COGGE Webinar Series - 9/5/19: Geotechnical Aspects of Tailings Dams and their Failures
Channel: National Academies - Earth and Life Studies
Date: 2019-09-16

Tailings dams and other residuals impoundments fail with significant consequences about 1 to 2 times per year worldwide. Many more failures and near misses occur each year, but the consequences are limited to mostly onsite impacts. Mine tailings, coal ash residuals, other waste impoundments and dredged fills where the materials are placed by hydraulic sluicing are particulate in nature, non-cohesive, loosely placed, and are potentially liquefiable. If liquefaction occurs, uncontained wastes can flow downstream at rapid rates for long distances and create massive devastation. 

This webinar will review some significant tailings dam failures and their rates of failure relative to other facilities. Key aspects of geotechnical failures of tailings dams and shear strength concepts for loose granular materials will also be reviewed. Dr. Marr will share design and monitoring recommendations he has developed over 45 years of experience with tailings dam design, failure assessments, and study of the work of others. 

Dr. Marr founded and leads Geocomp, one of the foremost providers in the United States of America of real-time, web-based performance monitoring of civil engineering structures, including dams, deep excavations, and tunnels, among others. He also has extensive experience in testing to measure the mechanical properties of earthen materials, designing earth structures, determining the causes of poor performance of geotechnical structures, developing cost effective remedial measures for troubled projects, and risk management. He is an elected member of the US National Academy of Engineering and of the Moles. He has published widely and has given invited keynote lectures around the world. Dr. Marr has extensive experience evaluating the stability of tailings dams and other waste retention facilities and monitoring their performance.

This webinar is hosted by the Committee on Geological and Geotechnical Engineering (COGGE) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). Any conclusions or recommendations provided by Dr. Marr are his own and should not be thought of as recommendations from NASEM or COGGE.