Foundations of concrete gravity dams may fail in a number of modes. Their design should consider those potential modes of failure and verify that their probability of occurrence is practically zero. This process is common to any civil engineering structure, but dams have some special characteristics which makes them to be singular as compared to other retaining structures like earth retaining walls or harbour quays. Dam foundations are subjected to uplife pressures which are not well known and their foundations are of larger extension. Furthermore, failure of a dam could be of larger negative consequences.
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