Speakers: Paul Schweiger, Gannett Fleming Inc. and Greg Richards, Gannett Fleming, Inc.

PDHs: This webinar is eligible for 2 PDH credits. 

Many dam failures have been averted by dam owners and engineers taking quick and effective action to intervene and stop an active dam failure from progressing. The focus of this webinar is to present the most common failure modes at dams and provide information on actions that can be taken to prevent or delay each failure mode. Case studies will be used to show examples of successful interventions. Actions that could potentially do harm and make conditions worse will also be discussed. The seminar will conclude with an overview of the new “Dam Intervention Toolbox” and how this interactive resource can be used as a companion to an Emergency Action Plan to help dam owners be better prepared to respond to a dam emergency.

Five Learning Objectives of This Course:

• Understand the most common failure modes at dams.

• Know what emergency measures can be taken to stop common failure modes at dams.

• Be aware of actions that can potentially make conditions worse.

• How to become prepared to respond to a dam emergency.

• Learn about the new “Dam Intervention Toolbox.”

• 1. Introduction:
  • a. Why This Topic Is Important
    • i. Share statistics on recent dam failures and consequences
    • ii. Being prepared to intervene to stop or delay an active dam failure is often overlooked and not included or elaborated upon in many EAPs.  Response time is limited and being prepared is the key to success.
    • iii. Benefits of an effective intervention (Prevent failure, provide more time to warn and evacuate, reduce consequences)
    • iv. Consequences of a harmful intervention 
  • b. What You Will Learn
    • i. Most common dam failure modes
    • ii. Actions that can be taken to prevent or delay each failure mode
    • iii. Actions that should not be taken, or that should be taken with caution – do no harm!
    • iv. Examples from case studies of responses (successful and unsuccessful) to actual dam emergencies
    • v. Know where to find the best resources
• 2. Most Common Dam Failure Modes
  • a. What Is A Dam Failure Mode?
  • b. Most Common Dam Failure Modes and Early Warning Signs
    • i. Seepage and internal erosion (piping, ….)
    • ii. Spillway Erosion
    • iii. Dam Overtopping
    • iv. Structural instability (slope instability, sliding, overturning, settlement)
    • v. Other
• 3. Intervention
  • a. Intervention Action Common to All Dam Failure Modes – Lower the Reservoir!
    • i. First, do no harm by making releases
      • 1. Loss of resource consequences
      • 2. Potential downstream consequences
      • 3. Potential structural consequences
      • 4. Potential loss of outlet control
    • ii. What to do if you do not have operable outlet works
      • 1. Siphons
      • 2. Controlled breach
      • 3. Lower downstream reservoir to contain or absorb breach flows (special case)
  • b. Seepage and Internal Erosion
    • i. Plugging leak from upstream side
    • ii. Reducing hydraulic gradient from downstream side
    • iii. Intercepting and filtering seepage
  • c. Spillway Erosion
    • i. Divert flows away from eroding area(s)
    • ii. Armor eroding areas
    • iii. Stopping or limiting erosive flow
  • d. Dam Overtopping
    • i. Lower reservoir in advance of pending flood
    • ii. Raise dam
    • iii. Armor dam
    • iv. Construct auxiliary spillway
• 4. What About Being Prepared to Respond to Public Safety Incidents?
• 5. Available Resources
  • a. Dam Owner Emergency Intervention Toolbox
  • b. ASDSO/FEMA Lessons Learned from Dam Incidents and Failure Website

Speaker: Irfan A. Alvi, P.E.

PDHs: This webinar is eligible for 2 PDH credits. 

Dam engineering involves dams, but is done by and for people. As a result, in order to achieve dam benefits while maintaining dam safety, we need to understand not just dams, but also the people involved in designing, constructing, operating, maintaining, and benefiting from them. Social scientists have been studying people scientifically for more than a century, and we are now at a point historically where the social sciences have generated valuable insights into human thought and behavior.

The aim of this webinar is to describe key socio-psychological insights and apply them to the practice of dam engineering, with an emphasis on judgment and decision-making. We will find that judgment and decision-making are influenced by aspects such as subconscious and conscious cognition, perception, belief, memory, self-concept, use of heuristics, cognitive and motivational biases, emotions, and group dynamics, and expertise, all of which contribute to both human capability and human fallibility.
This webinar will explore all of these aspects, will include extensive audience participation,  and will provide evidence-based suggestions for how we can improve our judgment and decision-making at both individual and group levels. The insights and suggestions presented in this webinar will be linked with the instructor's prior work on human factors to provide an overall framework for dam risk management. 

