Reducing the Vulnerability of Societies to Water Related Risks at the Basin Scale (Proceedings of the third International Symposium on Integrated Water Resources Management, Bochum, Germany, September 2006). IAHS Publ. 317, 2007, 409–414.

Risk assessment for hydraulic structures: procedure and application

DANIEL BACHMANN, GESA KUTSCHERA, MAREN NIEMEYER, NILS PETER HUBER & JÜRGEN KÖNGETER

Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management,
RWTH Aachen University, Mies-van-der-Rohe-Str. 1, D-52056 Aachen, Germany

bachmann@iww.rwth-aachen.de

Abstract RAPID (Risk Assessment: Probability, Inundation, Damage) is a tool for the determination, evaluation and mitigation of hazards associated with hydraulic structures. The risk is commonly defined as the product of the failure probability and the resulting damage. The RAPID procedure is divided into three steps: risk analysis, risk assessment and risk management. Within the risk analysis, vulnerability investigations are carried out for the hydraulic structures under study. Failure mechanisms for these structures are derived and the probability of failure is calculated. The failure of the structure results in a flood wave with high kinetic energy. The damage to man, economy and environment has to be evaluated. The risk analysis is completed with the determination of the risk. Within the second step (risk assessment) the evaluated risk is analysed for acceptance of the affected parties. If the risk is not acceptable, technical, organizational or administrative reduction measures have to be analysed and implemented in the risk management. The procedure sequence of RAPID is explained stepwise in general, as well as by means of an application example for an area situated on the right bank of the Rhine River, where subsidence due to mining activities occurs.

Key words damage potential; dike failure; failure probability; inundation; risk assessment