Performance of the Zipingpu CFRD during the Wenchuan earthquake

On 12 May 2008, a strong earthquake, with a magnitude of 8 on the Richter scale, occurred in Wenchuan County of Sichuan Province, China. More than 60 000 people were killed. The Zipingpu concrete faced rockfill dam, located only 17 km from the epicentre, withstood the earthquake, but suffered some severe damage during the strong shaking. Based on site inspections immediately after the earthquake, in which the author took part, this paper presents the damage and the performance of Zipingpu dam during the earthquake, as well as the preliminary safety assessment.