A large number of dams were built in Italy in the first decades of the last century to supply the need of industrial, electric power, agricultural and drinking purposes. Among them, the Montedoglio dam, an important reservoir on the Tiber River located in central Italy, with a drainage area of 276 Km2. The dam is an earthfill structure and the maximum regulation level, the maximum storage level and the crest level are 394.60, 396.30 and 398.30 m a.s.l., respectively. The water storage volume, with the water at the height of the spillway, is approximately 153x106 m3. On December 29, 2010 due to a sudden spillway collapse a huge water volume flooded the valley below the dam with high damage for the territory and population. This paper attempts to assess the discharge hydrograph following up the Montedoglio spillway collapse and its routing along the Tiber River valley. The analysis is based on the recorded water reservoir level during the catastrophic event. The mathematical modelling of the reservoir depletion and flood propagation allowed advancing well-founded hypotheses on the temporal evolution of the breach formation. Furthermore, using a one-dimensional model for flood wave propagation and the actual flooded areas, the roughness calibration for the main channel and floodplain has been addressed.
THE DISASTER CAUSED BY THE SPILLWAY FAILURE OF THE MONTEDOGLIO DAM IN CENTRAL ITALY
MORBIDELLI, Renato
2012
Abstract
A large number of dams were built in Italy in the first decades of the last century to supply the need of industrial, electric power, agricultural and drinking purposes. Among them, the Montedoglio dam, an important reservoir on the Tiber River located in central Italy, with a drainage area of 276 Km2. The dam is an earthfill structure and the maximum regulation level, the maximum storage level and the crest level are 394.60, 396.30 and 398.30 m a.s.l., respectively. The water storage volume, with the water at the height of the spillway, is approximately 153x106 m3. On December 29, 2010 due to a sudden spillway collapse a huge water volume flooded the valley below the dam with high damage for the territory and population. This paper attempts to assess the discharge hydrograph following up the Montedoglio spillway collapse and its routing along the Tiber River valley. The analysis is based on the recorded water reservoir level during the catastrophic event. The mathematical modelling of the reservoir depletion and flood propagation allowed advancing well-founded hypotheses on the temporal evolution of the breach formation. Furthermore, using a one-dimensional model for flood wave propagation and the actual flooded areas, the roughness calibration for the main channel and floodplain has been addressed.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
