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Peter Allen, Malcolm Barker, Shane McGrath and Chris Topham

Are we there Yet? The question we all ask in Tolerability of Risk. The answer is in the journey, which we are all on as owners, regulators or designers.

A number of authorities in Australia are applying risk assessment for the evaluation of dam safety upgrades in accordance with the October 2003 ANCOLD Guidelines on Risk Assessment. A fundamental requirement for the evaluation of risk below the limit of tolerability is the use of the As Low As Reasonably Practicable(ALARP) principle. In making a judgement as to whether an ALARP position may have been reached, ANCOLD suggest the evaluation of a Cost to Save a Statistical Life, good practice, level of existing risk, social concerns, affordability and duration of risk. ANCOLD also suggests consideration of the USBR Criteria for evaluating risk. Recent guidelines on the Acceptable Flood Capacity for Dams developed by the Queensland Dam Safety Regulator provide further insight into the application of ALARP.

The objective of the paper is to make dam owners, regulators and designers aware of some current practice regarding the evaluation of ALARP in Australia, highlight the challenges of applying this principle and to encourage further discussion.

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2006 Papers

2006 – ALARP Considerations for Dam Safety – Are We There Yet?
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Peter Allen, Malcolm Barker, Shane McGrath and Chris Topham

Are we there Yet? The question we all ask in Tolerability of Risk. The answer is in the journey, which we are all on as owners, regulators or designers.

A number of authorities in Australia are applying risk assessment for the evaluation of dam safety upgrades in accordance with the October 2003 ANCOLD Guidelines on Risk Assessment. A fundamental requirement for the evaluation of risk below the limit of tolerability is the use of the As Low As Reasonably Practicable(ALARP) principle. In making a judgement as to whether an ALARP position may have been reached, ANCOLD suggest the evaluation of a Cost to Save a Statistical Life, good practice, level of existing risk, social concerns, affordability and duration of risk. ANCOLD also suggests consideration of the USBR Criteria for evaluating risk. Recent guidelines on the Acceptable Flood Capacity for Dams developed by the Queensland Dam Safety Regulator provide further insight into the application of ALARP.

The objective of the paper is to make dam owners, regulators and designers aware of some current practice regarding the evaluation of ALARP in Australia, highlight the challenges of applying this principle and to encourage further discussion.
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2015 Papers

2015 – Towards Risk-Based Surveillance Programmes – Maximising the Value of Your Monitoring Spend
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Mark Arnold, Chris Topham, Phil Cummins

A central tenet of the ANCOLD Guidelines on Dam Safety Management (2003) is that the higher the consequence of failure of a dam, the more stringent the surveillance scope, frequency, and safety criteria that should be applied to that dam. This concept has generally served the industry well to date in assisting regulators and dam owners to focus on the dams that could have the highest impacts if they failed. ANCOLD 2003 does also suggest that risk may be taken into consideration, however it is the experience of the authors that for dam surveillance and monitoring programmes, the majority of owners and consultants are reluctant to stray too far from the tables provided in the Guideline. However, two owners have recently embarked on a formal process to apply a risk based approach to the specification of surveillance and monitoring for their dams. This paper outlines how sub-optimal outcomes that can arise when the guideline tables are applied exclusively, presents the process undertaken by two owners of large portfolios of high consequence dams, and demonstrates the benefits achieved when a risk based approach is used. The paper concludes that any update or rewrite of the 2003 Dam Safety Management Guidelines should promote a risk based, rather than a consequence based approach to surveillance and monitoring.

Keywords: Risk, risk-based surveillance programme, instrumentation, monitoring.
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2017 Papers

2017 – Sheet Piles: Driving a Solution to Piping Risk
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Tom Ridgway, Chris Topham, Aaron Brimfield

