Teton Dam Failure
 Karl Terzaghi |
 Arthur Casagrande |
 Piping failure on the right abutment of Fontenelle Dam resulting from seepage along ungrouted valley-side joints. |
foundations. Terzaghi maintained that grout curtains should never be assumed to be 100% effective. Casagrande asserted that no less than three rows of
grout curtains should be employed beneath dams, with proper testing of the grout take. Fontenelle Dam was constructed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
on the Green River in Wyoming. During its initial filling in 1965 it suffered a near catastrophic failure via hydraulic piping through the right abutment, the
same failure mechanism that doomed Teton Dam 11 years later.
Failure
of the Teton Dam near Rexburg, Idaho on Saturday June 6, 1976.
At 350 feet, this is the highest dam that has ever failed. The cost
of the
damage was just about $1 billion.
-Retrospective
On The Failure of Teton Dam
Near Rexburg, ID, June 5, 1976
(.PDF of 51 Slide PowerPoint Presentation - 27 MB)
Ririe Dam was
built by the U.S. Corps of Engineers on near identical geology in the
next adjacent watershed to Teton Dam, at the same time Teton was constructed.
It
has never experienced the seepage problems that caused Teton Dam's untimely
demise. Find out why in the presentation "Could a Safe Dam
Have Been Constructed
At the Teton Dam Site?"
Questions or comments
on this page?
E-mail Dr. J David Rogers at rogersda@mst.edu.
Background on Teton dam failure Casagrande Terzaghi hydraulic
piping seepage cutoffs grout curtains foundation grouting critical hydraulic
gradient filter criteria graded filters Mommoth Pool Dam Glen Canyon Dam Fontinelle
Dam sheet joints exfoliation secondary joints Baldwin Hills Dam Looking Back
on Teton Dam failure Teton Dam Teton River Teton Basin Project dam failure
Teton Dam failure Ash flow tuff Rhyolite Abutment keyway Foundation grouting
Seepage filter Grout test program Loess Wet seams Compaction Compaction tests
Hydraulic fracture Hydrocompression Arching Seepage Safe Dam at Ririe Ririe
Dam Willow Creek Loess Salt Lake formation Basalt Ash flow tuff Rhyolite Shotcrete
Fiber reinforced