Identification of Failure Modes

for Dam Safety Monitoring and

Evaluation (Part 2)

David Rees Gillette, PE, PhD

Causes of Embankment Dam
Failures
Flood-Induced PFMs for
Embankment Dams

• Overtopping
• Internal erosion
• Slope instability
• Erosion by spillway flow
• (Spillway failure)
High Reservoir – Seepage Concerns

● Flow over the top of

the core

● Reservoir water
acting against untested
embankment or
abutment areas

● Higher pressures and

gradients
Flood Overtopping
Overtopping by Major Flood

Virginia Kendall Dam,

Ohio USA, after being
overtopped 35 cm deep
by thunderstorm flood.

Note concrete core wall,

which prevented
breach.
 Concentrated
overtopping
flow

Considering only the design Looking at the actual crest

crest elevation – small profile – sufficient flow depth
depth of overtopping flow at low area to start erosion
over the length of the dam and breaching process
– no problem
Delhi Dam, Iowa, USA
Delhi Dam, Iowa, USA
• Concrete core wall effective in
controlling seepage until reservoir rose
above top of core wall.
• No internal drains.
• Spillway capacity reduced because one
of three gates could not open all the
way, apparently because of repairs that
were not completed – Maintenance
does affect dam safety!
Failure by Flood-induced Internal
Erosion Leading to Slope Failure

Normal Pool
Level
 Erosion of
Embankment
by Flood
Discharge

Horseshoe
Dam USA
Flood-Induced PFMs for
Concrete Dams
• Sliding
• Overturning
• Overtopping and foundation erosion
Overtopping
flow erodes
foundation
material
Gibson Dam
Gibson Dam - Modifications

Overtopping Erosion Protection for

the Abutment

Splitters to
Introduce
Air Under
Overtopping
Flow
Flood Level Gravity Dam
Normal RWS
Sliding or
Overturning

½ γW H2

Increased A
Uplift Pressure B C D E
on Base
Spillway Failures During Flood

• Heaving of floor slab due to stagnation pressure –

"slab jacking"
• Failure due to cavitation damage to concrete
• Loss of material from foundation from internal
erosion or undercutting
• Overtopping of chute walls due to inadequate
capacity
Uplift Pressures Under Chute
Floor Slabs from Stagnation

Potentially high
uplift pressure
Big Sandy Dam
Spillway
Failure due to
Stagnation
Pressure and
“Slab Jacking”
Big Sandy Dam Spillway
The Results
Defense: Good Details for
Joints in Floor of Chute
Continuous
Reinforcement

Overlapped Slabs
Water Stop

Under Drain
with Filter
Anchor Bar
Concrete Cutoff
Cavitation
Boiling of water due
to localized vacuum
from high-velocity
flow. Collapsing
bubbles cause
shock waves that
can erode concrete
or even steel.
Methods
Where
cavitation
can occur

See references –
Cavitation in Chutes and
Spillways
How bad it can get
Glen Canyon Dam
1983

Two years earlier

Erosion of Material From Beneath the Spillway

Voids beneath the spillway floor could lead to structural collapse

of the spillway floor slabs
Erosion of Material From Beneath the Spillway

Voids beneath the spillway floor could lead to structural collapse

of the spillway floor slabs

Damaged flow surface could result in

flow erosion failure
Chute Overtopping
- El Guapo Dam

FUENTE: HIDROVEN
FUENTE: HIDROVEN
FUENTE: HIDROVEN
FUENTE: HIDROVEN
Monitoring – Flood-Related PFMs
Pre-Flood Baseline
• Photographs (embankment, spillway, etc.)
• Aerial topographic survey
• Measurement point survey

Flood Response
• Visual observation (flow conditions, seepage, etc.)
• Photographs/video
• Monitor for other failure modes also

Post-Flood
• Inspection
• Measurement point survey
• Aerial survey
Seismic PFMs for
Embankment Dams
• Liquefaction and instability
• Crack erosion
• Movement of fault in foundation
Liquefaction and Instability

Sheffield Dam, 1925 Santa

Barbara Earthquake
Liquefaction of
Foundations or
Embankments
Liquefaction of Embankment
Lower San Fernando Dam, California
1971 San Fernando Earthquake
Lower San Fernando Dam
La Marquesa Dam, 1985
Central Chile EQ, M 8.0, PHA≈
0.6 g

Crest settlement 2.3 m (23%). Remnant freeboard < 1 m.

De Alba et al. (1988)
Failure of Fujinuma Dam, 2011 Tohoku
Offshore Earthquake, Japan, 0.3-0.4 g
Caused by weak/sensitive
silt/clay in foundation?

Photos: Geotechnical Extreme Events

Reconnaissance Association, 2011
 Construction
Shutdown and
Material Change?

From Matsumoto, Sasaki,

and Ohmachi (2011)

Flow appears to be on a level

surface with some erosion
resistance, consistent with
clayey fill in field reports.
Picture taken 25 minutes after
earthquake.
 Crack Erosion?
Rogers Dam,
Fallon Nevada
Earthquake
1952

After rebuilding
embankment. Note very
small freeboard above
stoplogs.
 Zipingpu Dam, 10 km from
Wenchuan Earthquake (7.9)

www.connect.in.com

• 150 m high CFRD

• Reservoir low at
time of EQ
 Settlement ~1/2 % of height;
cracks 20 mm by "several m"
at joints in upper part of face

www.connect.in.com

www.internationalrivers.org
waterpowermagazine.com

www.bbc.co.uk

Looking across u/s slope

Looking up u/s slope

But what if Zipingpu Reservoir
had been full at the time of the
earthquake?
What potential failure modes are there?

