Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 16.29.
Damage to Shikang dam in Taiwan in 1999. The vertical displacement was about 9 m and
the horizontal displacement was about 1.5 m into the abutment.
16.9.4
Concluding remarks
The analysis of a gravity dam for earthquake loading will inevitably present problems to the
people involved. This situation seems even more of an issue today as engineers adopt high
pgas and use analyses that really do not simulate what is going to happen. Perhaps the best
thing to do is to make sure the dam is conservatively designed for its static loading, for
example, use shear strength parameters for rock and concrete and concrete tensile strengths
that are not excessively high and provide proper drainage, and to take simple defensive pre-
cautions, for example, those listed in ANCOLD (1998). For the comfort of all concerned,
the record of gravity dams under earthquake loading is good (Hinks and Gosschalk, 1989).
However few have been subject to very large earthquakes.
