Мы используем файлы cookie.
Продолжая использовать сайт, вы даете свое согласие на работу с этими файлами.
Technology hazards
Dam failure
Другие языки:

Dam failure

Подписчиков: 0, рейтинг: 0
The reservoir emptying through the failed Teton Dam
Ruins of the dam of Vega de Tera (Spain) after breaking in 1959.

A dam failure or dam burst is a catastrophic type of structural failure characterized by the sudden, rapid, and uncontrolled release of impounded water or the likelihood of such an uncontrolled release. Between the years 2000 and 2009 more than 200 notable dam failures happened worldwide.

A dam is a barrier across flowing water that obstructs, that directs or slows down the flow, often creating a reservoir, lake or impoundments. Most dams have a section called a spillway or weir over or through which water flows, either intermittently or continuously, and some have hydroelectric power generation systems installed.

Dams are considered "installations containing dangerous forces" under International humanitarian law due to the massive impact of a possible destruction on the civilian population and the environment. Dam failures are comparatively rare, but can cause immense damage and loss of life when they occur. In 1975 the failure of the Banqiao Reservoir Dam and other dams in Henan Province, China caused more casualties than any other dam failure in history. The disaster killed an estimated 171,000 people and 11 million people lost their homes.

Main causes of dam failures

International special sign for works and installations containing dangerous forces

Common causes of dam failure include:

Deliberate breaching

A notable case of deliberate dam breaching was the British Royal Air Force Dambusters raid on Germany in World War II (codenamed "Operation Chastise"), in which six German dams were selected to be breached in order to impact German infrastructure and manufacturing and power capabilities deriving from the Ruhr and Eder rivers. This raid later became the basis for several films.

Attacks on dams were restricted in Article 56 of the 1977 Protocol I amendment to the Geneva Conventions. Dams may not be lawfully attacked "if such attack may cause the release of dangerous forces from the works or installations and consequent severe losses among the civilian population", unless "it is used for other than its normal function and in regular, significant and direct support of military operations and if such attack is the only feasible way to terminate such support". Similar provisions apply to other sources of "dangerous forces", such as nuclear power plants.

Other cases include the Chinese bombing of multiple dams during Typhoon Nina (1975) in an attempt to drain them before their reservoirs overflowed. The typhoon produced what is now considered a 1-in-2000 years flood, which few if any of these dams were designed to survive.

