Publications related to Dam failure

The importance of young professionals for dam engineering in Switzerland

In Switzerland, hydropower is the main energy source and contributes to about 58.3% of the total production. The 2050 energy strategy aims to increase this share in the coming decades. This increase is a challenge for hydropower plants. The maintenance and ...

CRC Press/Balkema2023

Swiss dams: Overview of historical development

Anton Schleiss

With more than 220 large dams in operation, compared to its surface of some 41ʹ000 km2, Switzerland has a very large fleet. They were erected to meet various economic and protection needs. Their main assignments concern the storage of water for later use, ...

CRC Press/Balkema2023

Dynamic behavior of exposed geomembrane systems in pressure waterways

Giovanni De Cesare, Samuel Luke Vorlet, Roberto Proença Seixas

Geomembrane systems have been used in dams and reservoirs as rehabilitation technology since several decades and are now used worldwide. They act as impervious layer to prevent and mitigate water leakage and damage to structures. They meet the needs of man ...

CRC Press/Balkema2023

Experimental investigations on plunge pool protection measures for Ilarion Dam in Greece

Anton Schleiss, Giovanni De Cesare, Azin Amini, Romain Nathan Hippolyte Merlin Van Mol

Ilarion Dam is a 130 m high earthfill dam at Aliakmon River in northern Greece. The dam was commissioned in 2010. It has two spillway tunnels with ski jumps at the outlets. The two spillways are designed to release a total discharge of 5'500 m3/s during th ...

2022

Reservoir Level Rise under Extreme Driftwood Blockage at Ogee Crest

Giovanni De Cesare, Michael Pfister, Loïc Bénet

Dams are civil structures essential to modern civilization. However, they can be a threat if not properly designed and operated. A particular risk that potentially can lead to dam failure is the blocking of the spillway inlet with driftwood or debris. This ...

2021

Untersuchung der ökomorphologischen Wirksamkeit von Sedimentzugaben unterhalb von Talsperren [Assessment of the eco-morphological effectiveness of sediment augmentation downstream of dams]

Giovanni De Cesare, Christian Mörtl

The regulation of discharge and the retention of sediments in reservoirs disturb the natural water dynamics in residual flow stretches below reservoirs. However, a dynamic river morphology as well as near-natural hydrological hydrographs are fundamental ...

ETH2021

Heightening of Very High Gravity Dams: The Case Study of the Grande Dixence

Giovanni De Cesare, Pedro Filipe De Almeida Manso, Basile Clerc

Heightening very high gravity dams is one of the solutions considered as part of the energy transition and to mitigate the effects of climate change. The paper presents a stepwise approach to assess the potential for dam heightening and its impact on the h ...

Springer, Cham2020

Effect of debris damming on wave-induced hydrodynamic loads against free-standing buildings with openings

Anton Schleiss, Michael Pfister, Davide Wüthrich, Claudia Ylla Arbos

Tsunamis, impulse waves, and dam-break waves are rare but catastrophic events, associated with casualties and damage to infrastructures. An adequate description of these waves is vital to assure human safety and to generate resilient structures. Furthermor ...

2020

Effect of 30-Degree Sloping Smooth and Stepped Chute Approach Flow on the Performance of a Classical Stilling Basin

Anton Schleiss, Michael Pfister, José Pedro Gamito de Saldanha Calado Matos, Ivan Stojnic

Advances in dam construction techniques have significantly increased the number of stepped spillways implemented worldwide. Although stepped chutes provide enhanced energy dissipation along the chute, as compared to smooth chutes, an adequate energy dissip ...

2020

Integrating the Finite Element Method with a Data-Driven Approach for Dam Displacement Prediction

Zhenzhu Meng, Yating Hu, Chenfei Shao

Both numerical simulations and data-driven methods have been applied in dam's displacement modeling. For monitored displacement data-driven methods, the physical mechanism and structural correlations were rarely discussed. In order to take the spatial and ...

2020

Stilling Basin Performance Downstream of Stepped Spillways

Ivan Stojnic

Advances in dam construction techniques have significantly increased the number of implemented stepped spillways worldwide. A key hydraulic feature of a stepped chute, compared to a smooth chute, is the enhanced energy dissipation resulting in a reduced re ...

EPFL2020

Hydraulic Reconstruction of the 1818 Gietro Glacial Lake Outburst Flood

Christophe Ancey, Tomás Alfredo Trewhela Palacios, Eric Bardou, Martin Funk

In the spring of 1818, ice avalanches from the Gietro Glacier created an ice dam, which in turn formed a glacial lake in the Drance Valley (Canton of Valais, Switzerland). Today, its maximum volume is estimated to have been 25x10(6) m(3). Cantonal authorit ...

2019

A Data-Driven Approach Based on Multivariate Copulas for Quantitative Risk Assessment of Concrete Dam

Zhenzhu Meng, Yating Hu, Chenfei Shao

Risk assessment of dam's running status is an important part of dam management. A data-driven method based on monitored displacement data has been applied in risk assessment, owing to its easy operation and real-time analysis. However, previous data-driven ...

2019

Effect of building overtopping on induced loads during extreme hydrodynamic events

Anton Schleiss, Michael Pfister, Davide Wüthrich, Ioan Nistor

Tsunamis, impulse-waves and dam-break waves have affected humanity in recent decades and the construction of vertical shelters can provide safety to people. However, for non-critical infrastructures, typically residential houses of lower height, overtoppin ...

Taylor & Francis Ltd2019

Recent developments on management and release techniques of fine sediments in reservoirs

Anton Schleiss

Sedimentation is known as the process of filling up natural lakes and manmade reservoirs by sediment transforming finally into floodplaimns. Its main reason is the sediment yield transported by rivers as suspended or bed load into the reservoirs. Reservoir ...

2019

Influence of density of large stems on the blocking probability at spillways

Anton Schleiss, Michael Pfister, José Pedro Gamito de Saldanha Calado Matos, Paloma Furlan

Dam safety is strongly linked to the probability of occurrence of large floods. Floods can transport large wood (LW) into reservoirs and towards water release structures as spillways. Due to blocking and clogging, LW may significantly influence the dischar ...

Utah State University2018

Experimental study on the hydrodynamic impact of tsunami-like waves against impervious free-standing buildings

Anton Schleiss, Michael Pfister, Davide Wüthrich, Ioan Nistor

Tsunamis, landslide-generated waves, and dam failures are rare, but highly destructive phenomena, associated with extreme loading on infrastructure. Recent events showed that specific measures must be taken to guarantee safety of both people and the built ...

2018

Flow measurement for the design optimization of fish pass entries in a run of river hydropower plant

Giovanni De Cesare, Cédric Bron, Pierre Bourqui

The International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) has set the objective of guarantying the upstream migration of the salmons up to Basel, Switzerland, at horizon 2020. One of the last dams to be equipped is the one of Rhinau, in France. T ...

2018

Extreme Hydrodynamic impact onto buildings

Davide Wüthrich

Dam failures, impulse waves, tsunamis and storm surges are disasters that challenge humanity, often leading to massive casualties and important economic losses. These events generate highly unsteady flow conditions in the form of surges or turbulent bores, ...

EPFL2018

Computational hydraulic modelling of fine sediment stirring and evacuation through the power waterways at the Trift reservoir

Anton Schleiss, Pedro Filipe De Almeida Manso, Azin Amini, Célestin Leupi, Sara Venuleo

Taking advantage of the withdrawal of some glaciers, several new dams will eventually be constructed in Switzerland in the coming years as a part of the 2050 energy strategy. The Trift dam, located in Berner Oberlands in Switzerland, is one of these new pr ...

2017