Bureau of Land Management - Dam Safety Inspection Guidelines

Bureau of Land Management - Dam Safety Inspection Guidelines

Course Outline

Introduction
PROCEDURE
Qualifications to inspect BLM dams
CRACKING
Inspection methods
Transverse cracking
Horizontal cracking
Longitudinal cracking
Interior cracking
Surface cracking
SLIDING AND SLUMPING
Drawdown slides
SEEPAGE
Piping along outlet works
Piping through abutments
Piping through foundations
Piping due to water soluble materials
Seepage and vegetative growth
Burrowing animals
EROSION
FOUNDATIONS
SPILLWAYS AND OUTLETS
HAZARD CLASSIFICATION

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 the following:

The basic qualifications to inspect BLM embankment dams;
The basic methods of inspecting BLM embankment dams;
Identify and explain the characteristics transverse cracking;
Identify and explain the characteristics horizontal cracking;
Identify and explain the characteristics longitudinal cracking;
Identify and explain the characteristics interior cracking;
Identify and explain the characteristics surface cracking;
Identify and explain the characteristics sliding;
Identify and explain the characteristics slumping;
Identify and explain the characteristics of seepage;
Identify and explain the characteristics piping along outlet works;
Identify and explain the characteristics piping through abutments;
Identify and explain the characteristics piping through foundations;
Identify and explain the characteristics piping due to water soluble materials;
Identify and explain the characteristics piping due to vegetative growth;
Identify and explain the characteristics piping due to burrowing animals;
Identify and explain the potential consequences of erosion;
The basic methods of inspecting foundation;
The basic methods of inspecting spillways;
The basic methods of inspecting outlets; and
A basic understanding of the hazard classification system for dams.

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 areas to be inspected on an embankment dam according to BLM recommended practices. Additionally, this course could be useful as a guide for training to conduct an embankment dam inspection.

Course Introduction

This course will provide a fundamental understanding of embankment dam inspection according to BLM recommended practices.

If you are new to dam safety inspection, the material presented in this course will provide important background information. The discussion of the inspection process is designed to provide the inspector with guidance for conducting a comprehensive inspection of an embankment dam.

If you have experience with embankment dams, this course will provide a brief refresher on key terminology used in BLM embankment dam inspections. Since terminology can differ from agency to agency, you may find it helpful to review this section to become familiar with how terms will be used in this module.

Course Content

The content of this course is a handbook titled “Dam Safety Inspection Report Guidelines” published by The Bureau of Land management.

Dam Safety Inspection Report Guidelines

Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you still experience any difficulty in downloading or opening this file, you may need to close some applications or reboot your computer to free up some memory.

Course Summary

Remember, whenever you are unsure whether or not a condition poses a threat to the safety of the dam, you should discuss your findings with a qualified engineer.

Quiz

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

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.