Dam failures are always catastrophic, especially on the downstream side, resulting in a colossal loss of life and property. Analyze the various causes of dam failures. Give two examples of large dam failures.
Dam failures are indeed devastating events, and their causes can be broadly categorized into three types.
Hydrological failures are the most common, occurring when the spillway capacity is insufficient to handle extreme floodwaters, leading to the overtopping of the dam. This erodes the dam structure, causing a breach.
Structural failures result from flaws in the dam's design, construction, or materials. This includes foundation issues like seepage, cracking due to pressure or temperature changes, and use of poor-quality construction materials that degrade over time.
Human or operational failures involve poor maintenance, incorrect operation of gates during floods, and a lack of monitoring or timely intervention.
A tragic Indian example is the Machchhu dam failure in Morbi, Gujarat, in 1979, caused by excessive rainfall and massive flooding that overwhelmed the dam’s capacity. Globally, the Banqiao Dam failure in China in 1975, following an extraordinary typhoon, is a stark example of a hydrological failure combined with cascading breaches, resulting in catastrophic loss of life.
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