A dam failure or dam burst is a catastrophic type of structural failure characterized by the sudden, rapid, and uncontrolled release of impounded water or the likelihood of such an uncontrolled release.[1] Between the years 2000 and 2009 more than 200 notable dam failures happened worldwide.[2]
A dam is a barrier across flowing water that obstructs, that directs or slows down the flow, often creating a reservoir, lake or impoundments. Most dams have a section called a spillway or weir over or through which water flows, either intermittently or continuously, and some have hydroelectric power generation systems installed.
Dams are considered "installations containing dangerous forces" under international humanitarian law due to the massive impact of a possible destruction on the civilian population and the environment. Dam failures are comparatively rare, but can cause immense damage and loss of life when they occur. In 1975 the failure of the Banqiao Reservoir Dam and other dams in Henan Province, China caused more casualties than any other dam failure in history. The disaster killed an estimated 171,000 people[3] and 11 million people lost their homes.
Main causes of dam failures
International special sign for works and installations containing dangerous forces
Common causes of dam failure include:
Sub-standard construction materials/techniques (Gleno Dam)
Lowering of dam crest height, which reduces spillway flow (South Fork Dam[5])
Geological instability caused by changes to water levels during filling or poor surveying (Malpasset Dam).
Sliding of a mountain into the reservoir (Vajont Dam – not a dam failure, but caused nearly the entire volume of the reservoir to be displaced and overtop the dam)
Climate-driven landscape instability (Rock-ice avalanches, Permafrost landslides, Debris flows, Outburst floods from glacial lakes and landslide-dammed lakes)[7]
Deliberate breaching
A notable case of deliberate dam breaching was the BritishRoyal Air ForceDambusters raid on Germany in World War II (codenamed "Operation Chastise"), in which six German dams were selected to be breached in order to impact German infrastructure and manufacturing and power capabilities deriving from the Ruhr and Eder rivers. This raid later became the basis for several films.
Attacks on dams were restricted in Article 56 of the 1977 Protocol I amendment to the Geneva Conventions. Dams may not be lawfully attacked "if such attack may cause the release of dangerous forces from the works or installations and consequent severe losses among the civilian population", unless "it is used for other than its normal function and in regular, significant and direct support of military operations and if such attack is the only feasible way to terminate such support". Similar provisions apply to other sources of "dangerous forces", such as nuclear power plants.[8]
Other cases include the Chinese bombing of multiple dams during Typhoon Nina (1975) in an attempt to drain them before their reservoirs overflowed. The typhoon produced what is now considered a 1-in-2,000-year flood, which few if any of these dams were designed to survive.
Natural dam of glacial till had canal dug through it for purposes of navigation. As the till was hard to dig, water was used to erode the channel. The canal led to the failure of the dam.
Inexperience with cold weather engineering allowed for a small leak in wall to form on March 28 and the dam to slump on April 2. The following day, on April 3, the dam failed and washed away down the Rideau River. A new dam of a different design was built atop the foundation of the original later that same year.[10]
Under the influence of heavy rain from late April, this soil dam collapsed on May 13. Water accumulated in Lake Iruka overflowed downstream, causing severe damage to Inuyama, Iwakura, Kasugai, TsushimaYatomi, and to Komaki. Eight hundred and seven houses were destroyed, with another 11,709 flooded.
Lax regulations and cost cutting led to an insufficient design, which fell apart when the reservoir was full. Six hundred million gallons of water were released, wiping out 4 towns and making national headlines. This dam break led to increased regulation of dam construction.
Blamed on poor maintenance by owners, who lowered crest by a meter or more;[5] court deemed it an "Act of God". Followed exceptionally heavy rainfall. Sixteen hundred homes were destroyed.
A drunkard's negligence, shoddy construction, and corporate mismanagement killed as many as 150 after a routine flood exceeded the dam's design capacity.[11][4]
Design flaw; dam built on water springs. Four downstream dams and bridge destroyed; a fourth dam was opened and saved. Mills, homes and farms flooded. No fatalities.
Over-topped from flooding following heavy rains. Locally, blame was placed on Charles Hatfield who had been contracted by the City of San Diego for his efforts in rainmaking. Court cases following the dam's failure resulted in neither liabilities being passed to Mr. Hatfield nor the original payment, as both of the court's decisions ruled the event 'an act of God'.
Over-topped from flooding; spillway inadequate, water rose over a meter higher than the dam and waterfalled over its surface. Dam had been raised after a similar earlier overtopping. Partial failure.
