The 16th biennial conference of the British Dam Society (BDS) took place at the University of Strathclyde in the heart of Glasgow city. It was held early this year (2010), taking place in June between Wednesday the 23rd and Saturday the 26th.
The conference was formally opened by the chairman of the BDS Dr Peter Mason on Thursday morning who introduced this year's theme ‘Managing dams: challenges in a time of change’. We were then welcomed to the University by Professor Robert M. Kalin, who emphasised the history of learning at Strathclyde and its importance in the development of Scotland's key infrastructure. The chairman of the organising committee Kenny Dempster then led us through the arrangements for the 3 days of the conference which were centred around the John Anderson campus.
Those who arrived early on the Wednesday were treated to a pre-conference site visit to the Falkirk Wheel, courtesy of British Waterways (Figure 1). This is reported on separately but provided an interesting insight into the ‘inner workings’ of the landmark boat lift. Throughout the conference the Accompanying Persons Programme ran in parallel, keeping our partners amused. All this year's sessions took place in the main lecture theatre of the John Anderson buildings (Figure 2), and during the breaks trade stands in the foyer from a variety of manufactures and specialists were available to browse.
Session 1 started promptly at 9·15 on Thursday under the chairmanship of Peter Mason and was entitled ‘Changes and challenges’. Tony Deakin detailed the changes as we move towards a risk-based approach, together with the introduction of emergency plans and inundation mapping. Andy Hughes then followed with a history of the panel system and the challenges ahead. The session was rounded off with a new look at the tidal power in the Severn from Peter Kydd, and Del Shannon showed us how the reservoir design and build project at Pine Brook South Carolina was a runaway success. The technical reporter was Paul Farnell.
Session 2 was chaired by Henry Hewlett and entitled ‘Emerging knowledge’. Lisa Stewart from Wallingford Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) gave a detailed update on the latest analysis of long-term rainfall trends and Mark Morris demonstrated the importance of grass cover and outlined the research undertaken since the publication of Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) 116. Ray Baker of CRM highlighted the results of his analysis of pressure gradients in stepped spillway chutes, the potential root cause of block displacement in masonry spillways. This was followed by Andy Hughes' (in association with CRM) experience of the ‘Willowstick’ leakage detection technique used with success on a 200 m high dam in Sri Lanka. The session's technical reporter was David Littlemoor.
Session 3 was chaired by Jon Green and covered ‘Monitoring and managing’. Jonathan Hinks started the session by giving a recap on an enjoyable BDS visit last year to the Derwent reservoirs with visitors from the Dresden Hydraulic Institute in Germany and gave some interesting technical history behind the ‘Dambuster’ raids. At the invitation of the Institute, Jonathan is organising a reciprocal visit to the reservoirs of the Ruhr Valley in 2011, unlike the visit in May 1943 this will be undertaken in daylight hours and open to all BDS members. Alan Warren from Halcrow then followed and gave an interesting insight into the discontinuance of Hambledon reservoir and the problems of access and ownership. Shaun Yeoh concluded the session with the results of his studies into sedimentation and the rapid loss in capacity this can cause. The session technical reporter was Bryan Philpott.
Session 4 entitled ‘Risks – assessments and actions’ was the final session of day 1 and chaired by Martin Airey. Del Shannon was the first back on the stage to explain the maze of dam safety organisations in the USA, who surprisingly are not as united as one would expect. Keith Gardiner then detailed his experiences in using the ‘Unified method of risk analysis’ and the lessons learnt from the pilot studies and using the toolkits. This was then followed by David Brown's account of an actual exercise of an emergency plan by United Utilities and the valuable lessons learnt. Tony Morison then followed with his analysis of the interaction between risk assessment and the emergency plans at Dunalastair dam. The technical reporter for the session was John Foster.
Day one concluded with the Geoffrey Binnie Lecture and a banquet in the Barony Great Hall.
