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RMC-TotalRisk User’s Guide

1 Welcome to RMC-TotalRisk

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Risk Management Center (RMC) developed the quantitative risk analysis software (RMC-TotalRisk) to enhance and expedite risk assessments conducted by the USACE Flood Risk Management, Planning, and Dam and Levee Safety Communities of Practice.

RMC-TotalRisk is a menu-driven software that conducts risk analysis based on user-defined hazard, transform, system response, and consequence functions. The software features a fully integrated modeling platform, including a modern graphical user interface, data entry capabilities, and report quality charts and diagnostics. RMC-TotalRisk can perform multi-failure risk analysis for individual dams or levees as well as for complex system with multiple components.

1.1 Why You Should Use RMC-TotalRisk

RMC-TotalRisk is a powerful risk analysis software designed with an intuitive and easy-to-use interface. It simplifies the complexity of risk assessments by connecting the core components of risk — hazard, transform, response, and consequences — through a clear and intuitive risk diagram. The software generates a comprehensive range of risk outputs, including excess, background, total, failure, and non-failure risks. Each component of the analysis can incorporate uncertainty, and the software supports modeling multiple locations with distinct failure modes as separate system components, streamlining system-level risk evaluations.

RMC-TotalRisk offers unique capabilities that set it apart from other USACE software. It supports diverse hazard types, including floods, earthquakes, and wildfires, extending beyond the flood hazards modeled by most tools. The software also accommodates a wide range of consequence types, enabling assessments of life loss, economic impacts, and environmental effects. Seamless integration with other USACE programs allows it to import data from RMC-RFA, RMC-BestFit, RRFT, ERDC-StormSim, HEC-WAT, HEC-RAS, HEC-SSP, and LifeSim, providing unparalleled inter-software compatibility.

The software includes advanced functionalities, such as event tree analysis, which enables users to model geotechnical and structural performance with diagnostic and sensitivity tools unavailable in other USACE platforms. RMC-TotalRisk uniquely accounts for multiple failure modes, offering options for joint, competing, common cause, and mutually exclusive failure modes, each with distinct consequences. Additionally, it models dependency between failure mode capacities and hazard functions using flexible options, including user-defined correlation matrices.

RMC-TotalRisk calculates five critical types of risk — excess, background, total, failure, and non-failure — that are essential for informed decision-making. It provides comprehensive outputs, including loss exceedance curves, risk measures, and assurance metrics, all fully compliant with USACE policies for dam safety, levee safety, and flood risk management. Furthermore, it can replicate and update legacy risk analyses from tools like DAMRAE, LST, and HEC-FDA, enhancing its value for risk-informed investment decisions.

1.2 When You Should Use RMC-TotalRisk

Use RMC-TotalRisk whenever you need to perform a risk analysis, particularly when the analysis involves complex systems with multiple components, uncertainties, or dependencies. While the software is frequently applied in flood risk management, its capabilities extend far beyond this domain. RMC-TotalRisk is relevant to any scenario involving hazards, responses, and consequences, making it a versatile tool for a wide range of scientific, engineering, and policy applications.

The examples in this document relate to flood risk for dams and levees. However, the software is not limited to flood risk management applications. RMC-TotalRisk is designed as a general-purpose risk analysis software capable of estimating risk for various complex systems. Its flexibility and robust analytical framework make it suitable for applications such as:

  • Flood Risk Assessment: Evaluate risks associated with floods, including structural vulnerabilities and potential consequences for infrastructure and populations

  • Seismic Risk Assessment: Evaluate risks associated with earthquakes, including structural vulnerabilities and potential consequences for infrastructure and populations.

  • Wildfire Risk Management: Estimate the probability of occurrence, and assess associated economic, environmental, and human impacts.

  • Environmental Risk Analysis: Analyze risks to ecosystems from natural or anthropogenic hazards, including climate change impacts, pollution, or habitat degradation.

  • Industrial and Infrastructure Safety: Assess risks for critical infrastructure, such as power plants, bridges, or pipelines, accounting for failure modes and interdependencies.

  • Custom Applications: Tackle any scenario where hazards and consequences can be defined, including risks related to human health, transportation systems, or supply chain disruptions.

RMC-TotalRisk’s ability to integrate diverse hazards, model complex dependencies, and account for uncertainties makes it ideal for multidisciplinary applications. Whether you are working on a dam safety program, evaluating the environmental impacts of a natural disaster, or designing resilient infrastructure, RMC-TotalRisk provides the tools to comprehensively assess and communicate risk, supporting informed decision-making.