Latest News
CIWEM Webinar - Global engineering response to the Kakhovka Dam breach failure in Ukraine
CIWEM are hosting an online webinar about the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam on 3rd October 2023. Information about the event can be accessed here. This lunchtime webinar is produced in collaboration with the CIWEM Rivers & Coastal group, the CIWEM Welsh Branch, and Arcadis. The panellists will discuss the global engineering response to the 2023 breach of the Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine.
Post-incident reporting for ReservoirsThe Environment Agency has published its annual post-incident report on reservoir safety incidents in England. Six incidents are included in the report, which can be found here. |
The 9th International Symposium on Roller Compacted Concrete Dams and Cemented Material DamsThe 9th International Symposium on Roller Compacted Concrete Dams and Cemented Material Dams will be held from 4th to 8th December 2023, in Guangzhou City, China. It is co-organized by the JCOLD, SPANCOLD, CFBR and CHINCOLD. Symposium information can be found by visiting the event website. |
Forthcoming BDS EventsThe next BDS evening technical meeting will be on 2nd October 2023. This will be held at the ICE in London. The topic to be presented on in the evening shall be the discontinuance of reservoirs. There are two upcoming site visits planned, Calverley FSR near Leeds and Bradford on 28th September, and Toddbrook on the new date of 2nd February 2023. Details and registration for the site visit to Calverley can be found here. |
Reservoir Safety Reform Programme Information PageThe next BDS YP CPD lunchtime event will be held on Thursday 24th August, starting at 12:00. This will be a presentation given by Naimh McElroy on a brief summary on the impending Northern Irish Reservoir Act and how Northern Ireland Water are getting ready and compliant for its inception. A recording of the event will be available afterwards in the members area of the BDS website. |
Supervising Engineers Forum 2023 - Registration Closes TodayToday is the final day of registration for the Supervising Engineers' Forum, which will take place on the 7th September 2023. |
Supervising Engineers' Forum 2023 – Registration Deadline TodayThe 2023 Supervising Engineers' Forum will be held on Thursday 7th September 2023. Registration for the event is open. Further details including how to register can be found here. |
Supervising Engineers Forum 2023 - Registration Now OpenRegistration for the Supervising Engineers’ Forum is now open. We are pleased to inform you that the forum will be an in-person event at the National Conference Centre Birmingham on Thursday 7th September 2023. Registration to this event can be completed on the SE Forum page of the BDS website.
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Forthcoming ICE EventsThe ICE will host an online presentation about the Teton dam failure on 23rd May 2023 at 6pm. More information about this event is available at https://www.ice.org.uk/events/latest-events/teton-dam-failure-1976. |
Reservoir Safety Reform Programme Update (England)An update on progress with the Reform Programme was published by Defra and the Environmental Agency on 6th April. The update can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defra-and-the-environment-agency-reservoir-safety-reform-programme-update |
2023 BDS Photography CompetitionThe 2023 Photography Competition is now open. Entries will close on the 25th August 2023. The prizes will be awarded at the SE Forum on the 7th September 2023. Information about the competition can be found here. BDS members will be able to access the competition upload portal via the Members Area on the website. |
ICOLD 2023 – Gothenberg, SwedenRegistration is still open for the 91st ICOLD Annual Meeting to be held in Gothenberg, Sweden from 11th to 15th June 2023. The BDS would like to encourage as many of its members to attend this event as possible given its European location. A full programme of events and details for registration are on the event website. Early Bird registration rates are available until 27th March 2023. |
New Guidance Notes Issued by the Environment Agency’s National Reservoir Safety Team - EnglandThe Environment Agency’s National Reservoir Safety Team (NRST) has issued guidance notes to engineers and undertakers of registered high risk, large raised reservoirs in England. The NRST will be reviewing non-compliances of Section 11 and 10(5A) of the Reservoirs Act 1975 (‘the Act’) against its enforcement and prosecution policy, after seeking further information from the undertaker. Enforcement responses may range from advice and guidance, formal warning or prosecution. These offences will be recorded in the Reservoir Safety Compliance report, which will be published annually from 2024. |
Fixed Monetary Penalties for Reservoir Managers – ScotlandThe Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) have added more offences that can result in Fixed Monetary Penalties (FMP’s) of between £300 and £1,000 to reservoir managers who fail to meet their statutory duties. |
BDS BibliographyThe BDS bibliography of British Dams has recently been updated by Paul Tedd to include relevant papers published in the proceedings of the 2022 BDS Conference, and in recent issues of Dams and Reservoirs. The latest version can be found here. |
ICOLD 2024 – New Delhi, India – Call for AbstractsThe 92nd Annual Meeting of ICOLD & Symposium Dams for People, Water, Environment and Development is to be held from 18 to 24th October, 2024 in New Delhi. The call for abstracts has now been released with a deadline of 31st December 2023. Full details are available on the event website: https://www.icold2024.org/#/home |
Nominations for BDS Committee MembersInvitations to stand for election onto the BDS Committee as an elected member for 2023 to 2026 are currently open. There are currently two posts available on the BDS Committee to commence immediately after the AGM in April 2023. |
