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Contains 2 Component(s), Includes Credits Includes a Live In-Person Event on 10/05/2023 at 8:00 AM (EDT)
This workshop will cover the user interface, how to navigate a 3D view, and the basic model tools including how to place Walls, Floors, Columns, Beams, and Foundations.
This workshop will cover the user interface, how to navigate a 3D view, and the basic model tools including how to place Walls, Floors, Columns, Beams, and Foundations.
A computer is required with Revit 2023 installed to follow along and develop a 3D model of a small Dam. The Dam will consist of a left and right training wall with buttresses, a sloped spillway with baffle blocks and an end sill, piers, and a walkway. After the lab, participants will have the ability to navigate a Revit Model to use for client meetings, presentations, and help estimate a budget for drafters.
Objective:
Discover the Autodesk BIM software called Revit. Get familiar with when it can be used and how GEI consultants use Revit to model Dams and develop construction documents. Learn how to model a small dam using the Revit tools to place a wall, floor, column, beam, and foundations. Get training on navigating Revit to present or use in a client meeting. Collect information to be able to estimate time and budget for drafters.
Target Audience:
Engineers
Dam Owners
Government Agencies
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- Non-member - $595
- Member - $495
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Contains 2 Component(s), Includes Credits Includes a Live In-Person Event on 10/04/2023 at 8:00 AM (EDT)
Scour of rock is a critical issue for dam safety and water conveyance structures. One of the many lessons learned from the 2017 Oroville spillway incidents was there is limited understanding in the industry of the rock scour process in addition to assessing the erodibility of dam foundations and spillways founded in rock.
Description
Scour of rock is a critical issue for dam safety and water conveyance structures. One of the many lessons learned from the 2017 Oroville spillway incidents was there is limited understanding in the industry of the rock scour process in addition to assessing the erodibility of dam foundations and spillways founded in rock.
The first half of the workshop will provide the knowledge and understanding on the physical processes governing rock scour, what information is needed for a scour assessment, what current tools and methods are available to perform a scour assessment, and case histories illustrating the use and interpretation of the results of scour analyses. The second half of the workshop will focus on group evaluation of scour for two examples: a plunging jet and an unlined rock spillway channel.
Objectives
Understanding of rock scour mechanisms and processes
Recognition of rock scour failure modes
Analytical tools for evaluation of rock scour and integration with RIDM framework
Project examples using various analytical approaches
Application of Erodibility Index and Block Theory Rock Erodibility Methods
Target Audience
Disciplines: geologists, geotechnical engineers, geological engineers, hydraulic engineers, dam safety engineers
Experience: Project level engineers and above
Dr. George Annandale, P.E.
Principal
George W. Annandale, Inc.
Dr. Annandale has more than 40 years of experience as a civil engineer specializing in water resources engineering. He offers services in the field of fluvial hydraulics, design and engineering; reservoir and water supply management; and hydrology and hydraulics. He has published numerous peer-reviewed papers and is author, co-author and contributing author to eight books on sedimentation and scour. He was named by International Water Power and Dam Construction as one of 20 engineers who made a significant global contribution to dam engineering at commencement of the 21st century. Dr. Annandale is known for the development of the Erodibility Index Method that can be used to determine the erodibility of any earth material, including rock. The method has been accepted by the engineering profession, is used globally for design and safety assessment of infrastructure and is included in federal and state manuals and guidelines. The method is contained in guidelines by FERC, US Army Corps of Engineers, US Bureau of Reclamation, US Federal Highway Administration, Australian Dam Safety Authority, Electricite de France, French Gravity Dam Guidelines, and others. He authored the book "Scour Technology", published by McGraw-Hill in 2006, which has become a standard reference in this field of specialization. Dr. Annandale consults internationally and has worked on projects in more than 25 countries.
Dr. Mike George, P.E.
