Quality: Out of the Manual and Into the Field
The intent of ASCE's
The Cause of the Johnstown Flood
The Johnstown flood occurred in 1889, when an earth and rock dam failed during a record rainfall in eastern Pennsylvania. The flood was one of the worst civil disasters in the U.S.; 2,200...
Evaluation Procedures for Hydrologic Safety of Dams
Procedures are proposed for selecting the safety design flood for both new and existing dams. The procedures are based on a quantitative risk assessment in which the likelihood and consequences...
Developing a Training Program for Inspectors
The reasons for failure of engineering works are many and varied. An inexperienced or poorly trained construction inspector can be a contributing element in cases of failure. The Bureau...
Dam Seepage Analysis Using Artificial Intelligence
The paper discusses an interactive advanced decision support system (ADSS) which is being applied to analyzing seepage from embankment dams. The development of a prototype knowledge base,...
DSS: A Dam Site Selector Expert System
The Dam Site Selector (DSS) expert system is an aid for rating an area for use as a dam site and reservoir. It was developed for use in a graduate level hydrology design course at Purdue...
A Lawyer's View of Engineers' Responsibility
When presented with a case involving damaged property, a lawyer typically will seek to determine the point of the failure and then work backwards in an effort to analyze each of the factors...
Riverbank Instability Due to Bed Degradation
Degradation lowers the bed of an alluvial channel over a long reach. This has the effect of increasing the bank heights and angles, which decreases the stability of the banks with respect...
Toe Scour Protection in Open Channels
Scour at the toe of bank protection works is one of the major causes of failure of these structures. Weighted riprap toes are frequently used to prevent bank protection failure due to...
Snow-Melt Triggered Debris Flows Affecting Utah's Megalopolis
During the abnormally wet years of 1983 and 1984, debris flows were triggered late in spring on the west flank of the Wasatch Mountains and elsewhere in Central Utah. These debris flows...
Kankakee Dam Discharge Characteristics
The low-head dam on the Kankakee River has flashboards which are installed as the discharge decreases in early summer, to maintain the upstream pool level. In response to concern over...
Analytical Studies of the Schoharie Bridge Failure
Analytical studies consisted of geomorphic, hydrologic, hydraulic, and erosion analyses including mathematical modeling with HEC-1 and WSPRO, the new FHWA water-surface profile model....
Schoharie Creek Bridge Model Study
On April 5, 1987, a major storm occurred in the Schoharie Creek watershed and the resulting flood caused the bridge to fail. The hydraulic model of the bridge was performed to simulate...
One-Dimensional Modeling of Dam-Break Flow
R.W. MacCormack method is used for the numerical integration of Saint Venant equations to simulate the propagation of one-dimensional dam-break wave. The computed water levels are compared...
Modeling of a Low Head Hydroelectric Project
In order to shorten the time to develop a hydroelectric project at the Corps of Engineers Hannibal Lock and Dam on the Ohio River for the City of New Martinsville, West Virginia, a turnkey...
Analysis of Spillway Failures by Uplift Pressure
Results of a model study to evaluate the development of uplift pressures beneath concrete chutes are presented. Two spillway failures are described to support the study results. Common...
Estimation of Uplift Pressure in Cracks in Concrete Gravity Dams
This paper presents an analytical solution to predict uplift pressures in cracks in concrete gravity dams. It is shown that drainage systems are effective in reducing such pressures....
Design and Performance of Earth Spillways
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Soil Conservation Service has designed and administered construction of a large number of dams utilizing grassed earth-lined auxiliary...
Effect of Conowingo Dam Releases on the Water Quality of the Lower Susquehanna River
A modeling study was performed to assess the effects of flow releases from Conowingo Dam on the water quality of Conowingo Pond and the Susquehanna River downstream of the dam. Reservoir...
Silt Run Effectiveness in Withdrawing Sediment
An investigation was conducted during the silt runs on the North Platte River to determine the continued effectiveness of the runs in providing fine sediments to the canal systems downstream....
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