Summary:

This paper aims at sharing feedback about dry dams. These structures are efficient to mitigate floods, while little disruption of the continuity of the main channel and its flows outside the flood periods. Five sets of dams are presented here. They were selected so as encompass the diversity of the structures and of the problems. The oldest structures are presented first. These are dams built in the beginning of the twentieth century in Poland and in the USA, which are still in operation today. Then, recent realisations in France are presented. Large dams in Gard catchment and small dams upstream the nearby town of Nîmes are described, with analyses of behaviour during intense floods. Finally, small dams in Seine-Maritime allow to address the issue of an efficiency diagnostic at catchment's scale, when both dams and stakes are spread out. This article gives key references for further information about structures design.