Ridracoli Dam: surveillance and safety evaluation reported on internet page

During a period of several seismic events that took place in January 2003 in the valley downstream of the Ridracoli arch gravity dam, inhabitants and local Authorities requested information about the safety conditions of this important structure. To satisfy such an expectation, the Manager of the Romagna Acque, owner of the dam, launched a project aimed at providing such information. Communication through the Internet web was decided and an Internet page was prepared, reporting the safety conditions of the dam, with respect to hydrologic, hydraulic, static and seismic aspects and the resulting surveillance activities.

Methodologies and operative techniques are today mature and available for an effective evaluation and surveillance of dam safety, and for presentation to the resident population living downstream of the dam. Data collected at the Ridracoli dam site by several monitoring systems are in fact automatically processed and interpreted in order to evaluate the different aspects affecting the safety of the dam and the protection of the downstream valley.

• Introduction

• Ridracoli Dam

• Monitoring System

• Hydrological and Hydraulic Aspects

• Static Structural Behaviour Analysis

• Seismic Structural Behaviour Analysis

• Internet Presentation

• Conclusion

• References