The Division of Dam Safety and Inspections has further described the responsibility of the Chief Dam Safety Engineer (CDSE), or Dam Safety Coordinator to understand the performance of his dams, and clarified the importance of interpretation and evaluation of instrumentation data relative to potential failure modes (PFM’s).

Beginning in 2015, the CDSE is required to submit a statement with the DSSMR that the dam is safe for continued operation. The revised Appendix K includes discussion on the importance of the information within the DSSMR for evaluating the dam’s continued health, requires documenting the linkage between instruments and PFM’s, and identifying and documenting new PFM’s. The revised Appendix J includes additional discussion on what constitutes a good instrumentation program for a dam.

Significant changes to the Appendices may be found on the following pages:

  • 14-J-2
  • 14-J-5
  • 14-J-9
  • 14-K-2
  • 14-K-5 through 14-K-8

The DSSMP and the DSSMR Outlines continue as part of Chapter 14, as Appendix J and K, respectively. Note that the text of Chapter 14 still contains significant helpful information on Surveillance Monitoring. The DSSMP/DSSMR Engineering Guidelines will remain as a draft until December 15, 2014.

Any comments and suggestions on the guideline can be sent and copied to Jim McHenry.

This page was last updated on July 07, 2020