Yuba Water Implements Digital Twin for Automated Monitoring of California’s Second Tallest Dam

• 26 May 2024
• Construction Focus
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Using Bentley’s Reality Modeling and iTwin Applications, they have established situational intelligence to optimize risk assessment for the New Bullards Bar Dam.

• This 645-foot-tall concrete arch dam was constructed in 1970 to minimize flood risk, produce clean hydropower, and guarantee a dependable water supply for Yuba County residents.
• The previous monitoring system for the dam was labor-intensive, expensive, and hazardous.
• Yuba Water Agency has modernized and automated the monitoring process using digital twins and IoT, ensuring public safety.
• Their success in this endeavor was made possible by leveraging Bentley’s reality modeling and iTwin technology to create an intelligent digital monitoring system.

Updating an Outdated Monitoring System

Yuba Water Agency owns and operates the New Bullards Bar Dam, a 645-foot-tall concrete arch dam, which is the second tallest in California and the fifth tallest in the United States. Located in the Yuba County foothills on the edge of Tahoe National Forest, the dam has a capacity to hold 1.19 cubic kilometers of water, creating the New Bullards Bar Dam Reservoir that provides flood control and recreational opportunities. Built in 1970, the dam plays a crucial role in reducing flood risk, generating clean hydropower, and ensuring a reliable water supply for county residents, the local agricultural community, and the environment.

In an effort to enhance dam safety and operational efficiency, Yuba Water initiated a project to modernize the dam’s monitoring system by implementing real-time data collection, digital visualization, and automated monitoring. Tim Truong, chief dam safety engineer at Yuba Water, stated that the project aims to improve understanding of the dam’s performance, particularly during adverse weather and seismic events.

The upgraded monitoring system utilizes multiple monitoring prisms and pylons to provide real-time insights into the dam’s movement over time as it is exposed to various natural elements. This enables accelerated detection of dam deformation and enhances risk assessment and safety measures.

Potential dangers, limitations of the site, and measures for protection

“The project involved conducting drone surveys and installing automated survey instruments to detect cracks, 3D deflection, and monitor any propagation on the structure” according to Truong. To implement the digital monitoring system, the project team had to establish local survey benchmarks, install reflective target sensors across the dam face, and construct a secure enclosure to protect the automated motorized total station. This presented challenges in obtaining permits and approvals for drilling and installing the devices.

The team also faced difficulties with the engineering and construction activities needed to build the dedicated security enclosure for the survey equipment at a remote location with visibility of the entire downstream dam face due to the steep terrain and narrow, restricted road access.

The previous monitoring system at the dam relied on manual, time-consuming data collection that only covered a portion of the dam at any given time and posed fall hazards to the survey team in the remote terrain. Yuba Water aimed to implement a cost-effective and comprehensive smart monitoring system to gain holistic insight into dam movement and conditions. To achieve this, they required integrated reality modeling and digital twin applications for remote, real-time data collection and visualization with automated alerts of potential issues while also securing the on-site digital survey station equipment.

Utilizing iTwin offers a complete monitoring solution

iTwin IoT was utilized by Yuba Water to create a digital twin of their dam, allowing them to visualize sensor data and monitor the structure’s movement and behavior over time. This enables real-time risk assessments and closer monitoring during heavy rainfall or major weather events. “Using iTwin IoT, the dam can be monitored more closely during heavyrainfall and be checked on quickly if earthquakes or other major weather events occur,” said Truong.

Bentley’s digital twin applications provide automated decision support through dashboards and reporting on the dam’s structural integrity and reliability. The software was chosen for its ability to collect monitoring data remotely and automate analysis and alerts. Yuba Water can now track deformation direction directly on the digital twin within the iTwin Platform, providing timely alerts and reporting to stakeholders in one platform. The secure system also restricts access to the total station when live monitoring is not occurring, providing peace of mind.

Situational intelligence is optimized by digital twins to drive optimal risk assessment

“Utilizing digital technology has enabled us to effectively communicate project needs to our team members and visualize real-time data,” Truong stated. The original method of dam monitoring would take a week to obtain a data point from a target and cost $5,000 for each manual data collection event. The new cloud-based system collects data from over 80 prisms twice daily and makes it immediately accessible to authorized users at no extra cost aside from the purchase of the iTwin software.

In comparison to traditional monitoring, the digital twin offers comprehensive insight into the dam’s real-world performance with increased accuracy over time, enhancing risk assessment and driving situational intelligence. This is crucial in achieving the agency’s goal of ensuring public safety and environmental protection.

“At Yuba Water Agency, public safety is our top priority. Investing in a real-time, automated total monitoring station at New Bullards Bar Dam significantly enhances our monitoring capabilities and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to public safety and infrastructure resilience,” Truong emphasized.

Image caption/courtesy: Yuba Water used iTwin Capture Modeler (formerly ContextCapture) to process thousands of drone-captured images into a 3D reality mesh of the entire. Image courtesy of Yuba Water Agency.

Author: Aude Camus is the senior product marketing manager for reality modelling, roads, and bridges with Bentley Systems. She graduated from SKEMA Business School in France and has nearly 15 years of experience in selling and marketing engineering and geospatial software. She can be reached at aude.camus@bentley.com.

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