Causes of Failure of Earthen Dams

Like most of engineering structures, earthen dams may fail due to faulty design, improper construction and poor
maintenance practices, etc.
The various causes of failure may be classified as:
a) Hydraulic failure
b) Seepage failure
c) Structural failure
24.4.1 Hydraulic Failure
Hydraulic failure accounts for over 40% of earth dam failure and may be due to one or more of the following:
(i) By Overtopping: When free board of dam or capacity of spillway is insufficient, the flood water will pass
over the dam and wash its downstream.

Fig. 24.6. Dam failure by overtopping.

(Source:http://theconstructor.org/water-resources/failure-of-earthfilldams/2287/)
(ii) Erosion of Downstream Toe: The toe of the dam at the downstream side may be eroded due to heavy cross-
current from spillway buckets ortail water. When the toe of downstream is eroded, it will lead to failure of dam.
This can be prevented by providing a riprap at downstream side up to a height above the tail water depth. Also, the
side wall of the spillway should have sufficient height and length to prevent possibility of cross flow towards the
earthen embankment.
(iii) Erosion of Upstream Surface: During winds, the waves developed near the top water surface may cut into
the soil of upstream dam face which may cause slip of the upstream surface leading to failure. For preventing
against such failure, the upstream face should be protected with stone pitching.
(iv) Erosion of Downstream Face by Gully Formation: During heavy rains, the flowing rain water over the
downstream face can erode the surface, creating gullies, which could lead to failure. To prevent such failures, the
dam surface should be properly maintained. All cuts\cracks should be filled on time and surface should be well
grassed to reduce the effect of surface runoff. Berms could be provided at suitable heights and proper drainage
should be maintained.
24.4.2 Seepage Failure
Seepage always occurs in the dams. If the magnitude is within design limits, it may not harm the stability of the
dam. However, if seepage is concentrated or uncontrolled beyond limits, it will lead to failure of the dam.
Following are some of the various types of seepage failure.
(i) Piping through Dam Body: Seepage starts through the poor soils in the body of the dam, small channels are
formed which transport dam’s material downstream. As more materials are transported downstream, the channels
grow bigger and bigger which could lead to wash out of dam.
(ii) Piping through Foundation: When highly permeable cavities or strata of gravel or coarse sand are present in
the dam foundation, it may lead to heavy seepage. The concentrated seepage at high rate will erode soil present in
the foundation which will cause increased flow of water and soil. As a result, the dam will settle or sink leading to
failure.
 (Source: http://www.civeng.unsw.edu.au/node/913)
(iii) Sloughing of Downstream Side of Dam: The process of failure due to sloughing starts when the downstream
toe of the dam becomes saturated and starts getting eroded, causing small slump or slide of the dam. The small
slide leaves a relative steep face, which also becomes saturated due to seepage and also slumps again and forms
more unstable surface. The process of saturation and slumping continues, leading to failure of dam.
24.4.3 Structural Failure
About 25% of failure is attributed to structural failure, which is mainly due to shear failure causing slide along the
slopes. The failure may be due to:
(i) Slide in Embankment: When the slopes of the embankments are too steep, the embankment may slide
resulting in its failure. This occurs when there is a sudden drawdown or drastic decrease in the upstream water
level due to some means, which is critical for the upstream side. Because of this, development of extremely high
pore pressures takes place which decreases the shearing strength of the soil. The downstream side can slide
especially when dam is full. In this case upstream embankment failure is not as serious as downstream failure.
(ii)Foundation Slide: When the foundation of an earthfill dam is composed of fine silt, clay, or similar soft soil,
the whole dam may slide due to water thrust. If fissured rocks, such as soft clay, or shale exist below the
foundation, the side thrust of the water pressure may shear the whole dam and cause its failure. In such failure the
top of the dam gets cracked and the lower slopes moves outward and forms large mud waves near the dam heel.
(iii) Faulty Construction and Poor Maintenance: If during construction, the compaction of the embankment is
not properly done, it may lead to failure.
(iv) Earthquake may Cause the Following Types of Failure to Earth fill Dams:
1. Cracks may develop in the core wall, causing leakages and piping failure.
2. Slow waves may set up due to shaking of reservoir bottom, and dam may fail due to overtopping.
3. Settlement of dam which may reduce freeboard causing failure by overtopping.
4. Sliding of natural hills causing damage to dam and its appurtenant structures.
5. Fault movement in the dam site reducing reservoir capacity and causing overtopping.
6. Shear slide of dam.
7. Failure of slope pitching.
The 48 hazards defined may lead to the following modes of failure:
• catastrophic overtopping;
• dam breach;
• foundation failure of a concrete dam;
• foundation failure of an embankment dam;
• instability of concrete dam;
• instability of embankment dam;
• overflow failure;
• structural failure of concrete dam;
• structural failure of embankment dam (deterioration of core);
• structural failure of embankment dam (load exceeded);
• uncontrolled flow due to appurtenant works failure;
• uncontrolled seepage

