Seismic monitoring system of Baixo Sabor scheme for structural dynamic behaviour monitoring and risk management

Abstract

This paper presents the Hydropower Scheme of Baixo Sabor, a brief description of the tectonic framework scheme area, the studies to predict the seismic actions envisaging the dam’s design and the dynamic monitoring systems that have been installed in the dams and in the reservoir surrounding. The dynamic monitoring includes a seismic monitoring system that enables to record the behavior of the dams during seismic events and also to characterize the action applied to the structures, and a continuous dynamic monitoring system for evaluation of the dynamic parameters of the dam along the time and detection of variations that might be associated with the appearance of damages. The main technical characteristics, the constraints associated to the equipment selection and the systems features are described in detail. Both systems are operational and fully automatic, providing an additional and useful tool in the safety control of these important structures. The features implemented in both systems revealed excellent efficiency and demonstrated a perfect suitability. The results showed a direct relation with the variation of actions. These systems proved already to be extremely useful to evaluate the behavior of these structures during seismic events and to provide relevant information for the development of numerical models including new behavior models. So, they demonstrate to be a very important tool concerning dam safety control and seismic risk management.