Publications
World Register of Dams / Registre Mondial des Barrages
Achat d'un accès de 3ans pour le Registre Mondial des Barrages (RMB).
Le RMB est la meilleure base de données répertoriant des barrages dans le monde et nous travaillons constamment à son amélioration
Registre des barrages
La meilleure base de données mondiale sur les barrages, établie à partir des inventaires nationaux envoyés par les pays membres à la CIGB. Le Registre est mis à jour continuellement et comporte actuellement plus de 55 000 Barrages.
Événements
Webinaire: Lessons learnt from the Lower Lliedi Dam Incident
Webinaire - En ligne (en anglais seulement)
29 juillet 2024 13:00 - 14:00 Heure d'été britannique (BST)
International Symposium on Dams and Earthquakes
Athène, Grèce
12 - 13 Septembre 2024
92ème Réunion Annuelle et Symposium Int'l
New Delhi, Inde
27 Sept. - 3 Octobre 2024
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ANCOLD Conference 2024: Never the same dam twice
Adelaide, Australie
11 - 14 Novembre 2024
HYDRO 2024 Secure technology for turbulent times
Messe Congress Graz (MCG), Autriche
18 au 20 Novembre 2024
Voir le site web dédié (en anglais seulement)
17e atelier international de référence de la CIGB sur l'analyse numérique des barrages
Sofia, Bulgarie
9 - 12 Avril 2025
28ème Congrès & 93ème Réunion Annuelle de la CIGB
Chengdu, Chine
15 Mai au 23 Mai 2025
Dams' safety is at the very origin of the foundation of ICOLD
In 1928, a number of countries recognized that feedback and experience play a vital part in project design and analysis of dams. The wider the experience base, the greater the benefit that can be drawn from it. They decided to join forces to form a worldwide association, ICOLD.
Taking only the approximately 36 000 large dams listed in the World Register of Dams there have been around 300 reported accidents.
Although the overall failure rate of dams is around 1%, a time-related analysis shows that this has been reduced by a factor of four or more over the last forty years. This improvement doubtlessly results from the appearance of, and improvements in certain investigation techniques, but it also arises from the wider dissemination of knowledge on risks, and this task in itself justifies the existence of ICOLD and favours the organisation’s growth and expansion to every country in the world.
The most important ICOLD publication on accidents, in terms of its information interchange mission, was "Lessons from Dam Incidents (1973)".
Many more works have supplemented the inventory since that time, including ICOLD Bulletin No. 99 "Dam Failures - Statistical Analysis".
It identifies accidents and events by dam type and age and by cause of accident. It increases the designer’s awareness of the range of unforeseen factors with, to some extent, their likelihood, and the sequences of events that can lead to disaster.
Designing and building a dam is not a «once-and-for-all» exercise. The structure must be continually supervised and inspected throughout its whole life, to ensure that it remains in good health.
Most Frequent Causes of Dam Failures:
Overtopping of a dam is often a precursor of dam failure. Overtopping can be due to inadequate spillway design, debris blockage of spillways, or settlement of the dam crest
Foundation defects, including settlement and slope instability, are another cause of dam failures.
«Piping», that is internal erosion caused by seepage, is the third main cause. Seepage often occurs around hydraulic structures, such as pipes and spillways; through animal burrows; around roots of woody vegetation; and through cracks in dams, dam appurtenances, and dam foundations.
The other causes of dam failures include structural failure of the materials used in dam construction and inadequate maintenance.