Geological Engineer
BGC Engineering
Dr. George is a geological engineer specializing in water resources and dam engineering with focus on foundation / spillway erodibility, scour remediation, rock mechanics, hydraulics, high-resolution remote sensing monitoring, and reliability methods. He has worked as a consulting engineer and researcher in the United States and abroad and has developed methodologies for evaluation of rock mass erodibility, delivered training to FERC/USACE on scour, and authored over 25 papers on the subject including sections of the recently updated FERC Engineering Guidelines for Arch Dams (2018). Dr. George is also co-chair to the newly formed International Working Group on Overflowing & Overtopping Erosion (IWGOOE) hosted through ICOLD.
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- Non-member - $1,095
- Member - $995
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Contains 1 Component(s) Includes a Live In-Person Event on 10/03/2023 at 8:00 AM (EDT)
The Workshop aims to cover a variety of topics related to dam instrumentation monitoring. Attendees will learn the fundamentals, what questions need to be answered by an instrumentation system, considerations to remember when evaluating the data, how does automation improve monitoring program, and be exposed to emerging technologies.
This Workshop will include presentations, exercises, and instrumentation equipment displays/demonstrations which all are intended to provide workshop participants with improved insight, understanding, and comfort with respect to instrumentation.
The Workshop aims to cover a variety of topics related to dam instrumentation monitoring. Attendees will learn the fundamentals, what questions need to be answered by an instrumentation system, considerations to remember when evaluating the data, how does automation improve monitoring program, and be exposed to emerging technologies.
Workshop exercises will allow discussion of real-world scenarios. The scenarios will involve both embankment and concrete dams, planning of instrumentation system as well as data evaluation. A significant portion of the instrumentation workshop will be devoted to hands-on exercises design to walk participants through the entire scope of instrumentation from planning to design to evaluating data.
Instrumentation equipment suppliers will have displays that will be used to enhance the "foundational" presentations, and the workshop will offer time for one-on-one discussions with equipment suppliers regarding general or special questions, issues, challenges, etc.
Fundamentally, the Workshop will seek to maximize the opportunities for educational discussions among the participants, presenters, and instrumentation equipment suppliers about real-world situations, and how they might best be addressed.
Workshop Objectives
- Understand the fundamental multidisciplinary knowledge areas involved in instrumentation monitoring
- Understand the role of risk in a dam instrument monitoring program:
o What are the risks / hazards associated with a site? What should you be monitoring for?
o Through the use of risk informed thresholds, how will you know if your data is safe?
- Understand best practices when evaluating instrumentation data
- Understand the role of automation in a modern dam monitoring program:
o Additional considerations, equipment, and expertise needed to install and operate an automated instrumentation system
- Be introduced to new emerging instrumentation and monitoring technologies
- Practice the above topics in exercises and share knowledge through group discussions
- Participate in discussions with instrument suppliers about specific issues of interest.Target Audience
Workshop will provide a general overview for the understanding of the factors that influence the accuracy and reliability of dam instrumentation data. Novice to seasoned professionals will all benefit from the workshop. Engineers, dam owners, geologists, technicians, and government agencies should all attend.
16 PDHs
Brandon Lanthier
Project Engineer, SF Bay Area Branch
Geosyntec Consultants, Inc.
Brandon Lanthier is a Project Engineer with the SF Bay Area Branch of Geosyntec Consultants, Inc. He has 8 years of professional civil engineering experience with 5 years focused on dam safety. Brandon's experience includes geotechnical analysis and design, instrumentation data collection and analysis, construction management and quality assurance, and dam safety review and analysis. He has also served as recorder on several FERC Part 12D PFMA workshops and is currently working closely with the California Department of Water Resources. Brandon earned B.S. and M.S. Degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering at UCLA. Brandon is a registered Geotechnical and Professional Engineer in California.
John Hynes, PE
Geotechnical Engineer
Stantec
John Hynes has 11 years of experience in geotechnical engineering, largely on dam and hydropower projects. John's experience includes geotechnical analysis and design, instrumentation data collection and analysis, and construction monitoring of heavy civil projects involving hydroelectric powerplants, earth and rockfill embankments, foundation improvements, rock blasting, and excavations. John grew up in Chicago, IL and attended the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in Civil Engineering. After receiving his master's degree in 2008, John began working at Stantec (then MWH) in their Chicago office.
