What is the role of a civil engineer in construction of dams?
structure and functional design. he makes sure it works.
Really a whole lot more too! He calls in other professionals (like Mike Holmes does) for the job.
Geo-technical engineers to do soil analysis and slope stability evaluation, soil analysis of the lake bed and drainage basin to calculate permeability and run off, flow factor of the basin (the rate at which water will flow calculating the Manning n factor for the type of vegetation/obstacles the water will encounter before it even reached the impounding area), core samples of an existing dam (if you have one) to see if it can be reused.
Hydrologists to review topographical maps and determine the drainage basin to eventually calculate the water amounts that will flow through the structure (25, 50, and 100 year floods and Armageddon Day worst case scenarios known as Full PMF values, typical up to 30 inches of rain in 24 hours) and critical flood scenarios.
Structural Engineers to design the dam and appurtenances such as de-watering valves, primary and secondary emergency spillways.
It’s all a very involved and complicated process. Then you ship it all of to your state regulatory agency for permitting and hopefully get the nod to go ahead. If your a high hazard dam, then you have to take extra steps such as developing and Emergency Action Plan (EAP) and a whole slew of more fun stuff!