Heavy rains and lack of water-level controls caused the dam to give way. Private lake destroyed, resort area failed. Dam was later rebuilt in the 1960s.
The outflow from Llyn Eigiau destroyed Coedty reservoir. Contractor blamed cost-cutting in construction. Twenty-five inches of rain had fallen in preceding 5 days.
Geological instability of east canyon wall. Possibly many more unreported casualties due to unknown, large numbers of undocumented migrant workers in farmland below.
Bad design and maintenance, with proximate cause of heavy rain. Dam failed at 1 am on 3 August 1933, with dam waters just 15 miles from the City of Denver. Warnings to the city by 4 am allowed most people to move out of the way of the flood waters.[12][13][14]
A torrential rain struck around Horonai River area. This is the dam collapse in the wake, and according to official confirmed, the lost houses reached to 32.
After heavy rain, the Heiwaike Dam collapsed, and water from the reservoir swallowed a downstream village. Eight houses ware damaged in Kameoka and the surrounding area.
According to dam workers' testimonies, the grounds had serious structural deficiencies due to poor construction. On the night of January 9, a 150-meter-long portion of the containing wall collapsed, releasing nearly 8 million m3 of stored water.[15]
Impoundment of the clay slurry reservoir (storing the waste of the local brick factories) failed after heavy rains, inundating the Kurenivka neighborhood with meters of mud. An unofficial modern report claims as high as 1,500 fatalities, while official reports state 145.
Dam wall burst due to pressure of accumulated rain water.[16] To protect the earthen dam from the flow of water, concrete blocks were used instead of steel-reinforced concrete due to a steel shortage.
Strictly not a dam failure, since the dam structure did not collapse and is still standing. Filling the reservoir caused geological failure in valley wall, leading to 110km/h landslide into the lake; water escaped in a wave over the top of dam. Valley had been incorrectly assessed as stable. Several villages completely wiped out.
A tailings dam at Plakalnitsa copper mine near Vratsa failed. A total 450,000 m3 of mud and water inundated Vratsa and the nearby village of Zgorigrad, which suffered widespread damage. The official death toll is 107, but an unofficial estimate is around 500 killed.[17][18]
Unstable loose constructed dam created by local coal mining company, collapsed in heavy rain. 1,121 injured, 507 houses destroyed, over 4,000 left homeless.
The dam failure was caused by extreme rainfall, beyond the planned design capability of the dam, dumped on China by Typhoon Nina. Eleven million people lost their homes. Dam was later rebuilt between 1986 and 1993.
Geological problems including unsuitable bedrock, seismic activity and caves. USGS, said prior to completion: "Since such a flood could be anticipated, we might consider a series of strategically placed motion-picture cameras to document the process". Water leakage eroded the earthen wall and lead to dam failure. Thirteen thousand head of cattle died.
The actual observed flow following the intense rainfall reached 16307 m3 s, thrice what the dam was designed for, resulting in its collapse. The 762 metres (2,500ft) of left and 365 metres (1,198ft) of right embankment of dam were collapsed.[5] Within 20 minutes the floods of 12 to 30 feet (3.7 to 9.1m) height inundated the low-lying areas of Morbi industrial town located 5km below the dam.[21]
Heavy flooding coupled with poor quality of the dam wall, lack of qualified staff and negligence of a warning of heavy rain in the area. On the next day, newspapers reported possibly 40 fatalities and 25 disappeared but in the coming days the count went down to 8 or 9. One year later, La Vanguardia spoke of 25.
Poor maintenance, leakage, and consequent failure. Destroyed over 1600 houses and 2,000 acres of paddy fields. The dam was 1,400 years old, and heavy modern vehicles were driven across it.
Lightning struck power system, turbines shut down. Water rose behind dam while trying to restart. Backup power systems failed, could not raise spillway gates in time. Dam overtopped (rebuilt).
The embankment dam, built between 1958 and 1962 for the Borzești Petrochemical Plant on the Tazlău river, collapsed after record rainfall firstly overtopped the structure, followed by its breach later onwards. As the event happened in the night, 250 houses were destroyed, killing 25 people in the process.
Problems started after two weeks of constant rain, which severely engorged soils, rivers and reservoirs. Post-flood enquiries discovered that the network of dikes and dams protecting the city was poorly maintained.
