Earthquake Considerations in Earth Dam Designs

The paper summarizes major conclusions from a two-year study of the information currently available to the practicing civil engineer to aid him in answering the question, "How should earth dams be designed differently in regions of earthquake activity?" Emphasis is placed on some of the main design problems which are not subject to analytical treatment, such as: the degrees of conservativism justified; the importance of zoning and transitions; design details for the top of the dam; the influence of the properties of the core material; the evaluation of the seismicity of the site; and the influence of the spillway design on the safety of the dam against the earthquake hazard. Interviews were held with experts in the fields of seismology, geology, earthquake engineering, soil mechanics and dam engineering.