Dam safety and monitoring
Dam safety and monitoring

Planning a performance monitoring program is an essential component of successful dam construction and operation. Dam monitoring is recommended to ensure the safety of a dam. Geotechnical instrumentation and structural instruments are used to determine the initial conditions at dam site, monitoring during construction, initial filling and drawdown; and assist long-term monitoring. One of the main geotechnical instrument in dam monitoring are the piezometers for either water level control, pore pressure monitoring, water flow control in earth fill dams and up-lift pressure. Other instruments often utilized are pendulums, borehole inclinometers, in-place inclinometers, vibrating wire strain gauges, crack meters, joint meters, MPBX MultiPoint Borehole extensometers, earth pressure cells, embankment extensometers, etc…