Georgette Hlepas, PhD, PE
National Geotechnical Policy Advisor
US Army Corps of Engineers
Dr. Georgette Hlepas is the National Geotechnical Policy Advisor for the US Army Corps of Engineers and is located in the Headquarters office in DC. She is also the lead for the USACE Instrumentation and Performance Monitoring Community of Practice and the Chairperson for the USSD Monitoring of Dams and Their Foundations Committee. She has ~13 years of experience in geotechnical engineering and instrumentation with USACE and has been an instructor of several instrumentation courses. She has a PhD in Civil and Materials Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is a licensed Professional Engineer in Illinois.
Will Brown
Branch Chief, Division of Dam Safety and Inspections
FERC
Will Brown is a Branch Chief for FERC’s Division of Dam Safety and Inspections Atlanta Regional Office. Will’s team annually reviews instrumentation and monitoring reports for over sixty high hazard dams. Prior to joining the Commission in 2010, Will worked for the Natural Resources Conservation Service completing inspections, design and analyses of dams in Georgia. Will also served on active duty as an engineer in the U.S. Army for nine and a half years completing construction and design projects in the U.S., Haiti, Nicaragua, Germany, Kuwait, and Iraq. Will has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and M.S. degrees in Civil Engineering and Engineering Management from the University of Missouri-Rolla. Will is a registered Professional Engineer in Georgia and Missouri.
Bill Walker
Geotechnical Engineer
Nashville District Corps of Engineers
Bill has over 10 years’ experience specializing in dam and levee safety that includes; instrumentation and monitoring systems, dam safety modifications, and risk assessments. Key projects include the Wolf Creek and Center Hill ADAS and barrier wall installations; the Mosul Dam ADAS and emergency grouting; and contributing author of the USACE Dam Safety and Instrumentation Policy. He has both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Geological Engineering from Ole Miss and is a Professional Geologist.
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- Non-member - $1,095
- Member - $995
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Contains 3 Component(s), Includes Credits Includes a Live Web Event on 08/17/2023 at 10:00 AM (MDT)
This webinar intends to briefly revisit the key elements of life loss consequence analysis and provide a connection to how each of those key elements is incorporated into LifeSim to estimate life loss
August 17, 2023 10am MDT
This webinar intends to briefly revisit the key elements of life loss consequence analysis and provide a connection to how each of those key elements is incorporated into LifeSim to estimate life loss. The presentation will also touch on dam safety economic considerations by highlighting the economic consequences that can be assessed using LifeSim. Lastly, this overview will include a discussion of how the results of consequence analysis performed in LifeSim can help answer important dam owner and dam safety practitioner questions, especially within a risk-informed decision-making framework.
Stephanie Owen
Geosyntec Consultants, Inc.
Ms. Owen is the lead of Geosyntec’s consequences practice where she primarily supports dams, levees, and tailings dams projects through consequences, economic, and risk analyses. Prior to joining Geosyntec in October 2022, she spent the last 7 years working as an economist at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) where she supported a variety of projects ranging from flood risk management to inland navigation to dam and levee safety. She is an expert in USACE’s software LifeSim which is used for simulating the warning and evacuation process and estimating potential life loss and direct economic damages resulting from catastrophic floods. As such, she worked alongside her USACE colleagues in instructing Consequences and Lifesim Workshops as well as contributed to the validation studies, research and development, documentation, and beta-testing of the software. Additionally, Ms. Owen has been involved in multiple dam and levee risk assessments as an subject matter expert and is involved in the ongoing development of a USSD white paper outlining the state of the practice.
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- Early bird pricing available!
- Non-member - $139
- Member - $89
- Regular Price after 07/12/2023 1:19 PM
- Non-member - $149
- Member - $99
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Contains 4 Component(s), Includes Credits Includes a Live Web Event on 07/20/2023 at 10:00 AM (MDT)
Early Contractor Involvement in dam and water projects has many facets. Join our presenters for an overview of ECI followed by a discussion of the various motivations for the use of ECI from the owner, engineer and contractor perspectives. The benefits of ECI will be reviewed, as well as the challenges specific to the dam industry. To conclude the webinar the presenters will provide their experience using ECI as it relates to specific projects.
