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Farm dam safety in Australia is being flouted and sustainability of catchments compromised because of the potential and severe consequences of dam failure. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to explore policy issues associated with safety of farm dam water storage through a comparison of developments in two Australian states against an analysis of international benchmarks and to provide an exemplar of best practice.

A strategic review and content analysis is firstly undertaken to establish international dam safety policy benchmarks ranging from minimum to best practice as well as selection guidelines for varying circumstances, and to identify an exemplar best practice model. Longitudinal study over a 12‐year period then provides the basis for case analysis in order to reinforce the established minimum level benchmark and to demonstrate the application of the benchmarked model policy selection guidelines.

Research results show that in Australia, South Australia is lagging international benchmarks for on‐farm dam safety management in a number of ways whilst a second state, Tasmania, provides leadership in this respect. The paper adds to the existing international benchmarking literature by identifying updated international best practice in private/farm dam safety assurance policy whilst establishing and providing longitudinal case study reinforcement for an acceptable minimum level benchmark in this area. The updated policy guidelines presented can be used to determine appropriate dam safety policy for any jurisdiction.

The paper provides an original contribution of analysis, establishment and case study validation of international benchmarks and guidelines on developing appropriate dam safety management and assurance policy for varying jurisdictional circumstances. In addition, it provides an updated exemplar of how policy benchmarks can go towards addressing cumulative threats of smaller dams in catchments not previously addressed.

Flood Emergency Response Plan (ERP) is a plan that guides responsibilities for proper operation of Sultan Abu Bakar (SAB) dam in response to emergency incidents affecting the dam by high water storage capacity. Based on this study, four major responsibilities are needed for SAB dam owing to protect any probable risk for downstream which can be Incident Commander, Deputy Incident Commander, On-scene Commander and Civil Engineer. Having organisation charts based on ERP exercise can be helpful for decreasing the probable risks in any projects such as Abu Bakar Dam and it is a way to identify and suspected and actual dam safety emergencies. A dam safety emergency is an event, which could potentially lead to dam break and need to be taken care of a massive plan. To mitigate the hydro hazard due to dam break, UNITEN has developed a new application software known as INSPiRE (Interactive Dam Safety Decision Support System). INSPiRE, as an intelligent dam safety software, is developed to address emergencies, which demand fast, decision making and effective multi-agency collaboration due to SAB dam break event. INSPiRE will contribute towards the sustainability of SAB dam’s owner as corporate reputations can be ruined through dam structural failures that can affect the economy of the nation and enhance the quality of life of the people.

There is not a unified modelling approach to finite element failure analysis of concrete dams. Different behaviours of a dam predicted by different fracture methods with various material constitutive models may significantly influence on the dam safety evaluation. The purpose of this paper is to present a general comparative investigation to examine whether the nonlinear responses of concrete dams obtained from different fracture modelling approaches are comparable in terms of crack propagation and failure modes.

Three fracture modelling approaches, including the extended finite element method with a cohesive law (XFEM-COH), the crack band finite element method with a plastic-damage relation (FEPD), and the Drucker-Prager (DP) elasto-plastic model, are chosen to analyse damage and cracking behaviour of concrete gravity dams under overloading conditions. The failure process and loading capacity of a dam are compared.

The numerical results indicate that the three approaches are all applicable to predict loading capacity and safety factors of gravity dams. However, both XFEM-COH and FEPD give more reasonable crack propagation and failure modes in comparison with DP. Therefore, when cracking patterns are the major concern for safety evaluation of concrete dams, it is recommended that XFEM-COH and FEPD rather than DP be used.

The comparison of cracking behaviours of concrete dams obtained from different fracture modelling approaches is conducted. The applicability of the modelling approaches for failure analysis of concrete dams is discussed, and from the results presented in this work, it is significant to consider the suitability of the selected fracture modelling approach for dam safety evaluation.

Power and politics.

This case is suitable for all levels of students, undergraduate MBA to Executive MBA classes and practitioners. Assignment questions are designed from the perspective of teaching this case to a business student audience.

A raging dispute between Kerala and Tamil Nadu over the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar Dam was in the national spotlight after mild tremors shook nearby areas. The Mullaperiyar Dam was located in Idukki district of Kerala in India. The dam was filled to its maximum permissible level of 136 ft. Tamil Nadu wanted the storage capacity to be increased by raising the dam height from 136 ft (41.5 m) to 142 ft (43 m) as per a 2006 Supreme Court directive to meet the growing irrigation needs of the state. The dam was vital for people living in the drought-prone districts of Theni, Dindigul, Madurai, Sivagangai and Ramanathapuram of Tamil Nadu. It irrigated about 220,000 acres and supplied drinking water to Madurai city and several towns. Kerala on the other hand wants a new dam as it feared that a strong earthquake might damage the existing dam. Chief Minister of Kerala, Oommen Chandy said: “I strongly believe that only a new dam can provide safety to the people of Kerala. We are only concerned about the safety of the people. But, unfortunately, there is a feeling in Tamil Nadu that the situation of panic here is a created one. That is not at all correct”. However, Tamil Nadu Government said the dam was safe as it had undergone periodic repairs during 1980-1994 with Kerala Government's approval. With the Kerala Government screaming loud over the danger that could be caused by the alleged obsolete 116 year old Mullaperiyar Dam on safety grounds of people who live downstream, why is Tamil Nadu defiant on any debate that cites the decommission of the controversial dam? Is the Tamil Nadu Government overlooking the issue for its personal benefits by putting the lives of 3 million people at stake?

