Keywords: instrumentation, dams, monitor, graphics, plot programs.

The Fort Worth District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has unveiled a state of the art Dam Safety computer program that it uses to monitor, evaluate, and manage safety issues among it 25 earthen embankments. As earthen dams are modified from the effects of age and deterioration, conservation pools raised for water supply, and embankments and abutments subjected to new loadings and seepage conditions, the long historical record of embankment performances become more important. The ability to quickly retrieve and analyze changing data through a computerized instrumentation program is often crucial to expedient solutions. This program offers both large data capacity and quick retrieval. The program currently monitors over 6000 instruments and survey points for the District. Instrumentation readings are taken on 1 to 3 month intervals during normal loading conditions and input directly into the program. Data for some embankments extend as far back as 50 years.

The pc program is easy to use within a Windows environment and has incorporated off-the-shelf software. Features include professionally formatted data summary plots that can be placed directly into reports. Automatic scaling and zoom features allow easy manipulation of data graphs for easy viewing. A graphics package allows placement of sections, details, and location of instruments relative to founding strata on the data plots. Line and scatter graphs can compare up to five instruments plus the lake elevations or rainfall versus time. The program allows one person to easily and quickly input, monitor, analyze, and prepare instrumentation plots.

The program was developed for embankment instrumentation and survey, but can be used for any instrumentation application to include piezometers, observation wells, lake elevations, surface reference marks, settlement plates, centreline/offset crest of dam or road, outlet works conduit monoliths, seepage flow, relief well flow, gallery drainage, outlet works discharge, and fill placement activities. The data histories can be used for such things as managing relief well cleaning schedules, assessing the efficiency of relief well cleaning and gallery drain cleaning, assessing seepage response in relation to pool loadings, and detecting movements within the earthen embankments due to creep, bulging, settlement, and shear zones.

This paper presents the program capabilities and ease of use, incorporating examples of data analyses.

purchase the full-text of this paper (price £20)

go to the previous paper
go to the next paper
return to the table of contents
return to the book description
purchase this book (price £135 +P&P)