July 20, 2023 10am MDT
The webinar will begin with an overview of ECI and its use in the built environment. ECI has been broadly used in many areas (power generation, transportation, vertical construction, etc.), but only recently has begun to be used in complex water storage and conveyance projects.
Motivation for its Use:
The webinar will continue by discussing the various motivations for the use of ECI from the owner, engineer and contractor perspectives.
It is important for all participants in the ECI process to understand each other’s perspectives and the reasons for using the ECI process. Large dam and water projects are unique within the industry because of their size and the uncertainty of geotechnical conditions, and this makes the use of ECI unique for all involved parties.
Benefits:
Each team member is challenged in their specific area, with the ultimate goal of producing the best overall value for the project. Efforts to create a team that delivers a project that will meet the needs of the owner, perform as designed and be constructed for a fair overall cost with be reviewed.
Headwinds:
While there are obvious benefits to the process, there are also headwinds when employing the ECI process. The uniqueness of dam and water projects means there is not a lot of precedence or previous examples to look to and to learn from.
Project Examples and Conclusion:
Finally, the presenters will provide their experience using ECI as it relates to specific projects.
2 PDHs
Del Shannon, P.E.
Kiewit
Del has 30 years of experience working in the civil, geotechnical, and environmental engineering fields, including extensive experience working on concrete and embankment dam safety and dam design. Del regularly contributes his expertise to local, national and international committees, including serving on the Roller Compacted Concrete Committees for the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD). He is also Board President of the US Society on Dams (USSD), serves on the ASCE Committee on America’s Infrastructure (CAI) and is a committee member of the Geotechnical Engineering and Design/Build Subcommittees for the USSD and the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO).
Jeff Martin
Denver Water
Gregory Zamensky
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- Early bird pricing available!
- Non-member - $139
- Member - $89
- Regular Price after 06/22/2023 1:19 PM
- Non-member - $149
- Member - $99
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Contains 7 Component(s), Includes Credits Includes Multiple Live Events. The next is on 06/21/2023 at 9:30 AM (MDT)
The course is a comprehensive review of dam and levee safety risk analysis
Target Audience
The target audience for this training is engineers, scientists, and regulators interested in better understanding and preparing to participate in and/or facilitate dam and levee safety risk assessments.
Learning Objectives:
The training includes instruction to enable participants to:
- Create potential failure mode descriptions and event trees, and use them to develop risk estimates.
- Describe the hazards that affect dams and levees and apply them to risk analysis.
- Identify relevant case histories and foundational research studies.
- Apply principles of theory of probability and statistics to quantify, combine and portray risk estimates.
- Identify essential elements of life loss consequence estimates.
- Build the case for risk estimates.
- Explain governance and risk guidelines.
- Become familiar with other disciplines and their input to risk estimates.
*USACE will no longer be offering this course to Non-USACE personnel
36 PDHs
Format:
Virtual-
June 21-23, 2023
In Person-
June 27-29, 2023
10055 Trainstation Circle, Lone Tree, CO
You MUST attend the entirety of the virtual and in-person portions of the training to receive full credit for the course
Nearby Hotels:
Hampton Inn & Suites Denver/South-RidgeGate
TownePlace Suites Denver South/Lone Tree
Jonathan Harris
Schnabel
Jonathan Harris currently acts as the National Practice Leader for Dam Safety and Risk at Schnabel. He has over 27 years of experience specializing in geotechnical engineering, embankment dam design, seismic engineering, dam safety, and risk analysis. He spent 11 years with the Bureau of Reclamation, working at the Technical Service Center as a Technical Project Lead. Jonathan has conducted numerous dam safety assessments for Reclamation, FERC licensees, and other hydropower owners in the United States and other countries. He spent three years working in New Zealand performing dam safety and risk assessments within New Zealand and other countries.
Jonathan has performed as a facilitator and subject matter expert for qualitative and quantitative risk analyses for numerous dam facilities. He has actively been involved in providing training for dam safety and risk analysis for over 15 years and is currently part of the United States Society on Dams risk-informed decision making (RIDM) training development leadership team and helped organize the semi-quantitative risk analysis RIDM training.
