Guidelines and Technical References

The Dam Safety Section requires dam engineering analyses and designs be based on appropriate standardized state-of-the-practice methods. The list below is examples of standard references on dam design, construction, repair, and analysis that the Dam Safety Section routinely accepts.  A much more extensive list of references is provided in the Instructions for Filing an Application  document.

USBR 1981 Freeboard Criteria and Guidelines

USBR 1998 Prediction of Embankment Dam Breach Parameters

FEMA 1998 Selecting and Accommodating Inflow Design Floods for Dams

NOAA 1984 Hydrometeorological Report No 49

USBR 1996 Concrete Repair Manual

NRCS 1994 Gradation Design of Sand and Gravel Filters

FEMA 2005 Technical Manual for Dam Owners Impacts of Plants on Earthen Dams

Links to Dam Engineering References Available for Download

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Engineering Guidelines

http://www.ferc.gov/industries/hydropower/safety/guidelines/eng-guide.asp 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineering Manuals

http://www.usace.army.mil/publications/eng-manuals/

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Technical Letters

http://www.usace.army.mil/publications/eng-tech-ltrs/

Natural Resources Conservation Service Engineering

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/ENG/ 

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Earth and Geology Manuals
http://www.usbr.gov/library/BRreclamation.html