Four Learning Objectives of This Course:

• Understand the physical, social, and evolutionary context in which dam engineers operate
• Learn about the two main ways in which people “think”
• Learn about the socio-psychological factors which contribute to human fallibility and limitations, as well as human capabilities
• Learn ways to improve judgment, decision-making, and risk management in dam engineering

• Judgment and decision-making research
• Factors influencing judgement & decision-making
  o The human situation
  o Two kinds of thinking
  o Heuristics
  o Cognitive biases & expertise
  o Perception & belief
  o Memory
  o Emotions
  o Groups
  o Creativity
• Judgment
• Decision-making
• Risk management

Speakers: William R. Fiedler and Wayne King

PDHs: This webinar is eligible for 2 PDH credits. 

This webinar will involve the presentation of the Delhi Dam failure case history. Delhi Dam failed on July 24, 2010 during a record storm. The failure was a result of a number of factors all contributing to the ultimate failure. The review of dam failure by a forensic team allowed for a good understanding of the mechanisms that led to failure. Analyses were performed, which provided valuable insights into the weight of the contributions from the key factors. This webinar will describe in detail the history of Delhi Dam prior to the failure, a chronology of events leading to dam failure, studies and analysis performed as part of the forensic team efforts, and the findings and recommendations from the forensic team report.

Five Learning Objectives of This Webinar:

• Compounding mechanisms can increase the chance of a dam failing.
• Loadings that have never been experienced before at a dam can reveal deficiencies.
• Deferred maintenance on key features can contribute to dam failure.
• Early warning can prevent, or at least reduce, life loss from dam failure.
• In-depth evaluations of dam failures can provide valuable insights into case histories.

1. Dam Failure Event
2. Delhi Dam Background
3. Independent Panel of Engineers
4. Timeline of Failure
5. Geotechnical Considerations
6. Hydrology and Hydraulic Considerations
7. Emergency Response
8. Overall Findings
9. Status of Delhi Dam Today

Speaker: Joseph S. Monroe P.E., Schnabel Engineering

PDHs: This webinar is eligible for 2 PDH credits. 

This course will provide an overview of commonly observed issues associated with the most common type of spillway for relatively small dams (riser and low-level conduit). Importantly, the presentation will summarize methods to evaluate the condition of existing conduits and present common methods to repair and/or replace conduits. At the completion of the course, the participants should be able to identify common issues with low-level conduits, to include inlets and outlets, and have probable courses of action to address the identified issues.

Five Learning Objectives of This Course:

• General dam terminology.

• Risks associated with low-level conduits.

• Common issues with low-level conduit spillways.

• Methods to identify/inspect issues with low-level conduits.

• Methods to repair common issues with low-level conduits.

• 1. Introduction of Presenters
• 2. Definitions
  • a. What dams fail
  • b. What reasons are associated with conduits
  • c. Inlet (Cast-in-place versus pre-cast)
  • d. Conduit (Cast-in-place versus pre-cast)
  • e. Terminal Structure
• 3. Inspections -Conduits
  • a. External – what to look for
  • b. Internal – what to look for
• 4. Maintenance vs Repair
  • a. Owner Performed Maintenance
  • b. Engineer Required Rehabilitation/Repair
• 5. Items Requiring Repair - Conduits
  • a. Hydraulic considerations
  • b. Structural
  • c. Settlement
  • d. Joint integrity
  • e. Seepage
• 6. ‘Traditional’ Rehabilitation Alternatives - Conduits
  • a. Spot Repair
  • b. Slip-line and grouting of annular space
  • c. Excavate and replace
  • d. Permanent abandonment by grouting and construct new spillway
  •    i. Siphon
  •    ii. Riser and conduit through/near base of dam
  •    iii. Short riser with elevated conduit in embankment
• 7. ‘Non-traditional’ Rehabilitation Alternatives - Conduits
  • a. Spin casting
  • b. Cured in-place liners
• 8. Design References
  • a. USACE
  • b. USBR
  • c. NRCS/SCS
  • d. FEMA
  • e. Other
• 9. Review

Speaker: Amanda Hess, Gannett Fleming

PDHs: This webinar is eligible for 2 PDH credits. 

