Hydrometeorology

Meteorological, Hydrologic, and Structural Integrity Considerations affecting  the Safety of  Existing and Future Dams

YOUR  SOLUTION  FOR  BETTER, SAFER, AND STRONGER  DAMS, LEVEES, AND  OTHER  INFRASTRUCTURE

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SERVICES OFFERED BY STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY SOLUTIONS, INC.

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Structural Integrity Inspection and Repair, Reinforcement, Reconstruction, or Replacement

 

Research & Development, Studies, Public Lectures, and Other Services in the Field of Structural Integrity

 

SERVICES OFFERED BY OUR OTHER COMPANIES  (click on item):

 

Climatic and Other Scientific Data; Precise, Pinpoint Data Interpolation; High-Resolution Data Mapping; Expert Data Analysis

 

Customized Weather Forecasts, Seasonal Weather Outlooks, Weather Alerts and Warnings

 

Environmental Science, Global Warming Modeling, Scientific Instruments, Flood Warning Systems, Certified Hazardous Materials Training

 

Forensic Discovery and Expert Witness Testimony

 

Renewable Energy Generation:  Wave, Tidal, Wind, Solar, Hydroelectric, Other

 

Research & Development, Studies, Public Lectures,  Documentaries, Software, and Other Services in a Wide Variety of Scientific Fields

 

Photo, upper left corner:  Older bridge, Hawaii, © 2011 Timothy E. Wright, Vice President and Treasurer,  Structural Integrity Solutions, Inc.

855-625-8213

Seismic / Landslide  Hazards and Construction Defects Analysis, Foundation Failure Analysis, and

Structural Integrity Analysis, plus Inspection, Reinforcement, Restoration, Reconstruction, and Replacement; as well as  Design and Construction of New Dams, Levees, and Other Structures

 

There is a Major Need for Structural Inspections and Repair of our Dams & Levees: 

A television series on the History Channel, entitled Inspector America (airing each Sunday 10 p.m. EDT), with inspection expert Timothy Galarnyk, examined the dangers of corroding infrastructure around the United States. 

Also, on the History Channel, a 2-hour program, entitled The Crumbling of America (aired January 16, 2011), addressed the many threats that our deteriorating bridges, highways, dams, levees, water delivery systems, sewage systems, and  power grids  pose to our lives and our way of life in our nation.  Much of this infrastructure needs to be rebuilt.    

And . . .  the levee breaks of the spring of 2011 in Missouri, Arkansas, and elsewhere have exposed the great needs for the repair and rebuilding of much of our levee system in the U.S.

What Structural Integrity Solutions Can Do: 

Structural Integrity Solutions, Inc. offers independent structural integrity investigations and inspections for the determination of construction defects, seismic hazards, and foundation failure in dams, levees, canals, aqueducts, along with design, construction, reinforcement, reconstruction, replacement, and other remedial services for:

Dams, levees, river channels, aqueducts, water delivery systems, and other structures and infrastructure, [listed on our Construction Defects summary page, with links on our Structural Integrity Services page to web pages depicting the various types of structures and facilities for which we offer Structural Integrity Solutions] 

Structures and Facilities:

  • Dams, federal, state, and local, in the United States, plus dams in Canada, Mexico, and overseas.

  • Dam spillways and gates.

  • Hydroelectric power plants - large, mid-size, and small - in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and overseas.

  • River levees and embankments.

  • River channels.

  • Aqueducts and water transport canals, open and closed.

  • Water supply pipelines and conduits, above and below ground.

  • Sewage pipes and conduits, above and below ground.

  • Roads and railroads built across dams, plus access roads and railroads.  

  • Bridges and tunnels associated with, or built in conjunction with, dam and spillway structures (i.e., bridges carrying access roads and railroads).

  • Public works infrastructure, including above-ground water-supply pipes and conduits.

  • Public works infrastructure, including above-ground sewer pipes and conduits.

  • Public works infrastructure, including underground water-supply pipes and conduits.

  • Public works infrastructure, including underground sewer pipes and conduits.

The defects and hazards include, but are not limited to:

  • Faulty, shoddy, or generally poor original construction.

  • Undersizing of a dam or spillway that could result in overtopping of the dam in the event of a Probable Maximum Flood. (See Research & Development paragraphs below.)

  • Construction that met building and seismic codes at the time of the original construction, but which fail to meet today's codes, and which could be a hazard to life and property in the future.

  • Construction that met building and seismic codes at the time of the original construction, but which have deteriorated over the years or were damaged or weakened by fire, weather, floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, ground subsidence, landslides, avalanches, or blasts (including sonic booms or nearby demolitions). 

  • Foundation failures of dams, spillways, gates, and other structures, resulting from corrosion, earthquakes, subsidence, liquefaction, ground shifts, and/or gradual deterioration of materials from water currents and  weather.   

  • Water seepage through or under a dam or levee, or its foundation. 