A significant number of dams across Australia are of earthen construction and may be susceptible to internal erosion of their earth core, also known as piping. In January of 2016, during an annual inspection of the Tarraleah No 1 Pond Levee it was found that the embankment was experiencing significant seepage at the toe. Further investigations found actively developing piping holes through the embankment. To better understand the condition of the dam, HydroTasmania’s remote monitoring trailer was deployed to provide telemetered seepage data to further understand the developing issue. It was found that the leakage was increasing dramatically, and carrying suspended core material, resulting in the need for prompt resolution to protect the embankment from further loss of material. A sheet piling wall was installed in the centre of the embankment to cut off the flow of water through the embankment. After the installation of the sheet piling wall, post works monitoring showed the seepage through the embankment reduced to virtually zero, only peaking in rainfall events. This paper outlines the investigation and management of the incident, and the mitigation measures put in place from the time of identification including the use of a sheet piling wall to mitigate a developing piping failure. The paper will conclude with the outcomes of the work and how a similar solution could be utilised for other dam owners in a piping event.
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2013 Papers

2013 – Managing the risk of under-designed spillway training walls: an owner’s guide
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Chris Topham, Eoin Nicholson and David Tanner

A number of Australian dams have spillways with reinforced concrete training walls designed in the 1950/60s to the standards of the day, but which could be considered under-designed according to modern criteria. Such walls commonly retain significant depths of earth and rockfill embankment materials, where structural failure of the wall could seriously compromise the safety of the dam. This paper presents the journey to mitigate the risk of such training walls, drawing primarily on experience in managing structurally deficient spillway training walls for a High Consequence Category dam in northern Tasmania. Reflections from each step of the risk management process are presented, including how the portfolio risk assessment contributed to a focus on the dam as a whole, and how that led to more detailed analysis and evaluation of the training wall risk. The use of instrumentation and enhanced surveillance for risk monitoring is discussed, including how real-time deformation data ultimately led to installation of temporary wall bracing works and enhanced contingency planning. The long-term risk treatment for the walls is presented, comprising a $6m structural upgrade to the training walls completed in 2013. The paper concludes with the learnings from the risk management journey and highlights the range of interventions available to owners with similar spillway training walls.
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2013 Papers

2013 – Uplifting foundation experiences: borehole blowout, uplift concerns and foundation modelling at Clark Dam
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Lyndon Johnson, Alan White and Chris Topham

The integrity of foundation drainage systems is a key factor in minimising uplift pressures under concrete gravity dams. Contemporary industry practice for foundation drainage systems (and modern criteria presented in the imminent release of the concrete gravity dam guidelines) will lead owners with older concrete dams to consider enlarging foundation drainage systems via borehole drilling in the foundation. This paper presents the cautionary tale of a dam owner that undertook foundation drilling works in the gallery of a 67-m high concrete gravity arch dam and experienced borehole “blowout” in one of the drilled holes. Water under 90% of full reservoir head issued from the borehole and needed to be controlled. The context of the works is presented, followed by a description of the blowout, the risk mitigation measures that were planned prior to the work, and which ultimately had to be initiated. Management of the incident is discussed, including the use of blowout protection collars and valves, subsequent investigatory drilling, and pressure grouting programme. Dam safety concerns associated with the incident and their management are presented. The paper concludes with some recommendations to manage these risks for other owners considering a drilling programme in a concrete dam foundation.
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2012 Papers

2012 – Backward Erosion Piping: What are the chances of that?
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Gavan Hunter, Robin Fell, Chris Topham

Backward erosion piping is a failure mode that can affect water retaining structures with earthen cores of very low or no plasticity. Backward erosion involves the progressive detachment of soil particles as seepage through a core material exits to a free surface or unfiltered zone. In contrast to other piping failure mechanisms, backward erosion does not require a defect to be present for initiation, and is heavily influenced by the inherent characteristics of the core materials and the available hydraulic head. For dams with non-plastic or very low plasticity core materials, backward erosion can be a material contributor to the overall piping risk and warrants careful consideration during quantitative risk assessments of such dams. However, there is very little published literature for evaluating the potential for backward erosion piping, particularly in broadly graded soils. This paper concerns one such dam where backward erosion of the glacial till core needed to be assessed in the context of a detailed risk assessment for the facility. The backward erosion mechanism was tested in laboratory tests set up to model the situation in the core of the dam at a range of hydraulic heads. The paper describes the core material and objectives for the testing, presents the apparatus used, summarises the findings, and explains how they contributed to the risk assessment for the dam. Recommendations are also made for future similar testing and research needs.
Keywords: Backward erosion, piping, embankment dam, laboratory testing, quantitative risk assessment, glacial till.