Jonathan has overseen numerous embankment dam projects for new and existing structures including site investigation, design, construction, and remediation. He has also been involved with many dam safety assessments for a variety of dam structure types and appurtenant structures, including embankments, spillways, and concrete dams.
Gregg A Scott, P.E., F. ASCE
Scott Consulting, LLC
Mr. Scott received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He started his career with the Bureau of Reclamation in 1976, where he worked for 34 years before joining the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Risk Management Center as Lead Civil Engineer, where he worked through 2018. He has been involved with design, analysis, and construction of dams and dam safety projects, as well as the development and application of potential failure mode analysis and risk analysis for dam safety. He served on several review panels for Bureau of Reclamation and Corps of Engineers dam construction and dam safety projects. He has authored over 35 technical papers in journals and conference proceedings related to dam safety and dam engineering. He is now retired from Federal service, but continues to consult on a limited basis.
Bill Fiedler, P.E.
Senior Technical Advisor
HDR
Bill has 42 years’ experience in hydraulic and structural engineering designs for concrete dams and appurtenant structures, with the Bureau of Reclamation. While with Reclamation, he served as a technical specialist and design team leader for numerous water resource projects. In the later part of his career, he served as a member of Reclamation’s three-person Risk Advisory Team, which was responsible for developing additional risk analysis methodologies and providing training for Reclamation.
staff. Bill has particular expertise in concrete dam and spillway modifications, including: project planning and design coordination; analysis and design of structural modifications; review of design drawings and specifications; construction support; and risk analysis methodologies and facilitation. He has written numerous papers focused on dam safety evaluations and dam safety modifications. He was a lead author on a Reclamation manual focused on drains for dams and on a FEMA manual focused on flood overtopping protection for dams. For the past two years, he has worked as a consultant in the role of senior technical advisor.
Guy Lund
Chief Civil/Structural Engineer
Gannett Fleming, Inc.
Mr. Lund has over 40 years of experience in dam safety, design, including hydraulic structure design of spillways, outlet works, and appurtenant structures, comprehensive structural analyses of concrete dams (static and dynamic analyses utilizing both linear and non-linear methodologies), field investigations, and construction. Early in his career Mr. Lund worked as a design engineer on numerous spillways, water conveyance systems, and outlet works for the Bureau of Reclamation. He has work in the private sector for over the past over 30 years Mr. Lund and gained experience in the design, analysis, and evaluation of all types of concrete dams.
Mr. Lund has been working with potential failure modes and risk for over 20 years, and currently serves as the independent consultant and of board of consultant review member for many FERC Projects.
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- Non-member - $3,550
- Member - $2,750
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Contains 3 Component(s), Includes Credits
Join us for a Risk refresher to help you make the most of your time in the Dam Safety tracks at the Annual Conference. The webinar will touch on Risk Informed Decision-making 101, consequence estimation, decisions following risk analyses and assessment, and routine risk management and measurement. *Included with your 2023 Conference Registration
Join us for a Risk refresher to help you make the most of your time in the Dam Safety tracks at the Annual Conference. The webinar will touch on Risk Informed Decision-making 101, consequence estimation, decisions following risk analyses and assessment, and routine risk management and measurement.
*Included with your 2023 Conference Registration- if you did not add this webinar to your conference registration and would like to attend please email 2023conference@ussdams.org
Jonathan Harris
Schnabel
Jonathan Harris currently acts as the National Practice Leader for Dam Safety and Risk at Schnabel. He has over 27 years of experience specializing in geotechnical engineering, embankment dam design, seismic engineering, dam safety, and risk analysis. He spent 11 years with the Bureau of Reclamation, working at the Technical Service Center as a Technical Project Lead. Jonathan has conducted numerous dam safety assessments for Reclamation, FERC licensees, and other hydropower owners in the United States and other countries. He spent three years working in New Zealand performing dam safety and risk assessments within New Zealand and other countries.
Jonathan has performed as a facilitator and subject matter expert for qualitative and quantitative risk analyses for numerous dam facilities. He has actively been involved in providing training for dam safety and risk analysis for over 15 years and is currently part of the United States Society on Dams risk-informed decision making (RIDM) training development leadership team and helped organize the semi-quantitative risk analysis RIDM training.
