Dam Safety During Design, Construction and Operation

Introduction In the foreword to the Malaysian Guidelines for Operation, Maintenance and Surveillance of Dams (Malaysian Inter-Departmental Committee on Dam Safety 1989), it is stated “The expanding inventory of dams has brought into focus the subject of dam safety”. At the time of the guideline publication, there had been a considerable increase in the inventory of dams with those constructed during the previous 10 years accounting for 90% of the total storage. The Bakun Dam alone, which is due for completion in 2010, will more than double the current storage capacity. This, together with a number of other dams under design or construction within Sarawak, is a significant structure within the world context of large dams, which again stresses the need for dam safety. The safety of a dam covers all stages in the life cycle commencing with the inception stage through the planning and design stages followed by the construction and commissioning, ongoing operation and maintenance and surveillance and in certain cases decommissioning.