Lessons from the Teton Dam failure
1987; Elsevier BV; Volume: 24; Issue: 1-4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/0013-7952(87)90064-0
ISSN1872-6917
Autores Tópico(s)Hydraulic flow and structures
ResumoThe Teton Dam failure is one of the most important single events in the history of dam engineering. Teton Dam is the highest dam which has completely failed. It was designed and constructed under the supervision of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation which had built many major dams over the previous 70 years, and which was widely reputed to be a leader in the field. This paper is one of a group on the same subject for the International Workshop on Dam Failures, Purdue University. The objective is to determine whether concentrated re-examination of the failure details after about 9 years have elapsed, and most of the emotional heat generated by the disaster has dissipated, will allow any better understanding of the lessons learned for the profession. No attempt is made here to describe all the project features or review the failure details. The reader is assumed to be already familiar with the main reports prepared by the two eminent review panels (Independent Panel, 1976; U.S. Dept. of the Interior Group, 1977, 1980). A good summary of the main failure details is given in Seed and Duncan (1981). Soon after the failure I spent several weeks studying the problem, for my own edification. This effort included discussions with the responsible engineering staff of the USBR in the Denver headquarters. In Denver also I studied all the main documents, and had conferences with the geologists who worked on the job during the design stage, and others who had mapped the detailed geology exposed during the dam construction. Subsequently during September 1976 1 spent about ten days at the site. During this time the embankment remnant on the right abutment was being slowly and carefully excavated, exposing the rock foundation and rock walls of the cutoff trench as part of the failure cause investigation. The Resident Engineer and inspection staff which had controlled construction were still on the site and they spoke frankly about all the main points, although they were still somewhat shell-shocked. Later, during 1979--81, I was employed to study the subsequent events by a group of insurance companies who had paid flood damages and were petitioning the U.S. Government (unsuccessfully) for reimbursement. During
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