Coordinating Intelligent and Continuous Performance Monitoring with Dam and Levee Safety Management Policy

The pursuit of common goals for monitoring and management can improve dam and levee safety. Dam and levee structures present similar technical and management challenges: aging and sometimes neglected structures, limited monitoring data, insufficiently developed techniques to monitor large structures continuously and densely, and limited resources to correct these shortcomings. Despite these common challenges, regulation of dam and levee safety reflects different stages of maturity and falls under the responsibility of distinct agencies. In the case of levees, failures during Hurricane Katrina generated interest in the study of levee safety, of performance monitoring, and of risk assessment – all of which have fostered interest in the development of national standards and policies, a vision thus far in progress. In the case of dams, standards and policies are wellestablished; however, the public and policy makers show less interest in technological advancements for monitoring dams (perhaps due to the lack of a highly visible and politically significant failure of a dam). As a result, technological advancements in continuous and intelligent levee monitoring are ripe for extension to dams. Additionally, policies that adopt continuous and intelligent monitoring of dams and levees can provide a link for a cooperative vision for preventative engineering and management. 11 pp., 27 references.