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Dam failure

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The reservoir emptying through the failed Teton Dam

A dam is a barrier across flowing water that obstructs, directs or slows down the flow, often creating a reservoir, lake or impoundments. Most dams have a section called a spillway or weir over which, 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[1] and 11 million people lost their homes.

Main causes of dam failure

International special sign for works and installations containing dangerous forces

Common causes of dam failure include:

Deliberate dam failure

A notable case of deliberate dam failure (prior to the Humanitarian Law rulings) was the British Royal Air Force Dambusters raid on Germany in World War II (codenamed "Operation Chastise"), in which three German dams were selected to be breached in order to impact on German infrastructure and manufacturing and power capabilities deriving from the Ruhr and Eder rivers. This raid later became the basis for several films.

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-2000 years flood, which few if any of these dams were designed to survive.

List of major dam failures

Dam/incident Year Location Nb deaths Details
Marib Dam 575 Sheba, Yemen Unknown (possibly neglect)
Pantano de Puentes 1802 Lorca, Spain 608 1800 houses and 40000 trees destroyed[2]
Dale Dike Reservoir 1864 South Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom 244 Defective construction, small leak in wall grew until dam failed.
Mill River Dam 1874 Williamsburg, Massachusetts, United States 139 Lax regulations and cost cutting lead to an insufficient design, which fell apart when the reservoir was full. 600 million gallons of water were released, wiping out 4 towns and making national headlines. This dam break lead to increased regulation of dam construction.
South Fork Dam 1889 Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States 2,209 Blamed locally on poor maintenance by owners; court deemed it an "Act of God". Followed exceptionally heavy rainfall. Caused Johnstown flood.
Walnut Grove Dam 1890 Wickenburg, Arizona Territory, United States Heavy snow and rain following public calls by the dam's chief engineer to strengthen the earthen structure.
McDonald Dam 1900 Texas, United States 0 Extreme current caused failure.
Hauser Dam 1908 Helena, Montana, United States 0 Heavy flooding coupled with poor foundation quality
Austin Dam 1911 Austin, Pennsylvania, United States 78 Poor design, use of dynamite to remedy structural problems.
Desná Dam 1916 Desná, Austria-Hungary (now Czech Republic) 62 Construction flaws caused the dam failure
Lake Toxaway Dam 1916 Transylvania County, North Carolina 0 Heavy rains caused the dam to give way. Dam was later rebuilt in the 1960s
Sweetwater Dam 1916 San Diego County, California 0 Over-topped from flooding
Lower Otay Dam 1916 San Diego County, California 14 Over-topped from flooding
Gleno Dam 1923 Province of Bergamo, Italy 356 Poor construction and design
Llyn Eigiau dam and the outflow also destroyed Coedty reservoir dam. 1925 Dolgarrog, North Wales, UK 17 Contractor blamed cost-cutting in construction but 25" of rain had fallen in preceding 5 days. This was the last dam failure to cause death in the UK to date (2010).
St. Francis Dam 1928 Santa Clarita, California, Los Angeles County, United States 600 Geological instability of canyon wall that could not have been detected with available technology of the time, combined with human error that assessed developing cracks as "normal" for a dam of that type.
Secondary Dam of Sella Zerbino 1935 Molare, Province of Alessandria, Italy 111 Geological unstable base combined with flood.
Nanty Gro Reservoir in Wales 1942 Nanty Gro Valley, Wales 0 Destroyed during preparation for Operation Chastise in World War II.
Eder, Möhne Dams 1943 Eder Valley, Ruhr, Germany 70 Destroyed by bombing during Operation Chastise in World War II.
Vega de Tera 1959 Ribadelago, Spain 144[3]
Malpasset 1959 Côte d'Azur, France 423 Geological fault possibly enhanced by explosives work during construction; initial geo-study was not thorough.
Baldwin Hills Reservoir 1963 Los Angeles, California, United States 5 Subsidence caused by over-exploitation of local oil field.
Spaulding Pond Dam (Mohegan Park) 1963 Norwich, Connecticut, United States 6 More than $6 million estimated damages.
Vajont Dam 1963 Italy 2000 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 110 km/h landslide into the lake; water escaped in a seiche over the top of dam. Valley had been incorrectly assessed stable.
Mina Plakalnitsa, (Vratsa) 1966 Vratsa, Bulgaria 107 A tailings dam at Plakalnitsa copper mine near the city of Vratsa failed. A total 450,000 cu m of mud and water inundated Vratsa and the nearby village of Zgorigrad, which suffered widespread damage. The official death toll is 107, but the unofficial estimate is around 500 killed. [4]
Buffalo Creek Flood 1972 West Virginia, United States 125 Unstable loose constructed dam created by local coal mining company, collapsed in heavy rain.
