Young Professional Group Summit 2020
The NZSOLD Young Professional Group (YPG) held their Summit in June. The theme is “recent dam and levee incidents and failures”, with the aim of exploring these events so the NZ industry can learn from them.
We showcased seven presenters, who have been working closely with industry experts. The presentations included high-profile NZ incidents and failures, such as Matahina Dam (1967 and 1987) and stopbank breach in the Edgecumbe 2017 flood, as well as exploring several lesser known NZ dam and stopbank incidents and failures. Two high-profile international failures, Feijao Dam in Brazil and Toddbrook Reservoir in England, will be examined with a focus on what we can learn from these for NZ practice.
If you’re under 40 and interested in the dam industry, please consider signing up to the NZSOLD YPG. Membership is free and sign up is easy: https://nzsold.org.nz/committee/young-professionals-group/
ANCOLD 2022 Conference
More details to come, save the date!
26 – 28 October 2022
International Convention Centre (ICC), Sydney, Australia
The conference will be held at the International Convention Centre (ICC), Australia’s first fully integrated harbourside convention, exhibition, and entertainment venue. The ICC is situated in a spectacular location on the Darling Harbour waterfront.
The conference theme, “Sustainable Dams in a Climate of Change” is timely given the significant changes to the operating landscape that is impacting the dams industry. The conference will provide an invaluable opportunity to consider the landscape we occupy as an industry, by exploring the challenges and opportunities of dam ownership against a backdrop of increasing expectations from the community and other stakeholders. This will be a great forum to share industry good practice about: the safety management of ageing dams; sustainable practices and considerations for building new dams; climate change reflections and implications on dam engineering; innovation and adoption of new technologies in dam operation and maintenance; application of risk-based systems in design and assessment of dams.
It is almost 3 years since the last in-person NZSOLD/ANCOLD conference in Auckland and four years on home soil for ANCOLD, hence the Sydney conference will provide a good opportunity to reconnect with colleagues, expand professional networks, engage directly with speakers, and gain new insights from the exhibitor displays.
We welcome and value the ongoing support from past sponsors of the ANCOLD NZSOLD conferences and encourage new sponsors to take up the opportunities and brand exposure that this conference can offer.
We look forward to seeing you all in Sydney in October, for what promises to be an enlightening, rewarding and memorable event.
Sam Banzi
ANCOLD NZSOLD 2022 Conference Convenor
NZSOLD SYMPOSIUM ‘ADVANCES IN NEW ZEALAND AND INTERNATIONAL DAM PRACTICE’
It is my pleasure to invite NZSOLD members, as well as the wider dams community, to join us for our Symposium ‘Advances in New Zealand and International Dam Practice’.
Instead of a deep dive into an individual topic, we have decided this year to explore several different areas of advancing dams practice. These are some topical areas of practice in which we expect to see significant changes in the coming years and are therefore important for our industry to think about.
We’re also excited to introduce our international keynote speaker, Lianne Lefsrud. Lianne is an Associate Professor at the School of Engineering Safety and Risk Management, University of Alberta. She brings a wealth of experience in systems, process safety, human and organisational factors, and risk management, from her work in the rail transport and mining sectors (including tailings dams).
NZ Dams 2021 – What’s the buzz?
The NZ Society on Large Dams (NZSOLD) is hosting a webinar which will provide valuable updates from various corners of the NZ dam industry.
The NZ Society on Large Dams (NZSOLD) is hosting a webinar which will provide valuable updates from various corners of the NZ dam industry. This is a great opportunity for owners, operators, practitioners, contractors, councils and others, to keep up to date with what’s been happening and what’s on the horizon. Presenters include representatives from MBIE and Engineering New Zealand, as well as industry practitioners who will be providing updates on the following topics:
- the forthcoming Dam Safety Regulations,
- the Recognised Engineer framework to support the Dam Safety Regulations
- updates to the New Zealand Dam Safety Guidelines
- development of guidance material for the Building Consent process for large dams
With the NZSOLD Symposium being shifted to March 2022, this webinar will provide valuable and timely updates from across the NZ dams industry. Bring your lunch and please join us for a highly informative session. There will be time available for Q+A throughout.
YPG Climate Change
The NZSOLD Young Professionals Group (YPG) is hosting a Climate Change and Dams webinar. This free online event provides an opportunity for young professionals, researchers, and industry practitioners to share their experience and knowledge with young professionals in the dams industry on climate change research and innovations, and how it is being used in the dam industry to assess and mitigate risks. We have a great line up of speakers. For more information and to register click on the event link.
NZSOLD Lightning Talks
In collaboration with Engineering New Zealand, this online presentation will give an insight into ‘a day in the life of an engineer’, to inspire students, young engineers and those new to the profession to showcase the possibilities available through a career in engineering.
Date: Tuesday 25th May 2021, 5.30pm – 6.30pm
Where: Online Via Adobe Connect
Price: Free
Audience: Specific to students, and open to members and non-members
The webinar will consist of 6 presenters who will share their footsteps, knowledge and experience in the Dam industry and take part in a open Q&A panel session at the end.
Please feel free to share this event with your networks.