Jonathan has overseen numerous embankment dam projects for new and existing structures including site investigation, design, construction, and remediation. He has also been involved with many dam safety assessments for a variety of dam structure types and appurtenant structures, including embankments, spillways, and concrete dams.
Matthew Young
Dom Galic
Geotechical Engineer
Bureau of Reclamation
Dom Galic is a geotechnical engineer with the Bureau of Reclamation's TechnicalService Center in Denver. He has been with Reclamation for over ten years, sincecompleting his doctoral research (in rock mechanics) at the University of California,Berkeley. Dom has been a risk analysis facilitator since 2011 and is an active memberof the Reclamation risk cadre, a working group established to provide training andguidance on risk analysis methodology and promote consistency in risk informeddecision making. He is a registered professional engineer in the State of Colorado.
Jacob Davis
USACE
Jacob Davis is the Special Assistant for Dam Safety for HQ USACE. He has served at Headquarters’ for more than 5 years and is responsible for policy, guidance, and oversight of the dam safety program., which includes making risk informed recommendations for dam safetystudies, modifications, and aspects of daily Operations and Maintenance activities.The USACE portfolio has more than 740 multiple purpose dams that provide approximately $ 170Bin flood damage prevention annually, protects more than 15 million people living in flood plains downstream of dams , facilitates 12,000 miles of inlandwater navigation , stores one third of all fresh water to serve over 100 million people, allows for 25% of hydropower generation, creates over 190,000 jobsthat support 250 million recreation visitors who enjoy camping, fishing, boating, hiking, and other activities
Mr. Davis began his career at the USACE Jacksonville District where he was introduced to dams during the foundation exploration and design for the Portugués Dam in Puerto Rico; design and construction at Herbert Hoover Dike in south Florida; and participated in inspections, repairs, and instrumentation planning and evaluations at dams and levees. He later joined the USACE Risk Management Center where he evaluated interim risk reduction measure plans, facilitated risk assessments, participated as ageotechnical risk assessor and technical advisor, and served as a program manager.
Prior to joining Headquarters’, Mr. Davis worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority helping to improve the risk informed decision making program and governance structure for dam safety. Mr. Davi s holds a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering and is both a registeredProfessional Engineer and Project Management Professional.
Nate Snorteland
Speaker
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- Non-member - $100
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Contains 3 Component(s), Includes Credits
Get a sneak preview of the H&H technical tracks prior to the 2023 Annual Conference, which will cover topics like climate change and flood hazards, spillway erosion, CFD modeling, and spillway design. The webinar will serve as an introduction to the material to improve engagement and learning outcomes during the conference. *Included with your 2023 Conference Registration
Get a sneak preview of the H&H technical tracks prior to the 2023 Annual Conference, which will cover topics like climate change and flood hazards, spillway erosion, CFD modeling, and spillway design. The webinar will serve as an introduction to the material to improve engagement and learning outcomes during the conference.
*Included with your 2023 Conference Registration- if you did not add this webinar to your conference registration and would like to attend please email 2023conference@ussdams.org
Miles Yaw
Civil Engineer - Hydraulics and Hydrology
Tennessee Valley Authority
Miles Yaw is a Civil Engineer in the Tennessee Valley Authority’s River Management unit. He manages TVA’s probabilistic hydrology, downstream consequences, and paleoflood hydrology programs, and also serves as a subject matter expert for hydraulics and hydrology for Dam Safety Inspections, Risk Assessments, and Modification Studies. He currently serves as the Young Professional Vice Chairman of the USSD Hydraulics and Hydrology committee. Prior to TVA, Mr. Yaw worked in consulting, focusing on river mechanics, sediment transport, and fluvial geomorphology. During that time, Mr. Yaw performed sediment transport studies on rivers across the United States to help dam owners understand downstream morphological impacts of existing and proposed operations. Mr. Yaw also provided direct development and testing support for the sediment transport routines in HEC-RAS 5.x. He holds a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University and a BS in Civil Engineering from Washington State University. He currently lives in Knoxville, TN with his wife and three children.