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2008 Papers

2008 – Construction of a full height filter buttress against a full reservoir at Dee Dam
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Chris Topham, Paul Southcott, Tim Cubit

Abstract: Dee Dam is a 15 m high and 270 m long central core earth and rockfill dam on the upper reaches of Hydro Tasmania’s Tungatinah Power Scheme. The dam is assessed to have a High A hazard category. Hydro Tasmania’s portfolio risk assessment found that a risk based upgrade was warranted to protect against both piping and flood overtopping failure modes.

A $4.2M modernisation project was implemented in 2008 comprising the installation of a full height downstream filter with rockfill buttress, repairs to cracking in the diversion conduit and raising of the core for improved flood capacity. Lowering of the Dee Lagoon to facilitate full height excavation of the downstream shoulder of the dam was impractical to Hydro Tasmania for production, environment, cost and stakeholder reasons. Hence, careful analysis and risk management was required to ensure the safety of the dam during the construction of the above works against a full storage.

This paper presents the risk objective for the upgrade work, modelling and analysis undertaken to assess dam safety during the works. A wide range of construction risk mitigation measures were employed prior to and during the upgrade works. The response to latent conditions and potential dam safety incidents that occurred during construction are described. The continuous adaptation of the construction methodology to suit site conditions encountered during the project is also presented. The project was successfully completed in June 2008. The approach of detailed investigations and design coupled with a strong risk based approach during the construction proved to be effective in managing the dam safety risks of construction work with a full reservoir.

Keywords: earth and rockfill dam, filters, construction risk mitigation, dam safety, dam safety incidents.
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2009 Papers

2009 – The internal investigation of conduits through an earth dam
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Tim Logan, Angus Swindon, Chris Topham

Edgar Dam is a 17m high saddle dam forming part of the Gordon River Power Development (GRPD) in south west Tasmania; the smallest of three dams, which created the current Lake Pedder. It is essentially a homogeneous embankment, designed and built between 1970 and 1972. It is assigned a “High A” Hazard Category. An unusual feature of the dam design is a reinforced concrete facing on the upstream face, crest and the upper portion of the downstream face provided primarily as protection against wave overtopping.The upstream facing is bedded on drainage material encapsulating a longitudinal drain 1.6m above the level of the bottom of the concrete. This drain is connected to four transverse drains (100 mm diameter PVC) which run through the body of the dam and discharge through the concrete slab on the downstream face. The screening level risk assessment for Edgar Dam identified piping through the embankment as the predominant failure mode, particularly related to the transverse drains and the uncertainty surrounding the competency of the backfill around the pipes. To address this, the condition of drain backfill has been assessed using geophysical logging, supplemented by an internal video inspection. The information has allowed a more detailed risk assessment to be performed and potential mitigation measures to be assessed.

Keywords: Risk Management, Dam safety, Conduits, Geophysical Logging.
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2010 Papers

2010 – TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING A KARST FOUNDATION: USE OF A THREE DIMENSIONAL FOUNDATION MODEL AT DARWIN DAM
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Brendan Sheehan, Chris Topham, Alan White, Rowenna Lagden

Darwin Dam is a 21m high embankment dam constructed on a geologically complex foundation that includes karst limestone features. The dam retains the top 15m of Lake Burbury on Tasmania’s west coast, and borders the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Defensive design of the dam addressed the key failure modes of piping through the complex foundations of limestone, sandstone, gravels and silts, and guarding against sinkholes forming in the limestone foundations. During construction, a comprehensive range of instruments were installed in the dam and foundation, as a long term means of monitoring this structure. A range of surveillance data has been collected since lake filling and this data, along with historic geological investigation information, was used to develop a three dimensional (3D) geological model of the dam and
foundation with phreatic profiles. The software used was a commercially available geographical information system. This tool has assisted Hydro Tasmania to better understand and manage the dam. The paper outlines the need for a 3D model, the methodology for development of the model, resources required, limitations and lessons learned. The benefits of the model, such as aiding understanding of foundation behaviour, assisting with interpretation of surveillance data, supporting decision making, and potential use during incident response are also discussed.

Keywords: Three dimensional, computer model, karst foundation, geology, hydrogeology ,dam surveillance
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