2006 – Dam Monitoring at Verbund – Austrian Hydro Power
Pius Obernhuber
Verbund – Austrian Hydro Power (AHP) is the owner and operator of 27 large dams. The highest dam is the 200 m high Koelnbrein arch dam and the highest embankment dam is the 83 m high Durlass-boden dam. Instrumentation of the dams of AHP comprises almost all kinds of instruments employed in dam monitoring. Manual measurements are carried out with the help of portable terminals. Auto-matic monitoring with an early warning system is implemented at all dams. Besides a description of the monitoring system and some “interesting” measurement results the article also deals with organisational aspects of dam surveillance.
The case study of Koelnbrein arch dam is appended to the article. It contains a brief description of the original dam and the encountered problems as well as of the main elements of the remedial works. Dam surveillance and the performance up to now are also dealt with.
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Papers 2006
2006 – Reservoir Safety in England and Wales – A Time of Change
Learn moreIan Hope
The Water Act 2003 established a new role for the Environment Agency, that of the Enforcement Authority for the Reservoirs Act 1975 in England and Wales. The transfer of this regulatory role from 136 Local Authorities has had a significant impact on the regulated community. Further change is heralded with the forthcoming introduction of Reservoir Flood Plans, Post-Incident Reporting and a review of current regulations. The improvements sought in reservoir safety may be at risk due to a growing skills shortage and increasing financial constraints imposed by owners.
This paper highlights the issues impacting on the reservoir industry in England and Wales and in recognising developments made by ANCOLD members the author seeks to understand how they are being responded to in Australia.
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Papers 2006
2006 – ALARP Considerations for Dam Safety – Are We There Yet?
Learn morePeter Allen, Malcolm Barker, Shane McGrath and Chris Topham
Are we there Yet? The question we all ask in Tolerability of Risk. The answer is in the journey, which we are all on as owners, regulators or designers.
A number of authorities in Australia are applying risk assessment for the evaluation of dam safety upgrades in accordance with the October 2003 ANCOLD Guidelines on Risk Assessment. A fundamental requirement for the evaluation of risk below the limit of tolerability is the use of the As Low As Reasonably Practicable(ALARP) principle. In making a judgement as to whether an ALARP position may have been reached, ANCOLD suggest the evaluation of a Cost to Save a Statistical Life, good practice, level of existing risk, social concerns, affordability and duration of risk. ANCOLD also suggests consideration of the USBR Criteria for evaluating risk. Recent guidelines on the Acceptable Flood Capacity for Dams developed by the Queensland Dam Safety Regulator provide further insight into the application of ALARP.
The objective of the paper is to make dam owners, regulators and designers aware of some current practice regarding the evaluation of ALARP in Australia, highlight the challenges of applying this principle and to encourage further discussion.
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Papers 2006
2006 – Instrumentation and Monitoring of Large Dams: A Dam Safety Regulator’s View
Learn moreLeonard A McDonald
Dam safety regulators look for evidence in support of the safety status of dams and to justify the need for safety improvements. Instrumentation and monitoring have a key role in providing the needed evidence.
In New South Wales, the Dams Safety Committee [the DSC] is the regulator of dam safety. The purposes of instrumentation and monitoring from the viewpoint of the DSC are set out, along with the current regulatory requirements in New South Wales. The relationship of instrumentation and monitoring to the tolerability of risk is discussed. There are remarks on some special considerations for a regulator and on the contemporary trend to remote sensing for the capture of information. Two case studies are described to show how instrumentation and monitoring has improved the understanding of dam behaviour. Some pitfalls to avoid are listed from DSC experience. Finally, there is an outline of matters that a regulator would see deserve attention if ANCOLD does undertake preparation of a guideline document on instrumentation and monitoring.
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Papers 2006
2006 – Contemporary Issues Concerning the Instrumentation/Survey of Dams from the Legal Perspective
Learn moreDermot Armstrong
This paper reviews the general principles of duty of care which assist in the understanding of responsibilities that may exist for surveillance of dam safety, including the inter-play of the common law and statutory law. Only when there is a foundation in the general principles can obligations upon dam owners/operators with respect to surveillance and instrumentation be interpreted. Some legal issues around the development and use of industry guidelines are also explored.
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Papers 2006
2006 – Corporate Governance For Dam Safety
Learn moreS. Frazer
Ensuring compliance with the Regulator’s requirements is a cornerstone consideration for any water corporation in planning its risk minimisation strategies against dam failure. With the increased focus on due diligence and corporate governance however, there are emerging themes that are of equal importance for a water corporation in planning protections against its core risks to dam safety. These considerations include:
- documenting and implementing plans and strategies to ensure corporate compliance with the Regulator’s requirements and updating these in line with legislative and policy changes;
- Documenting and implementing the corporation’s defences to the common law duty of care for public liability, including keeping up to date with the latest case law development locally and internationally in interpreting implications in respect of damage to property and injury and loss of life in relation to dam failure.
- Adopting behaviours and practices that bear out a compliance culture – is the current dam safety assessment and training “best practice” and is this enough to defend a claim? What is reasonable in economic and practical terms to ensure defensibility?
- ensuring the Board, Executive and other Officers are informed of operational decisions and incidents and their advice is implemented;
- arranging and maintaining appropriate insurances if available for public liability and property damage, as well as protections for directors and officers, both past and current.
- Developing and implementing a policy for disclosure, document management and retention that will support investigation for legal proceedings purposes; including providing privilege for relevant legal advices