Tailings Dam Breach Assessment Methodology

RESCHEDULED TO 5.15PM TODAY - PLEASE CHECK YOUR E-MAIL IF YOU PURCHASED TICKETS

Presenter Info: 

• Jeffrey MacLean, P.Eng.
• Senior Geological Engineer, Associate
• Klohn Crippen Berger

Dam breach assessments provide input for preparing emergency preparedness and response plans, which are an important part of managing dam safety risks, and for establishing appropriate consequence classifications and design criteria. In recent years, there has been a movement to advance the state of practice for Tailings Dams Breach Assessments (TDBA) and to improve upon the historical practice of using water-based models for these assessments. In this presentation, Jeff outlines the methodology for completing a TDBA for a large tailings dam that contains a combination of supernatant water and potentially liquefiable tailings. He also discusses assumptions and limitations of current modeling capabilities for tailings dams and provides considerations for future improvements.