To safely provide controlled release of water from reservoirs, spillways are critical components to the safety of downstream populations. Spillway erosion is a component of many potential failure modes resulting from large floods and spillway discharges, and unfortunately, many spillway incidents and failures have occurred over the years. This course will provide engineers and dam safety professionals a broad understanding of spillway erosion, with presentations focused on the fundamental concepts and applications of hydrology, hydraulics, scour and erosion, and evaluation of spillway erosion. Relevant case studies will also be presented. Instruction of the NRCS SITES software will be integrated into the training and course participants will work through training exercises utilizing the software. Guest lectures will be provided by additional experts to give a broader understanding of this important topic.
Learning objectives attendees will receive from this course:
- Relevant case studies will be integrated into the core topics associated with hydrology, hydraulics, scour and erosion mechanisms, soil and rock erodibility, field evaluation, and intervention and emergency planning.
- Processes and controls associated with erodibility of unlined spillways will be presented.
- Available data, analytical tools, and skills required for evaluation of spillway stability will be described.
- Course participants will become familiar using NRCS SITES modeling software through presentation, demonstration, and class exercises.
- Results of spillway erosion modeling will be put into context of spillway assessment and potential remediation evaluation.
Watch DamSafety.org for more details on when this course will be offered next.
