Factor of Safety for Embankment Dams

Factors of safety is an indicator of reliability for geotechnical structures such as embankment dams and soil slopes. Safety factor accounts for uncertainties of design loads and inaccuracies of input values. It is noteworthy that a higher safety factor does not necessarily lead to a lower probability of failure, as the analysis also depends on the quality of investigations, testing, design and construction. This article is aimed to explain history  of  the  safety factor principle  in  dam  construction.

Current criteria for safety factor

This table show the current standards for determination of safety factor  for embankment dams.

Number Country code Requirements
1 Australia “Current Technical Practices for Design, Construction, Operation and Maintenance of Large Dams in Australia” published by the Australian National Committee on Large Dams in 1969 (ANCOLD, 1969)
2 America USACE Design Manual (USACE, 1970) have been adopted by many organizations including USBR (1987), Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (1992), BRE (1999), ANCOLD (2012) (for tailings dams)
3 America USACE design manual (USACE, 2003)

 

It focuses on two important considerations of uncertainties and consequences of failure or unacceptable performance

 

 

Comments