The Geoffrey Binnie Lecture - Dams, responding to society's needs, will be presented by Prof Chris Binnie.

Improvements in Reservoir Construction, Operation and Maintenance

The 14th British Dam Society (BDS) Conference will be held at the University of Durham between the 6th and 9th September 2006.

The BDS invites all from the European and the wider family of ICOLD to participate in the conference which will include technical presentations, technical visits and the prestige lecture- the Geoffrey Binnie Lecture - Dams, responding to society's needs, exhibition and a full accompanying persons programme around the historic city of Durham and the surrounding area.

Technical visits will include visits to water supply reservoirs in the Tyne, Tees and Wear Valleys.

Conference Topics

Papers have been offered on the following topics:

• Risk assessment and risk management
• The benefits and social impacts of dams
• Lesson learnt from recent and historical incidents
• Refurbishment and replacement of gates, valves and pipework in draw-off and spillways with the emphasis on novel solutions in difficult conditions, including underwater working
• Discontinuance and abandonment of dams
• The use and performance of new materials in dam design and remediation
• Recent flood events and effects of climate change
• Rehabilitation case histories
• Construction, maintenance and refurbishment of service reservoirs
• Research into dam design, construction and performance – including flood events, effects of climate change, investigation methods and monitoring
• Instrumentation, monitoring and inspection