  • Corrosion, over the years, of road and bridge components associated with, or built in conjunction with, dams or levees.

  • Sedimentation, debris, and vegetation growth in reservoirs or river / stream channels, impeding storage or flow of water. 

  • Asbestos that may be present in some structures.

  • Lead in dam structures or in pipes serving dams or dam abutments.  Included are foundations of dams under water from which toxic lead or lead compounds could be leaking into the reservoir or the water passing downstream. 

  • Damage caused by terrorist attacks, or hidden damage caused by sabotage or by attempted sabotage that appeared at first to have failed. 

  • Damage resulting from the burrowing of animals

  • Corrosion, over the years, of underground and above-ground natural gas, water supply, and sewer pipes and conduits.

  • Landslides:  threats; slides that have occurred since construction of a structure and may have weakened the structure.

  • Earthquake faults and potential for major shaking or permanent ground deformation that could cause significant or catastrophic dam failure.

  • Earthquake faults and potential for slow creep that could gradually result in distortion or offset of the foundation or a dam, spillway, or levee - resulting in a possible catastrophic failure (such as the Baldwin Hills Dam, Los Angeles, California, December 14, 1963). 

  • Earthquake faults and potential for slow creep that could gradually result in distortion or offset of the foundation or an access road, bridge, or railroad track.

  • Proximity of a structure to earthquake faults and soil vulnerable to magnified shaking.

  • Potential for subsidence of the soil beneath a dam or spillway, including differential subsidence within a structure's footprint.

Services Offered: *

  • Investigation into the status and conditions of the dams, levees, and other structures and infrastructure.

  • Investigation of past accidents and incidents involving these structures and infrastructure.

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  • Structural integrity inspection of the structure or facility.

  • Construction defects determination.

  • Foundation failure determination.

  • Cleanout of sediment, debris, and vegetative growth from reservoirs, debris basins, and river / stream channels.

  • Investigation of catastrophic failure or major damage resulting from earthquakes, storms, or human-generated activities (terrorist attacks, sabotage, major accidents, etc.). 

  • Structural analysis for damage, deterioration, or corrosion over the years.

  • Seismic and landslide hazards determination and seismic safety analysis. 

  • Sizing of new or existing dams and spillways with respect to major storms and floods that could fill the reservoir and generate spillway flow, including Probable Maximum Precipitation and Probable Maximum Flood that must be safely passed through the dam and spillway in order to result in overtopping and possible failure of the dam.

  • Repair, retrofit, rehabilitation, renovation, restoration, or reconstruction of a dam or other infrastructure..

  • Re-sizing of levees to comply with today's storm and flood assessments.

  • Earthquake, slope failure, liquefaction, landslide, mud flow, and avalanche protection.

  • Seismic / earthquake retrofit.

  • Repair of structural defects.

  • Foundation failure and potential failure retrofit.  

  • Structural reinforcement to overcome weakening by weather, corrosion, structural weakening, or damage.

  • Structural reinforcement to meet new safety standards.

  • Reconstruction of an existing structure or facility, or of a demolished structure.

  • Modernization of dams, levees, bridges, schools, and other structures and infrastructure.

  • Demolition of an existing dam, levee, or other structure or facility.

  • Replacement of a demolished dam, levee, or other structure or facility.

  • Dredging or removal of sediment from the bottom of a reservoir, river channel, or harbor.

  • Numerous other structural integrity improvement services.

  • Lead removal and replacement with non-toxic substances.

  • Mitigation, overhaul, or renovation of dam and/or spillway - partial or total.

  • Modernization of dams, spillways, hydroelectric plants, and downstream levees, canals, and aqueducts - for structural safety and for more efficient storage and delivery of water and generation of electricity. 

  • Asbestos removal.

  • Reinforcement of the structure or facility.

  • Restoration or reconstruction of the structure or facility.

  • Protection against probable maximum flood in order to avoid overtopping and failure of dam.

  • Protection against maximum credible earthquake.

  • Protection against extreme landslides and avalanches, where applicable.

  • Protection against maximum credible wind event.

  • Removal of silt and debris from reservoirs.

  • Removal of silt, choking vegetation, natural debris, and man-made refuse  from river and stream bottoms.

  • Demolition or removal of entire dam and spillway structure.

  • Replacement of entire dam and spillway structure.

  • Design and construction of new dams, spillways, and levees - U.S. and overseas.

  • Research into improvement in the construction of various dams, spillways, and upstream or downstream river channels and levees..

Some of the research & development studies on the safety of dams offered by Structural Integrity Solutions, Inc.  include:

  • PROBABLE MAXIMUM PRECIPITATION  (PMP)  determinations.

    Evaluation of existing PMP criteria in light of recent storm events and meteorological studies.

    • Determination of revised PMP for new and existing dams and spillways.

  • PROBABLE MAXIMUM FLOOD  (PMF)  determinations.

    Evaluation of existing PMF criteria in light of revised PMP and updated flood routing criteria.

