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Earth Dam Overtopping and Breach Outflow
Over the past half-century, the USDA has assisted in the design and construction of approximately 11,000 flood control and multipurpose dams. As these dams approach the end of their planned service life, sediment pools fill and sediment deposition in the flood pool reduces flood storage. Simultaneously, development in the watershed may increase runoff while development downstream of the dam increases the consequences of failure. Therefore, there is an increased need for improved procedures for predicting performance of overtopped earth embankment dams. Field experience and laboratory experiments indicate that the erosion process for overtopped earth embankment dams can be divided into sequential stages or phases for computational purposes. These stages include: 1) an initial stage prior to the failure of the vegetal cover or other protection on the downstream slope, 2) a breach development stage during which the resulting headcut or overfall moves from the point of formation through the dam crest, 3) a breach stage during which the headcut advances into the reservoir, and 4) a drawdown stage during which the breach continues to widen as the stored water in the reservoir is released. The flow geometry and the relations describing the discharge and erosion processes vary with stage. This report discusses the dominant characteristics of the identified stages of the progressive breach process and the impact of the resulting geometry on discharge prediction. Results of an idealized study of breach outflow during headcut entry into the reservoir are briefly discussed.
Earth Dam Overtopping and Breach Outflow
Over the past half-century, the USDA has assisted in the design and construction of approximately 11,000 flood control and multipurpose dams. As these dams approach the end of their planned service life, sediment pools fill and sediment deposition in the flood pool reduces flood storage. Simultaneously, development in the watershed may increase runoff while development downstream of the dam increases the consequences of failure. Therefore, there is an increased need for improved procedures for predicting performance of overtopped earth embankment dams. Field experience and laboratory experiments indicate that the erosion process for overtopped earth embankment dams can be divided into sequential stages or phases for computational purposes. These stages include: 1) an initial stage prior to the failure of the vegetal cover or other protection on the downstream slope, 2) a breach development stage during which the resulting headcut or overfall moves from the point of formation through the dam crest, 3) a breach stage during which the headcut advances into the reservoir, and 4) a drawdown stage during which the breach continues to widen as the stored water in the reservoir is released. The flow geometry and the relations describing the discharge and erosion processes vary with stage. This report discusses the dominant characteristics of the identified stages of the progressive breach process and the impact of the resulting geometry on discharge prediction. Results of an idealized study of breach outflow during headcut entry into the reservoir are briefly discussed.
Earth Dam Overtopping and Breach Outflow
Temple, Darrel M. (author) / Hanson, Gregory J. (author)
World Water and Environmental Resources Congress 2005 ; 2005 ; Anchorage, Alaska, United States
2005-07-01
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
Hydraulics , Hydrology , Wastewater management , Earth-fill dams , Outflow , International factors , Water distribution systems , Groundwater management , Wetlands , Water resources , Water management , Water supply , Watersheds , Stormwater management , Embankment dams , Irrigation , Climate change , Wave overtopping
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