Dam Safety Review Check Sheet

Dam: D#: Date of DSR:

Dam Owner: QP Engineer:
Engineering Firm: Review Engineer:
DSR Guidelines Completed? Comments
Phase 1 - Review of Available Information and Data
Records should include reports from previous DSRs, design calculations, as-built drawings, updated drawings, data from hydrological, structural
and operational monitoring, all safety inspection reports, etc.
Data & records compiled? Yes No

Documentation list provided? Yes No

Informational gaps identified? Yes No

Phase 2 - Field Review

The extent of a field review should be identified beforehand, but as a minimum include: upstream areas including reservoir slopes; abutment
areas; upstream slopes or faces of the dam, where visible; dam crest; downstream slopes or faces, and toe areas; spillway and stilling basin
(includes flow control equipment and power sources); drainage systems and discharge points; and areas downstream of the dam site that may be
impacted in a breach.
Site inspection performed? Yes No

Confirmed proper functioning of equip.? Yes No

Debris Management system assessed? Yes No

Monitoring system analysis completed? Yes No

Communications system assessed? Yes No

Operating personnel Interviewed? Yes No

OMS reviewed? Yes No

EPP reviewed? Yes No

Maintenance records reviewed? Yes No

Phase 3 – Consequence Classification Review

Dam breach calculation done? Yes No

Flood routing & inundation mapping done? Yes No

Inundation area reviewed for changes? Yes No

Change in consequence recommended? Yes No

Phase 4 – Dam Safety Analysis

1
Internal & External hazards identified? Yes No
2
Failure modes & effects identified? Yes No

Hazards & Failure Modes matrix provided? Yes No

Hydrotechnical assessment
1:1,000, PMF and IDF calculated? Yes No

Spillway capacity meets/exceeds IDF? Yes No

Wind setup & wave runup calculated? Yes No

3
Freeboard adequate ? Yes No
4
Geotechnical assessment ?

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 EDGM has been established? Yes No

Static stability assessed? Yes No

Rapid drawdown assessed? Yes No

Seismic (pseudo static) stability assessed? Yes No

Liquefaction (settlement)? Yes No

Internal Erosion (seepage & piping Yes No

potential)?
5
Deficiencies documented? Yes No

Dam safety management system

Review should consider policy development, planning, training, implementation of procedures, checking, corrective action, and reporting.
OMS compliant? Yes No

EPP compliant? Yes No

Site and operating equipment secured Yes No

from vandalism?
Surveillance and inspection adequate to Yes No
document dam performance? (eg.
Seepage, instrumentation,
documentation, etc.)
Surveillance adequate to discover and Yes No
promptly address vandalism?
Has staff/owner had formal training? Yes No

Roles, responsibilities, and authorities are Yes No

clearly assigned?
Key activities are clearly assigned? Yes No

Personnel understand their roles & Yes No

responsibilities?
OMS activities are carried out and Yes No
documented?
Incidents are reported and addressed? Yes No

Safety measures recommended in Yes No

previous DSR reports have been carried
out?
Phase 4 – Dam Safety Review report
Executive summary? Yes No

Introduction – purpose & scope? Yes No

General description of dam, reservoir and Yes No

areas downstream that may be impacted?
Summary of findings of previous DSRs? Yes No

Summary of owner’s compliance record? Yes No

Details of all design assumptions? Yes No

Summary of design calculations performed to Yes No

support the technical analyses?
Details of the assessment of each component Yes No
of the dam?
Details of the assessment of the OMS? Yes No

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Details of the review of the EPP/ERP? Yes No

Summary of staff interview Q&A? Yes No

Conclusions supported with clear rationale? Yes No

Recommendations provided? Yes No

Prioritization of recommendations? Yes No

Dam Safety Review Assurance Statement Yes No

completed?
Report accepted? Yes No

Note: The Qualified Professional Engineer is referred to APEGBC’s Professional Practice Guidelines –Legislated Dam Safety Reviews in
BC V2.0 and the CDA’s Dam Safety Guidelines (2013) and accompanying Technical Bulletins for additional information.

