Dams, Levees, Hydraulic Structures, and Hydropower

Dear Colleagues,

Dams, levees, and hydraulic structures are critical components of modern society, underpinning water supply, hydropower production, flood protection, navigation, irrigation, and ecosystem services. They sit at the intersection of structural, geotechnical, hydraulic and hydrological, environmental, and materials engineering, and increasingly rely on advanced monitoring, modeling, and data-driven decision support. This Topic aims to provide an integrated platform for research and engineering applications related to the analysis, design, construction, operation, monitoring, rehabilitation, and decommissioning of dams, levees, and related hydraulic structures under current and future challenges, including climate change, aging, multi-hazard risk, and evolving societal expectations.

This multidisciplinary Topic seeks to unite contributions spanning theory, experiments, field observations, numerical and data-driven modeling, and practical case studies. We welcome submissions on concrete and embankment dams, levees and flood defenses, spillways and energy dissipators, outlet works, intake and diversion structures, weirs, gates, stilling basins, and associated hydraulic infrastructure. This Topic is envisioned to be hosted across multiple MDPI journals, allowing authors to select the venue most closely aligned with their emphasis—structural, geotechnical, hydraulic, environmental, materials, construction, management, or remote sensing—while contributing to a coherent, cross-journal collection on dams, levees, and hydraulic structures.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Structural analysis and design of concrete and masonry dams;
• Behavior and safety of embankment dams and levees;
• Foundations, abutments, and geotechnical aspects of hydraulic structures;
• Hydro-mechanical and thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling in dams and levees;
• Hydraulic design and optimization of spillways, energy dissipators, and outlet works;
• Flood routing, dam-break analysis, and downstream flood-risk assessment;
• Sediment transport, reservoir sedimentation, and geomorphic impacts of hydraulic structures;
• Multi-hazard loading (seismic, flood, overtopping, landslide, debris flow, ice, wind) and cascading scenarios;
• Aging, deterioration, alkali–aggregate reactions, corrosion, freeze–thaw, and other degradation mechanisms;
• Advanced and sustainable construction materials for dams and hydraulic structures (e.g., UHPC, RCC, low-clinker binders, composites);
• Design, monitoring, and assessment of tailings dams and mine-waste retention structures;
• Structural health monitoring, instrumentation, and early-warning systems for dams and levees;
• Remote sensing, satellite geodesy, and image-based techniques for deformation and stability monitoring;
• Data analytics, soft computing, and machine learning for performance assessment, anomaly detection, and forecasting;
• Digital twins, numerical modeling (FEM/FDM/FEM–CFD), and surrogate modeling for design and decision support;
• Probabilistic safety assessment, fragility analysis, reliability, and risk-informed decision-making;
• Life-cycle assessment, maintenance, rehabilitation, and upgrading of hydraulic structures;
• Sustainable planning and operation of reservoirs and hydraulic infrastructure under climate change and evolving demands;
• Environmental and social impacts of dams and levees, including ecosystem services and nature-based/ hybrid solutions;
• Governance, regulation, safety management systems, and dam/levee safety programs;
• Case studies of dam and levee incidents, failures, lessons learned, and best practices;
• Resilience, functional recovery, and post-event performance of dams, levees, and associated infrastructure;
• Nature-based and eco-hydraulic measures integrated with traditional hydraulic structures;
• Decision support tools, multi-criteria optimization, and stakeholder engagement for dam and levee projects.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. M. Amin Hariri-Ardebili
Dr. Rocio L. Segura
Dr. Golsa Mahdavi
Topic Editors