Role of Instrumentation in a Dam Safety Program

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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.

The 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.

  1. Day 1 – Monday, November 8
  2. Day 2 – Tuesday, November 9
  3. Day 3 – Wednesday,  November 10
  4. Day 4 – Monday, November 15

Session 1 - Traditional Dam Safety Instrumentation – Monday November 8, 0900 – 1300 Mountain Time 

Item 

Type 

Topic 

Presenter 

1A 

Presentation 

Risk Informed Site Characterization and PFMs 

Bill Walker 

1B 

Presentation 

Pore Water Pressure Instruments 

John Hynes 

1E 

Presentation 

Movement, Deflection, and Seismic Instruments 

Ali Ebrahimi 

1G 

Presentation 

Automated Installation 

Loic Galisson 

1H 

Case Study 

Automated Installation at Wolf Creek Dam 

Bill Walker 

 

Session 2 – Emerging and Future Dam Safety Instrumentation and Tools – Tuesday, November 9, 0900 - 1300 Mountain Time 

Session 2 

Type 

Topic 

Presenter 

2A 

Presentation 

UAV, ROV, and emerging inspection tools 

Gordon Anderlini 

2B 

Case Study 

2C 

Presentation 

LiDAR, INSAR, and emerging imagery tools 

Loic Galisson 

2D 

Case Study 

Georgette Hlepas 

2F 

Presentation 

Shape Arrays, Fiber Optics, High Accuracy GNSS, and emerging deflection measuring instrumentation 

Pierre Choquet and Loic Galisson 

2G 

Case Study 

Alexandre Simon and Gordon Anderlini/Megan 

2G 

Panel Discussion 

International and Other Industry Uses of Instrumentation 

Panel 

 

Session 3 – Interactive Case Studies on Dam Safety Instrumentation – Wednesday November 10, 0900 - 1300 Mountain Time 

Session 3 

Type 

Topic 

Presenter 

3A 

Interactive Case Study 

Earth Embankment Instrumentation 

Brandon Lanthier and Will Brown 

3B 

Break 

3C 

Panel Discussions 

Roles of Engineers, Scientists, Manufacturers, Integrators, and Contractors for a Dam Safety Program 

Panel Discussion 

3D 

Interactive Case Study 

Concrete Dam Instrumentation 

Georgette Hlepas and Bill Walker 

 

Session 4 – Owner’s Perspectives and Presentations on Data Evaluation – Monday November 15, 0900 - 1300 Mountain Time 

Session 4 

Type 

Topic 

Presenter 

4A 

Presentation 

Data Evaluation, Management, and Visualization Introduction 

Will Brown 

4B 

Presentation – Owner’s Perspective and Current Practice 

Alabama Power 

Lesli Harmon 

4C 

BC Hydro 

Gordon Anderlini 

4D 

EDF Company (Electricité De France) 

Alexandre Simon 

4E 

USACE 

Georgette Hlepas 

4F 

Panel Discussion 

Wish List by Owners on Data Evaluation, Management, and Visualization 

Panel Discussion 

4H 

Presentation 

Best Practices and Future of Data Evaluation 

Scott Anderson 

4I 

Presentation 

Data Evaluation Considerations 

Georgette Hlepas 

4J 

Case Study 

Data Evaluation Considerations Case Study – Bolivar Dam 

4K 

Q & A 

Open Discussion / Questions on Data Evaluation 

4M 

Panel Discussion 

Wrap Up / Discussion on Data Evaluation 

Panel Discussion 


Eligible for 16 PDHs

Brought to you in part by  

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Pierre Choquet

Technical Advisor, Vice-President of Market Development

RST Instruments

Pierre has been involved in the field of Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring for most of his career. He joined RST Instruments in 2007. Pierre graduated in Geological Engineering (Engineering Geology) from Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal and subsequently obtained a doctorate degree in Rock Mechanics from Ecole des Mines de Paris in France. From 1982 to 1993 he was a faculty member at the department of Mining and Metallurgy of Laval University in Quebec City where his specialty was rock mechanics, ground control, and applied geology. Pierre is a member of the ICOLD Technical Committee on Dam Surveillance and is also the Editor of the Instrumentation and Monitoring column of the Canadian Geotechnique magazine.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Alexandre Simon

Dam Surveillance Expert

Electricité De France

Alexandre Simon graduated in 1999 in Engineering from the School of Physics and Engineering in Grenoble, France. In 2000, he joined the EDF Company (Electricité De France) and gained experience in safety analysis for nuclear power plants. He worked for 8 years on major safety issues such as ten-year reviews and risk of external events. He also presented EDF’s positions to the Nuclear Safety Authority. In 2008, he moved to deal with dam surveillance. He was involved in the development and maintenance of various sensors (pendulums, vibrating wire extensometers and piezometers…). His activities have also focused on the interpretation of dam monitoring data. For that purpose, he was the industrial supervisor of two PhD students. 

