The objective of Component 4a of the Litani River Basin Management Support program is to assess risks associated with dam failure and develop monitoring tools that can provide advance indications of potential emergency events. The need for monitoring of the Qaraoun Dam is critical as it is for any large dam whose failure would have dramatic consequences.

In order to identify appropriate monitoring instruments for any dam, the first step is to identify and understand the various ways in which potential failure can take place, the triggering mechanism of each mode of failure, and the probability that such failure modes can actually develop. Instruments that have the ability to measure and monitor the trigger mechanisms are then identified and used for safety monitoring.

Such a process, known as potential failure mode analysis (PFMA), has been conducted in order to define instrumentation that is proposed to efficiently monitor the aging Qaraoun dam. During this PMFA, 13 potential failure modes were identified, analyzed and classified. Instrumentation was identified and selected to improve the monitoring of the high risk potential failure modes. 

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