Instrumentation, Monitoring and Surveillance: Embankment Dams

Book excerpt: Besides giving an historical introduction to embankment dams the book describes the need for instrumentation, planning procurement and installation practices of instruments. The significance of visual inspection and techniques, of monitoring various parameters, seepage, pore pressure, surface and internal displacements, earth pressures and seismic behaviour, through instrumentation has been described. Collection and processing of data and their use for back analysis to check stability of a dam at various stages of construction and reservoir filling have been suggested. In addition to case histories quoted in various chapters, an exclusive chapter on select case histories has been added which describes the conventional and latest instruments that are being used and methods adopted for installation, monitoring and analyses of data.