Estimating the safety and failure risk of hydraulic engineering structures

Summary

The need for improving the technique of estimating the failure risk of hydraulic engineering structures on the basis of the general concept of risk as the product of failure risk (frequency) by potential damage (social, material, environmental etc.) is substantiated. The results of investigations are presented that provide for the comprehensive estimation of hydraulic engineering structure failure risk levels. The suggested design approach is compared with the traditional method by test examples of estimating the risk of hydraulic engineering structure failure.

Key words

negative effect level , safety of hydraulic engineering structures , failure risk , hazard and vulnerability factor

Environmental problems of the water use in the southern subjects of the Russian Federation

Summary

The current state of the global freshwater consumption along with the trend of this factor over the past 125 years are considered. The data on the freshwater use in various countries and regions are provided, with the focus on Russia and its federal districts. The effect of water reservoirs and melioration systems on the water consumption along with the problems related to the climate change and environmental safety, are analyzed. A further increase in global water consumption is predicted, which emphasizes the need for the sustainable water resource management. Legal norms governing the safety of the hydraulic structures and further prospects for the development of rulemaking are discussed.

Key words

water consumption , ecology , ecological safety , safety of hydraulic engineering structures , water reservoirs , fresh water , world water resources , southern Russia , climate changes , land reclamation , declaration