ACER TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM NO. 2 ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER - ENGINEERING AND RESEARCH DENVER, COLORADO FREEBOARD CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES FOR COMPUTING FREEBOARD ALLOWANCES FOR STORAGE DAMS U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Reclamation 1981ACER TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM NO. 2 Assistant Commissioner - Engineering and Research Denver, Colorado FREEBOARD CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES FOR COMPUTING FREEBOARD ALLOWANCES FOR STORAGE DAMS UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Reclamation December 1981PREFACE This document presents Bureau of Reclamation policy pertaining to freeboard allowances for storage dams. Freeboard is needed to provide assurance against overtopping of dams and represents a contingency allowance for a number of variables that cannot be fully assessed during the design process. Part I contains freeboard criteria which have been developed for Bureau of Reclamation storage dams. Part II contains guidelines which provide sug- gested methods for computing freeboard requirements in compliance with Reclamation's criteria. Site-specific factors stated in the criteria which should be considered in the determination of total freeboard require- ments for each project are discussed and example computations of wind setup and wave runup are presented. The appendix contains pertinent definitions that are used in freeboard determinations. 4b Canad Rodney J. Vissia Assistant Commissioner Engineering and Research