Heavy rains and flooding from Hurricane Mitch severely damaged the Mancotal and El Dorado Dams, over-topping their spillways and nearly destroying the dams. The Virgen Dam was destroyed but later rebuilt.[22][23]
Over-steepened dam failed by sliding on weak clay foundation, releasing 4–5 million m3 of acidic mine tailings into the River Agrio, a tributary of the River Guadiamar, which is the main water source for the Doñana National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Failure of a coal slurry impoundment. The water supply for over 27,000 residents was contaminated. The spill was 30 times larger than the Exxon Valdez oil spill and one of the worst environmental disasters ever in the southeastern United States
Heavy rains caused earthen Fuse plug dam and bank to wash away. Eighteen hundred people evacuated. Flood caused the failure of the downstream Tourist Park Dam.
Strictly not a dam or dike failure. The original peat soil surrounding a polder (where peat had subsided due to oxidization) was pushed away by the water in the canal. The peat became lighter than water during the 2003 drought. The real cause was new wooden piling along the canal. This new piling was water-tight and therefore the peat soil dried out. Around 1,500 residents had to be evacuated.
Computer/operator error; gauges intended to mark dam full were not respected; dam continued to fill. Minor leakages had also weakened the wall through piping. The dam of the lower reservoir withstood the onslaught of the flood.
Neglection of barrage and the building of barrage itself. The region however saw weak monsoon and multi-year drought preceding the barrage failure. The flood affected over 2.3 million people in the northern part of Bihar.
Not a dam failure, but rather the power station accident where the turbine 2 broke apart violently due to the metal fatigue caused by overlooked vibrations, flooding the turbine hall and causing the ceiling to collapse. The dam itself was unaffected, and the power station rebuilt within 5 years.
Heavy rain, flooding, malfunctioning spillwy and structural problems. Around 8,000 people had to be evacuated. Replacement uncertain due to lake-dredging debt.
Failure of concrete impound wall on alumina plant tailings dam. One million cubic meters of red mud contaminated a large area; within days the mud had reached the Danube.
Failed after 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. Authorities state that the dam failure was caused by the earthquake, making these the first earthquake-caused dam failure fatalities since 1930,[dubious–discuss] worldwide.[29] Nearby dams damaged by same earthquake.
Tailings dam collapse due to negligent operation; reservoir was overfilled beyond design parameters despite repeated warnings of the danger[34][35][36] combined with a minor dam breach a few months before[37] and fundamental design flaws.[38]
Tailings dam collapsed. One village destroyed, 600 people evacuated. Sixty million m3 of iron waste slurry polluted Doce River, and the sea near the river's mouth.
Saddle dam under construction collapsed during rainstorms. Six thousand six hundred people homeless, 98 missing. Company denied the dam had collapsed.[40]
Failure of two roughly 75- and 45-meter-tall dams following heavy rain from Storm Daniel against the backdrop of the Libyan civil war resulting in the city of Derna being inundated with approximately 30 million m3 of water.[43]
Dartmouth Dam is a large rock-fill embankment dam with an uncontrolled chute spillway across the Mitta Mitta, Gibbo and Dart rivers, the Morass Creek and a number of small tributaries. The dam is located near Mount Bogong in the north-east of the Australian state of Victoria. The dam's purpose includes irrigation, the generation of hydro-electric power, water supply and conservation. The impounded reservoir is called Dartmouth Reservoir, sometimes called Lake Dartmouth. The Dartmouth Power Station, a hydro-electric power station that generates power to the national grid, is located near the dam wall.
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aquaculture, and navigability. Hydropower is often used in conjunction with dams to generate electricity. A dam can also be used to collect or store water which can be evenly distributed between locations. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions.
Priest Rapids Dam is a hydroelectric, concrete gravity dam; located on the Columbia River, between the Yakima Firing Range and the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, and bridges Yakima County and Grant County, in the U.S. state of Washington. The dam is 24 miles south of the town of Vantage, and 47 miles northwest of the city of Richland. It is located at mile marker 397.1 from the mouth of the Columbia. It is owned by the Grant County Public Utility District (PUD). Priest Rapids, for which the dam was named, are now submerged beneath the dam's reservoir.
The Johnstown Flood, sometimes referred to locally as Great Flood of 1889, occurred on Friday, May 31, 1889, after the catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam, located on the south fork of the Little Conemaugh River, 14 miles (23 km) upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States. The dam ruptured after several days of extremely heavy rainfall, releasing 14.55 million cubic meters of water. With a volumetric flow rate that temporarily equaled the average flow rate of the Mississippi River, the flood killed 2,208 people and accounted for US$17,000,000 in damage.
Kelly Barnes Dam was an earthen embankment dam on Toccoa Creek in Stephens County, Georgia, United States, just outside the city of Toccoa. Heavy rainfall caused it to collapse on November 6, 1977, and the resulting flood killed 39 people and caused $2.8 million in damage. The dam was never rebuilt.
