The project consisted of a comprehensive safety review of the Santa Rita Dam (Colombia) carried out by the Ofiteco–iPresas consortium. The dam is an embankment structure with a height of 59.5 metres above foundations and is used for power generation. As part of the project, the following studies were conducted:
- Updating of basic information studies (geology, geotechnics, hydrology, monitoring, stability, etc.)
- Qualitative analysis through a failure mode identification process
- Risk assessment through a quantitative analysis, focusing on the evaluation of potential internal erosion processes and proposing improvements
Based on the results of the main analyses undertaken, a qualitative assessment was carried out through a failure mode identification process. Finally, a quantitative and semi-quantitative analysis was conducted, together with the evaluation of the dam’s risk using a hydrological risk model and an internal-erosion risk model (the main focus of the project), in order to assess the failure modes considered following their classification during the failure mode sessions.
