Guidelines on the Consequence Categories for Dams (October 2012)

Category: Guidelines

ANCOLD has prepared these important Guidelines to provide a consistent method of categorising the consequences of dam failure so that resources can be allocated according to the potential effects of failure on the general community.

These Guidelines replace the ANCOLD Guidelines on the Assessment of the Consequences of Dam Failure issued in May 2000 and follow a similar approach. However, they include quite significant changes aimed at providing enhanced description of Consequence Categories and making them easier and more consistent to use.

The Technical Working Group has made every effort to make these Guidelines straightforward to use by professional engineers and consistent with other ANCOLD guidelines.

However the complexity of determining the various parameters that make up each Consequence Category means that only experienced dam engineering professionals should interpret and use these Guidelines when making decisions that could impact on community safety, community cost and services, infrastructure, natural environment, heritage, and the owner’s and other businesses.

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In Australia we have a very diverse portfolio of dams, some regarded as being designed and constructed before there was a good understanding of the loading conditions that could apply. Sometimes there is limited knowledge of the actual details of construction and always there is a desire to ensure that the community’s resources are properly applied. The difficulty facing those who allocate funds for the benefit of the community measure the cost against the benefit achieved and to compare that with opportunities available.

Risk Assessment gives us the tools to estimate the likelihood of a circumstance occurring and of its consequences. It also gives us the tools to estimate what these will be after any improvement. These tools are diverse and can be imprecise. As time goes on our methods will improve but chance and circumstance will always be with us. But, if we use consistent methods, we will generally be able to rank the possible outcomes and compare them, in scale, with others.

ANCOLD is aware of the diversity of dams and the circumstance associated with them and offers this document merely as an indicator of the approach that may be taken. Nevertheless we hope that its adoption will lead to greater comparability between individual workers.
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These dam safety guidelines are intended to apply to what might be termed conventional dams (eg. for water supply, irrigation, power and flood mitigation). Guidelines for dam safety management of tailings dams are published separately.

These guidelines have been developed by ANCOLD with the aim of promoting appropriate dam safety management practices in Australia. It is recognised that circumstances vary enormously from dam to dam and different administrative frameworks apply in each state. Some states have specific dam legislation while other rely on more general provisions. For these reasons, ANCOLD puts this guideline forward as an advisory document that must be interpreted by appropriately qualified and experienced professionals in each case. In no sense is it intended that they should be regarded as a standard.

The guidelines will again be reviewed when knowledge and practice have developed to the point where an upgrade is required. With this in mind, comment from users and others is welcomed.
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Guidelines on Tailings Dams – Planning, Design, Construction, Operation and Closure (May 2012)
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ANCOLD produced their Guidelines on Tailings Dam Design, Construction and Operation in 1999. Since that time the publication has been widely used within Australia and internationally where the expertise of Australian practice has been recognised.

In the ten years since the release these Guidelines there has been considerable increase in the recognition of environmental responsibilities by the mining industry and its regulators, particularly in addressing the concept of sustainable mining. This has culminated in Australia with the release of “Tailings Management” one of a series of publications outlining Leading Practice Sustainable Development Program for the Mining Industry published by the Australian Government Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources (DITR).

ANCOLD has prepared these new guidelines to provide a single base document that supports the DITR publication and others like it, with engineering detail that can be accepted by all relevant government authorities, and national and international companies involved in tailings dam development, allowing them to undertake design and construction consistent with leading industry practice. The new guidelines include much of the original guidelines but with appropriate updating. There is considerable new information on designing for closure and on the use of risk assessment techniques to assist in design and management.

These guidelines are not a design, construction or operation code, and dams personnel must continue to apply their own considerations, judgements and professional skills when designing and managing tailings dams. As time goes on there will no doubt be improvement in contemporary tailings dam practice and it is intended that these guidelines will be updated as circumstances dictate. ANCOLD welcomes comments on these guidelines which will assist with future revisions.
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