Complex response and geomorphologic thresholds in Large Dams

Author(s):  
E Moghimi
Keyword(s):  
2021 ◽  
pp. 875529302110194
Author(s):  
Daniel Verret ◽  
Denis LeBœuf ◽  
Éric Péloquin

Eastern North America (ENA) is part of a region with low-to-moderate seismicity; nonetheless, some significant seismic events have occurred in the last few decades. Recent events have reemphasized the need to review ENA seismicity and ground motion models, along with continually reevaluating and updating procedures related to the seismic safety assessment of hydroelectric infrastructures, particularly large dams in Québec. Furthermore, recent researchers have shown that site-specific characteristics, topography, and valley shapes may significantly aggravate the severity of ground motions. To the best of our knowledge, very few instrumental data from actual earthquakes have been published for examining the site effects of hydroelectric dam structures located in eastern Canada. This article presents an analysis of three small earthquakes that occurred in 1999 and 2002 at the Denis-Perron (SM-3) dam. This dam, the highest in Québec, is a rockfill embankment structure with a height of 171 m and a length of 378 m; it is located in a narrow valley. The ground motion datasets of these earthquakes include the bedrock and dam crest three-component accelerometer recordings. Ground motions are analyzed both in the time and frequency domains. The spectral ratios and transfer functions obtained from these small earthquakes provide new insights into the directionality of resonant frequencies, vibration modes, and site effects for the Denis-Perron dam. The crest amplifications observed for this dam are also compared with previously published data for large dams. New statistical relationships are proposed to establish dam crest amplification on the basis of the peak ground acceleration (PGA) at the foundation.


2003 ◽  
Vol 19 (8) ◽  
pp. 739-746 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Alberto de Souza Costa ◽  
Elisa Maria Aparecida Giro ◽  
Alexandre Batista Lopes do Nascimento ◽  
Hilcia Mezzalira Teixeira ◽  
Josimeri Hebling

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atal Ahmadzai

Alerted by increasing water insecurity and energy demand, countries, mainly in the Global South, are building dams of unprecedented magnitude. Hundreds of large dams (≥ 100 metres) have been constructed since 2000, with hundreds more under construction. Analyses of the physical attributes of these dams present a concerning image. While they create expansive reservoirs with large surface areas, they have inefficient surface area-to-volume ratios ('S2VR'). Their unprecedented size and the reservoirs’ expansive surface area, indicate severe environmental costs, mainly through ecological disturbances to the (riverine) aquatic ecosystems; and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Other ecological costs due to the larger S2VR include a high evaporation rate and compromised biodiversity of a wider area, both up- and downstream. The safety and environmental aspects of these large dams should be robustly scrutinised.


2016 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
pp. 36-44
Author(s):  
Peter Hanly ◽  

It is an opinion often ventured that Heidegger, having opened very briefly – in Being and Time – the question of birth, fails to properly engage the matter. It is said that, despite the thinking of historicity initiated there, and the occasional reference in later writings, the question of the natal is not properly addressed in his work. Instead, we are told, it is Hannah Arendt who picks up this neglected thread, turning it into a cornerstone of her thinking. This paper seeks to show that this story is inaccurate: that the development of a conception of ‘Anfang’ in the texts of the late 1930’s can be seen to address in a decisive manner the question of what will be called ‘natality.’ Aspects of the texts from this period, and in particular of the volume Über den Anfang (GA 70) can be read so as to reveal a rich and complex response to this problem, one that reverses many presuppositions regarding Heidegger’s work at this time, and more than filling this apparent lacuna.


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