RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:Calling on a friend"An appropriate embankment design has been selected, based on the HIGH dam classification defined for the TMF and the criteria for design earthquakes provided by the Canadian Dam Association's (CDA) "Dam Safety Guidelines" (2007). The CDA Guidelines require that a HIGH dam classification be designed for a probabilistically derived event (defined as the Earthquake Design Ground Motion) having an annual exceedance probability (AEP) of 1/2,500. Consequently, the MDE selected for the TMF is the 1 in 2,500-year earthquake. The median PGA is 0.11g for the 1 in 2,500-year earthquake. The corresponding mean average PGA used for design is estimated to be 0.13g. A design earthquake magnitude of 8.0 has been selected for the MDE, based on a review of regional tectonics and historical seismicity. Limited deformation of the tailings embankment is acceptable under seismic loading from the MDE, provided that the overall stability and integrity of the TMF are maintained and that there is no release of stored tailings or water.
To demonstrate the robustness of the embankment design to seismic loading the 1 in 10,000 year earthquake has also been considered. The mean PGA for the 1 in 10,000-year event is 0.22g (Knight Piesold, 2012, prior to BATT)