Dale Dyke dam: internal erosion risk assessments

Abstract

The 150th anniversary of the Dale Dyke dam failure near Sheffield was commemorated in 2014. The dam failed on first filling on 11 March 1864, with the resulting release of water leading to the loss of approximately 250 lives and extensive damage to property and infrastructure downstream. It was the largest civilian disaster of the Victorian era. To commemorate this anniversary, Dr Andy Hughes of the British Dam Society has given a number of presentations which explore various failure modes which could have led to the incident. This technical note applies current industry guidance relating to internal erosion risk assessments to the Dale Dyke dam. It aims to see if current practice would have foreseen the disaster and to ascertain if modern risk assessment methodologies could potentially help to prevent similar incidents occurring in future.