The Taum Sauk pumped storage plant is a power station in the St. Francois mountain region of Missouri, United States about 90 miles (140 km) south of St. Louis near Lesterville, Missouri, in Reynolds County. It is operated by Ameren Missouri.
Oroville Dam is an earthfill embankment dam on the Feather River east of the city of Oroville, California, in the Sierra Nevada foothills east of the Sacramento Valley. At 770 feet (235 m) high, it is the tallest dam in the U.S. and serves mainly for water supply, hydroelectricity generation, and flood control. The dam impounds Lake Oroville, the second-largest reservoir in California, capable of storing more than 3.5 million acre-feet (1.1×10^12 US gal; 4.3×109 m3).
A reservoir is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, usually built to store fresh water, or it may be a natural formation.
Ka Loko Reservoir is a reservoir created by an earthen dam on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. It is located on the north side of the island at 22°10′39″N159°22′39″W. Waters flow from Ka Loko Reservoir down to Waiakalua Reservoir, Waiakalua Stream and down to the Pacific Ocean.
The Dnieper reservoir cascade or Dnieper cascade of hydroelectric power stations is a series of dams, reservoirs and hydroelectric power stations on the Dnieper river in Ukraine. It was created to prevent uncontrolled flooding and improve water transportation infrastructure. Coordination and operation of all dams on the Dnieper is conducted by government company Ukrhydroenergo. In 1970, the Kyiv dam partially prevented flooding in comparison with the 1931 Kyiv flooding.
The Machchhu dam failure or Morbi disaster is a dam-related flood disaster which occurred on 11 August 1979. The Machchu-2 dam, situated on the Machchhu river, failed, sending a wall of water through the town of Morbi of Gujarat, India. Estimates of the number of people killed vary greatly ranging from 1,800 to 25,000 people.
An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface and a dense, impervious core. This makes the dam impervious to surface or seepage erosion. Such a dam is composed of fragmented independent material particles. The friction and interaction of particles binds the particles together into a stable mass rather than by the use of a cementing substance.
Folsom Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the American River of Northern California in the United States, about 25 mi (40 km) northeast of Sacramento. The dam is 340 ft (100 m) high and 1,400 ft (430 m) long, flanked by earthen wing dams. It was completed in 1955, and officially opened the following year.
Ulley Reservoir is a reservoir a few hundred yards to the west and downhill of the village of Ulley, 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. It is 2.5 miles (4 km) away from junction 33 of the M1 motorway.
The Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam is located on the Yenisei River, near Sayanogorsk in Khakassia, Russia. It is the largest power plant in Russia and the 12th-largest hydroelectric plant in the world, by average power generation. The full legal name of the power plant, OJSC [Open Joint-Stock Society] P. S. Neporozhny Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP [hydro power plant], refers to the Soviet-time Minister of Energy and Electrification Pyotr Neporozhny. As of 2009 the head of the power plant was Valery Kyari.
Glen Canyon Dam, a concrete arch dam on the Colorado River in the American state of Arizona, is viewed as carrying a large amount of risk, most notably due to siltation. The Colorado and San Juan rivers deposit large volumes of silt into Lake Powell, slowly decreasing its capacity. The sediment will eventually build up against the dam and could affect its safe operation and lead to its failure.
In February 2017, heavy rainfall damaged Oroville Dam's main and emergency spillways, prompting the evacuation of more than 180,000 people living downstream along the Feather River and the relocation of a fish hatchery.
The structural failure of tailings dams and the ensuing release of toxic metals in the environment is a great concern. The standard of public reporting on tailings dam incidents is poor. A large number remain completely unreported, or lack basic facts when reported. There is no comprehensive database for historic failures. According to mining engineer David M Chambers of the Center for Science in Public Participation, 10,000 years is "a conservative estimate" of how long most tailings dams will need to maintain structural integrity.
In August 1975, the Banqiao Dam and 61 others throughout Henan collapsed following the landfall of Typhoon Nina. The dam collapse created the third-deadliest flood in history which affected 12,000 km2 with a total population of 10.15 million, including around 30 cities and counties, with estimates of the death toll ranging from 26,000 to 240,000. The flood also caused the collapse of 5 million to 6.8 million houses. The dam failure took place in the context of the Cultural Revolution.
1 2 3 Coleman, Neil M. (2018). Johnstown's Flood of 1889 - Power Over Truth and The Science Behind the Disaster. Springer International AG. ISBN978-3-319-95215-4.
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