Heroic Planning: Strategies for Taking Physical Actions at Dams to Prevent Failures

摘要

Dams will continue to experience incidents - some severe. Once the incident is detected, the dam owner responds by evaluating the problem and (in some cases) acting to stabilize the situation and keep the dam from failing. The author led a multi-bureau U.S. Department of the Interior (Department) team to identify best practices to better manage dam incidents. The team reviewed documentation from 63 dam incidents and wrote a guideline [1]. This paper gives strategies for preparing in advance for dam incidents; how to effectively mobilize expertise, equipment and materials to the site; actions to take to prevent failure; and suggestions for creating/sharing incident lessons learned for the future.