As dam failures and incidents occur both nationally and internationally, there is a pressing need to understand the underlying causes for failure to help minimize such occurrences in the future. Current information on historical dam incidents is scattered, incomplete, missing, and sometimes misleading – making it difficult for owners and practitioners to easily access meaningful information that could assist them with critical design and operational decisions. If lessons learned and best practices are not effectively communicated, there is a possibility that poor practices will be repeated, and preventable incidents will not be averted.
Presented within DamFailures.org are links to individual case studies as well as lessons learned pages that summarize historical dam incidents and failures and the valuable information gleaned from them. Each page contains background and description, photographs, videos, best practices, and other resources related to the case study or lessons learned being addressed. The contents of this webpage encompass a range of failure modes, dam types, and dam safety topics, including best practices regarding engineering and design practices, human factors, emergency planning and response, operation and maintenance, and regulatory issues.
Seven case studies and three lessons learned have been added in 2021, with more currently being researched. The site now has more than 30 case studies and more than 20 lessons learned, as well as 5 ASDSO webinars that can be viewed free of charge as part of a Cooperating Technical Partnership between FEMA’s National Dam Safety Program and ASDSO.