The principal failure modes that are highlighted include internal

erosion, instability, overtopping and spillway inadequacy, and failure of pipes and
valves.
Piping from the embankment into the foundation.
•
More Appropriate PFM:
– When the reservoir is above elevation 5634 feet, internal
erosion of the core initiates into the open-work gravel
foundation at the interface of the foundation with the cutoff
trench near Station 2+35, as a result of poor foundation
treatment. Core material erodes into and through the
foundation and exits at the toe of the dam through an
unfiltered exit. Backward erosion occurs until a “pipe” forms
through the core and continues upstream until reaching the
reservoir. Seepage velocities increase, enlarging the pipe
until a portion of the upstream face of the embankment
collapses into the pipe, which continues to enlarge until the
crest of the dam collapses, resulting in an uncontrolled release
of the reservoir.

Sliding of the concrete dam on the foundation.

•
More Appropriate PFM:
– During normal maximum reservoir elevation and (1) a
continuing increase in uplift pressure on the shale layer slide
plane, or (2) a decrease in shearing resistance due to gradual
creep on the slide plane, sliding of the buttresses initiates.
Major differential movement between two buttresses takes
place causing the deck slabs to become unseated from their
simply supported condition on the corbels. Two bays quickly
fail followed by the failure of adjacent buttresses due to
lateral water load resulting in an uncontrolled release of the
reservoir.
http://www.ghd.com/PDF/2006%20ANCOLD%20-
%20Failure%20Modes%20Analysis%20as%20Applied%20at%20Rockl
ands%20Dam%20-%20JONKER,%20BARKER%20&%20Harper.pdf

FAILURE MODES ANALYSIS AS APPLIED AT ROCKLANDS DAM

Marius Jonker
1
Malcolm Barker
2
and Gary Harper

ASSESSING FAILURE MODES ANALYSIS

2.1
Objectives and Outcomes
The objective of FMA is to achieve a good
understanding of:
•
the most significant site specific failure modes
of a particular dam;
•
the possible failure scenarios and potential
consequences; and
•
effective risk reduction measures and dam
safety related actions.
FMA is qualitative analysis approach. It involves
examining technical details to reach judgement on
failure modes. Through the examination of the
facts and discussion during the analysis, much of

