Where to Focus: Benefits of a Portfolio-Level Risk Analysis

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), with consultant Christopher B. Burke Engineering, LLC (Burke), completed a risk analysis of five state-owned high hazard dams in Indiana in 2021. The objective of the risk analysis was to identify and assess risk among the five dams to help make risk-informed decisions to prioritize potential future studies, rehabilitation, improvements, non-structural measures, and other risk-reduction actions. The scope of work included reviewing background information, performing site visits, conducting a potential failure mode analysis (PFMA), and performing a semi-quantitative risk analysis (SQRA). The PFMA and SQRA results revealed the potential failure modes contributing most to risk, allowed for comparisons between dams, and helped to identify risk reduction measures. The portfolio-level risk analysis had many benefits including a greater understanding of each dam, the relative risks associated with each structure, and a roadmap for prioritizing funding and future efforts to reduce risk.