Technical Manual for dam Owners, Impacts of Animals on Earthen Dams

D. Allen Hughes, P.E.

Course Outline

1. Introduction
2. Impacts of Wildlife on Earthen Dams
3. Dam Inspection from Two Perspectives: Engineering Function and Biological Potential
4. Overview and Identification of Nuisance Wildlife
5. Dam Repair and Intrusion Prevention Through Design
6. Mitigating Damaging Wildlife
7. Fiscal Considerations for Managing Animal Damage on Earthen Dams

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will have learned or been exposed to:

• Awareness of the characteristics and seriousness of dam safety problems associated with animal impacts on earthen dams;
• A higher level of understanding of dam safety issues associated with animal impacts on earthen dams by reviewing current damage control policies;
• State-of-practice guidance for remediation design considerations associated with damage associated with animal impacts on earthen dams;
• Rational and state-of-practice techniques and procedures for management of desirable vegetation on earthen dams;
• The preferred habitats and food sources of 23 of the most common species  known to damage earthen dams;
• Useful statistics on dams damaged by animals;
• A collective view of state and federal dam safety officials;
• The different methods for repairing damage caused by animals;
• The recommended methods controlling different species of animals;
• How to recognize signs of different species of animals;
• The use of construction methods for animal control;
• The relationship between well compacted soil and animal burrows;
• Some rules of thumb for analysis of dam safety conditions;
• The 5 safety inspection and evaluation zones;
• The pros and cons of regular annual maintenance versus long term remediation;
• The compounding affect of smaller animals attracting predators;
• Guidelines for estimating costs of maintenance and remediation; and
• The critical need to maintain animal burrows in a timely manner.

Intended Audience

This course is intended for use by engineers, dam owners, maintenance contractors, operators, inspectors, dam safety regulators, consultants and landscape architects.

Benefit to Attendees

Engineers, dam owners, dam safety officials and maintenance contractors will gain an understanding from this course of the benefits of proper animal control and maintenance. Additionally, this course could be used as a guide for planning and implementing wildlife control plans.

Course Introduction

This course will provide a fundamental understanding and technical knowledge of potential detrimental impacts of animals on the safety of earthen dams and  methods of controlling and/or removing the listed species .

Course Content

This course is based on the US FEMA 473 publication, “Technical Manual for dam Owners, Impacts of Animals on Earthen Dams”, (2005 Edition, 122 pages), PDF file.

Technical Manual for dam Owners, Impacts of Animals on Earthen Dams

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Course Summary

This course demonstrates that nuisance wildlife can potentially damage earthen dams beyond repair. And emphasizes the concept the delayed control and repair of animal damage usually results in increased costs of repair. The course presents the best practices methods for controlling or removing species of animals that have been the most common causes of damage to earthen dams.

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

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DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.

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