Design of a database for dam ageing scenarios (CASCAD project)

Abstract

Roughly half of the 250 or so French dams classified as «regarding the safety of the public» are more than 30 years old and are therefore ageing. The regulation annual and ten-year inspections of these dams have produced a rich body of data on dam deterioration and behaviour. The research project CASCAD* described here aims at creating a database in order to better understand and predict the future performance of operational dams. For meeting these requirements, a Data Base Management System for managing both historical data and ageing scenarios is proposed. The main idea behind our approach is to provide civil engineering specialists with an aid for retrieving the most representative scenarios matching with the known history of the dam under examination. The next step of the research aims at taking into account within scenarios, remedial or repairing actions. *CASCAD: Computer Aided SCenarios for Ageing of Dams.