Canyon Lake Dam 1972 South Dakota, United States 238 Flooding, dam outlets flooded with debris.
Banqiao and Shimantan Dams 1975 China 171,000 Extreme rainfall beyond the planned design capability of the dam. Worst dam failure.
Teton Dam 1976 Idaho, United States 11 Water leakage through earthen wall, leading to dam failure.
Laurel Run Dam 1977 Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States 40 Heavy rainfall and flooding that over-topped the dam.
Kelly Barnes Dam 1977 Georgia, United States 39 Unknown, possibly design error as dam was raised several times by owners to improve power generation.
Machchu-2 Dam 1979 Morbi, Gujarat, India 1,800-25,000 Heavy rain and flooding beyond spillway capacity.
Wadi Qattara Dam 1979 Benghazi, Libya 0 Flooding beyond discharge and storage capacity damaged the main dam and destroyed the secondary dam in the scheme.
Lawn Lake Dam 1982 Rocky Mountain National Park, United States 3 Outlet pipe erosion; dam under-maintained due to location
Tous Dam 1982 Valencia, Spain 30-40  
Val di Stava dam 1985 Italy 268 Poor maintenance and low margin for error in design; outlet pipes failed leading to pressure on dam.
Upriver Dam 1986 Washington state, United States 0 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).
Peruća Dam detonation 1993 Croatia 0 Not strictly a dam failure as there was a detonation of pre-positioned explosives by retreating Serb Forces.
Saguenay Flood 1996 Quebec, Canada 10 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.
Meadow Pond Dam 1996 New Hampshire, United States 1 Design and construction deficiencies resulted in failure in heavy icing conditions
Opuha Dam 1997 New Zealand 0 Heavy rain during construction caused failure, dam was later completed
Aznalcollar Mine Tailings Dam / The Doñana disaster 25 April 1998 Spain 0 Over-steepened dam failed by sliding on weak clay foundation, releasing 4–5 million cubic metres 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.
Vodní nádrž Soběnov 2002 Soběnov, Czech Republic Extreme rainfall during the 2002 European floods
Zeyzoun Dam 2002 Zeyzoun, Syria 22 Failed 4 June 2002 affecting 10,000.[5][6]
Ringdijk Groot-Mijdrecht 2003 Wilnis, Netherlands Peat dam became lighter than water during droughts and floated away
Hope Mills Dam 2003 North Carolina, United States 0 Heavy rains caused earthen dam and bank to wash away
Big Bay Dam 2004 Mississippi, United States 0 A small hole in the dam grew and eventually led to failure
Camará Dam June 17, 2004 Paraiba, Brazil 3 Poor maintenance. 3000 people homeless. A second failure happened 11 days after.
Shakidor Dam 2005 Pakistan 70 Sudden and extreme flooding caused by abnormally severe rain
Taum Sauk reservoir 2005 Lesterville, Missouri, United States 0 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.
Campos Novos Dam 2006 Campos Novos, Brazil 0 Tunnel collapse.
Gusau Dam 2006 Gusau, Nigeria 40 Heavy flooding
Ka Loko Dam 2006 Kauai, Hawaii 7[7] Heavy rain and flooding. Several possible specific factors to include poor maintenance, lack of inspection and illegal modifications.
Lake Delton 9 June 2008 Lake Delton, Wisconsin 0 Failure due to June 2008 Midwest floods.
Koshi Barrage 2008 Kusha[disambiguation needed], Nepal 250 Heavy rain. The flood affected over 2.3 million people in the northern part of Bihar.
Algodões Dam 27 May 2009 Cocal, Piaui, Brazil 7 Heavy rain[8]. 80 people injured, 2000 homeless.
Sayano–Shushenskaya Dam 17 August 2009 Sayanogorsk, Russia 75 Collapses when turbine 2 broke apart violently, flooding the turbine hall and causing the ceiling to collapse.
Situ Gintung Dam 2009 Tangerang, Indonesia 98 Poor maintenance and heavy monsoon rain
Kyzyl-Agash Dam 2010 Kazakhstan 43 Heavy rain and snowmelt
Hope Mills Dam 2010 North Carolina, United States 0 Sinkhole caused dam failure
Delhi Dam July 24, 2010 Iowa, United States 0 Heavy rain, flooding.
Niedow Dam August 7, 2010 Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland Heavy rain, over-topped from flooding
Ajka alumina plant accident October 4, 2010 Hungary 10 Failure of concrete impound wall on alumina plant tailings dam.
Kenmare Resources tailings dam October 8, 2010 Mozambique 0 Failure of tailings dam at titanium mine.
Fujinuma Dam March 11, 2011 Japan 8 Failed after 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. 7 dead and 1 unknown. Japanese authority says dam failure caused by earthquake which has death toll is not reported world-wide since 1930.[9]
Campos dos Goytacazes Dam, Brazil January 4, 2012 Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil Failed after a period of flooding.[10]. 4000 people displaced.
Ivanovo Dam February 6, 2012 Biser, Bulgaria 8 Failed after a period of heavy snowmelt. A crack in the dam went un-repaired for years. Eight people killed and several communities flooded. [11]
Köprü Dam February 24, 2012 Adana Province, Turkey 10 A gate in the diversion tunnel broke after a period of heavy rain during the reservoir's first filing. The accident killed ten workers.[12][13]

