Dam Safety 2019

Organized by the Association of State Dam Safety Officials, Dam Safety 2019 brings together leaders in dam and levee safety, including state and federal dam safety officials, dam owners and operators, and other industry professionals.  Golder is a proud sponsor and exhibitor.

Golder Presentations

Gauging Consequences of Dam Failures Across Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Poster Forum and Lightning Talk

Monday, September 9
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm and 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm.

Starting in 2015, the Water Resources Management Division (WRMD) of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and Golder Associates Limited undertook a three-year initiative to help strengthen and improve the quality of the provincial Dam Safety Program. As part of the initial study, a Dam Safety Audit Tool was developed to complete screening level dam safety risk assessments for 380 of the Province’s 702 registered dams. The Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Government has also initiated a new program to study and prepare for large-scale floods and Golder is currently completing an assessment of municipal water supply dams across the province to evaluate the potential effects of dam breaks on those municipalities.  Andrew Peach will present an overview of the Audit Tool and explore some of the challenges associated with trying to assess a large portfolio of aging dams.  He will also present the methodology used for prioritizing which municipal water supply dams present the greatest risk and therefore should receive the most attention, along with the various inundation mapping techniques and methodologies used to complete the dam breach assessments and preliminary CDA dam failure consequence classifications.

Andrew Peach, P. Geo., EP., is the Geotechnical Services Leader for Golder in Newfoundland and Labrador and has over 17 years of professional consulting experience. He specializes in dam safety and has completed various dam safety reviews and inspections, dam safety risk assessments, CDA dam classification studies, and dam rehabilitation and construction projects.

Paula Dawe, P. Eng., is the Dam Safety Program Manager for the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and has over 5 years of experience managing the Province’s dam safety program. She is responsible for regulatory oversight of all dams owned and operated in the province, which includes a portfolio of 702 active dams.

Hua Zhang, Ph.D., P.Eng., is an Associate and Senior Water Resources Engineer with Golder. He is a senior hydrodynamic modelling specialist with over 28 years of experience in water resource engineering. He has completed over sixty dam breach modelling studies over the last decade, including 40 dams in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.

Halt the Headcut – A Discussion on Earthen Spillway Erosion Cutoff Walls

Wednesday, September 11
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm

Concurrent Session 37: The Best of the Rest

Thousands of dams across the United States have been constructed with auxiliary earthen spillways, routing excess flood water around a dam site to prevent overtopping. In the last two decades, mathematical models and computer programs such as the SITES program were developed, which can predict spillway erosion and the propagation of the erosion headcut through the spillway towards the reservoir. When the evaluation of spillway erosion for existing dams determines that the earthen spillway breaches during the required design storm, designers, owners, and operators can get stuck trying to find a solution to provide spillway capacity. When significant hydraulic capacity is required, and the dam site is not favorable to a large structural spillway, the earthen spillway may still be needed. Erosion cutoff walls can be added in the auxiliary spillway to stop the progression of the headcut and prevent the earthen spillway breach. The presentation will focus on cutoff wall design options and discuss one project where a cutoff wall is being utilized to keep the earthen auxiliary spillway in service.

Gregg W. Hudock, PE, is a Principal and Water Practice Leader with Golder. He has 20 years of experience working with dams and finding solutions to bring aging dams into compliance with modern dam safety criteria. While based in Atlanta, he has worked on dams all over the world.

James Jones, PE, is a Water Resources Engineer with Golder.  He has five years’ experience in evaluation, design, and monitoring of dams and stormwater conveyance systems.

For more information about this event, visit the Dam Safety 2019 event site.