2011 – Western Australian Dam Safety Challenges for ANCOLD Part 2
Michael Somerford and Steven Fox
The Water Corporation of Western Australia has been implementing the risk assessment process promulgated by ANCOLD for 12 years. This approach has been central to a $310 million dam safety remedial works program that has reduced life safety risk across the Water Corporation’s portfolio of dams by an order of magnitude. However, whilst this process has provided a rational basis to prioritise dam safety upgrades, there are still questions that have not been fully answered and further development of the application of risk assessment to dams is desirable.
This paper revisits some of the key concerns that remain evident with the process and argues that unless further guidance is provided it may be that dam safety upgrades have effectively “hit the wall”; and upgrade programs commenced may never be completed as envisaged by ANCOLD.
2011 – Western Australian Dam Safety Challenges for ANCOLD Part 2
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2011 Papers
2011 – Where is our Weir going – an Unusual Upgrade!
Learn moreAmanda Ament, Jon Williams, Malcolm Barker
Aplins Weir is located on the Ross River in Townsville, downstream from the Ross River Dam. Previous work had identified Aplins Weir as exhibiting factors of safety below 1.0 under normal operating conditions, with over 1000 persons at risk today in the event of failure. Originally constructed in the early 1920s, Aplins Weir has been upgraded and repaired following various failures on a number of occasions. The end result is a complex reinforced concrete and steel sheet pile composite structure reliant for stability on a number of unreliable components. This paper presents the historical data describing the current configuration of the weir, and the analyses required to evaluate the extisting structure, leading to the design of the proposed upgrade works. The final design involves a retrofit of large diameter cast-in-place lined piles and a heavily reinforced base overlay slab designed to completely bypass all existing vulnerable substructure elements.
2011 – Where is our Weir going – an Unusual Upgrade!
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2011 Papers
2011 – A Statewide Approach to Benchmarking Dam Safety Risk and Continuous Improvement
Learn moreSusan Ryanand Siraj Perera
This paper describes the benefits of the statewide risk reporting framework used in dam safety regulation in Victoria and its ongoing development. Key to this approach is a web-hosted reporting system and benchmarking process, established by the Department of Sustainability and Environment in collaboration with the Victorian water industry. This is the first time that such an approach has been used in Australia for publicly owned dams.
Sector-wide reporting on dam safety is central to the objective-based approach used by the Department in the governance and regulation of the water industry. Water corporations submit detailed annual reports on dam safety status. This incorporates ‘self assessment’ against performance criteria based on ANCOLD risk and dam safety management guidelines. These are collated to produce a statewide report of industry-wide results on the progress of dam safety management programs. This benchmarking process is providing a driver for on-going improvement and proving to be an effective tool for regulation of publicly owned dams.
The reporting framework has significantly advanced the understanding of dam safety risk across the water sector, with outputs easily understood by both dam safety practitioners and decision makers. It has improved monitoring and trend analysis of risk management practices, and is informing policy development on demonstration of the ALARP principle and decision-making about appropriate long-term dam safety levels.
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2011 Papers
2011 – Reliability of simplified methods for evaluation of earthquake-induced displacement in earth and rockfill dams
Learn moreMojtaba E. Kan and Hossein A. Taiebat
Abstract: The simplified procedures for evaluation of earthquake induced displacement in earth and rockfill dams are widely used in practice. These methods are simple, inexpensive, and substantially less time consuming as compared to complicated numerical approaches. They are especially recommended to be used as a screening tool, to identify embankments with marginal factor of safety, assuming that these methods always give conservative estimates of deformation. However recent studies show that application of these methods may not be conservative in some cases, especially when the tuning ratio of a dam is within a certain range. In this paper the fundamental theory behind the simplified methods is critically reviewed and practical guidelines are presented that can be used to identify cases where the simplified procedures may not be conservative.
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2011 Papers
2011 – ACHIEVING CONSISTENCY IN DERIVATION OF THE PROBABLE MAXIMUM FLOOD
Learn moreR.J. Nathan, P.I. Hill, and P.E. Weinmann
The current definition of the Probable Maximum Flood (PMF) is open to subjective interpretation, and this lack of objectivity can lead to inconsistencies in the application of risk-based and standards-based criteria. This paper summarises the different approaches used to estimate the PMF, and highlights how these reflect differences in the availability of design information and local tradition and experience. A number of approaches are available that can aid the objective definition of the PMF. These approaches attempt to define the “reasonableness” of the manner in which the various flood producing factors are combined by reference to the relative shift in the annual exceedance probability of the event. The implications of the different approaches to deriving the PMF are summarised for a number of dams from across Australia. Guidance on deriving the PMF is provided in the paper with a view to seeking feedback from industry and consideration for inclusion in relevant guidelines.
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2011 Papers
2011 – Refurbishing Outlet Valves utilising Shutdown Periods
Learn moreFrank Nitzsche
Awoonga Dam is the sole source of water for the City of Gladstone and the heavy industries in the region. The area’s distribution reservoirs hold little more than a day’s supply. Extended water supply disruption could have severe economic impacts.
The nine large valves in the inlet tower and river outlet of the dam cannot be inspected or maintained without shutting down the entire water abstraction system. Consequentially limited maintenance has been carried out in the 25 years since the valves were installed.
Recent Dam Safety inspections carried out for the dam owner, the Gladstone Area Water Board (GAWB,) noted some deterioration of the valves and recommended that the valves should be removed, inspected and refurbished as necessary
GAWB was thus presented with a daunting challenge to refurbish valves at Awoonga Dam, as it was generally believed that their removal for refurbishment would not be possible within the time limitations imposed by the system and customer requirements.
In 2008 GAWB commissioned GHD to develop a strategy to refurbish the valves within a 12 hour shutdown period. The strategy proposed and adopted required a rigorous risk management approach and close collaboration between GAWB’s operational staff, two contractors and the consulting engineers. The work was successfully completed during 2011.
This paper discussed the strategies and processes developed and how the project planning, supervision and execution was driven by the risk management based approach. It also highlights some of the experiences and lessons learnt during the project.
2011 – Refurbishing Outlet Valves utilising Shutdown Periods
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