Development of dam engineering in the United States

Prepared in commemoration of the Sixteenth Congress of the International Commission on Large Dams held in San Francisco in June 1988, this book presents a historic perspective of the evolution of dam technology in the United States over the last 100 years. The book is composed of seven sections; five being devoted to concrete gravity dams, concrete arch dams, concrete buttress dams, earthfill dams, and rockfill dams. The remaining two sections discuss the influence of some related technologies on dam engineering and dam safety. For each of the five types of dams, a comprehensive historic perspective of the engineering developments is prepared by engineers eminent in that particular field: concrete gravity dams, Jerome M. Raphael; concrete arch dams, Jan A. Veltrop; concrete buttress dams, James Legas; earthfill dams, John Lowe, III; and rockfill dams, J. Bany Cooke and Arthur G. Strassburger. To illustrate the development of dam technology, 100 "landmark dams" were selected, each representing typical concepts, techniques, materials, or methods of construction. For each landmark dam, the following topics are included: technical data, plans and cross sections; description of main features, geological conditions and hydrological design data; construction methods, materials and foundation treatment; and performance, incidents and remedial measures undertaken. For each type, the selected landmark dams are representative of the historic state of the art, and not necessarily the highest or the largest. For example, among the 2 1 concrete gravity dams are included: Lower Crystal Springs Dam, California. Built in 1888 with interlocking mass concrete blocks made with portland cement imported from England, the 47 m high dam, which is very close to the San Andreas fault, suffered no damage during the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake and is still in service. Dworshak Dam, Idaho. The 219 m high dam built in 1973 is the third highest gravity dam in the world. It is representative of very large dam monoliths built without longitudinal contraction joints. RCC dams. Three roller compacted concrete (RCC) dams, although only 54-88 m high, are representative of this emerging technology for rapid and economical construction of monolithic concrete dams. The brief description of the performance of each landmark dam includes incidents of poor performance, if any had occurred. The lessons learnt from such incidents are often reflected in the dams built subsequently. This book is not a treatise on the theory of design, analysis, or construction of dams. It is intended for use as a general reference handbook with considerable pertinent data for representative dams, which should be useful to design engineers, owners, and operators of dams in all parts of the world.