Reconnaissance Report on the Failure of Kelly Barnes Lake Dam, Toccoa Falls, Georgia

摘要

At 1:20 a.m., Sunday, November 6, 1977, a small earth dam on Toccoa Creek failed suddenly during a period of very intense rainfall following several days of modest rain. The flood of water released produced a wave about 25 feet high. The author discusses four reasonable explanations for the failure: (1) Overtopping followed by rapid erosion of the embankment, (2) Local gullying followed by overtopping and rapid erosion, (3) Local sliding of the saturated steep downstream face of the dam, causing either piping or overtopping and rapid erosion, or (4) Piping around the old Penstock, followed by collapse.