The Teton Dam: rhyolite foundation + loess core = disaster

Abstract

The Teton Dam was a large embankment dam built in Idaho, USA, in 1975. It failed catastrophically in 1976. Two major causes of failure were the fissured rhyolite terrain on which the dam was built and the brittle permeable loess used for the core. Thus two geological factors combined to produce an engineering disaster. The complex of factors involved in the failure is still being discussed by engineers and geologists. Copyright © 1992, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved