CFBR and ERINOH Project

The Comité Français des Barrages et Réservoirs - CFBR (French Dam and Reservoir Committee) was founded in 1926 as the Comité Français des Grands Barrages. In 2005 (the year in which it changed its name) the organisation had 351 members – including contracting authorities, construction companies and consulting firms - all appointed for their dam expertise.

The purpose of the organisation is to encourage advances in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of dams and the associated treatment facilities through the exchange of information between members.

The CFBR organises working groups at national level and an annual technical symposium.

It is also actively involved in :

the work of the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) and the Commission's technical committees,

drafting ICOLD bulletins, the international reference in the industry,

ICOLD Executive Meetings and the International Congresses on Large Dams.

Safege sits on many of the organisation's working groups, one of which issued recommendations in 2005 for the stability analysis of gravity dams. Safege is also involved in the working group formed in 2007 to develop recommendations on the stability analysis of embankment dams and levees. The Eurocode-style recommendations will provide a framework facilitating the harmonisation of French practices.

ERINOH Project

Safege participates in the ERINOH dam stability research programme, together with other major players in the dam sector. Soil erosion is the main cause of failure of hydraulic structures, and France, with thousands of dams, whether for flood control, navigation, flow management or irrigation purposes, is no stranger to the devastating consequences of such failures as seen in the 2002/2003 floods that struck the south of the country.

Against this background, the aim of the ERINOH project, implemented under the aegis of the civil engineering research institutions IREX and RGC&U and the French national research agency, the ANR, is to analyse resistance to internal erosion in dams and dykes, both :

in the laboratory, with investigation of internal erosion mechanisms for modelling purposes (development of testing devices and operational testing methods for case studies, etc.),

in situ, with development of methods for detecting defects and seepage through dykes (development of new sensors and methods of investigation, improvement of high-yield techniques and tools to assist in interpretation, development of the interpretation of fibre optic and geoelectric self-potential measurements).