An Automated Screening Technique to Identify At-Risk Auxiliary Spillways: Modified Approach in WinDAM

Abstract

Dam operators often do not know whether an auxiliary spillway will fail until it is loaded, which can be infrequent. Such failures have the potential to result in overall dam failure, leading to loss of life and substantial property damage. The purpose of this paper is to develop a screening technique to identify potentially risky auxiliary spillways. The paper uses the National Inventory of Dams (NID) data and analyzes a sample of 400 earthen dams with auxiliary spillways. The main innovation of the paper is to employ code to create multiple input files and analyze them in the Windows Dam Analysis Modules (WinDAM) C software. This technique is more efficient than the current functionality of WinDAM C, which evaluates one dam at a time. The proposed method serves as a quick screening and decision-making tool for multiple embankments for extreme flooding events by identifying potentially risky auxiliary spillways that may require in-depth analysis. The results of this screening found 75% of spillways are likely to sustain heavy damage. Additionally, heavy damage was related to narrower spillway widths.