Sharif University of Technology

Civil Engineering Department

Tehran-Iran
Dam Safety
An Approach to Prevent
Dam Incidents
Dam failure results in a catastrophic
break followed by a flood wave often with
considerable loss of life or property

Safety
during Design, Construction, Operation,
Maintenance, and Surveillance of dams

Past incidents of unacceptable performance can help

us in understanding of method of detection and
expand our knowledge on behavior of dams and
reservoir and this simulates further improvements in
design, maintenance and surveillance of dams
Main causes of Dam Failure
Failure of Concrete Dams
 Lack of shear strength and discontinuity in foundation
 Excessive uplift in the foundation (inadequate or non-existent drainage)
 Lack of dam stability
 Excessive or differential deformation of the foundation
 Piping and erosion in the foundation caused by high permeability
 Flaw in design
 Lack of supervision during construction
 No monitoring or warning system (systems were out of order)
Cont. next page…
Main causes of Dam Failure
Failure of Concrete Dams (cont. )
 Human error during site investigation and design and
construction and operation
 Inadequate foundation investigation
 Incomplete data on available material
 Poor design
 Negligible construction supervision
 Incomplete first impoundment
 Incorrect operation of flood gates
 Insufficient monitoring and data analysis
 Lack of preventive measures or repair work
Main Causes of Dam Failure
Embankment Dam Failure
 Overtopping during flood discharge because of inadequate
spillway capacity or non-functioning flood gate
 Internal erosion along the dam-foundation interface or along
embankment with adjoining or embeded appurtunent structures
or concentrated piping in the embankment itself because of
inadequate or non-existent filter zones
 Nonhomogeneity in the foundation or dam (leading to
foundation failure or erosion )
 Large settlement in the foundation
 Crack following the settlement, with resulting piping effect
 liquefaction
Failure Prevention

 Failure could have been prevented if some of these points had

been observed
 Failure is a complex process
 Begins with some abnormality in behaviour (not detected)
 Consequent deteriorations (not observed)
 Further damage or disaster

Inspection and Monitoring of

dams as well as data analysis
and interpretation has a critical
role in the field of dam safety
Dam Safety Guidelines

 Intended to offer a comprehensive review:

 Dam -design -operation -construction
–maintenance -surveillance
 Recommendations rather than binding regulations
 Guidelines are not standards
 Details dealt with as necessary
Dam Safety Procedure
(adapted for Iran)
Dam Safety Procedure
General Plan

Owner Emergency
Monitoring Action Plan
(EAP)

Companies
Periodic Dam
Consultant Dam Retrofitting
Safety Review
MONITORING
Instrumentation and Surveillance

 External and internal examination of dams during their

life time
 Long term surveillance program
 Ensure dam’s owner of their safe operation
 Monitoring
• Measure Displacement
• Settlement Compilation of Results,
• Strain Interpretation,
• Piezometric pressure
Recommendation,
• Seepage
To take appropriate
• Uplift
action
• Water level
• Alarm System
MONITORING
Instrumentation

 To characterize dam site and dam structure condition

 To verify Design
 To asses safety
 To asses performance
Thank You