APPLICATION of ADVANCED DAM INSTRUMENTATION in THE ETHIOPIAN DAM CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY AND ITS OPERATION AND MONITORING MANAGEMENT

Abstract

The use of instrumentation to monitor the performance of dams is widely accepted as a prudent component of a successful dam safety program to manage and minimize the risks to the public posed by dams. Ethiopia in the last decade has seen a resurgence in construction of massive dams. And also, it has significant number of Aged Dams, health and safety of the dams are paramount importance for the sustainable use of these valuable national assets. Thus, it is important to study the Dam safety management practice and particularly the application of Dam Instrumentation in the Ethiopian Dam construction and operation industry in depth in order to identify the gaps. The study elaborated the Ethiopia’s Dam Instrumentation practice through a case study of selected nine sample large Dams. Stratified and quota sampling method were used to sample dams among the existing nationwide large dams, the research used both qualitative and quantitative design methods in order to address the research objectives. Data collected mainly from questionnaires, observation and interview for primary data and document review for secondary data source, this research used descriptive and thematic analysis methods in order to draw a meaningful and conclusive result, Interpretation and discussions were made on the basis of results from the analysis. The research finds out that despite almost all targeted dams are equipped with proper and reasonable dam instrumentation, the majority dams are not monitored to ensure timely response to problems, and also the study revealed that Dam instrumentation Maintenance and calibration are fully overlooked activity. And the research recommended that issuing the dam safety regulation as a nation, Preparing Dam operation, maintenance and surveillance (O, M &S) manual for each dam and implementing accordingly, Retrofitting (reinstalling) the Instrumentations that are already malfunctioned, and also strengthen the dam monitoring team in order to improve the Dam safety management of the country.