French recommendations for limit-state analytical review of gravity dam stability

This article presents the recent French recommendations drawn up by FRCOLD for the design of gravity dams. Recognising the disparities in the approaches of the various dam engineering bodies, the recommendations aim at harmonising practices to arrive at a standard approach. They adopt the same limit state design method as already used in the Eurocodes, with particular emphasis on cracking and shear strength limit states. They define a series of new parameters which were not introduced in earlier methods such as characteristic strength of materials, partial factors of safety and inclusion of new design situations. The background to the new format is the probabilistic concept of the acceptable design requirements. These recommendations are applied to an existing concrete gravity dam and the results are compared with other international guidelines.