The case would fit in a course for power and politics. It would also be appropriate for a modular course on regional development planning.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

The purpose of this study is to investigate what represents “balanced” policy. Drought conditions create pressures on farmers to store excessive water unfairly, creating unsafe structures in flood, which creates a dual-extreme risk with potentially catastrophic social consequences downstream. “Balanced” policy for socially responsible water storage management that accounts for farmers’ responses to regulations is a key to minimising this risk.

This study investigated the problem through application of Oliver’s (1991) strategic response typology to a survey of 202 agribusiness managers in four different institutional environments.

Evidence of diverse policy in Australia and results of 202 farmers surveyed suggest that “unbalanced” policy that does not infringe on farmer decision-making power will engender lower resistance, but in a “best balance” environment, stronger resistance is evident.

The study demonstrates a need to consider more reflexive regulatory mixes for socially responsible water-storage behaviour by agribusiness.

This chapter analyzes the link between the digital divide, infrastructure regulation, and disaster planning and relief through a case study of the flood in San Jose, California triggered by the Anderson dam’s overtopping in February 2017 and an examination of communication failures during the 2018 wildfire in Paradise, California. This chapter theorizes that regulatory decisions construct social and disaster vulnerability. Rooted in the Whole Community approach to disaster planning and relief espoused by the United Nations and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, this chapter calls for leadership to end the digital divide. It highlights the imperative of understanding community information needs and argues for linking strategies to close the digital divide with infrastructure and emergency planning. As the Internet’s integration into society increases, the digital divide diminishes access to societal resources including disaster aid, and exacerbates wildfire, flood, pandemic, and other risks. To mitigate climate change, climate-induced disaster, protect access to social services and the economy, and safeguard democracy, it argues for digital inclusion strategies as a centerpiece of community-centered infrastructure regulation and disaster relief.

Dam industry projects have significant economic, social and environmental impacts. However, very little has been carried out to improve their lifecycle performance. The purpose of this study is to identify success criteria applicable to different stages of such projects.

This study adopted a quantitative research design where the potential success criteria for dam engineering projects were evaluated. The applicable success criteria were determined for the four phases of project lifecycle by three rounds of Delphi technique with the participation of experts from dams industry in Australia.

The findings of this research suggest that project success is a multidimensional notion and varies over lifecycle of projects. This study on project success criteria shows that certain criteria can be applied to measure success in different phases over lifecycle of Australian dam industry projects.

The results of this research present the first exclusive quantitative assessment of success criteria for dams industry. The success criteria presented in this study enable project practitioners to measure success at various stages of dam industry projects. This can serve as a tool to put more management efforts into achieving success on those criteria.

The purpose of this paper is to communicate and share experiences with other dam designers, operators and maintenance officers arising from the rehabilitation of the Osborne Dam outlets, pursuant to informing future dam outlet designs and rehabilitation of similar dam outlets.

This paper documents and utilizes actual events that occurred before and during the rehabilitation of the outlets. Some solutions applied were unique, with resultant innovative engineering designs being decided on site. Realizing that a descriptive research format would best serve the sharing of experiences of the outlets’ rehabilitation, the case study approach was selected. Before commencement of the rehabilitation works, the different operational problems that had been identified, photographed and documented by the dam’s operating staff were verified by the dam owner’s engineers, technicians and consultants. Visual and photographic verification was done using divers for areas under water. Literature review was conducted so as to learn from solutions employed elsewhere. A physical model of the solution considered the best way to keep the intake tower dry was made and tested.

The outlets’ rehabilitation works, taking 12 months to complete at a total cost of US$5 million, involved installation of new service gates, replacement of the sleeve valves, refurbishment of the butterfly valves and provision of dewatering pumps.

This paper offers unique experiences and lessons for dam designers and other dam operation and maintenance officers while contributing to the body of knowledge of outlet works rehabilitation.

The purpose of this study is to develop and verify a methodology for a zoned deformation prediction model for super high arch dams, which is indeed a panel data-based regression model with the hierarchical clustering on principal components.

The hierarchical clustering method is used to highlight the main features of the time series. This method is used to select the typical points of the measured ambient and concrete temperatures as predictors and divide the deformation observation points into groups. Based on this, the panel data of each zone can be established, and its type can be judged using F and Hausman tests successively. Then hydrostatic–temperature–time–season models for zones can be constructed. Through the comparative analyses of the distributions and the fitted coefficients of these zones, the spatial deformation mechanism of a dam can be identified. A super high arch dam is taken as a case study.

According to the measured radial displacements during the initial operation period, the investigated pendulums are divided into four zones. After tests, fixed-effect regression models are established. The comparative analyses show that the dam deformation conforms to the natural condition. The factors such as the unstable temperature field and the nonlinear time-dependent effect have obvious effects on the dam deformation. The results show the efficiency of the proposed methodology in zoning and prediction modeling for deformation of super high arch dams and the potential to mining dam deformation mechanism.

A zoned deformation prediction model for super high arch dams is proposed where hierarchical clustering on principal component method and panel data model are combined.