ABSTRACT This paper advances the integration of risk‐informed principles into the seismic design of dams—a domain long guided by standards‐based, largely deterministic approaches. While performance‐based earthquake engineering is well established for buildings and bridges, its systematic adoption in dam engineering remains limited. We first address two foundational questions: (1) how seismic hazard levels should be selected for dam safety assessments, and (2) what performance objectives are appropriate at each hazard level. Drawing on international and national practice, we synthesize recommendations for hazard levels and highlight gaps in the definition of performance objectives. The primary contribution is a unified risk‐informed performance‐based (RIPB) framework tailored to dam design. Through two case studies—one comparing two competing gravity dam geometries and another screening 14 design alternatives for dam heightening—we demonstrate how RIPB supports scoping, optimization, and decision‐making based on risk. A nine‐step procedure is proposed, including, for the first time, a fragility‐aware performance matrix that translates qualitative objectives into quantitative exceedance targets. We further show how a systematic progression from qualitative risk screening to quantitative assessment—via fragility analysis and nonlinear dynamic simulations—can guide early‐stage choices, reduce project uncertainty, and support final design selection in high‐consequence settings.
Hariri‐Ardebili et al. (2026) studied this question.