Embankment Dam Breach Models 767 DEVELOPMENT OF NEXT-GENERATION EMBANKMENT DAM BREACH MODELS

The Dam Safety Interest Group (DSIG) of CEA Technologies, Inc. (CEATI) is an international group of dam owners that pursues collaborative research on a wide range of topics. Since 2004 the DSIG has been working to facilitate the development and deployment of a physically-based embankment dam breach model. The group, with assistance from non-CEATI member organizations, has completed a first phase of work which identified promising numerical models presently under development and compiled real-world case study data and large-scale laboratory test data for future use in model validation. In the second phase of the project, the group will evaluate candidate modeling technologies using the assembled data sets and then integrate selected technologies into the HEC-RAS dynamic routing model suite. Parallel work is also underway to evaluate methods for quantifying the erodibility of embankment materials, a key input for a new and improved model. At this time, the models under consideration are primarily capable of analyzing embankments with simple geometries experiencing overtopping flow. In a future third phase, the group plans to pursue capabilities for more complex and varied embankment configurations and for breaches initiated by internal erosion and piping.