems within the financial constraints faced by dam owners. It provides hands-on information for identifying and remedying common defects in concrete and masonry dams, embankment dams, reservoirs, and related structures. It also includes procedures for monitoring dams and collecting and analyzing data. Case histories demonstrate economical solutions to specific problems.

ICOLD Bulletin 180 presents the vast experience gained over the past 6 decades by the dam engineering community in the field of dam surveillance by means of 80 case histories. The documented case histories endeavour to cover the practical experiences related with one or several of the following points: a) Methods for the improvement of the quality and reliability of information. b) Data processing and representation techniques. c) Effective Diagnostic analyses to determine behaviour patterns. d) Dedicated surveillance systems for the optimization of maintenance, rehabilitation, and other life cycle costs. e) Impact of surveillance on preventing dam incidents and dam failure. f) Overview of dam surveillance management systems. The case histories cover a wide variety of technical aspects and deal with success stories but also incidents, some of them with catastrophic consequences. The time framework spans over 70 years: from the times of the Second World War up to the present. The purpose is to learn from these practical experiences, not to criticize the involved individuals, who had to work with the techniques and rules of practice available at the time. This bulletin wants to contribute to keep learning from the experience of the dam engineering community, specifically in the field of dam surveillance. Some of the case histories are widely known and have been described and analysed in numerous publications. Most of them are related to famous dam failure incidents and were compiled as international “benchmark case histories” for this bulletin to focus on the specific lessons learnt related with dam surveillance. Le Bulletin de la CIGB 180 présente la vaste expérience acquise au cours des 6 dernières décennies par la communauté des ingénieurs de barrages dans le domaine de la surveillance des barrages au moyen de 80 histoires de cas. Les histoires de cas documentées s'efforcent de couvrir les expériences pratiques liées à un ou plusieurs des points suivants : a) Méthodes d'amélioration de la qualité et de la fiabilité de l'information. b) Techniques de traitement et de représentation des données. c) Analyses diagnostiques efficaces pour déterminer les modèles de comportement. d) Systèmes de surveillance dédiés pour l'optimisation de la maintenance, de la réhabilitation et des autres coûts du cycle de vie. e) Impact de la surveillance sur la prévention des incidents et des ruptures de barrage. f) Aperçu des systèmes de gestion de la surveillance des barrages. Les histoires de cas couvrent une grande variété d'aspects techniques et traitent de réussites mais aussi d'incidents, dont certains avec des conséquences catastrophiques. Le cadre temporel s'étend sur 70 ans : de l'époque de la Seconde Guerre mondiale à nos jours. Le but est d'apprendre de ces expériences pratiques, pas de critiquer les individus impliqués, qui ont dû travailler avec les techniques et les règles de pratique disponibles à l'époque. Ce bulletin veut contribuer à continuer d'apprendre de l'expérience de la communauté de l'ingénierie des barrages, en particulier dans le domaine de la surveillance des barrages. Certaines des histoires de cas sont largement connues et ont été décrites et analysées dans de nombreuses publications. La plupart d'entre eux sont liés à des incidents de rupture de barrages célèbres et ont été compilés en tant qu'« histoires de cas de référence » internationales pour ce bulletin afin de se concentrer sur les leçons spécifiques apprises liées à la surveillance des barrages.

This study was conducted to identify methods that have been used in the repair and rehabilitation of concrete dams. Information was obtained through literary searches, discussions with project personnel, and visits to project sites. Each case history includes a background of the project, the deficiency that necessitated repair or rehabilitation, and descriptions of materials and methods used in the repair or rehabilitation. When available, the cost of the repair project and the performance of the repair to date have been included. Case histories included in this report cover a range of deficiencies in concrete structures, including cracking, spalling, erosion, leakage, inadequate PMF capacity, expansion resulting from alkali-aggregate reaction, instability, and insufficient storage capacity.

Are we doomed? As individuals, certainly, eventually, inevitably. But as a species? As a civilization? Leading catastrophe engineer Michel Bruneau thinks perhaps not. The Blessings of Disaster draws on knowledge from multiple disciplines to illustrate how our civilization’s future successes and failures in dealing with societal threats—be they pandemics, climate change, overpopulation, monetary collapse, and nuclear holocaust—can be predicted by observing how we currently cope with and react to natural and technological disasters. Maybe most importantly, this entertaining and often counter-intuitive book shows how we can think in better ways about disasters, to strengthen and extend our existence as both individuals and as a species. When it comes to rare extreme events, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, tornados, volcanic eruptions, technological accidents, terrorist attacks, pandemics, and even existential threats, it is in our nature to set ourselves up for disasters because the gamble may be worth it. But only maybe. The Blessing of Disaster is the very real story of the relationship between humans and disasters – and it’s not a simple one. Bringing together his decades-long career spanning the globe as an earthquake and disaster engineer, detailed catastrophe case studies from extreme events like Japan’s Kobe earthquake and category 5 hurricanes in the American South, along with thoughtful and practical solutions, Bruneau provides a thorough examination of the structural challenges that face today’s (and tomorrow’s) world. How we cope with today’s threats is indicative of what the future holds. Contrary to popular forecasts, it is not all gloom and doom – but some of it definitely is.

Dams are constructed for economic development, and their construction involves large investments of money, and natural and human resources. Of the various types of dams constructed around the globe, earth dams are the most common type and constitute the vast majority of dams. When adam fails, it culminates in the sudden release of artificially stored water which, in turn, becomes a potential menace to virtually everything downstream. The dam failure may result in loss of life and property. In recent years, instances of dam failure in the world have been too many, and the resulting loss too high. As a result, dam safety pro grams have been developed in most countries of the world since the beginning of the nineteenth eighties. · Earth dams are more susceptible to failure than other types. The cause of failure is often either overtopping or piping. The modeling of dam breaching due to either or both of these causes is of fundamental importance to development of dam-safety programs. This book is, therefore, an attempt to present some aspects of earth-dam breach modeling technology. It is hoped that others will be stimulated to write more comprehensive texts on this subject of growing interest and importance. The book is divided into eight chapters. The first chapter is introductory and discusses some aspects of dams and dam failures in the world.