They are often compound structures with complex ownership models operating within diverse regulatory frameworks. The objective of dam safety is to avoid dam failure whereby the cost of inspection and subsequent geotechnical investigation is minor when compared to the potential cost of catastrophic failure.
Globally, most dams were built before the widespread availability of wireline logging for geotechnical investigation. Any significant new dam construction should include a programme of drilling and wireline logging for geotechnical and hydrogeological analysis. For any civil engineering project, the ground conditions represent the single biggest unknown which is especially relevant for dams due to the creation of artificial hydraulic pressures and the consequences of catastrophic failure. Wireline logging can provide valuable ground characterisation data for the design process and will form a permanent record of conditions before the dam was constructed …more
Image: GeoCAD® output showing oriented features from Robertson Geo HI-OPTV® and HRAT® televiewers.
