Current Issues
February 2012: EA Consultation on High Risk Reservoirs in England and Wales
BDS Members are reminded that you have until Midnight on 23rd February 2012 to register your opinions on the EA Consultation on High Risk Reservoirs in England and Wales.
Please carefully read the Environment Agency’s consultation documents and comment on-line by going to:-
To date only 66 people have responded to the consultation using the on-line facility. The BDS urges all members to take part in this consultation, as changes in the way reservoirs are managed could have very significant effect on all members.
The EA are currently having a technical issue regarding their e-consultation tool that might affect you.
If you’re on Windows7 or Windows XP and use web browsers Google Chrome or Internet Explorer 9, you will be unable to access the e-consultation pages including the ‘High risk’ reservoir consultation.
At present, you can only access the e-tool through Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8 or Firefox (version 9 or below). Please use one of these methods to access the consultation.
Background Information
On Monday 23 January BDS hosted an evening meeting titled 'Reservoir Risk Classification' which as well as explaining options for risk classification provoked a long and lively debate - both from the lecture theatre and the 90 people listening on-line.
If you wish to 'listen again' to this meeting you can do so by selecting the 'listen again' function on the left hand side of the meetings page.
November 2011: Lessons from historical dam incidents
New research published on lessons from historical dam incidents
The Environment Agency has recently published the research report on 'Lessons from historical dam incidents'. This is now available on the Agency's website:
The report was prepared for the Agency by Halcrow Group Ltd working in collaboration with Dr Andrew Charles and Dr Paul Tedd of the Building Research Establishment. It provides a useful reference of key facts and points of learning from more than 100 incidents that have shaped reservoir safety legislation, design practices and construction methods.
This report aims to provide a useful reference for all those involved in reservoir safety including technicians, engineers and managers involved in the operation, monitoring and surveillance of dams, researchers, and design engineers. It is likely to be viewed as an essential reference for aspiring and current panel engineers.
The focus of the report is on incidents at dams that have occurred in Great Britain but some reference is made to some important international incidents. Drawing from international experience is particularly helpful for those types of dam not commonly found in Great Britain.
The introductory section covers the national incident database and the value of post-incident reporting and investigations. Section 2 gives a historical overview which shows how serious incidents have improved our understanding of dam behaviour and the hazards posed by dams. Section 3 shows the close links between historical incidents and failures and the development of reservoir safety legislation and guidance. Section 4 looks at how incidents have been managed, including the role of owners and panel engineers. The significance of drawdown rates and other provisions for dam incidents such as evacuation planning are presented. Four examples of incident management are described: the incidents at Ogston, Rivington Upper, Ulley and Maich Water.
Section 5 represents the major part of research output. It provides an overview of serious incidents and a classification and brief analysis of the modes of failure. This is followed by descriptions of over thirty major incidents and summaries of seventy other incidents. Photographs and drawings have been provided where possible, together with references to the technical papers and articles for additional information. The incidents have been grouped according to the type of incident or mode of failure to facilitate the use of the report as a look-up reference for specific types of reservoir safety problems.
The ability of the reservoir industry to gather and disseminate points of learning on dam incidents is only possible through the willingness of dam owners, operators and engineers to share information in an open manner. The Agency continues to administer the national post-incident reporting database and to gather information on incidents. Incidents can be reported to the Agency's reservoir safety team in Exeter (reservoirs@environment-agency.gov.uk, tel: 01392 442001). Live incidents should be reported to the incident hotline on 0800 807060. An annual report is published on the Agency website and the latest report can be found at:
Alan Warren, Halcrow Group Ltd
October 2011: 2012 BDS Conference - Call for technical papers
The 2012 BDS Conference will be held at the University of Leeds between Wednesday 12th September and Saturday 15th September 2012. Full details of the conference can be found on the conference website
www.britishdams.org/2012conf
The main theme of the conference will be on the social and environmental benefits and impacts of dams and reservoirs in the UK and abroad, with a focus towards: the uses and benefits of water; planning and environmental legislation; and the consequences of failure, discontinuance, abandonment and scour testing.
SUBMISSION OF PAPERS
Papers are invited under the following themes:
Environmental and social impacts of reservoirs.
Lessons learnt from incidents and accidents to dams.
Emergency planning.
Risk assessment techniques in practice.
New construction techniques and materials in dam engineering.
The effects of climate change and recent flood events.
Rehabilitation case histories.
Small reservoirs in the context of new legislation.
Instrumentation and surveillance
Worldwide trends in legislation.
Authors wishing to prepare papers or short technical notes are invited to submit their synopses of not more than 250 words to Andrew Pepper, the BDS Honorary Technical Secretary, by e-mail on
atpec@peppernet.org
Synopses should be submitted by 14th November 2011
Completed papers will be required by 12th March 2012