Ryan Clark
Ryan Clark is a hydraulic engineer with the USACE Dam Safety Modification Center (DSMC). While the center is located in LRH, Mr. Clark sits virtually in the Nashville District. Prior to working for the DSMC he worked in the Water Resources Section of the Hydrology and Hydraulics Branch of the Nashville District for over 8 years. With over 10 years of flood risk experience, he currently works on hydrologic hazards and risk studies for the USACE Dam and Levee Safety Program. He received his B.S. and M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Tennessee Technological University as well as a M.S. in Risk Management from Notre Dame of Maryland University. He is a registered professional engineer in the State of Tennessee. Besides work, he enjoys watching the Cubs and Titans, getting outdoors as much as possible with his family, and enjoying a nice glass of bourbon with his friends.
Carolyn Pearson
Carolyn J. Pearson is a Hydrologic Engineer at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Risk Management Center. Carolyn is a registered professional engineer in the state of Missouri with over 11 years of experience in hydraulic and hydrology analysis, design, and risk assessment in the dam and levee safety programs. She is currently an RMC Regional Hydrology Lead providing technical guidance and oversight on national Dam and Levee Safety studies. She has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Missouri University of Science & Technology, a B.S. in Chemistry and Secondary Education from Graceland University, an M.S in Civil Engineering (Water Resources & Environmental) from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and an M.S. in Risk Management from the Notre Dame University of Maryland. She currently lives near the front range of the Rocky Mountains in Littleton, CO.
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Contains 3 Component(s), Includes Credits
What’s New in Research This webinar will highlight exciting dam related research projects from around the world. Projects in (1) seismic capacity of dams, (2) aging and deterioration of concrete dams, and (3) health monitoring of levees will be featured. Three PhD students will present their research and answer questions.
What's New in Research- free for USSD Members
This webinar will highlight exciting dam-related research projects from around the world. Projects in (1) seismic capacity of dams, (2) aging and deterioration of concrete dams, and (3) health monitoring of levees will be featured. Three PhD students will present their research and answer questions.
1) Concrete dams are structures of great strategic relevance, but their seismic assessment is still a challenging task. Part of the issue is the role of uncertainties, due to both material and ground motion variability. Modelling said uncertainties is an important step in the seismic assessment of dams, but one which exacts a heavy toll in terms of computational costs. To lessen this burden, specific analysis methods have been proposed in the last few years: among these the Endurance Time Analysis, or ETA, which is based on artificial ground motions generated from meta-features of real ones. During this presentation we will briefly see the results of tests in which ETA is compared to established analysis techniques for validation.
2) Dams are aging and many were designed at a time with limited technical data. Average age of the 91,000 dams in the United States is 59 years as of 2022. The most recent ASCE’s Report Card for America’s Infrastructure gave a D grade for dams. Recent crises (e.g., Oroville and Michigan dams) show the importance of dam safety. Concrete deterioration can result in severe decline in dams’ functionality making them more vulnerable to failure (especially under flooding and seismic events). Alkali aggregate reaction (AAR) is one of the major sources causing concrete deterioration. This presentation provides recent findings on a systematic and comprehensive framework for physics-based numerical simulation of aging dams coupled with field measurements. It highlights the importance of various factors for initiating and accelerating the aging process in dams. Also, the future expansion and dam safety is discussed.
3) Current levee health monitoring is mainly visual and sometimes with discrete instrumentation at a single point ignoring the majority of the subsurface. As these critical infrastructures continue to age and deteriorate, better inspection practices are needed to assess the health of these systems. This research proposes to use a combination of non-invasive sensing techniques to image the surface and subsurface of levees. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are being used to collect optical imagery, thermal imagery, and LIDAR point clouds of the surface while geophysical techniques such as Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) and Electromagnetic Induction (EMI) are being used to characterize the subsurface.
Golsa Mahdavi
She is a PhD candidate at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her PhD thesis is focused on the AAR analysis of concrete dams. Her research interests are safety assessment of concrete dams, finite element simulation, material deterioration and seismic analysis. She has received multiple awards including the 2021 USSD student scholarship award as well as EERI and MMM10 travel awards.