Supervising Engineers' Forum 2023 – Call for PresentationsThe 2023 Supervising Engineers' Forum now has a confirmed date of Thursday 7th September 2023. We would like to invite the submission of synopses outlining the content for presentation by Friday 7th July 2023. We anticipate that registration for the forum will open in early July. Further details on the forum and the anticipated topic areas are available here. |
BDS Prize Competition (Young Professionals’ Papers) – Entries now openThe BDS Prize Competition for young professionals is open to BDS members under 35 years of age. The next competition will take place on 20th November 2023 at the Institution of Civil Engineers. |
Choice of Technical Questions for the 28th ICOLD Congress (2025)ICOLD have requested proposals for questions for the 2025 Congress in Chengdu, China. Please forward any suggestions to David Neeve (david.neeve@arup.com) by Friday 10th February 2023. The BDS Committee will compile and submit up to eight questions to the ICOLD organising committee. Further details and a list of previous questions are available on the ICOLD website here. |
28th Annual European Working Group on Internal Erosion – Abstracts publishedThe University of Sheffield hosted the 28th annual European Working Group on Internal Erosion from 18th to 21st July 2022. The abstracts from the meeting have now been published and are available to download here. |
ICOLD Technical Committee D – Concrete DamsExperience of RCC dam design or construction? The BDS is looking for succession for the current long-standing member of the committee. Please contact David Neeve (david.neeve@arup.com) or Andrew Thompson (andrew.thompson2@uuplc.co.uk) to express your interest. |
Nominations for BDS Young Professionals (YP) Steering GroupThe BDS Young Professionals (YP) Group comprises all the under-35 members of the British Dam Society (BDS). It exists to facilitate professional development opportunities for young professionals, technicians and students working in the industry. |
Announcement of BDS Chair and Vice Chair for 2023-25We are delighted to announce the new BDS Chair and Vice Chair appointments. Following our AGM on 24th April 2023, Rachel Davies of Binnies will become Chair. Dr Darren Shaw of Arup will take on the role of Vice Chair. The appointments will last for two years. We wish them every success. |
Supervising Engineers Forum 2023 – Save the DateThe 2023 Supervising Engineer Forum now has a confirmed date of Thursday 7th September 2023. The forum will return to The National Conference Centre in Birmingham (adjacent to the National Motorcycle Museum, Solihull). Further details regarding the event including a call for papers and registration links will be issued in due course. |
NRW Charging Scheme ConsultationThe charging scheme in Wales has been in place since 2017 and is currently open to public consultation on some of the changes proposed to the registration and notification fees. Whilst this predominantly affects undertakers in Wales, BDS members may also wish to contribute: Consultation on our regulatory fees and charges for 2023/2024. |
Online Survey about Flood Hydrology MethodsThe Environment Agency is conducting research to better understand how open methods could be adopted for operational flood hydrology. This includes both flood estimation for design / planning and flood forecasting. The project covers flooding from rivers, surface water, groundwater and reservoirs. The project is seeking to identify the benefits, risks and requirements for moving towards approaches that use open methods. |
21st Biennial ConferenceLast week saw 280 attendees and 12 exhibitors at our 21st Biennial conference held in Nottingham. It had been four years since the last conference in Swansea and it was fantastic to see the reservoir safety community back together again. Over the three and a half days there were 24 technical presentations, 4 site visits, 16 workshops and a packed evening social programme including the new exhibitor reception, YP Quiz and a fantastic the Geoffrey Binnie lecture by Tim Hill. |
Forthcoming BDS Evening EventsThe next evening event on the forthcoming CIRIA guide covering ‘Design, installation, operation, management and testing of siphons in dams’ will be held on Monday 3rd October 2022. This event will be held at the ICE Building at One Great George Street as well as streamed live. |
BDS Photography Competition 2022The 2022 British Dam Society Photography competition is now open. This is your chance to have your photograph published in the Dams and Reservoirs Journal, BDS Yearbook and featured on the BDS website. There are also cash prizes to be won, with a 1st prize of £200, 2nd prize of £100 and 3rd prize of £50. The competition is open to members of the BDS, ICE, Engineering Students and all staff of Corporate BDS members. Photographers are entitled to submit two photographs. |
ICOLD 2023 – Gothenburg – Abstract DeadlineThe 91st ICOLD Annual Meeting will be held in Gothenburg, Sweden between 11th and 15th June 2023. Abstracts for the meeting should be submitted to ICOLD by 16th October 2022. Details of the event, topics and abstract requirements can be found on the ICOLD-CIGB 2023 website |
BDS Photography Competition 2022 - Now OpenThe 2022 British Dam Society Photography competition is now open. This is your chance to have your photograph published in the Dams and Reservoirs Journal, BDS Yearbook and featured on the BDS website. There are also cash prizes to be won, with a 1st prize of £200, 2nd prize of £100 and 3rd prize of £50. |
BDS Conference - Registration now closedRegistration for the British Dam Society conference has now closed. 280 delegates and 12 exhibitors have registered for the event at the University of Nottingham between 14th and 17th September 2022. If you have any queries regarding this event please contact BDSconference@britishdams.org. We look forward to seeing you there. |
