Author(s): Mike Phillips

Linked Author(s):

Keywords: Failure; Hydraulic structures; Case studies; Mentoring

Abstract: There have been numerous partial, near, or complete failures of hydraulic structures on dams around the globe over the past 10 years. I have been fortunate in my consulting and US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) career to have contributed to the post-failure analysis and design of the repair for many of these dams and structures throughout the world. Out of these (and other) hydraulic structure failures, come great opportunities to learn, teach, mentor, and apply lessons learned to future projects. The purpose of this paper is to highlight three case studies of partial or near complete failure of hydraulic structures that I have been involved in as part of USACE including: 1) the USACE Review of Spillways–post Oroville Dam; 2) the Guajataca Dam Spillway Repair; and3), the Mosul Dam Bottom Outlet Flip Bucket Dentates commissioning In this paper, I will discuss why sharing these case studies is one way we maintain safe and operational structures for society and industry, and is an important component to allowing the dam safety community to learn from hydraulic structure failures, and why mentoring is critical to the future of hydraulic structure design and operation.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.14264/uql.2020.515

Year: 2020