Risk Management in Embankment Dams. Geotechnical Component

Risk concept is, in principle, attractive due to the rational, systematic and transparent character of its quantification and of the diagnosis of the subjects that require attention. Additionally, it is a formal and consistent basis for risk acceptability appreciation and a common ground, in terms of cost-benefit, for the evaluation of alternative strategies for risk mitigation to optimise the design, as well as a means of communication with the public in general and with authorities.  

In the last few years, risk analysis has been increasingly applied. Thus, although the traditional practice has been adequate, it has been observed that it cannot give an integrated insight into all the risks.

This one day course aims as main objective to contribute for the appropriation, the development and the dissemination of the knowledge in this scientific area, as well as to present some simple examples of the application of the various methods to the embankment dams. The most used risk analysis methodologies in Geotechnics are introduced – risk indexes or matrices, the failure modes, the effects (FMEA) and the criticality analysis (FMECA), the event tree analysis (ETA) and the fault tree analysis (FTA). Due to the complexity and extension of the involved subjects, only the purely geotechnical aspects or boundary aspects with other scientific areas are referred.

Owners engineers, designers, consultants, contractors and regulators who are faced with having to deal with risks induced by embankment dams during design, construction and exploration phases.