the understanding that would be necessary to

assign subjective response probabilities during the
risk analysis stage, is achieved.
The focus during FMA is on developing an
understanding by gathering and discussing all
available information and listening to different
points of view. This includes field observations,
analysis of monitoring data, operation and
maintenance procedures, dam safety reports, and
discussion with staff and inspectors involved with
these activities.
The eventual outcome is being able to assign the
numbers during the risk analysis.
2.2
Benefits
The following list includes some benefits and
strengths of using FMA in safety reviews, risk
assessments and refining dam safety programs:
•
The process is widely acceptable;
•
It is a systematic approach;
•
It enhances understanding of the dam;
•
It requires relatively low effort;
•
It involves a broad interdisciplinary team
approach and diversity of input;
•
It strengthens the traditional engineering
approach;
•
It includes evaluation of different loading
conditions;
•
It identifies information gaps;
•
It helps with identification of risks and risk
reduction opportunities;
•
It helps with communicating risks to a wide
range of persons involved and concerned with
the dam;
•
It helps with prioritization of actions; and
•
It is a tool for enhancing the dam safety
management program.
2.3
Limitations
The following list can be considered as possible
limitations of FMA:
•
It is a qualitative analysis, it does not quantify
the risks and there is some uncertainty if used
for the purposes of ranking it.
•
Repeatability and consistency;
•
Influence of team members;
•
Limited case histories to use as basis for
identification of potential failure modes;
•
It requires detailed information on the dam;
and
•
There are no specific guidelines currently
available for the FMA process.
In recent years, dam safety draws increasing attention from the public. This is because floods
resulting from dam or levee failures can lead to de
vastating disasters with tr
emendous loss of life and
property, especially in densely populated areas.

The International
Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) has reported
statistics of
dam failures (ICOLD 1995). The
United States Committee on Large Dams (USCOLD) has made a survey of incidents, including
failures and accidents, to dams
in the United States (USCOL
D 1988). Many researchers also
conducted analyses of dam fail
ures using statistical method
s (e.g., Howard 1982; Blind 1983;
Silveira 1984; Von Thun 1985; Ingles 1988; Foster et al. 2000). Yet, few attempts have been made to
characterize the failure modes and causes for specifically classified earth dams.
In this study, more than 900 dam failure cases
throughout the world excluding China are compiled
into a database. Totally 593 failure cases on earth da
ms in the database are utilized to study earth
dam failures with a statistical analysis. In the following, earth dams are classified into four major
categories: (1) homogeneous earthfill dams, (2)
zoned earthfill dams, (3) earthfill dams with
corewalls, and (4) concrete faced earthfill dams.
Based on the database, the detailed failure modes
and causes of these subdivided earth dams are furthe
r analyzed. Potential locations at risk are also
described to provide the reader with a better understanding of earth dam failures.
According to dam zoning, the failed earth dams
can be further subdivided into four typical
categories: (1) homogeneous earthfill dams, (2)
zoned earthfill dams, (3) earthfill dams with
corewalls, and (4) concrete faced earthfill dams. Fig.2 shows the sketches of the four types of dams.
Homogenous earthfill dams are composed almost of
the same material thro
ughout the cross section.
Zoned earthfill dams are composed of several materials, each for one zone (e.g., Zone A and B
consist of two different types of so
ils in Fig.2(b)). An earthfill dam with a corewall contains earth
fills and a low-permeability wall (e.g., clay or conc
rete), which is often built
vertically or inclined
towards the upstream of the dam. A concrete faced earthfill dam is composed of earth fills and an
impermeable concrete facing on the
upstream slope. Table 5 shows the
subdivision of the failed earth
dams in terms of dam type. It is noted that on
ly 61 cases were reported
with known categories.
(a) Homogeneous earthfill
(b) Zoned earthfill
AB
(c) Earthfill with corewall
(d) Faced earthfill
Core
Facing
Fig.2 Sketches of four typical types of earth dams

The consequences following a dam failure

can take various forms, such as:

Possible loss of life, injuries to persons at risk;

Economic impacts
o
Loss of property, transportation infrastructure, energy production, water supply,
navigation, irrigation, other economic activities, ...

Social impacts
o
Con
sequences on “human” life after a dam failure;
o
Cultural
–
built heritage;
o
Fear of such event occurring in the future;
o
Relocation of the population;

Environmental impacts
o
Impact on living organisms in general and wildlife particularly,
o
Modification of the t
opography/bathymetry along the river area;
o
Pollution related to human activities (fuel, chemical, tailings, ...).