Author(s): William Veale; Mark Stirling; Nguyen Canh Thai; Peter Amos; Pham Hong Nga; Tran Kim Chau
Linked Author(s): Canh Thai Nguyen, Hong Nga Pham
Keywords: Dam safety; Potential Failure Modes; Hydraulic Modelling; Flood Mapping; Consequence Assessment
Abstract: The Dam and Downstream Community Safety Initiative (DDCSI) is a three year pilot project with the objective of improving dam safety in Viet Nam, by reducing loss of life and economic damage resulting from flooding related to dam discharges (e.g. dam spillway releases or dam failure events). Outcomes of the DDCSI project will be a decision making framework for identification of options to mitigate the risk of dam failure and spillway flood releases. The project involves application of internationally recognized methods on a catchment-wide basis to identify and quantify risks to dams and communities downstream of the dams. This includes: (i) quantifying the flood, seismic and landslide hazards to a dam, (ii) application of potential failure modes analysis for dams, (iii) hydraulic modelling and mapping of dam spillway release and dam break flood events, (iv) downstream consequence assessment, (v) community disaster risk management capacity assessment and, (vi) identification of options to mitigate the risk of dam failure and spillway flood releases. The methods used in the DDCSI project will be published in a series of guidance manuals that will be published in English and Vietnamese at the conclusion of the project. These guidelines set out the methods required to undertake the technical analysis of each part of the project, so that the DDCSI methodology can be applied to other dams and river basins in Viet Nam. This paper describes the results from application of the DDCSI project methodology to one large dam in the Hieu River catchment of Nghe An Province, Vietnam. Results have shown that promoting a river basin approach provides the information necessary to assess mitigation measures to better protect the community.
Year: 2014