More than 11,000 folks have been killed and tens of 1000’s are lacking following the catastrophic dam collapse within the japanese Libyan metropolis of Derna on 12 September. The dam collapse got here after an excessive storm, Storm Daniel, slammed into the north African nation. The Conversation Africa’s Moina Spooner requested water sources and engineering skilled Nadhir Al-Ansari, who has researched the design and security of dams, to offer insights into the catastrophe.
How does excessive climate have an effect on the steadiness of dams?
Dams are often constructed to face up to heavy rainfall or drought. The design and building of a dam takes into consideration all potential results. All components, together with the kind of constructing supplies, the design of the inspiration and the steadiness of a dam, in addition to anticipated floods and earthquakes and even army motion, are considered when planning a dam.
Aside from how the dam is constructed, there needs to be security provisions in place. For occasion, in circumstances of storms, the engineers ought to launch the water to make sure that a dam’s most carrying capability just isn’t exceeded.
In the Libyan case, I imagine that the administration of the dam was not good. The engineer chargeable for the dam ought to have made positive the water didn’t exceed the dam’s higher carrying capability. When he observed that a large quantity of water was coming into the reservoir he ought to have launched giant portions of water to maintain its stage decrease than the higher restrict.
Research reveals that the principle causes of dam failure are basis issues (40%), insufficient spillway (23%), poor building (12%) and uneven settlement (10%). A web site for a dam won’t at all times be stage as a result of dams are inbuilt mountain areas, however the designers should take that into consideration. The dam design should swimsuit the topography. Among the rarer causes of dam failures are acts of conflict (3%), faulty materials (2%) and earthquakes (1%).
In Libya’s case, unhealthy administration seems to have been the reason for the dam’s collapse.
Could this tragedy have been averted?
Yes, if the accountable folks working the dam had opened the gates to launch water. When these chargeable for the water administration of the dam ignore heavy rainfall then one can count on such disasters to happen.
Dam managers also needs to know every dam’s catchment space and the way a lot rainfall is forecast. This requires coordination between meteorologists and the employees chargeable for the administration of dams. When heavy rainfall is predicted, the meteorology division ought to inform dam managers who can then make preparations for the discharge of water to maintain it inside the dam’s operational limits. This is the standard follow in all of the dams I’ve studied in Iraq.
In this case, there will need to have been a breakdown in communication between meteorological division and engineers managing the dam.
How do engineers and authorities sometimes monitor the structural integrity of dams?
Dams ought to have a daily inspection programme that takes into consideration all elements of the dam. All international locations with dams, whether or not within the US, Iraq or Sweden, have common inspections. There needs to be devices for monitoring cracks in a dam’s partitions and any modifications in its construction. Once recognized, they should be attended to right away.
In Libya’s case, if that they had opened the sluice gates to maintain water inside the dam’s carrying capability, the collapse of the dam would have brought on much less harm.
Are there rising applied sciences or improvements to enhance security?
There are numerous fashions and methods and every dam has its personal mannequin or method that the designer suggests. Planning for excessive climate occasions is often achieved on the design stage of the dam. The designer is supposed to provide a radical report on the steadiness of the dam towards numerous components, together with climate.
Different eventualities are given in accordance with the water stage within the reservoir of the dam to forestall dam failure. The authorities involved ought to know what to do in case of dam failure, guided by the design info. For occasion, in my research of Iraq’s Mosul dam, which passed off after the dam was constructed, I prompt {that a} safety dam be constructed downstream to safe the protection of the downstream space and its inhabitants. Safety steps could be taken even after building of the dam.
The different security measures relate to housing and different developments in areas downstream. In Libya’s case, there was poor planning. The areas downstream from the dam mustn’t have been used for housing.
Ultimately, the dam failure in Libya may have been prevented, or not less than the losses may have been minimised, if the engineers on web site had launched the water from the reservoir as soon as the storm began.
Nadhir Al-Ansari doesn’t work for, seek the advice of, personal shares in or obtain funding from any firm or group that will profit from this text, and has disclosed no related affiliations past their educational appointment.
