Abstract: Major accidents in the history of high earth core embankment dams are examined, such as seepage failures of earth core, hydraulic fracturing, and longitudinal cracks of dam crest. Possible causes of the accidents are discussed. As a consequence, we suggest a technical requirement of deformation compatibility control that special attention should be paid to the constraint effect from abutment rock slope, the aggravation of deformation discordance caused by rapid impounding, and the strict control over dam shell deformation. Then we examine interaction related to the deformation compatibility of earth core embankment dams and its three-dimensional and long-term characteristics, and reveal a failure mechanism of earth core hydraulic fracturing based on the compatibility criteria of deformation along abutment slope. For the deformation compatibility control of dams, the development process of its cognition transformation, prediction capability, and control method are summarized. And the process of technical development in its requirements are reviewed, which is generalized as a procedure from the compatibility of surface settlement to the combination of surface settlement and internal settlement, and then from traditional spatial deformation compatibility to long-term spatial dynamic deformation compatibility. Prospects for further technological development are also presented.

Key words: earth core, embankment dam, deformation control, deformation compatibility