What governs their likelihood?

Movement of Foundation Faults
1906 San Francisco Earthquake: four
embankment dams on San Andreas Fault,
few details available.
Lower Howell – Failed
Upper Howell – Didn’t
Why the difference? MAYBE because Lower
Howell had a steel conduit through it at the
site of the fault rupture. Most of the
evidence was washed away, of course.
Langalda Dam, Iceland – Aseismic opening of
"tectonic fractures" in foundation – no
breach.
Failure by Foundation Fault
Movement

Baldwin Hills Dam, California

Underdrain
System
Foundation Faulting due to Oil
Well Pumping – No Earthquake
Attempted Intervention
Baldwin Hills
Dam, CA.
Aseismic
movement of fault
Seismic PFMs for Concrete
Dams
• Sliding on foundation or lift lines
• Overturning
• Structural failure of arch dam
Sliding along disbonded or weak lift lines in earthquake (or flood)
Could also occur under normal operations if there is plugging
of drains in the dam

Keyed Lift Line

Tensile Stresses Crack
Induced by
Seismic Shaking
Pacoima Dam, CA (earthquake)
• 113m high flood
control arch dam
• 1971 M 6.6 San
Fernando and 1994 M
6.8 Northridge EQs
• Opening of joint
between dam and lt
thrust block, cracking
of thrust block, left
abut rock movements
• Reservoir was low, or
dam might have
failed.

58
Pacoima Dam

Pacoima
Dam

California

Left abutment thrust block

Pacoima Dam
• Opening of joint between dam and lt. thrust
block, cracking of thrust block, lt. abut. rock
movements
• Reservoir was low, or dam might have failed
Sefid-Rud Dam, Iran

Concrete buttress dam subjected

to coseismic movement of
abutments, 1990 Manjil Earthquake
Sefid-Rud Dam
1990 Manjil EQ
Failure of Gate
or Walls Under
Earthquake Loading
Monitoring – Seismic PFMs
Pre-Earthquake Baseline
• Seepage conditions (flow rate, piezometers)
• Water pressures
• Survey measurement points
• Inclinometers
• Visual

Earthquake Response
• Visual inspection
• Instrument readings (measurement points,
inclimometers, piezometers, flow rate)

Post-Earthquake Monitoring
• Potential hidden damage
New seepage, or
just relief of
excess pore water
pressure?
Monitoring During Extreme Loading
Conditions (Floods and Earthquakes)
Little can be done during event
- the key recognition and action in advance

Learn from lesser magnitude events

- focused monitoring effort during the
event

Routine monitoring
- baseline of pre-event condition
- compare to post-event condition
“Things Happen...”
• Gates do not operate or fail.
• Stoplogs cannot be removed.
• Power for operating the gates is lost.
– Storm outage or electrical line to gates lost.
– Auxiliary power either
Does not exist.
Does not function as planned.
• Access to site is lost.
• Procedures break down.
• Operational errors.
 Operational Errors
Taum Sauk Pumped Storage Facility, Missouri, USA
• 25 m high concrete-
face rockfill dam on
hilltop
• No spillway, small
freeboard
• Water-level gauges
were out of correct
position, and pumps
did not turn off.
• Failure of dam from
overtopping leading to
erosion and slope
instability.
“You won’t find
what you aren’t looking for.”

Focused attention on key

performance indicators is the best
way to assure that a failure mode
has not initiated or is not
developing.

Random, unfocused activity is neither

effective nor efficient.
Potential Failure Mode Descriptions
 Initiating Condition
 Flood or earthquake
 Unusually high reservoir level
 Deterioration/aging of structure
 Operator error or malfunction
 Failure Mechanism
 Piping of core material through the foundation
 Erosion of the downstream slope and crest
 Sliding of a block of abutment rock
 How Dam Failure Actually Occurs
 Seepage erosion eventually leads to breach
 Overtopping leads to breach
 Abutment slide leads to cracking and failure of
concrete structure
Potential Failure Modes Analysis
1. Assemble a team with the necessary
expertise and knowledge:
Engineers
Geologists
Seismologists
Flood Hydrologists
Dam Operators
PFMAFacilitator
2. Study the dam, geology, and loadings,
and develop "brainstorm" list of potential
failure modes (PFMs).
Component
Events
• What loading
makes failure
start?
• How and where
does it start?
• And then what
happens?
• And then what?
3. Decompose each PFM into its
component conditions and events.

Y Failure
OT Failure?
Example event tree Y
N No
for seismic failure
Crest Mvmt > Failure
Y Freeboard?
N Y Failure
Slope Cracks ->
Y Instability? Erosion
Widespread
Failure? N No
Liq’n? N
No Failure
[0.3 to 0.4 g Failure
∩ High Res.] N
No
Failure
Performance Monitoring
Program
1. Routine visual monitoring
2. Routine instrumented monitoring
3. Periodic exam and review by specialists
4. Earthquake response
5. Flood response
Visual Inspections
Expected Performance
• Not easy to define

• Knowledge and
experience are vital

• Understanding the
potential failure
modes, and how
observations relate
to them, helps
greatly
Failure Mode Identification and
Performance Parameters

Dam safety concerns defined

Unified, focused monitoring program
Reasons for monitoring are clear
Expected performance defined
Costs low - benefits high
Schedule for
Periodic
Monitoring
(L-23)
Discussion?

Shi Kang
Dam,
Taiwan
The one that
did not fail!