References

  1. ^ Osnos, Evan. "Faust, China, and Nuclear Power," The New Yorker, Wednesday October 12, 2011. Retrieved at http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/evanosnos/2011/10/faust-china-and-nuclear-power.html on October 12, 2011
  2. ^ La rotura del pantano de Puentes
  3. ^ 40 años de la tragedia de Ribadelago, en la que murieron 144 personas Template:Es
  4. ^ http://zgorigrad.com/tragediata
  5. ^ "Syria - Collapse of Dam/floods OCHA Situation Report No. 4" (PDF). ReliefWeb. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  6. ^ Chanson, Hubert Chanson Hubert (2009). "Embankment Overflow Protection Systems and Earth Dam Spillways" (PDF). Dams: Impacts, Stability and Design.
  7. ^ "Kauai Dam Breach Killed 7 People Five Years Ago, But Criminal Charges Against Dam Owner Still Pending." Hawaii Reporter. http://www.hawaiireporter.com/kauai-dam-breach-killed-7-five-years-ago-but-criminal-charges-still-pending/123 Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  8. ^ "Breaching of the Algodões dam and the threat of mega-projects". Movement of Dam Affected People. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  9. ^ http://www.kahoku.co.jp/spe/spe_sys1072/20110518_01.htm (JPN)
  10. ^ "Brazil dam burst forces thousands from homes". BBC. 5 January 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  11. ^ "Bulgarian Dam Collapsed over Unrepaired Crack since 2003". NoVinite. 6 February 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  12. ^ "Cover Kozan Dam Explosion" (in Turkish). Haberler. 8 March 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
  13. ^ "Holding Ozaltin conscience" (in Turkish). Emlak Kulisi. 10 March 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2012.

See also

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