As dams deteriorate, or as their purpose and benefits diminish, there may come a time when the appropriate action is to decommission the dam. For some dams, this can be a very simple, rapid and inexpensive undertaking. For other dams, it can be a very complex and costly process, requiring years to accomplish. The purpose of this webinar is to provide an overview of recent trends in dam decommissioning in the United States with an emphasis on t...

Hydrologic hazard curves are critical flood loading inputs for dam and levee safety risk assessments. Over the past decade, some Federal agencies have developed and applied new tools and data sets to estimate hydrologic hazard curves, which are graphs of peak flows, volume, or reservoir stages versus Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP). Hydrologic hazard curves provide a full probability distribution for the flood hazard, covering the range of...

The webinar consist of two sessions. Session 1 will be an overview of Geophysical methods applicable to dams and levees, how theory behind the methodologies, and the strengths and limitations of each method. This session will also cover what additional investigations, such as drilling, are necessary to calibrate the geophysical data in order to provide a holistic evaluation of the subsurface conditions and how these conditions can affect dam a...

Cracks are likely to develop in most embankment dams and levees, and not just in those that are poorly constructed. This course will present some of the common conditions that can lead to adverse geostatic stress conditions, cracking, and hydraulic fracturing in embankments. Case histories are used to illustrate various crack-forming mechanisms and potential failure modes associated with embankment cracking. The need for caution when consideri...

Low-level conduits (pipes) through the base of a dam are the most common spillway for small earthen embankment structures. However, the discontinuity caused by the presence of the conduit creates numerous issues that must be addressed during the design and construction of the low-level pipe. This short course will present general design and construction related issues that dam engineers and owners should be aware of when considering a low-leve...

As dams deteriorate, or as their purpose and benefits diminish, there may come a time when the appropriate action is to decommission the dam. For some dams, this can be a very simple, rapid and inexpensive undertaking. For other dams, it can be a very complex and costly process, requiring years to accomplish. The purpose of this webinar is to provide an overview of recent trends in dam decommissioning in the United States with an emphasis on t...

A large difference between water storage dams versus tailings dams and coal ash impoundments is that these industrial structures are always under construction. This provides the opportunity to optimize design and construction, but places an emphasis on ongoing evaluation and monitoring. This course provides an overview of the unique construction and design components of these facilities. This course will examine a number of recent failures tha...

This seminar provides comprehensive instruction in inspection and evaluation techniques for dams. The principles, concepts and procedures taught will be readily adaptable to any organization conducting dam inspections and evaluating their compliance with current design standards. The target audience is state and federal dam owners/regulators, local and private dam owners/operators, consulting engineers and personnel responsible for the operati...

Hydrologic hazard curves are critical flood loading inputs for dam and levee safety risk assessments. Over the past decade, some Federal agencies have developed and applied new tools and data sets to estimate hydrologic hazard curves, which are graphs of peak flows, volume, or reservoir stages versus Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP). Hydrologic hazard curves provide a full probability distribution for the flood hazard, covering the range of...

Dam Safety 2016 will feature more than 30 technical sessions on a wide variety of important dam safety engineering and program-related topics. This year's opening plenary session will focus on remembering the Teton Dam failure and understanding the impact of that event in shaping modern dam safety policy. Concurrent sessions on such popular topics as hydrologic modeling, dam owner and regulatory issues, recent extreme storm events, seismic iss...