EA Publish new Spillway Guidance DocumentsThe reservoir research and associated guidance documents relating to the Toddbrook Incident Review (Balmforth - Part A) 2019 report will be published on Monday 27 June. This will mean that all Part A recommendations are now complete. |
National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) StrategyThe Environment Agency has published its Roadmap for the National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) Strategy for England. A copy can be found here. |
ICOLD European Club Symposium 2023The next meeting of the European Club of ICOLD will be from 5th to 8th September 2023 in Interlaken, Switzerland. Full details are available on the event website (https://www.ecsymposium2023.ch/en). The deadline for submission of abstracts to the organising committee is 30th September 2022. |
ICOLD Annual Meeting 2023The next ICOLD annual meeting will be held in Gothenburg, Sweden between 11th and 15th June 2023. Full details are available on the event website (https://icold-cigb2023.se/). The deadline for submission of abstracts to the organising committee is 16th October 2023. |
European Working Group on Internal ErosionThe 28th Annual Meeting of the European Working Group on Internal Erosion (EWG‐IE) will be held at the University of Sheffield from 18th to 21st July 2022. Following the EWG-IE-27 in Vancouver in June 2019, the Sheffield meeting will provide a forum for sharing novel ideas and recent advances on topics related to internal erosion through water-retaining structures, such as embankment dams, levees and dikes, and in their foundations. Researchers, scientists and engineers, from the private and public sector, in Europe and elsewhere, are welcome. |
ICOLD Technical Committee ElectionsFollowing a recent invitation for BDS members to apply for current vacancies on the various ICOLD Technical Committees, two new nominations have been confirmed by the BDS main committee. |
Next BDS meeting: BDS Prize / Photo CompetitionOur next BDS evening meeting will be the BDS Prize Evening on Monday 10th January 2022 at 6pm.
Five papers have been selected from the entries to the BDS Prize Competition which is open to BDS members under 35 years of age. The submitted papers (2,500 words) are on a topic of dam engineering relating to the author's experience in reservoir research, design, construction, operation, maintenance, or supervision. The following entries will be presenting their papers (10 minutes) and answering questions for the judges and online participants. |
ICOLD 27th Congress - 90th Annual Meeting: 27 May to 3 June 2022The next ICOLD Congress is due to take place in Marseille, France between 27 May and 3 June 2022. The BDS would like to encourage as many of its members to attend this event as possible given its close proximity to the UK. Full details of the event can be found on the congress website:- |
Reservoir Flood MappingThe Environment Agency has now published the updated reservoir flood maps. This provides more accurate flood maps for 1,865 reservoirs which includes all large raised reservoirs that were in operation in October 2016. New guidance is published on GOV.UK and the new RFMs are available:
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New Statutory Instrument - The Reservoirs Act (Panels of Civil Engineers) (Applications and Fees) Regulations 2021A new Statutory Instrument has recently been published regarding reservoir engineer panels for England and Wales from 1 January 2022 and change of application fee from 1 April 2022.
The Secretary of State and the Welsh Ministers have made a joint Determination to establish four joint reservoir engineer panels for England and Wales. |
BDS Evening Meeting – Monday 22nd November 2021 – Registration RequiredBDS Evening Meeting – Monday 22nd November 2021 – Registration Required Our next BDS evening meeting will be on Monday 22nd November 2021 at 6:00pm. The meeting titled “Hydropower Extension Projects at Tarbela Dam, Pakistan” will be presented by Brian B Darling, Mark D Gill and Gonzalo Montilla Castro (Mott MacDonald). PLEASE NOTE: The ICE requires that attendees, either in person or online, register in advance of the event so that refreshments can be organised and so that online viewing links can be emailed in advance. Please use the following link to register
https://www.ice.org.uk/events/hydropower-extension-projects-tarbela-dam-london |
BDS Events CalendarThe Events Calendar on the BDS website contains all the available information regarding forthcoming BDS events. The BDS also adds the details of several non-BDS events run by associated societies and organisations that we think may be of interest to BDS members. Please do keep an eye on this page for further BDS updates and other online events that may be of interest. |
Supervising Engineers’ Forum updateThe Supervising Engineers’ Forum was held at the University of Nottingham on 16th September 2021. For the first time all of the technical sessions from this event were recorded. The BDS has completed editing these videos and is currently waiting for the ICE to host the files on its website. An email will be sent out to all members when the recordings are available to view. |
Next BDS evening meetingOur next BDS evening meeting will be on Monday 22nd November 2021 at 6:00pm. The meeting titled “Hydropower Extension Projects at Tarbela Dam, Pakistan” will be presented by Brian B Darling, Mark D Gill and Gonzalo Montilla Castro (Mott MacDonald). |
POSTPONED: BDS Prize EveningThe BDS Young Professionals Prize evening, scheduled for 22nd November 2021, has been postponed until our January 2022 meeting due to insufficient entries into this competition. In light of this we are extending the deadline for receiving synopsis until 31st October 2021. Please can we encourage you and your colleagues (Under 35) to submit a 250 word synopsis by the extended deadline. Prizes for this competition are £500, £250 and £100. |