AY Honor Dams and Levees Answer Key

Dams and Levees

Skill Level

2

Year

2024

Version

05.04.2025

Approval authority

North American Division

1

What is a dam? Briefly describe what it does and how it is different from a levee.

2

Explain how beavers build dams and why. How do beaver dams affect the environment? How else can dams be created in nature?

3

What are the benefits of dams? What are some potentially negative aspects of dams?

4

List five materials historically used in constructing a dam embankment.

5

From pictures, identify the following structures and explain their features and application:

5a

Arch dam

5b

Buttress dam

5c

Gravity dam

5d

Diversion dam

5e

Hydroelectric dam

5f

Levee or dike

5g

Locks

5h

Low-head dam (weir)

5i

Run-of-the-river dam

5j

Saddle dam

6

Know the following terms to be able to explain it to someone unfamiliar with dams and levees:

6a

Cut-off trench

6b

Fish passage/ladder

6c

Rock toe

6d

Spillway

6e

Piping

7

Explain why someone should consider a low-head dam dangerous and avoid it while canoeing, kayaking or swimming.

8

Dams are complicated structures. How do the following issues affect the consideration, design or construction of a dam?

8a

Wildlife

8b

Water quality

8c

Emergency spillway

8d

Emergency action plan

8e

Safety

8f

Geotechnical investigations

8g

Discharge structure

8h

Slope stability

8i

Hydrology and hydrologic analysis

8j

Flow net analysis

8k

Permitting

9

Research or interview an engineer or other expert on dam safety. Have the expert explain the inspection techniques that they use to identify a failing dam.

10

Do one of the following:

10a

Research and/or visit a fish passage/ladder for a dam structure and design/sketch one for a dam near you.

10b

Research and/or visit a locks system. Using materials of your choice, construct a model of a lock system with moving parts.

10c

Using contour maps, design a dam for a local stream and do/answer the following:

10ci

Draw a plan view and cross section(s) of your dam showing spillway, emergency spillway, crest, slope angles, toe of slopes, normal high-water elevation and other pertinent features.

10cii

What type of dam did you select and why?

10ciii

What is the Hydraulic Head of your dam?

10civ

Outline the limits of the watershed that is tributary to your dam.

10cv

How large (surface area and volume) of a reservoir will be impounded by your dam?

11

Read Daniel 5 and research how Darius the Mede captured Babylon. Find two other places in the Bible where dams or the control of water are mentioned.

12

Share a devotional with your Pathfinder club on a spiritual lesson that you learned while studying this honor.

References