'Dam safety systems' are systems monitoring the state of
dams used for
hydropower or other purposes. This includes the use of
differential GPS and
SAR remote sensing to monitor the
risks imposed by
landslides and
subsidence. For large dams
seismographs are used to detect
Resorvoir Induced Seismicity that could threaten the stability of the dam
[1]. The output of these systems can
provide warning to the local population ahead of a potential collapse .
Systems in the USA
Dam safety systems became a focus of multi-agency regulations during the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers construction of large
flood control and
hydro-electric power generation projects. To help benchmark proven practices, the Association of Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) formed a national
non-profit organization of state and federal dam safety regulators, dam owners and operators, engineering consultants, manufacturers and suppliers, academia, contractors and others interested in dams safety. More recently public safety concerns were addressed by the
Indian Dams Safety Act of 1992 during hearings before the Select Committee on Indian Affairs,
United States Senate, 102nd Congress, second session, on S. 2617. The purpose was to provide for the maintenance of dams located on Indian lands in
New Mexico by the
BIA through contracts with the Indian tribes. (
August 4 1992 in Washington, DC)
The ASDSO Conference Proceedings paper by Gary R. Holtzhausen (1991) describes the effective use of
tiltmeters with
remote sensing to provide reliable low-cost early warning of impending structural failures.
References
★ Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) 1991 Annual Conference Proceedings:
29 September -
2 October 1991 at San Diego, California. Holzhausen, Gary R. - Applied Geomechanics, Inc. ''Low-Cost, Automated Detection of Precursors to Dam Failure:
Coolidge Dam,
Arizona'' (pp. 281-284)
★ Dam Safety: Know the Potenatial Hazards (
FEMA Booklet L152 / Sept 1989)
★ ''Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety'' -
June 25 1979 (GPO: 041-001-00187-5)
★ Guidelines for Instrumentation and Measurements for Monitoring Dam Performance, American Society of Civil Engineers, 2000, 712 pages, ISBN 0-7844-0531-X.
See also
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External links
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ASDSO; Association of Dam Safety Officials
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Dam Smart: Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) solutions
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Earth Won ''International Commisson on Large Dams''
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MCEER: Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research
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MoDNR: Natural Disaster Resources (
14 December 2005 Dam Failure)
★
Comprehensive Survey of Missouri's Dam Safety Law
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Geomation, Inc.; Automated Systems and Telemetry for Dam Safety Monitoring