Risk Management for UK Reservoirs

About this book

No lives have been lost through the failure of a dam in the UK since 1930, when reservoir safety legislation was introduced. However, no one should be complacent about the risk posed by reservoirs, as Britain still has a large stock of embankment dams built more than 100 years ago before the development of soil mechanics. Tolerance of risk or hazard is lower today than in the past, and demands for accountability and transparency are correspondingly higher, thereby increasing the need for adequate risk assessment and risk management. "Risk management for UK reservoirs" starts by examining past failures, major incidents and problems at UK reservoirs. It considers the most likely modes of failure for dams of various types and age, and offers an easily applicable assessment procedure to determine potential floodwater levels and their impact following a failure. Following chapters look at methods of mitigating risks, carrying out remedial works and emergency planning in the event of dam failure. Extensive appendices consider overseas practice, hazard indexing and database analysis. The risk assessment procedure is demonstrated on six test cases for different types of reservoir.

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