This year's lecture was given by John Cowie and was entitled ‘Hydropower and panel engineers – a lasting legacy’. John took us back to the heyday of Scottish hydro power from the 1930s to the 1960s and treated us to not only the detail of the dam building involved but also to a fascinating insight into the lives and education of the panel engineers involved and the history of their employment.
The conference then adjourned to the Great Hall for pre-dinner drinks and more social networking (Figure 3). We were welcomed by a lone piper at the door to the dining hall, and were joined by our guest for the evening, Professor Paul Jowitt, president of ICE. As one would expect in Scotland we were given neeps, tatties and haggis but served in a non-traditional way. After dinner the president reminded us of the importance of our role in society and of our obligations to future generations by ensuring that sustainability is at the heart of what we do. The after-dinner speaker was Mr Robbie Glen a retired Scottish prison governor who entertained us with his amusing account of life in the prison service and the importance of his role in society, by detaining a variety of customers.
Day two started bright and early at 8·30 am with session 5 entitled ‘Spillway upgrades’ chaired by Tony Morison. The first two papers were on the use of labyrinth weirs, one at Craig-y-Pistyll reservoir by John Ackers and the second an auxiliary spillway at Venford by Andy Hughes. The second two papers covered reservoir rehabilitation works, the first on Ulley reservoir by David Crook and the second of Blalock dam in the USA by Aled Hughes. The session technical reporter was Craig Goff.
Day two not only comprised the technical sessions but site visits to two of the dams discussed by John Cowie the evening before. The conference delegates were divided with half visiting the hydro plant and dam at Sloy (Figure 4) and half the works at Loch Katrine. Both of these technical visits are reported on separately by Jim Claydon and Craig Goff and needless to say were extremely interesting. Our thanks go to Scottish and Southern Energy for facilitating these visits and arranging suitable weather. On our return to Glasgow both coaches made detours into the distilleries of Auchentoshan and Glengoyne, where the delights of 25 year old single malts could be sampled (and purchased if required!) (Figure 5).
Day two concluded with an evening meal in the Lord Todd restaurant and entertainment provided in the form of a quiz by the master himself Andy Hughes. The quiz was harder than in previous years and exercised a few brain cells of the older members and the Wi-Fi internet connections of the younger generation.
Day three and the final sessions commenced sharp at 9·00 am with session 6 the ‘Construction of new dams’. The session chairman was Ian Hope and the technical reporter Jonathan Highfield. The first paper presented by Ian Gowans and Daniel Moysey described the first UK spillway use of open stone asphalt (OSA) on the Chapleton flood storage reservoir. This was followed by a paper presented by David Clough, Eddie Goddard and John Gosden – representing contractor, client and consultant perspectives on another flood storage reservoir – this time in Wigan. Tony Morison then described the construction of the RCC dam at Bengoh in Sarawak and the resettlement of the displaced population. The final paper was by John Sawyer on the construction of the Ingula pump storage scheme in South Africa.
Session 7 the final session of the conference covered ‘Remedial works’ and was chaired by Andy Hughes. John Selbie presented the first paper on the repair and challenges of the replacement sluice gates on Kinlochrannoch weir. This was followed by Caoimhe Fitzpatrick detailing the identification grouting of leakage paths in the Ardnacrusha head race canal in Ireland. Gabriella Vaschetti then demonstrated how the Turimuquire concrete face rockfill dam (CFRD) in Venezuela was relined with a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) geomembrane while still part full and David Gallacher showed us the investigation into the stability issues at Intake UD in Hong Kong. The technical reporter for the final session was Tom Wanner.
The conference was closed at 12.30pm by Peter Mason, who thanked our hosts the University of Strathclyde for their hospitality and excellent conference facilities (Figure 6). He paid special thanks to the organising committee and its chairman Kenny Dempster and also to our American visitor Del Shannon who was awarded a gift for the delegate who had travelled the furthest.
The delegates then adjourned to the Lord Todd restaurant for the final time for lunch prior to departure. It was agreed by all that this conference had been a great success, with its choice of papers, venue, site visits (especially the distilleries) and of course the networking. We all now look forward to Leeds in 2012 for the 17th BDS conference.
