2021 – Improving Survey Monitoring Techniques – Real-Time Monitoring Systems
Thomas Ridgway, Nic Polmear, Hugh Tassell
All industries, inclusive of the dams and tailings industry use some form of monitoring and reporting to confirm items or services are functioning properly or correct. In engineering, we seek to use both manual and automated systems to both qualifiably and quantifiably define the suitability of a process or structure/item. As the dams industry continues to evolve with technology and with ongoing developments in stewardship expectations for both water dams and tailings dams the industry is beginning to move into automation of their instrumentation systems. This process has recently been undertaken at a mine in NSW with the development of both a near real-time survey monitoring and visualisation system as well as a monthly photographic assessment system. This paper will set out the process undertaken to assess the surveillance monitoring requirements for the mine, details of the design, implementation of a near real-time monitoring system and the difficulties associated with the work.
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2021 Papers
2021 – The Critical Link between Risk Assessments and Critical Controls
Learn moreRyan Singh, Jiri Herza, James Thorp, Michael Ashley
Performance-based risk-informed decision making is an underlying principle of the Global Industry
Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM). While owners make significant efforts to align with this
principle, commonly used risk assessment and management practices in the mining industry have largely been based on the HSE principles, which consider more frequent, lower consequence incidents.As a result, the existing risk assessment frameworks do not provide the owners with a comprehensive understanding of the risk profiles of their tailings storage facilities (TSFs). Without the understanding of a facility’s risk profile, the owners cannot appreciate how changes to their facility, processes and operational activities may impact the risk profile. A large step-change in thinking is therefore required in risk assessment practices for the owner to align their TSF management with GISTM requirements.
Beyond risk assessments, the mining industry has other valuable concepts to manage the safety of their tailings management practices, such as Critical Controls, however, commonly used risk assessment and management practices do not incorporate these concepts.
This paper explores commonly used risk assessment practices and the concepts of Critical Controls. It proposes how these concepts can be linked, with Critical Controls being embedded in the risk assessment process. The outcomes of linking these concepts result in an estimation of the effectiveness of the Critical Controls and how they can be improved to demonstrably reduce the risk presented by a TSF. A case study has been included to demonstrate the benefits of linking risk assessment with Critical Controls and how owners can readily identify deficiencies and efficiently manage the risk profiles of their facilities.
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2021 Papers
2021 – Flood Modelling of Cooma Water Storage Tank Failure
Learn moreMeizhiwen Zheng, Nimal Gamage
This study used MIKE 21 to replicate the Cooma tank failure by varying modelling input parameters. This study explores the mechanism by which flood water can damage buildings and investigated different damage category assessment method to predict building damages.
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2021 Papers
2021 – Some considerations when using deformation monitoring to manage the static liquefaction risks of TSFs
Learn moreDavid Reid, Andy Fourie, Riccardo Fanni, Cristina Vulpe, Alexandra Halliday
Recent failures of a number of tailings storage facilities (TSFs) has highlighted the need for better
governance and operational management of these structures. One means to improve their safety is clearly better and more focussed monitoring. Significant efforts are underway in this area, with a number of technologies being deployed. In particular, the monitoring of deformations through a variety of means (direct, satellite inferred) is increasingly being applied. While deformation monitoring to warn against failure has a long history in geotechnical engineering, some aspects of the rapid triggering and resulting flow of some TSFs may not be amenable to deformation monitoring, in the sense that actionable warning of an impending failure is not assured.To examine this issue, a series of numerical models of an idealised TSF are carried out. This idealised TSF is brought to failure by means of a rising phreatic surface – often referred to as the constant shear drained (CSD) stress path. Deformations of the outer slope and crest of the numerical model – i.e. those that could be monitored for a real TSF – are tracked and analyses for the models carried out. It is seen that under CSD loading distinct deformation patterns indicative of impending failure are not always clear. Rather, minimal deformations and indeed swelling of the crest is seen leading to failure. The importance of recognising the minimal pre-failure deformation patterns that may manifest with a rising phreatic surface is noted.
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2021 Papers
2021 – Ewen Maddock Dam Upgrade – Draining down the risk (with siphons)
Learn moreAnna Hams, Lindsay Millard, Elizabeth Jackson, Zara Bostock, Helena Sutherland
The Queensland dam regulator requires that dam safety risk during construction must not increase from its existing profile. The Stage 2A upgrade of Ewen Maddock Dam required excavation of its homogeneous embankment to retrofit chimney and filter blankets, and also the construction of a concrete parapet wall. Due to the constraints of the embankment profile and a constricted site, it was necessary to excavate the downstream face of the embankment. This excavation increased the risk of embankment failure due to overtopping, piping and instability. This paper discusses the measures taken to manage those dam safety risks, and includes:
● use of a temporary system consisting of six large siphons to regulate the lake level to a Restricted Full Supply Level (Restricted FSL). This encompassed the optimisation of lake level and capacity of siphons required to balance competing risks; dam safety, environmental, community and water security. This optimisation was based on a probabilistic assessment of hydrological inflows and lake levels, the development of a flow management plan;
● implementation of a Dam Safety Management Plan which outlined the roles and responsibilities for
managing dam safety during construction at each pre-determined lake level trigger levels. This includes how the contractor was involved to ensure quick response from the “eyes and ears on the ground”; and,● development of recommended construction methodologies including a “rolling front” and placing
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filters vertically to increase production, maintain quality and limit the extent of embankment excavation underway. -
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2021 Papers
2021 – Application of joint probability design flood estimation in the Philippines and potential benefits in data sparse regions of Australia
Learn moreDavid Stephens, Phillip Jordan, Peter Hill, Tim Craig, James Woolley and Bill Hakin
As part of the design of a proposed new hydropower dam (the Alimit HPP), on the island of Luzon in the Philippines, design flood estimates have been prepared using a RORB Monte Carlo approach for events up to and including the Probable Maximum Flood. Compared with Australia, the Philippines is a relatively data sparse environment, with limited rainfall gauge records and even fewer streamflow gauging stations. As such, considerable effort was required to derive design rainfall inputs for Monte Carlo simulation, including rainfall depths as well as temporal and spatial patterns.
This project made use of a number of remotely sensed data sets, including 20 years of global half hourly gridded rainfall data from NASA and global gridded estimates of rainfall intensity-frequency-duration. As part of the project, these data sets were benchmarked against local records from Luzon as well as selected Australian data sets.
This paper sets out the process used to determine design flood estimates in the Philippines, as well as summarising the usefulness of these new data sets for potential application in data sparse regions of Australia.
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