List of major dam failures

See also: List of tailings dam failures and List of flash floods
Dam/incident Date Location Country Fatalities Details
Marib Dam 575 Sheba Yemen Un­known Unknown causes, possibly neglect. The consequent failure of the irrigation system provoked the migration of up to 50,000 people from Yemen.
Subiaco Dam 1305 Subiaco Italy Un­known Amateur attempt to lower the dam
Döda fallet/1796 Ragunda lake burst disaster 1796 Jämtland Sweden 0 Natural dam of glacial till had canal dug through it for purposes of navigation. As the till was hard to dig, water was used to erode the channel. The canal led to the failure of the dam.
Puentes Dam 1802 Lorca Spain 608 1,800 houses and 40,000 trees destroyed.
Hogs Back Dam 1829-04-03 Ottawa Upper Canada Un­known Inexperience with cold weather engineering allowed for a small leak in wall to form on March 28 and the dam to slump on April 2. The following day, on April 3, the dam failed and washed away down the Rideau River. A new dam of a different design was built atop the foundation of the original later that same year.
Bilberry reservoir 1852-02-05 Holme Valley United Kingdom 81 Failed in a heavy rain. Inquest found construction was culpably negligent.
Dale Dike Reservoir/Great Sheffield Flood 1864-03-11 South Yorkshire United Kingdom 244 Defective design and construction. Small leak in wall grew until new dam failed. More than 600 houses were damaged or destroyed. Lead to regulation.
Iruka Lake Dam 1868 Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture
(then Owari Province) 		Japan 941 Under the influence of heavy rain from late April, this soil dam collapsed on May 13. Water accumulated in Lake Iruka overflowed downstream, causing severe damage to Inuyama, Iwakura, Kasugai, Tsushima Yatomi, and to Komaki. 807 houses were destroyed, with another 11709 flooded.
Mill River Dam 1874 Williamsburg, Massachusetts United States 139 Lax regulations and cost cutting led to an insufficient design, which fell apart when the reservoir was full. 600 million gallons of water were released, wiping out 4 towns and making national headlines. This dam break led to increased regulation of dam construction.
South Fork Dam/Johnstown flood 1889-05-31 Johnstown, Pennsylvania United States 2 208 Blamed on poor maintenance by owners, who lowered crest by a meter or more; court deemed it an "Act of God". Followed exceptionally heavy rainfall. 1,600 homes were destroyed.
Walnut Grove Dam 1890 Wickenburg, Arizona United States 100+ A drunkard's negligence, shoddy construction, and corporate mismanagement killed as many as 150 after a routine flood exceeded the dam's design capacity.
Gohna Lake dam 1894-08-25 Garhwal British India 1 Failure of a landslide dam. Authorities had been able to evacuate the valley.
Austin Dam 1900-04-07 Austin, Texas United States 8 In an extreme current, two 250-foot sections of the dam slid about 20m downstream intact. The town was left without electrical power for months.
Hauser Dam 1908-04-14 Helena, Montana United States 0 Heavy flooding coupled with poor foundation quality. Workers managed to warn people downstream.
Broken Down Dam 1908-09-24 Fergus Falls, Minnesota United States 0 Design flaw; dam built on water springs. Four downstream dams and bridge destroyed; a fourth dam was opened and saved. Mills, homes and farms flooded. No fatalities.
Austin Dam 1911-09-11 Austin, Pennsylvania United States 78 Poor design, use of dynamite to remedy structural problems. Destroyed paper mill and much of the town of Austin. Replacement failed in 1942.
Desná Dam 1916 Desná Austria-Hungary 65 Construction flaws caused the dam failure.
Lower Otay Dam 1916 San Diego County, California United States 14 Over-topped from flooding following heavy rains. Locally, blame was placed on Charles Hatfield who had been contracted by The City of San Diego for his efforts in rainmaking. Court cases following the dam's failure resulted in neither liabilities being passed to Mr. Hatfield nor the original payment, as both of the court's decisions ruled the event, 'an act of God'.
Sweetwater Dam 1916-01-27 San Diego County, California United States 0 Over-topped from flooding; spillway inadequate, water rose over a meter higher than the dam and waterfalled over its surface. Dam had been raised after an similar earlier overtopping. Partial failure.
Lake Toxaway Dam 1916-08-13 Transylvania County, North Carolina United States 0 Heavy rains and lack of water-level controls caused the dam to give way. Private lake destroyed, resort area failed. Dam was later rebuilt in the 1960s