    • Determination of revised PMF for new and existing dams and spillways.

  • Spillway design: ability to pass probable maximum flood flow - updated criteria.

  • Reservoir design: ability to store probable maximum flood volume, in conjunction with spillway flow - updated criteria.

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  • Hydrometeorological research and studies, geared toward determination of PMP, as well as other major design storms.

    • General mid-latitude storms.

    • Hurricanes.

    • Extreme local thunderstorms.

      • Air-mass thunderstorms - deserts.

      • Air-mass thunderstorms - humid areas.

      • Heavy thunderstorms embedded in hurricanes.

      • Heavy thunderstorms embedded in mid-latitude general storms, especially along cold fronts.

  • Dam safety, dam and levee structure studies.

  • Maximum Credible Earthquake criteria for structural safety of dams - updated criteria.

  • Dam and levee failure inundation maps.

  • Dam failure - public awareness programs.

    • Contingency preparedness by officials and by public.

    • Evacuation studies and planning.

      • Determination of feasibility of mass evacuations below various reservoirs.

      • Planning for, and design of, implementation of evacuation measures.

    • Flood-control channel design; ability of channels to handle extreme flood flows.

    • Rainfall frequency determinations:  durations from 1 minute to 10 days - updated criteria.

    • Flood frequency analyses: 

      • Peak river levels; annual maximum flow rates.

      • Maximum reservoir levels or storage volume.

Other hydrometeorological and civil engineering consulting and research services pertinent to dam safety:

  • Heavy precipitation research, studies, and modeling.

  • Radar rain rate determinations, including NEXRAD interpretation.

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  • Hurricane research and studies; hydrometeorological aspects of hurricanes.  Potential effects of possible global warming on hurricane frequencies and paths.

  • Effects on PMF of mud and debris flows from burned watersheds

  • Infiltration rates:  studies of watersheds above reservoirs, especially minimum infiltration rates at times of PMP events.

  • Effects of cloud seeding upon water yield - significant if cloud seeding happens to precede an extreme rainfall event.

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  • Drought duration studies - for purposes of sizing the maximum water-supply storage needed in a reservoir and the available flood-control space for the storage of a PMF event.

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  • Global warming / cooling; climatic change - natural and man-made; possible effects upon Probable Maximum Precipitation.

  • Soil studies, research and experiments on soil compaction - relative to safety of dams and their foundations.

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  • Design and sizing of new dams and their spillways.

  • Facilitation of the construction of new dams. 

  • Design storms for flood control and water resources.

  • Flood plain management studies.

  • Flood warning system design.

  • Snowfall and snow hydrology research and studies; snow sublimation.

  • Snow melt research and studies; rates of snow melt under various meteorological conditions; flood potential of snow melt, significant contribution of snow melt to PMF (very large or very high altitude watersheds only). 

  • Flood preparedness, including spillway flow (other than dam break):  official planning; public awareness and planning.

  • Severe storm and hail research and studies. 

  • Water resources research and studies; stochastic watershed analysis.

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  • Water reclamation:  studies and services.

  • Design and sizing of new dams and their spillways.

  • Repair or reconstruction of dams and levees. 

  • Repair or reconstruction of power plants and electric transmission lines.

  • Repair or reconstruction of bridges, highways, and public works infrastructure.

  • Preservation and restoration of beaches, harbors, lagoons, marinas, wetlands, and coral reefs.

  • Quality of public water supply.

  • Water conservation programs:  official planning; public awareness, planning, and implementation.

  • Reservoir water control manuals; hydrologic manuals.

  • Climatic studies of normal and extreme precipitation.

  • Cloud physics, cloud dynamics:  research, modeling.

  • Local high-tech, low-cost hydroelectric energy development for small communities along river banks.

* NOTE:  Structural Integrity Solutions, Inc. does not directly manage or supervise any services referred to another contractor, company, or agency.  Clients are to deal directly and entirely with said referred company or companies for any and all referred services.   Our corporation is not legally responsible for any of said referred services, and our corporation assumes no liability at any time - past, present, or future - for any  projects, cases, jobs, work, tasks, or other services totally referred to other contractors, companies, or agencies.  

Call (855) 625-8213 to discuss your specific needs for Structural Integrity Solutions.   

 

For more information about these services and other programs:

Telephone:    Structural Integrity Solutions, Inc.:  (855) 625-8213 (new number, Oct 2011).

       or (435) 512-0113 (new number, Sep 2011). Alternate (800) 843-7246.

FAX:  Call (855) 625-8213 to obtain fax number.

e-mail:  Call (855) 625-8213 to obtain e-mail address.

Mailing address for Dr. Charles B. Pyke, Chairman of the Board, CFO, and Principal Scientist:

   P. O. Box 1747, Green Valley, AZ  85622-1747

Timothy E. Wright, Executive Vice President and Treasurer: 

   1222 West, 630 South, Logan, UT  84321.