The British Dam Society

Next BDS evening meeting

Our next BDS evening meeting will be on Monday 4th October 2021 at 6:00pm. The meeting titled ‘Independent Reservoir Safety Review’ will be presented by Professor David Balmforth.

The presentation will cover the work undertaken for HM Government to review the safety of reservoirs in England. It will set out the approach to the review and the assessment of the current safety management process and the role of:

• the owner;
• surveillance personnel;
• operation and maintenance personnel;
• the Supervising and Inspecting Engineers;
• and the Regulator.

Professor Balmforth will explain how he arrived at his conclusions and why he made the recommendations he has made. He will also discuss the other possibilities he considered but did not implement. In particular the presentation will deal with the relationship between the reservoir industry and the public and will explore what we mean by safe. Although the presentation is focussed on reservoirs, it has implications for all infrastructure sectors.

This meeting will be held live at the ICE (1 Great George Street, London) and also online. Refreshments will be served from 5.30pm, however, the ICE have not yet reopened the bar and therefore will be no bar facilities after the meeting.

PLEASE NOTE: The ICE has a new online platform (WorkCast) which they will be using for this event. It is recommended that you join the meeting 5-10 minutes early to familiarise yourself with the registration and login requirements.

Supervising Engineers' Forum update

155 delegates attended the Supervising Engineers’ Forum at the University of Nottingham on 16th September. Four technical sessions throughout the day contained an interesting mix of legislation updates, presentations regarding on-site flood planning, case studies and a brief look into the future of the Supervising Engineer. Initial feedback from delegates has been very positive with many appreciating the opportunity to meet up with colleagues.

All the technical sessions were recorded. The BDS is currently editing these videos and will then make them freely available on the BDS website for all those people that weren’t able to attend the event. An email will be sent when the recordings are available to view.

BDS events calendar

The 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.

Future evening meetings

We are preparing our programme of evening events for 2022. We would welcome any suggestions of topics that you would like to see at our meetings or offers to present on projects or themes that would be of interest to the membership. Please get in touch if you would like to assist (Darren.Shaw@arup.com)

Message from the Young Professionals Group

• We are still looking for speakers to present at our YP CPD Events – If you have a topic you feel may be of interest to our members, and are willing to put together a 15 minute presentation, please contact Kyle McLean (kyle.mclean@mottmac.com).
• Entries for The Great British Dam Society Bake Off will be opening soon – keep an eye out for an email by Lucy Monkhouse with the details on how to enter.
• Applications for the Mentoring Scheme will be opening in November - SupEs and ARPEs are still wanted for support, please contact Michael Calder (CalderM@Binnies.com) for more information.
• The way we use our social media channels will be changing soon – please remember to follow our accounts to keep up to date with the latest information from the BDS:
  LinkedIn: British Dam Society;
  Instagram: BritishDams;
  Twitter: BritishDams.

Opportunities for representation on ICOLD Technical Committees

We invite all members to apply to represent the interests of the BDS on a number of ICOLD Technical Committees (TC). The Job Description for our representatives can be found here. We are seeking candidates to take up the role from 1st January 2022 and require applications to be made by 15th October 2021 in writing to Andrew Thompson (Honourable Technical Secretary) at hontechsec@britishdams.org. Existing representatives (as applicable) can apply for a mandate to extend their role by up to three years. New representatives will receive a mandate for up to six years.

We are currently actively seeking interest from those who would like to serve on any of the following TC’s:

The application must comprise:

• A summary in less than 500 words detailing why the applicant considers themselves a fit and proper person to serve on the relevant TC. This should include a description of relevant technical expertise and experience of serving on similar committees or technical groups. Reference should be made to the roles described in the Job Description.
• A letter or statement confirming that the applicant commits to attending the majority of TC meetings and, where appropriate, has the financial backing of their employer to support such attendance.
• A letter of recommendation from another member of the BDS. This could be a letter from the previous TC rep, a co-opted member or other member of the BDS.

Applications to represent the BDS on more than one committee is permissible but is discouraged.

The BDS does not currently have representation on the following additional committees and is not actively seeking representation. However, if anyone has a keen interest in any of the following committees then please speak with the BDS chair directly in the first instance before applying as above.

Recent feedback from some BDS members has highlighted the need to improved succession planning in ensuring the UK’s continuing representation at ICOLD. Some members though interested in the TC representative role may feel they lack the degree of experience required. Persons in this situation may however feel more comfortable working alongside the appointed TC representative as a co-opted member, gaining valuable experience whilst contributing to ICOLD. These individuals would be expected to attend ICOLD Annual meetings and provide support to the main representative as required. Vacancies for co-opted members exist for the following committees:

Applications are invited for co-opted members for the vacant positions. The application process for appointment of co-opted members shall be the same as that described for appointment of main representatives.

If you have any questions regarding the selection process by the main committee, please contact David Littlemore or Barry Dooley.

ICOLD Newsletter

ICOLD have published their latest newsletter (No.19)

The main topics are:

• Editorial from Michael Rogers
• The 27th Congress in Marseille, a great opportunity to meet again
• ICOLD coordinates the Hydropower Europe forum successfully
• A General Assembly for a time of crisis
• Collecting stakeholders’ views
• Dams are part of the solutions to climate change
• INCOLD Symposium & APG Symposium
• Ageing water storage infrastructure & the comments from Michael Rogers
• ICOLD Bulletins

A copy of the newsletter can be found here.

ICOLD Circular Letter No. 1980

Some important dates regarding ICOLD activities for the remainder of 2021 are included in ICOLD Circular Letter No.1980.

10th International Conference on Scour and Erosion

Registration is now open for the 10th International Conference on Scour and Erosion. This conference will now be a virtual event held from 18th to 21st October 2021.

ICSE-10 will mark the 10th offering of the International Conference on Scour and Erosion. Conceived as a conference to bring researchers and practitioners from Geotechnical and Hydraulic Engineering together to tackle the complex challenges of scour and erosion, this conference strives to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration between these two and other related disciplines. Topics on surface and subsurface erosion of soil and bedrock will be organized into tracks to emphasize interdisciplinary approaches to engineering, research, monitoring, mitigation, and risk assessment. Short courses will be designed to expand participant’s breadth of knowledge on the interdisciplinary aspects of scour and erosion.

Full details can be found at https://icse.asce.org/.