The US Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) has issued a call for papers to be submitted for three conferences during 2005.

ASDSO are inviting all persons interested in the safety of dams to submit material that will be considered for presentation at the West Regional Conference from 24-26 April at the Hilton of Santa Fe, New Mexico; the Northeast Regional Conference from 16-18 May at the Grand Hotel, Cape May, New Jersey and the National Dam Safety Conference 2005 from 25-29 September at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana.

The West Regional and Northeast Regional conferences are geared towards dam safety engineers and dam owners/operators in each region, with an emphasis on presentations from a dam owner’s perspective.

Dam safety technical issues could be, but are not limited to:

• Hydrology and hydraulics.

• Geotechnical issues.

• Case studies in dam Rehabilitation.

• Innovative design.

• Instrumentation.

• Low head dams.

Non-technical issues could include:

• Financing dam repairs.

• Security at dam sites.

• Insurance.

• Emergency action planning.

• Dam operations and maintenance issues.

• Owner/operator issues.

A one page-abstract of the presentation, including full contact information for the primary author or presenter, would need to be submitted by 20 January 2005. Abstracts will be selected by 28 February.

The conferences will also cater for exhibitions and sponsorship. There are a limited number of 8×10 exhibit spaces available to vendors, and companies can sponsor the reception or luncheon and be recognised during the conference and in the programme booklet.

To make a contribution, or for further information, contact:

West Regional Conference: Tamara P Haas, PE, New Mexico Office of the State Engineer, PO Box 25102, Santa Fe, NM 87504-5102. Tel: (505) 827-6143. E-mail: thaas@ose.state.nm.us.

Northeast Regional Conference: John Ritchey, New Jersey Department if Environmental Protection, Dam Safety Section, PO Box 419, Trenton, NJ 08625. Tel: (609) 984-0859. E-mail: john.ritchey@dep.state.nj.us.

The Dam Safety 2005 Conference needs abstracts of 200-300 words to be submitted by18 February. ASDSO suggests the following general subject areas:

• Dam failures & incidents.

• Dam safety regulatory programmes.

• Hydrology & hydraulics.

• Low-head dam hydraulics and public safety.

• Geotechnical issues.

• Owner issues.

• Emergency preparedness.

• Dam construction.

• Dam rehabilitation and design.

• Dam inspections.

• Security at dams.

• Removal of dams & environmental issues.

• Speciality tracts.

• General information/multi category.

Abstracts can be e-mailed to info@damsafety.org, or posted to ASDSO, 450 Old Vine Street, 2nd Floor, Lexington, KY, 40507. Announcements of selected papers will be made on or near 15 April.

Further details, and application, forms can be found by clicking the web link below.




External weblinks


The Association of State Dam Safety Officials