MULTIMEDIA LIBRARY - APPLIED HYDRAULICS

Malpasset dam (Fréjus, France 1959) in Dec. 1981 (taken by H. CHANSON).

Completed at the end of 1953, the 102-m high arch dam (double curvature) had a maximum reservoir capacity of about 50 Mm3. On 2 Dec. 1959, the dam wall failed and more than 450 people died in the catastroph. The failure was caused by uplift pressures in the rock foundation (left abutment).

© Hubert Chanson, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Queensland, Australia