Aging of small embankment dams

Abstract

The article presents the results of a survey on the aging of small earth dams. It is based on the visual inspection of almost a hundred dams in the Gers department. The goal of the emphasis put on the problems and on their causes is to better understand these works and to warn prime contractors about economies of structures, which do not justify all simplifications. The security of small dams on the long term can only be ensured if the options selected during construction are not too far from the options that have been tested for larger dams.