Overview
Final Programme
Pre Conference Tour
Technical Site Visits

Overview

Back to top

The conference will commence with arrivals in the afternoon/evening of Wednesday 10th September. On Thursday 11th September there will be presentations of technical papers, the Geoffrey Binnie Lecture to be presented by Bill Carlyle, and the Conference Dinner. After some early presentations the rest of Friday 12th September will be devoted to technical visits to dams in the surrounding area. There will be further presentations of technical papers on the morning of Saturday 13th September with the Conference concluding at lunchtime. There will also be an exhibition and a full accompanying persons programme in and around the Warwick area, which will include visits on the Thursday to Shakespeare's birthplace, lunch whilst cruising the river Avon and a visit to Anne Hathaway's Cottage. On the Saturday morning a visit will be made to Warwick Castle.

Final Programme

Back to top

The detailed conference programme can be accessed here

The accompanying persons programme can be accessed here

Pre Conference Tour - Earlswood and Rotton Park Reservoirs

Back to top

Earlswood Reservoirs
Earlswood Reservoirs comprise three pools, Engine Pool, Windmill Pool and Terry's Pool in the valley of the River Blythe. They were completed in 1821 at a cost of £297,000 to augment the water supply to the Stratford upon Avon Canal. They contain in total 820,000 m3 water behind embankment dams 1.8km in length and up to 5.8m high. A complex system of feeders, sluices, bypass channels and a pumping station delivers water to the canal. The weirs were constructed in 1987 and connect to a tunnel driven under the dam. A level kerb along the crest was installed in 2007 to allow the main dam to overtop safely in extreme events. The lakes have been popular with tourists since the early 20th Century.

Rotton Park Reservoir
Rotton Park Reservoir was built in 1827 as part of a comprehensive improvement of the Birmingham Canal by Thomas Telford. The canal had been built in 1769 and had a short summit level supplied by three small reservoirs and two steam back pumps at the locks. Water supply had been a problem from the start and was addressed at the same time that the canal was being widened and straightened to increase its capacity to pass the heavy industrial traffic of the Black Country.

Telford selected the project to be recorded in his Life of Thomas Telford (1838) and there is a cross section of the dam in the accompanying Atlas. The reservoir contains 1,463,800m3 water behind an embankment dam 14m high. Of British Waterways' 91 reservoirs under the Act, it is the 13th largest. The dam has a puddle clay core, by no means standard at that time. The outlets comprise buried cast iron pipes with chain operated 'tea pot lid' upstream valves and gate valves at the downstream ends.

Technical Site Visits - Carsington Reservoir or Rutland Water

Back to top

Carsington Reservoir Tour A
Carsington Reservoir is owned by Severn Trent Water and was completed in 1991. It is predominantly a pumped storage reservoir with a capacity of 36 million cubic metres and surface area of 3km2. The earth embankment dam measures 1200m in length and 34m in height. The dam replaces that which failed during construction in 1984.

The visit will be divided into two parts. One part will be a tour of the dam, including the overflow and viewing area, tail pool, control building and valve basement. The second part will be at the nearby Visitors Centre and will include a presentation on the ecology of the reservoir and a tour of the wildlife centre.

Rutland Water Tour B
Rutland Water (originally known as Empingham) is owned by Anglian Water and was completed in 1976. The reservoir provides water for 1.5 million people through its capacity of 124 million cubic metres and surface area of 12.6 km2. The dam length is 1200m and height of 34m with gradual upstream and downstream slopes with the overflow being of a bellmouth design.

The visit will be divided into two parts. One part will be a tour of the dam, pumping station and intake works and the second part a visit to the construction site where a number of new reservoirs under the Act are being created to provide new wildlife habitats for Rutland Water.