Lawn Lake Dam: Pre-Failure Comprehensive Dam Safety Evaluation and Post Failure Impacts: On-Demand
Speakers: Mark E. Baker, P.E., Dam and Levee Safety Officer, National Park Service; and Bill McCormick, P.E., Chief of Dam Safety, Colorado Dam Safety Branch
PDHs: This webinar is eligible for 2 PDH credits.
Lawn Lake Dam, located in Rocky Mountain National Park, failed suddenly and catastrophically on a sunny day in July 1982, and resulted in over $30 million dollars in damage and the loss of 3 lives. This webinar will explore the history of the dam, construction features responsible for the failure, the failure event and emergency response, the long legal process to assign liability for the failure, and the overall impacts to the Town of Estes Park and its citizens, the Colorado Dam Safety Branch, and the National Park Service.
Key Takeaways:
- Internal Erosion Potential Failure Modes (PFM's).
Latent Physical Conditions at dams that results in PFM's.
Dam Failure Investigations and Forensic Reporting.
Preparing State and Federal Dam Safety Programs to pro-actively mitigate PFM's.
Learning from the dam failure experiences of the past to be better prepared for the future.
Bill McCormick, P.E.
Chief of Dam Safety, Colorado Dam Safety Branch
Bill McCormick holds a bachelors degree in Geology and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Geological Engineering. He is a licensed Professional Engineer and a Professional Geologist in the state of Colorado. He has over 28 years of professional experience as geologist, engineering geologist and civil engineer involved with design, construction and regulation of water projects in Colorado and Nevada. He has been with the Colorado Division of Water Resources for the past 14 years and as Chief of the Colorado Dam Safety Branch since 2011. Bill and his award winning team of dam safety engineers have responsibility for developing and executing a comprehensive dam safety risk management program for all dams in the state of Colorado in the interest of public safety. Bill currently serves as Secretary of the ASDSO Board of Directors.
Mark E. Baker, P.E.
Senior Dam Safety Program Engineer
DamCrest Consulting
Mark worked at the Bureau of Reclamation for 25 years. For 17 years, he was a program manager in Reclamation’s Dam Safety Office, leading the technical execution of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Dam Safety Program (110 high-hazard potential dams). In 2011, he became the Dam Safety Officer of the National Park Service (60 dams). Also in 2011, he founded and led the ASDSO Dam Failures & Incidents Committee. Under his leadership, ASDSO created the popular website DamFailures.org and began the Decade Dam Failure series. He was selected to lead the independent Spencer Dam failure investigation team in 2019 due to his failure and incident experience. In 2024, he co-edited ASDSO’s book Dam Failures and Incidents with 106 cases. For the past seven years, he has managed his own consultancy, DamCrest Consulting, focusing on dam safety programs, risk management, and dam failure/incident investigations.
Comprehensive Dam Safety Evaluation (CDSE)
Welcome to the 1981 Comprehensive Dam Safety Evaluation for Lawn Lake Dam
Introductions (Stakeholders)
Introduction to the CDSE Process
Flow Chart review of process
Description of Dam – Existing Information document gathering/review
Location description
Site Geology
Design and Construction history
Hazard Classification
Inspection History
Performance History
Potential Failure Mode Brainstorming
Loadings
Static
Seismic
Hydrologic
Key Dam Components and Likely PFMs
Foundation
Embankment
Outlet works
Spillway
PFM Screening
Positive Factors – Factors that make it a less likely failure mode
Adverse Factors – Factors that make it a more Likely Failure Mode
Remote PFM(s)
PFM(s) to bring forward
Event Trees
Initiation
Continuation
Progression
Intervention
Failure/Breach
Consequences
Map Review
Level 1,2,3,4
F-N Chart
Risk driving failure modes -
Likelihood
Confidence/Uncertainty
Making the Case
Recommended risk reduction measures - next actions
Investigation
Mitigation
Emergency Preparation
Questions
The Failure of Lawn Lake Dam and Post-Failure Impacts
The failure event
Emergency response and recovery
Forensic Investigation
Legal
Policy changes (State)
Policy Changes/Dam removals (NPS)
Lessons Learned
Physical Factors - CDSE
Human Factors
Consequences
Emergency Preparation
Questions
Wrap up and Takeaways
Complete
Next
Failed
Available
Locked