New Developments in Dam Engineering

Book excerpt: The development of water resources is a key element in the socio-economic development of many regions in the world. Water availability and rainfall are unequally distributed both in space and time, so dams play a vital role, there being few viable alternatives for storing water. Dams hold a prime place in satisfying the ever-increasing demand for power, irrigation and drinking water, for protection of man, property and environment from catastrophic floods, and for regulating the flow of rivers. Dams have contributed to the development of civilization for over 2,000 years. Worldwide there are some 45,000 large dams listed by ICOLD, which have a height over 15 meters. Today, in western countries, where most of the water resources have been developed, the safety of the existing dams and measures for extending their economical life are of prime concern. In developing countries the focus is on the construction of new dams. The proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Dam Engineering includes contributions from 18 countries, and provides an overview of the state-of-the-art in hydropower development, new type dams, new materials and new technologies, dam and environment. Traditional areas, such as concrete dams and embankment dams, methods of analysis and design of dams, dam foundation, seismic analysis, design and safety, stability of dam and slope, dam safety monitoring and instrumentation, dam maintenance, and rehabilitation and heightening are also considered. The book is of special interest to scientists, researchers, engineers, and students working in dam engineering, dam design, hydropower development, environmental engineering, and structural hydraulics.