Presenters:
Petra O’Bery, Stantec – Dam Engineer
Andrew Balme, Genesis – Hydro generator
Josh Coleman, OceanaGold – TSF Engineer
Dr Katherine Yates, UC – Researcher
Shaun McCracken, ECan – Stopbanks/Rivers Manager
Peter Fox, Dam Safety Intelligence – Dam Safety Engineer
Cybersecurity and dam safety
Engineering NZ’s IT Engineering Group and NZSOLD are excited to be working together to bring you the following webinar
Topic: Cybersecurity and dam safety
Date: Tuesday, 18 May 2021, 12.00-1.30pm
Price: Free
Audience: Open to members and non-members
The webinar will start with a presentation by Peter Jackson of SGS, who will introduce the basics, such as:
- What is industrial cybersecurity?
- What types of cybersecurity threat could affect dam safety?
- What is the industry practice for managing these risks?
Following this, Carla Liedtke from Control Risks will provide an overview of how to assess strategic cyber threats to dams, by taking a global view of threat actors and the targeting of critical infrastructure. Some of you may remember Carla as the keynote speaker at ANCOLD’s 2018 conference.
Peter and Carla will then be joined by Jonathan du Preez of Meridian and Marty Rickard of Nozomi Networks (formerly of Trustpower) for an expert panel discussion that will explore:
- Examples of cybersecurity threats to dam safety (real world and hypothetical).
- Future trends that might affect the resilience of NZ dams to cybersecurity threats.
- Open the floor to your questions!
We look forward to welcoming you to the webinar.
YPG EVENT – Site Visit to Waimea Community Dam (Under Construction), Nelson
The NZSOLD Young Professionals Group (YPG) is hosting a field trip to Waimea Dam this year.
Waimea Dam is currently being constructed and will be a 53 m high and 220 m long concrete-face rockfill dam. Once built, it will hold back approximately 13 million cubic meters of water. Waimea Dam is in the Lee Valley, south of Brightwater in the Tasman region. For further information about the dam please visit https://waimeawater.nz/.
This is a great and rare opportunity to visit and learn about a large concrete-face rockfill dam under construction in New Zealand. The field trip programme includes a site walk over, lunch and presentation by Waimea Water. We have decided to host an evening social function following the field trip (lunch and dinner is sponsored by NZSOLD) and plan to stay overnight in Nelson. Individuals interested in the field trip will be required to book their own flights and accommodation in Nelson.
Sponsored transport: Waimea Water Limited is generously sponsoring a bus. Meet at Nelson airport for pick up at 10.30 am. At 4.30pm, the sponsored bus will take us from Waimea Dam to Nelson City Centre for the evening function. After this, transport and accommodation will be organised by individuals. We will provide advice on the location of the function and nearby accommodation options by the end of August.
Cost: free registration to attend field trip (flights and accommodation not included)
NZSOLD Workshop on Consequence Assessment and Potential Impact Classification
NZSOLD is pleased to announce a Workshop on this fundamental and provocative topic on Monday 2nd & Tuesday 3rd November, online.
88th Annual Meeting of ICOLD
Sustainable Development of Dams and River Basins
26 September – 1 October 2020 | Delhi, India
The deadline for submitting abstracts is Monday, 30 September 2019. Please remember that papers from NZSOLD Members need to be reviewed and endorsed by NZSOLD management Committee before they are submitted.
View more information on the Conference website.
Symposium themes:
- Modern Technologies in Survey and Investigation for Sustainable Dam Development
- Simulation Methodologies for Dam Analysis and Design
- Advances in Dam Safety, Risk Assessment and Management
- Advances in the Rehabilitation of Dams and Appurtenant works:
(a) Innovations and Adaptations in Intakes, Spillways and Gates
(b) Advancement in Materials for Dam Repair and Rehabilitation
(c) New Approaches in Energy Dissipation Arrangements in High Velocity Spillways
(d) Causes of Damages and Structural Performance Evaluation of Dams
(e) Rehabilitation Technologies to Enhance Dam Safety
(f) Underwater Inspection, Robotics and Repair Methodologies for Dams
(g) Modernization, Optimization and Rehabilitation of Aging Dams
(h) Dam Surveillance and Monitoring - River Basin Development and Management including Optimization of Reservoirs Operation
- Innovative Construction Methodology and Contracting Practices
- Impacts of Climate Change – Sustainable Dams and Hydropower Development including Pumped Storage
- Engineering Challenges and Safety of Tailing Dams.
Authors are invited to submit abstracts on any of the above themes. All accepted papers will be published electronically in the Symposium Proceedings.
More information and details on how to submit an Abstract are available here.
NZSOLD Young Professional Group Summit
Friday 5th June 2020, 3.00pm
The NZSOLD Young Professional Group (YPG) is hosting a Summit from 3-5pm on Friday 5 June. This online event will be a less formal opportunity for students and young professionals to present. We also welcome more senior dams professionals to come along. The theme is “recent dam and levee incidents and failures”, with the aim of exploring these events so the NZ industry can learn from them.
We have seven presenters lined up, who have been working closely with industry experts. The presentations include high-profile NZ incidents and failures, such as Matahina Dam (1967 and 1987) and stopbank breach in the Edgecumbe 2017 flood, as well as exploring several lesser known NZ dam and stopbank incidents and failures. Two high-profile international failures, Feijao Dam in Brazil and Toddbrook Reservoir in England, will be examined with a focus on what we can learn from these for NZ practice.
If you’re under 40 and interested in the dam industry, please consider signing up to the NZSOLD YPG. Membership is free and sign up is easy: https://nzsold.org.nz/committee/young-professionals-group/