Course Catalogue.

After participating in this course, you will be able to:

• Learn the overview of the evolution of earth dam design over the last 100+ years
• Gain practical knowledge on key design considerations – geotechnical and hydrotechnical
• Get an understanding of the recent advances in foundation characterizations for dam design
• Learn about the current state of standards-based design criteria and their applications
• Familiarize yourself with the risk assessment and its application to dam design
• Integrate the dam safety management and its implication to the dam design practices

Description
Earth dam design practices have evolved significantly over the last 100+ years. Many of these changes were due to the availability of better tools for analysis and methods for foundation characterizations as well as performance monitoring of existing dams, and other changes were driven by large organizations responsible for the design and construction of a large portfolio of safe dams.

The geotechnical and hydrotechnical design of the earth dam was primarily done based on a standards-based approach which had been gradually evolving to risk-informed or risk-based approaches like other higher risks industries.

Current dam designers are required to go beyond technical issues to fully understand the design needs and considerations, which will be the purview of this course.

Course Outline

• Introduction to design of earth dam
• Evolution of design practices
• Preparation of design basis and its importance
• Geotechnical and hydrotechnical issues and key aspects
• Standards-based design
• Risk-based design
• Risk assessment in relation to dam design
• Dam safety management

Who Should Attend
Dam owners and operators, regulators, NGOs, emergency planners, risk assessors, vendors and suppliers of dam materials and the consultants who provide services to the dam industry will find this course particularly valuable.

This course is intended to meet the requirements for continuing professional development.