"Potential Dam Breach Analysis and Flood Wave Risk Assessment"

Water is an essential matter for the different activities in town. Power generation, industry, agriculture ... etc. Dams play a major role in water management and controlling flood events. Life loss as well as damage are considered as a side effect of dams construction while any failure cases occur. The tremendous power stored in dams is dangerous due to its great impact on people and environment which is considered a potential destruction force. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been building dams for many past decades to meet the needs of infrastructure and various sustainable development, which requires attention to possible breach scenarios of those dams due to unexpected floods. In this research, an analysis of the potential breach of Turbah Dam – which considers one of the most valuable dams in the western region of the Kingdom – will be examined for two different scenarios, overtopping and pipping breach failures modes using two-dimensional river analysis model. The main objectives of the study area are to predict the two failure modes for dam breach parameters.