Abstract. Based on an inventory of 69 dams formed by rock slope failures in southwestern Norway and published landslide dam inventories from other parts of the World we developed semi-empirical relationships linking the maximum dam height (HD.max in m) to dam volume (VD in 106 m3) and other relevant parameters such as valley width (WV in m) or dam area (AD in km2). Power-laws are obtained for HD.max = f(VD) and HD.max = f(VD, WV), while a linear relationship links HD.max to the ratio VD / AD. For dams in southwestern Norway, the linear relationship HD.max = 1.75 × VD / AD has least uncertainties and provides best results when comparing predicted dam heights with a validation dataset composed of existing dams in northern Norway and numerically modelled dams for possible rock slope failures. To assess the stability of future dams we use the predicted dam heights in the dimensionless blockage index DBI and relating this index to the probability of dam failure derived from our dataset and other published databases on landslide dams. This study underlines the potential of semi-empirical relationships for assessing dam height and stability that needs to be included in preliminary hazard and risk assessment for unstable rock slopes, because damming of a river is an important secondary effect of landslides due to upstream flooding and possible outburst floods in case of dam failure.
Abstract. Based on an inventory of 69 dams formed by rock slope
failures in southwestern Norway and published inventories from other parts
of the world, we developed semi-empirical relationships linking the maximum
dam height (HD.max in metres) to dam volume (VD in
106 m3) and other relevant parameters such as valley width
(WV in metres) or dam area (AD in square kilometres). Power laws are
obtained for HD.max=f(VD) and HD.max=f(VD, WV),
while a linear relationship links HD.max to the ratio
VD∕AD. For dams in southwestern Norway, the linear relationship
HD.max=1.75×VD/AD has the least uncertainties and
provides the best results when comparing predicted dam heights with a validation
dataset composed of existing dams in northern Norway and numerically
modelled dams for possible rock slope failures. To assess the stability of
future dams, we use the predicted dam heights in the dimensionless blockage
index (DBI) and relating this index to the probability of dam failure derived
from our dataset and other published databases on landslide dams. This study
underlines the potential of semi-empirical relationships for assessing dam
height and stability that needs to be included in preliminary hazard and
risk assessment for unstable rock slopes, because damming of a river is an
important secondary effect of landslides due to upstream flooding and
possible outburst floods in the case of dam failure.
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