Tigra Dam 1917-08-19 Gwalior British India 1 000 Failed due to water infiltrating through sandstone foundation. Possibly more fatalities.
Gleno Dam 1923-12-01 Province of Bergamo Italy 356 Poor construction and design, inferior materials. Lasted 40 days.
Llyn Eigiau dam and Coedty reservoir 1925-11-02 Dolgarrog United Kingdom 17 The outflow from Llyn Eigiau destroyed Coedty reservoir. Contractor blamed cost-cutting in construction. 25" of rain had fallen in preceding 5 days.
St. Francis Dam 1928-03-12 Santa Clarita, California United States 431+ Geological instability of canyon wall.
Castlewood Dam 1933 Franktown, Colorado United States 2 Bad design and maintenance, with proximate cause of heavy rain. Dam failed at 1 am on 3 August 1933, with dam waters just 15 miles from the City of Denver. Warnings to the city by 4 am allowed most people to move out of the way of the flood waters.
Granadillar Dam 1934 Canary Islands Spain 8 Bad design and foundation.
Secondary Dam of Sella Zerbino 1935 Molare Italy 111 Geological unstable base combined with flood.
Horonai Dam 1941 Ōmu, Hokkaido Japan 60 A torrential rain struck around Horonai River area. This is the dam collapse in the wake, and according to official confirmed, the lost houses reached to 32.
Nant-y-Gro dam 1942 Elan Valley United Kingdom 0 Destroyed deliberately with explosive charge during testing and preparation for Operation Chastise in World War II.
Edersee Dam 1943-05-17 Hesse Germany 70 Destroyed by bombing during Operation Chastise in World War II. Widespread destruction.
Möhne Dam 1943-05-17 Ruhr Germany 1 579 Destroyed by bombing during Operation Chastise in World War II. 11 factories were destroyed, 114 seriously damaged.
Xuriguera Dam 1944 Barcelona Spain 8 Heavy rain.
Heiwaike Dam 1951 Kameoka, Kyoto Prefecture Japan 117 After heavy rain, the Heiwaike Dam collapsed, and water from the reservoir swallowed a downstream village. 80 houses ware damaged in Kameoka and the surrounding area.
Tangiwai disaster 1953-12-24 Whangaehu River New Zealand 151 Failure of Mount Ruapehu's crater lake. Natural tephra dam failed.
Taisho Lake Dam 1951 Ide, Kyoto Prefecture Japan 108 Under the influence of heavy rain, outburst with a Ninotani Lake Dam.
Vega de Tera disaster 1959-01-09 Ribadelago Spain 144 According to dam workers' testimonies, the grounds had serious structural deficiencies due to poor construction. On the night of January 9, a 150 meters long portion of the containing wall collapsed, releasing nearly 8 million cubic meters of stored water.
Malpasset dam 1959-12-02 Côte d'Azur France 423 Geological fault possibly enhanced by explosives work during construction; initial geo-study was not thorough. Two villages were destroyed.
Kurenivka mudslide 1961-03-13 Kiev Ukraine 145 Impoundment of the clay slurry reservoir (storing the waste of the local brick factories) failed after heavy rains, inundating the Kurenivka neighborhood with meters of mud. An unofficial modern report claims as high as 1,500 fatalities, while official reports state 145.
Panshet Dam 1961-07-12 Pune India 1 000 Dam wall burst due to pressure of accumulated rain water. To protect the earthen dam from the flow of water, concrete blocks were used instead of steel-reinforced concrete due to a steel shortage.
Baldwin Hills Reservoir 1963-12-14 Los Angeles United States 5 Subsidence caused by over-exploitation of local oil field. 277 homes destroyed.
Vajont Dam 1963-10-09 Monte Toc Italy 2 000 Strictly not a dam failure, since the dam structure did not collapse and is still standing. Filling the reservoir caused geological failure in valley wall, leading to 110 km/h landslide into the lake; water escaped in a wave over the top of dam. Valley had been incorrectly assessed as stable. Several villages completely wiped out.
Spaulding Pond Dam
(Mohegan Park) 		1963-03-06 Norwich United States 6 More than $6 million estimated damages.
Swift Dam 1964-06-10 Montana United States 28 Failed in heavy rains. Another nearby dam did likewise.
El Cobre New and Old Dam 1965-03-28 Valparaíso Chile 350-400 Liquefaction during an earthquake released water and mining waste which traveled downstream and buried the town of El Cobre.
Mina Plakalnitsa 1966-05-01 Vratsa Bulgaria 107 A tailings dam at Plakalnitsa copper mine near Vratsa failed. A total 450,000 m3 of mud and water inundated Vratsa and the nearby village of Zgorigrad, which suffered widespread damage. The official death toll is 107, but an unofficial estimate is around 500 killed.