His current position is Dam Surveillance Expert and he deals with complex behaviors and instrumentation of dams. He is a member of the French Committee of Large Dams and a coopted member of the ICOLD Technical Committee on Dam Surveillance.

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.

Lesli Harmon

Lesli Harmon is a Dam Safety Engineer with Southern Company Generation. She has three years of experience in dam safety including dam safety inspections, surveillance, instrumentation data interpretation and reporting, and FERC compliance. Lesli earned a B.S. Degree in Civil Engineering at Auburn University and is a registered Engineer Intern in Alabama.

Ali Ebrahimi

Principal Engineer

Geosyntec Consultants

Ali Ebrahimi is principal engineer with Geosyntec Consultants and has more than 15 years of experience in geotechnical engineering, geotechnical instrumentation, and automated data acquisition systems. His specialty is on the design, installation, and data management of the geotechnical and structural monitoring projects.  He has more than 10 years of experience on design, installation, integration, and maintenance of geotechnical instrumentation, and automated data acquisition system for several infrastructures including high risk dams in USA.  

Scott Anderson

Scott Anderson is a Principal Geotechnical Engineer for BGC Engineering in Golden, Colorado, and a frequent speaker on new technology.  Scott was previously a national leader for the Federal Highway Administration, a Senior Consulting Engineer and Practice Leader for part of what is now AECOM, and a Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Hawaii.  He has seen our work from all sides, which leads to his interest in advances to practice, and especially risk management through new technology and better communication. Scott has authored over well over 100 publications and has made more presentations than he keeps track of – he recently was interviewed by the ASCE Geo-Institute for the inaugural GeoStrata Extra and can be found on YouTube.  He is a member of the National Academies’ Committee on Geological and Geotechnical Engineering, a Steering Committee member of the Geotechnical Extreme Events Association of the National Science Foundation and longstanding co-chair of the Transportation Research Board Subcommittee on Geotechnical Asset Management, as well as being active with many professional committees and organizations.

Seth Green

Gordon Anderlini

Raphael Victor

Business Development Manager

Sixense

Raphael Victor has been working in the Instrumentation and Monitoring industry for 15 years on various international infrastructure projects mostly in Europe and in the US in cities such as Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Seattle, New York and Washington DC.

Through his journey implementing and managing monitoring programs on complex projects, he has gathered valuable experience to be shared with the civil engineering community.

Raphael is currently working as Business Development Manager at Sixense, an instrumentation and monitoring consultant providing high quality data on the structural and geotechnical condition of assets. Through his role, Raphael is assisting clients in North America on Infrastructure, Construction, Mining and Rail sectors.

Raphael earned is M.S. degree in civil and geotechnical engineering at ENSG Nancy (France).

William Empson

Senior Dam and Levee Safety Risk Advisor Risk Management Center Institute for Water Resources

USACE

Key:

Complete
Failed
Available
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Acknowledgement
Agree to terms to continue.
Agree to terms to continue. USSD Virtual Programs Code of Conduct
Online Workshop Day 1
11/08/2021 at 9:00 AM (MST)  |  Recorded On: 11/22/2021
11/08/2021 at 9:00 AM (MST)  |  Recorded On: 11/22/2021
Online Workshop Day 2
11/09/2021 at 9:00 AM (MST)  |  Recorded On: 11/22/2021
11/09/2021 at 9:00 AM (MST)  |  Recorded On: 11/22/2021
Online Workshop Day 3
11/10/2021 at 9:00 AM (MST)  |  Recorded On: 11/22/2021
11/10/2021 at 9:00 AM (MST)  |  Recorded On: 11/22/2021
Online Workshop Day 4
11/15/2021 at 9:00 AM (MST)  |  Recorded On: 11/22/2021
11/15/2021 at 9:00 AM (MST)  |  Recorded On: 11/22/2021
Evaluation
2 Questions
PDH Certificate
16.00 PDH credits  |  Certificate available
16.00 PDH credits  |  Certificate available