This course will survey dam breach analysis methods currently in use. Differences in methodology, analysis steps, assumptions, and results will be described. Specifically, the course will focus on hydrologic routing of dam breach flood waves, 1D hydraulic routing, and 2D hydraulic routing. Features of popular software will be summarized and the future of dam breach modeling will be discussed based on current trends. 

Five Learning Objectives of This Course:

• An understanding of the history and evolution of dam breach modeling.

• What methods of dam breach modeling have been used in the past and why are they no longer being used?

• What are the current models being used for dam breach modeling?

• What are the differences in the current dam breach analysis methods?

• What does the future of dam breach modeling look like?

• 1.Reasons for Dam Breach Modeling
  • a. Classify Hazard Potential
  • b. Establish Inflow Design Flood
  • c. Emergency Response Planning
  • d. Risk Assessment/Risk Analysis
• 2. Factors Affecting Breach Inundation
  • a. Volume of Stored Water
  • b. Stored Energy (Head)
  • c. Reservoir shape
  • d. Downstream Terrain
  • e. Breach Parameters
  • f. Incipient failure condition
  • g. Hydrologic loading
  • h. Downstream obstructions
• 3. Results of Interest from Breach Modeling
  • a. Maximum Inundation Extents
  • b. Flow Depth
  • c. Flow Velocity
  • d. DV
  • e. Flood Wave Arrival Time
  • f. Time to Peak
  • g. Duration of Flooding
  • h. Flow Paths
  • i. Downstream limits
• 4. History and Evolution of Dam Breach Hydrologic Routing
  • a. Methodologies
  • b. Data Requirements
  • c. Software
  • d. Results
• 5. 1D Hydraulic Routing
  • a. Methodology
  • b. Data Requirements
  • c. Software
  • d. Results
• 6. 2D Hydraulic Routing
  • a. Methodology
  • b. Data Requirements
  • c. Software
  • d. Results
• 7. Comparison of Methods
• 8. The Future of Dam Breach Modelling

Speakers: Tom Wooten, Harvard University Department of Sociology; and Uptal Sandesara, UCLA

PDHs: This webinar is eligible for 2 PDH credits. 

In this webinar, Utpal Sandesara and Tom Wooten will discuss their book, No One Had a Tongue to Speak: The Untold Story of One of History’s Deadliest Floods. The course will cover the social causes and social consequences of the 1979 failure of the Machhu Dam-II in Gujarat, India. The flood wiped out dozens of villages and the industrial city of Morbi, killing at least 5,000 people. The course will cover the technical causes of the dam failure, the managerial problems that allowed design flaws to go unchecked, and the many ways the flood upended lives in the Machhu River Valley.

Five Learning Objectives of This Course:

• Dam collapses can have terrible social consequences.

• Dam collapses also have social causes: there is no such thing as a “natural” disaster.

• This disaster, like most disasters, emerged not from one mistake but from a cascade of them.

• Covering up causes of engineering disasters does the profession and the public a disservice.

• The case shows how crucial it is to take dams seriously: ASDSO members do vital work.

Goals of the Presentation:
1. Attendees come away understanding the social failures that contributed to the Machhu Dam-II disaster
2. Attendees come away understanding the professional failings of civil engineers after the dam failure occurred
3. Attendees come away understanding the social consequences of the disaster, and just as importantly, the social consequences of the cover-up led by civil engineers

Part I         
Introduction and Context 
• Overview of Teaching/Learning Goals for Webinar 
• Origins of the project 
• Research questions 
• Research methods
• Writing and Releasing No One Had a Tongue to Speak 

Part II             
Designing the Dam: Professional and Managerial Failures Lead to Deadly Design
• A brief history of Morbi and the Machhu River Valley 
• Dam-building in post-independence India 
• Initial conception and design of Machhu Dam-II 
• Back-and-Forth between Designers and Regulators 
• Building the dam and post-hoc justifications 
• Early life of the dam: 1973-1978 

Part III               
The Events of August 11, 1979
• Dam workers and the supervising river valley engineer 
• Coping with a rising river downstream
• The dam collapse and the wall of water 

Part IV         

The Aftermath: Relief Efforts and Recovery in the Machhu River Valley
• The morning after 
• Outside relief efforts and the Chief Minister of Gujarat 
• Tallying the dead 

Speakers: Bruce C. Muller Jr., CEATI International Inc.; Bruce Feinberg, US Bureau of Reclamation; and Nathaniel Gee, US Bureau of Reclamation

PDHs: This webinar is eligible for 2 PDH credits. 

