Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2013RI115B

Seismic Evaluation of the Gainer Memorial Dam

Institute: Rhode Island
Year Established: 2013 Start Date: 2013-03-01 End Date: 2014-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $18,445 Total Non-Federal Funds: $40,440

Principal Investigators: Aaron Bradshaw, Gopu Potty, George Tsiatas

Abstract: The Gainer dam is the largest and one of the most important dams in the state as it retains the Scituate reservoir that provides clean water to over 60% of the state population. Although Rhode Island is not in a zone of high seismic activity there is still risk to the dam from earthquakes and the performance of the Gainer dam in an extreme seismic event is uncertain. This study will perform a seismic evaluation of the Gainer dam including analyses of dynamic response, liquefaction potential, stability, and deformation to evaluate the resiliency of the dam following an extreme seismic event.