Chairman, Committee on Seismic Aspects of Dam Design, International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD), Poyry Energy Ltd., Hardturmstrasse, 161, CH-8037, Zurich, Switzerland
Online published on 25 October, 2016.
Movements at active or potentially active faults passing through dam foundations, and movements along discontinuities in the dam foundation caused by strong earthquakes close to a dam are the worst case seismic effects for concrete dams. Recommendations are made regarding the design of dams located on active or potentially active faults. In general another dam site should be selected or a conservatively designed rockfill dam with impervious core. In large reservoirs active faults or faults in zones with high tectonic stresses close to failure may cause reservoir-triggered seismicity. This is not a dam safety issue for well-designed dams.