General Comments:
Reviewed by:

Review date:

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Endnotes
1
External hazard type
 Meteorological events.
o Floods, intense rain events (causing local erosion, landslides etc.), temperature extremes and the
effects of ice, lightning strikes and wind storms.
 Seismic events.
o Natural and those caused by economic activity such as mining or even reservoir induced
seismicity. The fact that areas without active seismicity can be disturbed by distant earthquakes
should not be ignored.
 Reservoir environment.
o Includes all reservoir rim features including upstream dams, slopes around the reservoir,
overhead off spillways etc. that pose a threat.
o Reservoir environment also includes any deleterious substances, or burrowing or other animals,
that can affect the physical performance of the dam.
 Terrorist attacks and vandalism.
o Including vandalism and sabotage by various groups ranging from local disaffected individuals,
through domestic terrorism and international terrorism.
Internal hazard type
 Errors and omissions in the design of the dam and water conveyance structures including inadequate
consideration of the performance of the reservoir rim and upstream dams.
 Construction errors or design compromises to accommodate natural or imposed deviations from the
design assumptions.
 Maintenance procedure errors where maintenance requirements are not fully defined at the design
stage.
 Errors and omissions in the development and maintenance of operating rules or means of verifying
adequate operation (e.g. infrastructure problems with water level recorders).
The internal hazard types are further subdivided into “sources”:
 Water barrier
 Hydraulic structures
 Mechanical and Electrical sub-systems
 Infrastructure and Plans

2
Failure Modes
 Overtopping failure mode
o Inadequate freeboard leading to the flow of water over the crest of the dam in a manner not
intended or provided for in the design, construction, maintenance and operation of the dam.
 Collapse failure mode
o Inadequate internal resistance to the hydraulic forces applied to the dam, foundations and
abutments while being hydraulically operated in accordance with the design intent.
 Conveyance failure mode
o Loss of control of the flows through and around the dam.
 Combinations of Hazards and Failure Modes

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Endnotes
3
Freeboard (taken from Plan Submission Requirements for the Construction and Rehabilitation of Dams)
a) Normal Freeboard (or Gross Freeboard) is the difference of elevation between the lowest
elevation of the top of the dam (or top of impervious core) and the maximum reservoir operating
level (full supply level, often the spillway sill elevation).
b) Minimum Freeboard (or Net Freeboard) is the difference of the elevation between the lowest
elevation of the top of the dam (or top of impervious core) and the maximum water level of the
reservoir should the Inflow Design Flood (IDF) occur.
To prevent overtopping and provide redundancies in the dam design, the following freeboard standards
shall be applied:
 The normal freeboard shall be at least 1.0m in combination with a spillway width of at least 4
metres.
 If the design engineer wants to present a case for a spillway width of less than 4 metres wide, the
minimum freeboard shall be at least 1.0m. A spillway width of less than 4 metres wide is not
recommended for high to extreme consequence dams.
4
Slope Stability of Embankment Dams
 Seepage analysis  Surface Erosion
 Seepage Control  Seismic Stability Analysis
 Granular Filter Design  Liquefaction Potential
5
Deficiencies
Deficiencies are to be characterized as Actual, Potential or Non-Conformance (see “Dam Safety
Expectations & Definitions of Deficiencies and Non-Conformances” in the DSR Section of the MFLNR Dam
Safety Program website).

Definitions of Deficiencies and Non-Conformances

1) Deficiencies:
a) Actual – An unacceptable dam performance condition has been confirmed, based on the CDA
Guidelines, BC Dam Safety Regulations or other specified safety standard. Identification of an actual
deficiency generally leads to an appropriate corrective action or directly to a capital improvement
project
i) (An) Normal Load – Load which is expected to occur during the life of a dam.
ii) (Au) Unlikely Load – Load which could occur under unusual load (large earthquake or flood)
b) Potential – There is a reason to expect that an unacceptable condition might exist, but has not been
confirmed. Identification of a potential deficiency generally leads to a Deficiency Investigation
i) (Pn) Normal Load – Load which is expected to occur during the life of a dam.
ii) (Pu) Unlikely Load – Load which could occur under unusual load (large earthquake or flood)
iii) (Pq) Quick – Potential deficiency that cannot be confirmed but can be readily eliminated by a
specific action.
iv) (Pd) Difficult - Potential deficiency that is difficult or impossible to prove or disprove.
2) Non-Conformances: Established procedures, systems and instructions are not being followed, or, they
are inadequate or inappropriate and should be revised.
a) Operational (NCo), Maintenance (NCm), Surveillance (NCs)
b) Information (NCi) – information is insufficient to confirm adequacy of dam or physical infrastructure
for dam safety.
c) Other Procedures (NCp) – other procedures, to be specified

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