Introduction on Rules and Policies of Dam Safety Management in the United States
In the United States, and in many other countries, general interest in the safety of dams and reservoirs has grown appreciably in recent years. Protection of the public from the consequences of dam failures has taken on increasing importance as populations have concen-trated in limited and vulnerable areas. Dam safety is the art and science of ensuring the integ-rity and viability of dams such that they do not present unacceptable risks to the public,property, and the environment. It requires the collective application of engineering principles and experience, and a philosophy of risk management that recognizes that a dam is a struc-ture whose safe functioning is not explicitly determined by its original design and construc-tion. It also includes all actions taken to identify or predict deficiencies and consequences re-lated to failure, and to document, publicize, and reduce, eliminate, or remediate, to the ex-tent reasonably possible, any unacceptable risks. As a result of several dam failures in the United States in the mid 1970 s, the government issued the Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety in June 1979. In 1986, Congress enacted a law that outlines the National Dam Safety Act which gave the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) the responsibility for implementing the national program. The Act also established a National Dam Safety Review Board to advise the Director of FEMA on dam safety issues. As the program matured, the implementation of Failure Mode Analyses and the application of risk assessment became an integral part of the dam safety program. As part of the National Dam Safety Program, emphasis has been placed on the develop-ment of emergency action plans and many dams have been modified while some have been re-moved. The modifications include anchoring of older existing concrete gravity dams, adding additional spillway capacity for new inflow design floods, cutoff walls in embankment dams and their foundation, upgrading electrical and mechanical equipment and enhanced real time monitoring of structural performance. As with all programs, monitoring t the program per-formance is essential. Today a biennial progress report is submitted to Congress for this pur-pose.
Arthur H.Walz
国际会议
International Conference on Dam Safety Management(2008水库大坝安全管理国际研讨会)
南京
英文
765-775
2008-10-22（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）