Sempor Dam 1967-11-29 Central Java Province Indonesia 138 Flash floods over-topped the dam during construction.
Certej dam failure 1971-10-30 Certej Mine Romania 89 A tailings dam built too tall collapsed, flooding Certeju de Sus with toxic tailings.
Buffalo Creek Flood 1972-02-26 West Virginia United States 125 Unstable loose constructed dam created by local coal mining company, collapsed in heavy rain. 1,121 injured, 507 houses destroyed, over 4,000 left homeless.
Canyon Lake Dam 1972-06-09 South Dakota United States 238 Flooding, dam outlets clogged with debris. 3,057 injuries, over 1,335 homes and 5,000 automobiles destroyed.
Banqiao and Shimantan Dams 1975-08-08 Zhumadian China 240 000 The dam failure was caused by extreme rainfall, beyond the planned design capability of the dam, dumped on China by Typhoon Nina. 11 million people lost their homes. Dam was later rebuilt between 1986 and 1993.
Teton Dam 1976-06-05 Idaho United States 11 Geological problems including unsuitable bedrock, seismic activity and caves. USGS, said prior to completion: "Since such a flood could be anticipated, we might consider a series of strategically-placed motion-picture cameras to document the process". Water leakage eroded the earthen wall and lead to dam failure. 13,000 head of cattle died.
Laurel Run Dam 1977-07-19 Johnstown United States 40 Heavy rainfall and flooding that over-topped the dam. Six other dams failed the same day, killing five people.
Kelly Barnes Dam 1977-11-06 Georgia United States 39 Unknown, possibly design error as dam was raised several times by owners to improve power generation.
Machchu-2 Dam 1979-08-11 Morbi India 5 000 The actual observed flow following the intense rainfall reached 16307 m³/s, thrice what the dam was designed for, resulting in its collapse. The 762 metres (2,500 ft) of left and 365 metres (1,198 ft) of right embankment of dam were collapsed. Within 20 minutes the floods of 12 to 30 ft (3.7 to 9.1 m) height inundated the low-lying areas of Morbi industrial town located 5 km below the dam.
Wadi Qattara Dam 1979 Benghazi Libya 0 Flooding beyond discharge and storage capacity damaged the main dam and destroyed the secondary dam in the scheme.
Lawn Lake Dam 1982-07-15 Rocky Mountain National Park United States 3 Outlet pipe erosion; dam under-maintained due to location.
Tous Dam 1982-10-20 Valencia Spain 8 Heavy flooding coupled with poor quality of the dam wall, lack of qualified staff and negligence of a warning of heavy rain in the area. On the next day, newspapers reported possibly 40 fatalities and 25 disappeared but in the coming days the count went down to 8 or 9. One year later, La Vanguardia spoke of 25.
Val di Stava dam 1985-07-19 Tesero Italy 268 Poor maintenance and low margin for error in design; outlet pipes failed leading to pressure on dam.
Kantale Dam 1986-04-20 Kantale Sri Lanka 180 Poor maintenance, leakage, and consequent failure. Destroyed over 1600 houses and 2000 acres of paddy fields. Dam was 1400 years old, and heavy modern vehicles were driven across it.
Upriver Dam 1986-05-20 Spokane United States 0 Lightning struck power system, turbines shut down. Water rose behind dam while trying to restart. Backup power systems failed, could not raise spillway gates in time. Dam overtopped (rebuilt).
Belci dam failiure 1991-07-29 Belci Romania 25 The embankment dam, built between 1958 and 1962 for the Borzești Petrochemical Plant on the Tazlău river, collapsed after record rainfall firstly overtopped the structure, followed by its breach later onwards. As the event happened in the night, 250 houses were destroyed, killing 25 people in the process.
Peruća Dam detonation 1993-01-28 Split-Dalmatia County Croatia 0 Not strictly a dam failure as there was a detonation of pre-positioned explosives by retreating Serb Forces.
Merriespruit tailings dam 1994-02-22 Free State South Africa 17 Dam failed after a heavy thunderstorm. The dam was in an unacceptable condition prior to failure. Widespread devastation and environmental damage.
Meadow Pond Dam 1996-03-13 New Hampshire United States 1 Design and construction deficiencies resulted in failure in heavy icing conditions.
Saguenay Flood 1996-07-19 Quebec Canada 10 Problems started after two weeks of constant rain, which severely engorged soils, rivers and reservoirs. Post-flood enquiries discovered that the network of dikes and dams protecting the city was poorly maintained.