While there have been many notable dam failures throughout the past century, the failure of Teton Dam in 1976 led to significant changes at the Bureau of Reclamation, in the Federal Government, and in the dam engineering industry. This course will provide information about the dam, the failure, ensuing investigations, and the changes that were implemented in the years that followed.

Five Learning Objectives of This Course:

• The failure of Teton Dam was significant in defining the importance of dam safety and dam safety policy.

• The death toll could have been far worse if the timeline had unfolded differently.

• A dam failure brings extraordinary scrutiny upon the dam owner.

• While the failure was catastrophic, significant positive changes in the industry were initiated.

• Human factors play a key role in most if not all incidents/failures - we can’t just focus on technical issues.

• I. Significant Historic Failures/Incidents 
  • A. Johnstown Dam (1989)
  • B. St. Francis Dam (1928) - California Dam Safety Program
  • C. Buffalo Creek Dam (1972) - National Dam Inspection Act
  • D. Kelley Barnes Dam - President Carter’s home state.
• II. Teton Dam Failure 
  • A. Project Background 
  • B. Construction 
  • C. Failure 
    • 1. Timeline
    • 2. Consequences
      • a) Context of the fatalities
      • b) What contributed to the “mostly” successful evacuation?
      • c) How could the emergency response have been improved?
      • d) What if the failure had been at night?
• III. Investigations into the failure 
  • A. 2-3 investigations
    • 1. Failure theories and conclusions. 
• IV. Q&A 
• V. Organizational Changes at Reclamation 
  • A. Fontenelle Dam
  • B. Inundations
  • C. SEED Inspections
  • D. Matrix Organization
  • E. Principal Designer Concept
  • F. Communications
  • G. Reclamation Safety of Dams Act
• VI. Industry Changes 
  • A. ICODS
  • B. Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety
  • C. FEMA Dam
  • D. ASDSO
  • E. Risk Analysis
  • F. Potential Failure Modes Analysis
• VII. Perspectives 44 years later (
  • A. Common elements of incidents/failures
    • 1. Lack of communication
    • 2. Suppression of critical information
    • 3. Designer optimism
    • 4. Human Factors
• VIII. Best practices for preventing future failures 
  • A. Formal Inspection program
  • B. Formal review of design and construction
  • C. Documentation of decisions related to dam safety
  • D. Formal Dam Safety Program reviews (independent reviews)
• IX. Q&A 

Speaker: Kurt F. von Fay

PDHs: This webinar is eligible for 2 PDH credits. 

This course will provide an overview of the best methods and materials for concrete repair and maintenance. It will include a description of a systematic process to follow to achieve best results and will include information from recent industry wide research efforts to ensure long lasting durable repairs.

Five Learning Objectives of This Course:

• How to conduct a thorough condition assessment.

• Understanding the most common types of concrete damage.

• Selecting the correct material for the repair.

• Understanding proper substrate prepatation.

• How to repair leaks and cracks.

• Introduction to Webinar and Objectives
• Concrete Maintenance and Repair Process
  • Seven Steps to follow to improve long term function of repair
• Typical Causes of Concrete Damage to Hydraulic Structures
  • Poor quality concrete, freeze thaw damage, ASR, abrasion, cavitation, etc. 
• Methods to determine cause(s) of damage
  • Important for selecting best repair method
• Methods to determine extent of damage
  • Important for proper planning and budgeting
• Maintenance in lieu of repairs?
  • Typical maintenance to increase service life/delay repairs
• Typical concrete repair methods
  • 15 Standard methods
• How to prepare concrete for repair
• Applying the repair material properly
• Curing the repair
• Using this process for crack repair and water leaks
  • Causes for cracks, typical methods used for repair
• Examples will be presented throughout the webinar describing different repair cases 
• Questions/Discussion

Speakers: Paul Schweiger, P.E., CFM, Gannett Fleming, Inc.; Steve Verigin, P.E., G.E., GEI Consultants, Inc.; and Ted Craddock, P.E., CA Department of Water Resources

PDHs: This webinar is eligible for 2 PDH credits. 

Starting in May 2017, DWR and its construction contractors began repairing and rebuilding Oroville’s main and emergency spillways. By November 1, 2018, the main spillway was successfully reconstructed, meeting DWR’s public safety construction milestone. Work on the emergency spillway was completed soon afterwards. More than 1,000 people worked more than 2 million hours to rebuild the Oroville spillways to ensure the safety of downstream communities. This webinar will provide an orientation to Oroville Dam and the State Water Control Project, discuss the February 2017 incident and present the immediate recovery response as well as the permanent modifications made to the main spillway and the Emergency Spillway.

