BDS Conferences

The British Dam Society 22nd Biennial Conference will be held at the University of Keele (Chancellors Building) from Wednesday 11th until Saturday 14th September 2024.

Registration for this event is now open and will close on Sunday 28th July 2024 (midnight).

>>> The British Dam Society 22nd Biennial Conference <<<

The conference website can be accessed here. This page contains full details of the conference including programme, workshop descriptions, site visit information and technical synopses. Exhibitor flyers and sponsorship opportunity flyers are also available. Exhibition spaces can be secured online using the normal registration process. Sponsorship opportunities are also available and further details can be found on the sponsorship flyer.

After the successful changes/additions that were made for the last conference, we are pleased to continue with a similar format for this year:

Exhibitor Drinks Reception on Wednesday evening
Young Professionals led social event on Thursday evening
BDS Formal Dinner & Binnie Lecture on Friday evening
Possibility of upgrading accommodation to the on-site hotel
Electronic copy of technical proceedings only

Upon registration you will be required to state if you intend to attend the social events.

The conference organising committee look forward to welcoming you to the University of Keele in September.

Previous Conferences

BDS conferences have typically been held every two years since 1982 bringing together up to 300 delegates on each occasion.

The proceedings for the conferences are available on the conference proceedings page

Conference delegates may access electronic copies of the conference proceedings, access to the proceedings for conferences from 2012 require login credentials, which are issued with the conference joining instructions.

Since 1990 conference proceedings have been published by Thomas Telford (now ICE Publishing) and are available from the ICE Bookshop.

A list of the previous BDS conferences is shown below.

2022 - 21st Biennial Conference, Nottingham - Dams and Reservoirs in a Climate of Change

2018 - 20th Biennial Conference, Swansea - Smart Dams and Reservoirs

2016 - 19th Biennial Conference, Lancaster - Dams – Benefits and Disbenefits;
Assets or Liabilities?

2014 - 18th Biennial Conference, Belfast - Maintaining the safety of our Dams and Reservoirs

2012 - 17th Biennial Conference, Leeds - Dams: Engineering in a Social and Environmental Context

2010 - 16th Biennial Conference, Strathclyde - Managing Dams: Challenges in a Time of Change

2008 - 15th Biennial Conference, Warwick - Ensuring Reservoir Safety into the Future

2006 - 14th Biennial Conference, Durham - Improvements in Reservoir Construction, Operation and Maintenance

2004 - 13th Biennial Conference, Canterbury - Long Term Benefits and Performance of Dams

2002 - 12th Biennial Conference, Dublin – Reservoirs in a Changing World

2000 - 11th Biennial Conference, Bath – Dams 2000

1998 - 10th Biennial Conference, Bangor – The Prospect for Reservoirs in the 21st Century

1996 - 9th Biennial Conference, York – The Reservoir as an Asset

1994 - 8th Biennial Conference, Exeter – Reservoir Safety and the Environment

1992 - 7th Biennial Conference, Stirling – Water Resources and Reservoir Engineering

1990 - 6th Biennial Conference, Nottingham – The Embankment Dam

1988 - 5th Biennial Conference, Manchester – Reservoir Renovation

1986 - 4th Biennial Conference, Edinburgh – Reservoirs 1986

1984 - 3rd Biennial Conference, Cardiff – 1984 Conference

1982 - 2nd Biennial Conference, Keele – 1982 Conference

1975 - 1st Biennial Conference, Newcastle – Inspection, Operation and Improvement of Existing Dams

Bibliography of BDS Conference Papers

Bibliography of BDS Papers

The British Dam Society commissioned Paul Tedd to write short summaries of all papers published in the proceedings of the 18 BDS Conferences from 1975 to 2014, which can be accessed via the above button in the form of an Excel spreadsheet. Inevitably some errors will have occurred in the preparation of these summaries. Anyone finding errors should contact Paul Tedd at paultedd@hotmail.co.uk and suitable amendments will be made.

Geoffrey Binnie Lecture

This is the premier lecture of BDS and was formerly known as the BNCOLD lecture. It was renamed as the "Geoffrey Binnie Lecture" as it was endowed by Binnie and Partners. The lecture is presented at the BDS conference. The choice of lecturer is the responsibility of the Main Committee.

BNCOLD lecturers

1984	NJ Cochrane	Insidious threats to dams and reservoirs
1986	FG Johnson	Experience with the concrete dams of the North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board
1988	DJ Coats	The concerns of a dam engineer

Geoffrey Binnie lecturers

1990	PA Back	The ultimate dam
1992	W Pircher	36000 large dams ? and still more needed
1994	MF Kennard	Four decades of development of British embankment dams
1996	TPC van Robbroeck	Reservoirs - Bane or boon
1998	JA Charles	The lives of embankment dams - Construction to old age.
2000	TA Johnston	Taken for granted
2002	GP Sims	The challenge for british dam engineers
2004	RE Coxon	Matters related to adverse incidents associated with dams and the role of Review-Boards
2006	CJA Binnie	Dams, responding to society's needs
2008	W Carlyle	The Binnie heritage in dam engineering
2010	J Cowie	Hydropower and Panel Engineers – a lasting legacy
2012	JL Hinks	The Modern Dam Engineer
2014	GA Cooper OBE	The Heritage of Dams in Northern Ireland
2016	Dr PJ Mason	Dam Engineering: the last 50 years and the next 50 years
2018	M Cambridge	The Role of Inspection and Monitoring in Risk and Asset Management: Prescription or Guidance?
2022	T Hill