This proceedings book gathers contributions presented at the First International Conference on Embankment Dams (1st ICED, Beijing, 5–7 June 2020), which was the inaugural conference of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) Technical Committee TC210 on Embankment Dams. The contributions address five themes: (1) case histories on the failure of embankment dams and landslide dams; (2) dam failure process modelling; (3) soil mechanics for embankment dams; (4) dam risk assessment and management; and (5) monitoring, early warning and emergency response. These proceedings offer a unique resource that systematically presents recent dam breaching cases, their social impact, associated risk management strategies, and disposal methods for failed dams. It is an excellent reference guide for dam and levee engineers, flood safety officials, and emergency management agencies.

Dams are constructed for economic development, and their construction involves large investments of money, and natural and human resources. Of the various types of dams constructed around the globe, earth dams are the most common type and constitute the vast majority of dams. When adam fails, it culminates in the sudden release of artificially stored water which, in turn, becomes a potential menace to virtually everything downstream. The dam failure may result in loss of life and property. In recent years, instances of dam failure in the world have been too many, and the resulting loss too high. As a result, dam safety pro grams have been developed in most countries of the world since the beginning of the nineteenth eighties. · Earth dams are more susceptible to failure than other types. The cause of failure is often either overtopping or piping. The modeling of dam breaching due to either or both of these causes is of fundamental importance to development of dam-safety programs. This book is, therefore, an attempt to present some aspects of earth-dam breach modeling technology. It is hoped that others will be stimulated to write more comprehensive texts on this subject of growing interest and importance. The book is divided into eight chapters. The first chapter is introductory and discusses some aspects of dams and dam failures in the world.

More than 800,000 dams and thousands of kilometers of dikes have been constructed around the world. These structures are often designed based on a statistical analysis of the discharge distribution in rivers. However, the history of construction of dams and dikes coexists with the history of failures. Hundreds of dam failure events were reported worldwide in the previous century, while every year dikes breach due to high flows in the rivers or for other reasons leading sometimes to catastrophic consequences. In this book a description is presented of a framework and techniques for modelling structure failure events as well as a proposal to several novel approaches for risk analysis and assessment by numerical, statistical and constrained based methods in particular to the problems of breach modelling and flood water mitigation.

This book integrates the physical processes of dam breaching and the mathematical aspects of risk assessment in a concise manner • The first book that introduces the causes, processes and consequences of dam failures • Integrates the physical processes of dam breaching and the mathematical aspects of risk assessment in a concise manner • Emphasizes integrating theory and practice to better demonstrate the application of risk assessment and decision methodologies to real cases • Intends to formulate dam-breaching emergency management steps in a scientific structure

The aim of the book is to give an up-to-date review on dam-break problems, along with the main theoretical background and the practical aspects involved in dam failures, design of flood defense structures, prevention measures and the environmental social, economic and forensic aspects related to the topic. Moreover, an exhaustive range of laboratory tests and modeling techniques is explored to deal effectively with shock waves and other disasters caused by dam failures. Disaster management refers to programs and strategies designed to prevent, mitigate, prepare for, respond to and recover from the effects of these phenomena.To manage and minimize these risks, it is necessary to identify hazards and vulnerability by means of a deep knowledge of the causes which drive to dam failures, and to understand the flow propagation process.Knowledge and advanced scientific tools play a role of paramount importance of coping with flooding and other dam-break problems along with capacity building in the context of political and administrative frameworks. All these aspects are featured in the book, which is a comprehensive treaty that covers the most theoretical and advanced aspects of structural and hydraulic engineering, together with the hazard assessment and mitigation measures and the social economic and forensic aspects related to subject.

Intends to assist the dam owner in evaluating the needs for dam safety improvement, selecting and prioritizing remedial and corrective actions, and improving the operation, maintenance and surveillance procedures. This book is intended not only for industry specialists but also for readers outside the dam engineering community.