Opuha Dam 1997-02-06 Canterbury New Zealand 0 Heavy rain during construction caused failure, dam was later completed.
Virgen Dam 1998 Matagalpa Nicaragua 0 Heavy rains and flooding from Hurricane Mitch severely damaged the Mancotal and El Dorado Dams, over-topping their spillways and nearly destroying the dams. The Virgen Dam was destroyed but later rebuilt.
Doñana disaster 1998-04-25 Andalusia Spain 0 Over-steepened dam failed by sliding on weak clay foundation, releasing 4–5 million cubic metres of acidic mine tailings into the River Agrio, a tributary of the River Guadiamar, which is the main water source for the Doñana National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Shihgang Dam 1999-09-21 Taichung Taiwan 0 Caused by damage sustained during the 1999 Jiji earthquake.
Martin County coal slurry spill 2000-10-11 Martin County, Kentucky United States 0 Failure of a coal slurry impoundment. The water supply for over 27,000 residents was contaminated. The spill was 30 times larger than the Exxon Valdez oil spill and one of the worst environmental disasters ever in the southeastern United States
Vodní nádrž Soběnov 2002 Soběnov Czechia 0 Extreme rainfall during the 2002 European floods.
Zeyzoun Dam 2002-06-04 Zeyzoun Syria 22 2,000 individuals displaced and over 10,000 directly affected.
Silver Lake Dam 2003-05-14 Michigan United States 0 Heavy rains caused earthen Fuse plug dam and bank to wash away. 1,800 people evacuated. Flood caused the failure of the downstream Tourist Park Dam.
Hope Mills Dam 2003-05-26 North Carolina United States 0 In heavy rains, floodgate held shut bay water pressure. 1,600 people evacuated.
Ringdijk Groot-Mijdrecht 2003-08-23 Wilnis Netherlands 0 Strictly not a dam or dike failure. The original peat soil surrounding a polder (where peat had subsided due to oxidization) was pushed away by the water in the canal. The peat became lighter than water during the 2003 drought. The real cause was new wooden piling along the canal. This new piling was water-tight and therefore the peat soil dried out. Around 1,500 residents had to be evacuated.
Big Bay Dam 2004-03-12 Mississippi United States 0 A small hole in the dam grew, spouted higher, and eventually led to failure. 104 buildings damaged or destroyed.
Camará Dam 2004-06-17 Paraiba Brazil 3 Poor maintenance. 3000 people homeless. A second failure happened 11 days after.
Shakidor Dam 2005-02-10 Pasni Pakistan 70 Sudden and extreme flooding caused by abnormally severe rain.
Taum Sauk reservoir 2005-12-14 Lesterville, Missouri United States 0 Computer/operator error; gauges intended to mark dam full were not respected; dam continued to fill. Minor leakages had also weakened the wall through piping. The dam of the lower reservoir withstood the onslaught of the flood.
Ka Loko Dam 2006-03-14 Kauai, Hawaii United States 7 Heavy rain and flooding. Several possible specific factors to include poor maintenance, lack of inspection and illegal modifications.
Campos Novos Dam 2006-06-20 Campos Novos Brazil 0 Tunnel collapse.
Gusau Dam 2006-09-30 Gusau Nigeria 40 Heavy flooding, lack of maintenance. Approximately 500 homes were destroyed, displacing 1,000 people.
Lake Delton 2008-06-09 Lake Delton United States 0 Failure in June 2008 Midwest floods; nearby highway washed out, creating a new channel which drained the lake.
Koshi Barrage 2008-08-18 Koshi Zone Nepal 250 Neglection of barrage and the building of barrage itself. The region however saw weak monsoon and multi-year drought preceding the barrage failuire. The flood affected over 2.3 million people in the northern part of Bihar.
Kingston Fossil Plant
coal fly ash slurry spill 		2008-12-22 Roane County, Tennessee United States 0 Failure of a fly ash slurry pond.
Algodões Dam 2009-05-27 Piaui Brazil 7 Heavy rain. 80 people injured, 2000 homeless.
Situ Gintung Dam 2009-03-27 Tangerang Indonesia 98 Poor maintenance and heavy monsoon rain.
Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam 2009-08-17 Sayanogorsk Russia 75 Not a dam failure, but rather the power station accident where the turbine 2 broke apart violently due to the metal fatigue caused by overlooked vibrations, flooding the turbine hall and causing the ceiling to collapse. The dam itself was unaffected, and the power station rebuilt within 5 years.
Kyzyl-Agash Dam 2010-03-11 Qyzylaghash Kazakhstan 43 Heavy rain and snowmelt. Causes, deathtoll disputed. 300 people were injured and over 1000 evacuated from the village.
