Proyecto I+D
Project PID2022-142037OB-I00 Emulsiona-T
Resilience of Hydraulic Structures to the Overtopping due to Climate Change. Safety against Emulsified Flows
Of National scope. With a Public character. It has been granted under a regime of Competitive.
New Worldwide considerations due to climate change effects and to new requirements from our Society regarding to safety protection against floods lead to more demanding loading scenarios, both hydraulic and structural, for our large dams. This fact is considered by the current legislative framework and also by Spanish technical guidelines for dam and reservoir safety; indeed, these issues were taken into account in the Real Decreto 264/2021, de 13 de abril, por el que se aprueban las normas técnicas de seguridad para las presas y sus embalses. This fact together with new safety standards (consequently reflected in higher flooding return periods), results in an insufficient hydraulic capacity of dams outlet (spillways and bottom outlets); these new scenarios lead to higher flow rates than those previously considered in their design. In Spain, according to official references from MITECO (https://www.miteco.gob.es/es/) over 80% of existing dams are before 1990, before the legal text called Reglamento Técnico sobre Seguridad de Presas y Embalses (Ministerio Obras Públicas, Transportes y Medio Ambiente, 1996), and to the technical guidelines Guías Técnicas del Comité Español de Grandes Presas (SPANCOLD 1997, 1999, 2005 y 2006). Thus, these dams were designed according to the 1967 guidelines (Ministerio de Obras Públicas, 1967) only considering the 500 years return period flood. Adaptation of Spanish dams to these new restrictions involves, necessarily, enlarging outlet
