迪克西·里德

2021年12月21日

早在他成为土木工程副教授和专家之前 the effects of earthquakes on dams, Richard “Richie” 阿姆斯特朗 was a young man in Canada, dreaming about California.  

每年夏天，他当老师的父母都会把全家、自行车和冲浪板装进一辆70年代的黄色GMC房车，拖着一辆黄色的Geo Metro，从马尼托巴省的温尼伯长途跋涉2000英里，到达圣地亚哥。 在那里，他们花了两个月的时间享受和探索南加州。 During the family’s summer sojourns, 阿姆斯特朗 and his father would drive throughout the region, looking for evidence of the 800-mile-long San Andreas fault.  

“That’s where I first heard about earthquakes,” said 阿姆斯特朗, who now studies the impact of such events on dams. 

He said concern exists about possible earthquake damage to many of the hundreds of Northern California dams holding back water near active faults. 他们值得关注。 

“大坝所有者、安全官员和其他相关方利用了最好的科学和工程技术,” he said, “评估未来地震破坏的可能性，以及震后对设施性能的影响。” 

阿姆斯特朗 尽管住在加州，你还没有亲身经历过大地震吗 近 20年。  

2014年南纳帕地震期间，他的妻子在伍德兰的家中叫醒了他, 但他已经来不及感到最强烈的震动了。 

阿姆斯特朗 lived in Manitoba when the 6.9 magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake struck the Bay Area on Oct. 17, 1989.  

Like millions of baseball fans, he was awaiting the start of Game 3 of the World Series – the Oakland A’s vs. the San Francisco Giants, at Candlestick Park – when he saw the devastation begin to unfold on live TV. 

It was the region’s strongest quake since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and its epicenter was about 56 miles south of the city. 

阿姆斯特朗’s first formal study of earthquakes was at the University of Manitoba, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering in 2003.  

“I always wanted to get back to California,” he said. “I was intrigued with civil engineering issues in regard to California, and I knew earthquakes were of importance here.” 

He earned a master’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University, 2005年, 并获得了加州大学戴维斯分校同一学科的博士学位, 在2010年。 

The field that enthralled him during his studies was numerical simulation, which uses software to anticipate how dams and other structures will react during earthquakes. 

“I always wanted to get back to California. I was intrigued with civil engineering issues in regard to California, and I knew earthquakes were of importance here.” -里奇·阿姆斯特朗，土木工程副教授

In 2009, needing to support his growing family as he completed his doctorate, 阿姆斯特朗 worked for the Division of Safety of Dams, a regulatory commission within the state’s Department of Water Resources. 他评价了土坝的稳定性和土坝变形与地震的关系。

Most of California’s 1,400 dams are earthen embankments in areas of high seismicity. Among the exceptions are the 770-foot-high Oroville Dam, which is made of rock and soil, and Folsom Dam, which is a concrete-gravity dam flanked by earthen wing dams and dikes. 造成贝里萨湖的蒙蒂塞洛大坝是一座混凝土拱坝。 

The earthen embankment dams can move and “heal” themselves during an earthquake, said 阿姆斯特朗, a longtime member of the earthquake committee for the U.S. Society of Dams. 

“In the 1906 earthquake, a dam along the San Andreas fault sheared,” he said. “Had it been concrete, it would have failed and water would have gone through, but because it was self-healing, it was able to continue to function.” 

阿姆斯特朗 also said that a growing body of scientific knowledge and understanding plays a role in ensuring dam safety – and reacting quickly. 

“As the science and engineering improves, considerations at or downstream of the dam change, dams are re-evaluated to ensure the performance needs are still met,” he said. “Dams throughout the state are also routinely inspected to ensure that performance meets standards. 

“In the event of an actual earthquake, near real-time tools are utilized at many facilities to help dam owners and other parties assess the needs to immediately inspect the facility following the earthquake and make any subsequent emergency decisions.” 

The most daunting threat to a Northern California dam – and communities below it – came in February 2017 when ceaseless storms and high water in the lake it held back threatened and badly damaged Oroville Dam. That event, however, was caused by what 阿姆斯特朗 called “hydrological loading” – basically, too much water – and was unrelated to seismicity. 

除了 他在博彩平台的课堂工作，在那里他教授力学，计算机编程和地震工程的本科和研究生课程，自2015年以来，阿姆斯特朗还向世界各地的客户教授数值模拟。 

“I first started studying dams while at UC Davis,” said 阿姆斯特朗, who lives in Woodland with his wife, Bethany, and their four sons.  

“What I find so rewarding is that each dam has its own story,” he said. “They’re huge structures. There’s history. They’re complex. They’re all so different, and they’re necessary for the population of California. That fascinates me.”