Improving the system of technical diagnostics and environmentally safe operation of soil hydraulic structures on small rivers

Abstract

This paper reports the results of studying soil hydraulic structures (SHS) of the CC1 class of conse-quences on small rivers. The repre-sentativeness of the results for the domestic and world practice of fur-ther operation of such structures is ensured by the typical technical and technological approaches to the con-struction, materials, and conditions of their work. Dams are built of soil materials and operated over signif-icant time periods while their stan-dard service life has been exhausted, which increases the environmental and technical danger of their fur-ther operation. Visual surveys were conducted and the technical condi-tion was instrumentally diagnosed by the geophysical method of the earth's natural pulsed electromagnetic field (ENPEMF); observational data were mathematically treated. The possi-bility of arranging areas of increased water filtration through the SHS body was substantiated, as well as watering, loosening, and suffusion; potentially dangerous zones prone to landslides, cracks, and collapse were determined. The probability of risk of an accident on dams was esti-mated at their cascading arrange-ment as a result of filtration deforma-tions of the body and the base of the structure. Under current operating conditions, the possibility of letting the normative and excess (forced) water volumes through water dis-charge facilities due to precipitation or a breakthrough of the structure located upstream was estimated. The proposed approach makes it possible to manage the cascade of hydrau-lic structures at different stages of operation: planned, operational decision-making, forecasting. This allows diagnostic examinations to be performed in order to identify struc-tures that require priority in raising funds for repair and restoration work or demolition (dismantling).