PhD research - call for information, details and experience on leaky dam networks
Dear RRC Community,
I have a query about your experience of the resilience of leaky dam structures. I am a PhD student at the University of Leeds, studying the effectiveness of leaky dams at reducing downstream flood risk. I have installed and monitored 30 leaky dams in a headwater catchment in North Yorkshire to gain insights into impacts on storm peak timing and magnitude.
Shortly after installation a number of extreme rainfall events hit the site and damaged a few of the dams. This got me thinking about the resilience of leaky dam networks; I wanted to use these observations to quantify the probability of failure of leaky dams. To do this I borrowed a technique from earthquake engineering. I used it to calculate a curve which represents the probability of failure of leaky dams on my site, but how does this compare to other leaky dam sites? How do different dam designs and different site conditions affect this fragility distribution?
To gain some insight into these questions I would like to pool together information from leaky dam projects across the UK. If you have been involved in the installation or monitoring of leaky dams I would be very grateful if you could get in touch with me at gyzrvl@leeds.ac.uk with the following information:
- Have you installed leaky dams for the purpose of Natural Flood Management?
- Have any of the leaky dams been damaged or washed out during a flood event?
- Would you be willing for me to contact you by phone or e-mail to ask you to share information about the dams?
Given the relevant information I would be able to calculate, and share with you, a probability of failure curve for your leaky dam network. As for earthquake engineering, having a better understanding of both the resilience and fragility of structures will help to plan for inspection and maintenance, inform design and help to assess associated risks. In the long-term, curves from a pooled dataset could help to inform strategic decisions at the network scale.
Your input would be much appreciated.
Best wishes,
Zora van Leeuwen| Postgraduate Researcher| School of Geography | University of Leeds, LS29JT
*: gyzrvl@leeds.ac.uk
Web: https://www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/people/z.leeuwen
@ Zora_v_leeuwen
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