Hope Mills Dam 2010-06-16 North Carolina United States 0 Sinkhole caused dam failure. Second failure of the dam, will be replaced.
Testalinda Dam 2010-06-13 Oliver, British Columbia Canada 0 Heavy Rain, low maintenance. Destroyed at least 5 homes. Buried Highway 97.
Delhi Dam 2010-07-24 Iowa United States 0 Heavy rain, flooding, malfunctioning spillwy and structural problems. Around 8,000 people had to be evacuated. Replacement uncertain due to lake-dredging debt.
Niedow Dam 2010-08-07 Lower Silesian Voivodeship Poland 1 Heavy rain, over-topped from flooding.
Ajka alumina plant accident 2010-10-04 Ajka Hungary 10 Failure of concrete impound wall on alumina plant tailings dam. One million cubic meters of red mud contaminated a large area; within days the mud had reached the Danube.
Kenmare Resources tailings dam 2010-10-04 Topuito Mozambique 1 Failure of tailings dam at titanium mine. 300 homes had been rebuilt.
Fujinuma Dam 2011-03-11 Sukagawa Japan 8 Failed after 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. Authorities state that the dam failure was caused by the earthquake, making these the first earthquake-caused dam failure fatalities since 1930, worldwide. Nearby dams damaged by same earthquake.
Campos dos Goytacazes dam 2012-01-04 Campos dos Goytacazes Brazil 0 Failed after a period of flooding. 4000 people displaced.
Ivanovo Dam 2012-02-06 Biser Bulgaria 8 Failed after a period of heavy snowmelt. A crack in the dam went unrepaired for years. Eight people killed and several communities flooded.
Köprü Dam 2012-02-24 Adana Province Turkey 10 A gate in the diversion tunnel broke after a period of heavy rain during the reservoir's first filing. The accident killed ten workers.
Dakrong 3 Dam 2012-10-07 Quảng Trị Province Vietnam 0 Poor design aggravated by Typhoon Gaemi flood surge.
Tokwe Mukorsi Dam 2014-02-04 Masvingo Province Zimbabwe 0 Downstream slope failure on a 90.3 m (296 ft) tall embankment dam, possibly as the reservoir was being filled. Residents evacuated upstream.
Mount Polley 2014-08-04 British Columbia Canada 0 Tailings dam collapse due to negligent operation; reservoir was overfilled beyond design parameters despite repeated warnings of the danger combined with a minor dam breach a few months before and fundamental design flaws.
Mariana dam disaster 2015-11-05 Mariana, Minas Gerais Brazil 19 Tailings dam collapsed. One village destroyed, 600 people evacuated. 60 million cubic meters of iron waste slurry polluted Doce River, and the sea near the river's mouth.
Maple Lake 2017-10-05 Paw Paw, Michigan United States 0 A heavy rainstorm caused a section of a dam to crumble because of the weight of a pond above, which happened around 5 a.m.
Patel Dam 2018-05-10 Solai Kenya 47 Failed after several days of heavy rain. Private dam, causes unclear.
Panjshir Valley dam 2018-07-11 Panjshir Valley Afghanistan 10 Dilapidated dam crumbled under heavy summer rains, 13 missing, 300 houses destroyed.
Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy Dam 2018-07-23 Attapeu Province Laos 36 Saddle dam under construction collapsed during rainstorms. 6600 people homeless, 98 missing. Company denied the dam had collapsed.
Swar Chaung Dam 2018-08-19 Yedashe Myanmar 4 Breach in the dam's spillway. 63,000 evacuated, 3 missing. 85 villages affected.
Sanford Dam, Patricia Lake 2018-09-15 Boiling Spring Lakes, North Carolina United States 0 Overtopping after over 36" rainfall during landfall of Hurricane Florence.
Brumadinho dam disaster 2019-01-25 Brumadinho, Minas Gerais Brazil 270 Tailings dam suffered a catastrophic failure releasing 12 million cubic meters of tailings slurry.
Spencer Dam 2019-03-14 Near Spencer, Nebraska United States 0
Tiware Dam 2019-07-02 Ratnagiri District India 23 Heavy rains overtopped and breached the dam.
Edenville Dam 2020-05-19 Edenville, Michigan United States 0 Static liquefaction.
Sanford Dam 2020-05-19 Sanford, Michigan United States 0 The failure of the Edenville Dam immediately upstream caused a large inflow into Sanford Lake, which overtopped the dam.
2021 Uttarakhand flood 2021-02-07 Chamoli, Uttarkhand India 61 The Rishiganga dam was destroyed by either an avalanche or a glacier burst, leading to a large surge of water downstream that also breached the Tapovan Hydropower Plant. 145 people missing.
2022 Jagersfontein Dam Collapse 2022-09-11 Jagersfontein, Free State South Africa 3 and counting Currently in Investigation

See also

External links


Новое сообщение