SMALL DAMS PETITS BARRAGES

Fig. 8.4 – Flood water level after small dam break, based on Teton dam accident.
8.7 PERMANENT FILE FOR EMERGENCY PURPOSES
A logbook detailing the daily activities and maintenance of the dam must be kept by the owner
and stored in a safe facility. All information related to operation and maintenance of the dam,
monitoring, dam condition, specific incidents, dam inspections, etc., must be recorded
immediately on occurrence in the logbook. All regularly collected information recorded on
prescribed forms shall be stored with this logbook. It shall be the responsibility of the dam
owner to ensure that this logbook is correctly used, completed and maintained [5].
In October of 2005, severe storms pummeled two states of the USA over two consecutive
weekends. These heavy rains imperiled a number of the thousands of dams in these states.
While the crises were successfully ended without any dambreak-related fatalities, these
situations, along with previous year’s Hurricane Katrina experience, did point out the need for
engineers and dam safety professionals to be ready to mobilize rapidly, and provide
recommendations for actions which protect dams, property and the public safety.
Anyone responding to a potential dam safety emergency would have access to the files and
information specific to that dam. Such information, typically kept by the Owner and State Office
of Dam Safety would include the following [7]:
Summary information;
Design / “As Built” drawings;
Previous Inspection Reports;
Operation and Maintenance Manual
Emergency Action Plan
Clearly, the Emergency Action Plan (EAP) would become the key document if failure is believed
to be imminent or in progress. EAPs are often filed also with the state emergency management
agency or local state police and fire department.
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