Carlo Resta
University di Pisa, Italy
I'm a Ph.D. student in Civil Engineering at the University of Pisa, in Italy. I'm currently involved in two separate (but not-too-distant) research topics: monitoring of cultural heritage structures, mainly masonry ones, and seismic analysis of concrete dams. I'm also a member of the Italian association Ingegneria Senza Frontiere (Engineering Without Borders).
Brittany Russo
University of California, Berkeley
Brittany Russo is a PhD candidate at the University of California, Berkeley studying GeoSystems Engineering in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department with a research focus on levee health monitoring and was the second place USSD Scholarship Winner in 2022. She is the chair for the GeoEngineering Graduate Students Association at Berkeley which provides Berkeley GeoSystems graduate students with social events for networking and furthering education. She received a Bachelor of Applied Science in Geological Engineering from the University of Waterloo in 2019 and a Masters in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 2020.
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Contains 5 Component(s), Includes Credits
This webinar will provide an overview of developments in seismic hazard assessment in the Central and Eastern United States (CEUS), with a focus on their applicability to dam sites.
This webinar will provide an overview of developments in seismic hazard assessment in the Central and Eastern United States (CEUS), with a focus on their applicability to dam sites. The course will begin with a description of the available approaches, seismic source models, and ground motion models used to evaluate seismic hazard in the CEUS, and how these approaches, models, and the resulting ground motions differ from those in the Western United States (WUS). Illustrative examples will be provided to demonstrate the different options available for evaluating seismic hazard at a dam site in the CEUS, including the use of publicly available regional models and site-specific seismic hazard assessments. Available methods for accounting for local site effects will be presented, including developments in simplified site adjustment models and site-specific site response analysis. The webinar will conclude with a discussion of the different ways seismic hazard assessments are used in dam safety evaluations, ranging from a single evaluation level tied to a deterministic earthquake scenario to use of the entire ground motion hazard curve in a risk analysis.
Learning Objectives
1. Understand key differences between seismic hazard in the WUS and CEUS
2. Understand the options available for estimating seismic hazard in the CEUS ranging from the USGS unified seismic hazard tool to site-specific hazard analysis
3. Understand the methods available for accounting for local site effects ranging from simplified site adjustment factors to site-specific site response analysis
4. Review of how seismic hazard analyses are used in dam safety evaluations, i.e., selection of the deterministic “MCE,” selection of a single probabilistic return period, or use of the entire hazard curve in a risk analysisGlenn J. Rix, Ph.D., P.E.
Geosyntec Consultants, Inc.
Glenn J. Rix is a senior principal geotechnical engineer based in Georgia with more than 30 years of experience focused on the areas of geotechnical earthquake engineering and engineering seismology. His practice includes seismic hazard and risk assessment and mitigation for civil infrastructure. Glenn joined the firm following a 23-year career as a professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Since joining Geosyntec, Glenn has performed seismic hazard and risk analyses, liquefaction triggering evaluations, site response analyses, and seismic stability and deformation analyses for embankment and concrete dams, coal combustion residual (CCR) storage facilities, municipal and hazardous waste landfills, liquefied natural gas facilities, and highway bridges. He has also served as an external peer reviewer for seismic hazard analyses for nuclear power plants and provided litigation support for numerous cases related to the effects of blasting- and construction-induced ground vibrations on structures. Glenn is a leading authority on in-situ seismic methods and is a co-author of Surface Wave Methods for Near-Surface Site Characterization and the forthcoming American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Manual on Subsurface Investigations.
Christie Hale
Geosyntec Consultants, Inc.
Christie Hale is a seismic hazard analyst involved in seismic safety assessment projects. Her technical experience includes deterministic and probabilistic seismic hazard analysis, deaggregation analysis, target spectrum development, and time history selection and modification. Dr. Hale also has experience in PSHA code development, testing, and verification, and is a key contributor to the PSHA computer program HAZ45. Prior to joining Geosyntec, she led the PSHA Code Verification project at the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center, where her ability to understand how different modeling approaches impact the resulting seismic hazard curves was instrumental in helping participants troubleshoot their codes and ultimately reach consensus answers.
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