Journal of Hydraulic Research · 2007 · 90 citations · 0 references
Natural ResourcesCivil EngineeringHydrologyFlood HydrologyHydrologic ModelingWater Resources EngineeringFlood Control EngineeringFlood Inundation ModelingFlood Risk AssessmentHydraulic ModelingHydrologic AnalysisUrban Flood HydrologyDam Breach ModelingDam Break Flood ModelingDam-break ModelingExtreme Flood EventsFlood Control DamsFlood Impact ModelingFlood ModelingFlooding
The Tous Dam in Spain failed by overtopping on 20 Oct 1982, flooding the nearby town of Sumacárcel and illustrating the severe risks of major flood‑control structure failure. The study presents the Tous Dam break as a case study for developing and validating flood models, describing the breach event and its downstream impacts on Sumacárcel. The dataset, assembled by the IMPACT European project, contains detailed records of the Tous Dam breach and downstream flooding, enabling testing of numerical flood‑propagation models, particularly in urban settings. The dataset enables mathematical modeling of the breaching and downstream flooding, allowing validation of models against real‑.
Abstract A description of the Tous Dam break as a case study for flood model development and validation purposes is presented. The corresponding data set was put together during a joint European project named Investigation of extreMe flood Processes And unCerTainty (IMPACT) with the aim of testing numerical models of flood propagation, including the treatment of urban areas. The case study is based upon the failure of Tous Dam in Spain and the flooding of Sumacárcel, a small town located 5 km downstream. Tous Dam broke due to overtopping on October 20, 1982. This event exemplifies the failure of a major flood control structure with considerable risk for population and damage to properties. The paper describes Tous Dam, the event that led to its breaching, the effects of the flood downstream and the inundation of the town of Sumacárcel. The information provided together with the referenced data set allows for mathematical modelling of the breaching and flooding processes, including the town, and can be used for validation of mathematical models against real-life data. Keywords: Dam breakfloodurban floodingdam breachreal life datamathematical model validation