Five Learning Objectives of This Course:

• Introduction to Oroville Dam and the California State Water Project.

• Summary of the February 2017 spillway incident.

• An understanding of the Main Spillway recovery response.

• An understanding of the emergency Spillway recovery response.

• An understanding of the immediate recovery response.

• Orientation to Oroville Dam and the California State Water Project
• 2017 Spillway Incident
• Immediate Recovery Response
• Recovery for FCO
• Recovery for Emergency Spillway
• The Future of Oroville Dam – Comprehensive Needs Assessment

Speakers: Dr. George Annandale, President, George William Annandale, Inc.; and Dr. Michael F. George, Senior Geological Engineer, BGC Engineering, Inc.

PDHs: This webinar is eligible for 2 PDH credits. 

Erodibility of dam foundations, spillways and other water conveyance structures is a critical issue for the safe operation of dams world-wide. The February 2017 events at the Oroville spillways that resulted in the evacuation of nearly 200,000 downstream residents were a recent reminder of the need for meaningful quantification of scour. The course will offer examples of rock scour events impacting the safety of dams as well as provide an overview of scour mechanisms including discussion of key geologic controls and hydraulic drivers of the scouring process. Methods that can be reliably used to predict and assess such scour will be demonstrated, which include the Erodibility Index Method, a semi-empirical approach, and a more physics-based approach utilizing Block Theory. Both methods analyze the engineering properties of the rock mass and quantify the erosive capacity of flowing water based on principles of hydraulic engineering. These methods will be explained and their use illustrated by example. Finally, incorporation of high-resolution remote sensing tools in scour applications will be explored.

Five Learning Objectives of This Course:

• An understanding that scour of rock is a dam safety concern that requires meaningful quantification.

• An understanding that it is possible to predict the scour potential of rock using data normally available for dam design.

• An understanding that high-resolution remote sensing and monitoring can facilitate improved scour assessment.

• An understanding of processes and key drivers/controls for scour of rocks.

• An understanding of rock scour analysis.

• Examples of projects where scour of rock occurred 
• Kariba, Boondooma, Paradise, Bartlett, …

• Historic – empirical equations like Mason, etc. 
  • Single equations / developed in laboratory / not cause and effect / regression equations 
• Modern approach 
  • Cause and effect / What is the resistance of rock to scour? / What is the erosive capacity of flowing water?
  • Rock scour mechanisms
  • If erosive capacity of flowing water > resistance offered by rock >>> scour
  • Three methods available / Erodibility Index Method (EIM) / Block Theory / Comprehensive Scour Model / we are only presenting EIM and Block Theory

• Scour Prediction Concept
• Threshold condition 
• Conceptual application of threshold conditions to assess scour potential / applied and threshold stream power / What is stream power / why use stream power 
• Quantification of scour resistance by rock 
  • Erodibility Index 
  • Conversion to threshold stream power 
  • Spatial distribution of scour threshold under surface 
• Quantification of erosive capacity of flowing water
  • Plunging jets / jet breakup / energy loss / concepts 
  • Dissipation in plunge pool / concepts
  • Video of Ricobayo physical model study / benefit of jet breakup   /
  • Quantification of plunging jet stream power and dissipation in plunge pool 
  • Jet breakup / nappe jets / flip bucket jets / Castillo and its interpretation / stream power at surface of plunge pool / change of stream power below surface / dynamic and fluctuating pressures 
  • Other flow conditions / circular jets / hydraulic jump / knickpoints / headcuts / no detail / concepts and equations 
  • Calculating stream power along boundaries / using shear stress / using flow velocity 
  • Use of CFD Modeling 
• Assessment of scour potential using threshold conditions 
  • Compare applied and threshold stream power
  • Maximum scour depth 

• Geologic controls on rock erodibility
• Block theory basics (removability, kinematics, stability)
• Hydraulic loading for block stability
• Block erodibility threshold
  • Directional resistance, block removal mechanics
  • Laboratory tests, field blocks
• Assessment of scour potential using Block Theory method

• Rock characterization
• LiDAR/Photogrammetric methods
  • Discontinuity orientations, roughness, block detection, geometry
  • Probability distributions
• Flow characterization
  • Use of video/LSPIV for remote measurement of flow velocity/turbulence
• Change detection – repeat monitoring to benchmark performance, develop erosion rates in rock