Failures in tailing dams, underground works, and water reservoirs represent some of the most critical risks in mining and large infrastructure projects. These failures may arise from flooding events, but also from geotechnical, structural, operational, and monitoring deficiencies, as well as from uncertainty in material properties and design assumptions.
This session focuses on failure mechanisms, engineering analysis of real case failures, and prevention and mitigation strategies, emphasizing risk informed design, monitoring, and decision-making.

Indicative (Non-Exhaustive) Topics

• Failure mechanisms in tailing dams (stability, seepage, liquefaction, operational failures)
• Failures in underground works (mines, tunnels, caverns): collapses, groundwater inflow, rock mass degradation
• Water reservoirs, dams and pit lakes: structural and geotechnical failures, operational mismanagement
• Coupled geotechnical, hydrogeological, structural failure processes
• Uncertainty, variability, and risk assessment in infrastructure safety
• Monitoring, instrumentation, and early-warning systems
• Design, retrofitting, and prevention measures
• Geostatistics & uncertainty quantification in risk assessment
• Lessons learned from historical failures and near-miss events
• Standards, guidelines, and best practices