Dam Safety Design Reviews – Is It Us Against Them?

Many state dam safety programs are understaffed and are tasked with numerous responsibilities, including dam hazard classification, dam inspections, development and/or review of emergency action plans, emergency response, review and approval of project designs, and observation of projects under construction. Review of designs and engineering analysis take considerable time and resources which may result in delays to the construction of repairs that may be critical to dam safety.
There is little guidance about the review approach of state dam safety regulating agencies. In 2011, the Association of State Dam Safety Officials established the Guidance for Dam Safety Reviews of Engineering Designs Task Force to evaluate the state of practice for engineering reviews. Building on this evaluation, in 2013, ASDSO’s Dam Design and Construction (DDC) Committee began studying the design review process to identify opportunities to make the process more efficient. In addition, three special sessions were presented on this topic at Dam Safety conferences in 2015, 2016, and 2017. This article summarizes these important efforts, presents conclusions of the Task Force and DDC Committee, and provides the authors’ recommendations for process improvements.