THANK YOU TO ALL DELEGATES, SPEAKERS, SPONSORS AND EXHIBITORS
FOR CONTRIBUTING TO THE SUCCESS OF THE 2017 ANCOLD CONFERENCE!

Thanks to all who attended the ANCOLD 2017 Conference held at Wrest Point in Hobart, Tasmania on Thursday 26 – Friday 27 October 2017. It was made even more memorable celebrating ANCOLD’s 80 year anniversary. I hope new connections were made, memories created and a few laughs shared.

We saw a total of 316 delegates who attended the conference which was a new record set in the last 6 years.

The Pre Conference workshop dedicated the morning session to discuss what a ANCOLD dam incident database would look like. The afternoon session saw delegates break into table sessions to discuss the ANCOLD Dam Safety Management Guidelines.

The Conference was officially opened by Her Excellency, Professor the Honourable Kate Warner, Governor of Tasmania. Day One opening keynote speaker Richard McLoughlin Assistant Secretary, Water Resources from the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources spoke about Building Water Infrastructure for the 21st Century. The next keynote speaker Nicola Morris CEO of Tasmanian Irrigation, shared their journey of irrigating the state of Tasmania. Both presentations aligned with our theme for the conference, “Great Expectations for New and Existing Dams”.

At the conference dinner, delegates cruised up the River Derwent before experiencing the thought provoking art work at the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), the largest private art collection in Australia.

Day Two we welcomed back keynote speaker Chris Rodd for a second year, who spoke about Duty of Care – Defensive Engineering or the Crystal Ball and gave us all something to think about. Our second keynote speaker Tony Bennett travelled international waters all the way from Canada to share and speak to us about Managing Dam and Public Safety Risks Canadian Guidance and an Owner’s Program.

We had two post conference tours to offer, the first being to Hydro Tasmania’s Gordon Dam and Power Station. There was also some entertainment with a few delegates testing their acrophobia and fulfilling their thrill seeking by abseiling Gordon Dam. Our second tour headed to the rugged West Coast via plane charter where we visited Crotty Dam, Renison Bell and a quick history stop to a hidden gem, the West Coast Heritage Centre in Zeehan and a wonderful dinner at Strahan before flying home.

On behalf of ANCOLD, we thank our ongoing support by all the sponsors and exhibitors and special thanks go to our major sponsor Groundwave Drilling. Sponsor exhibitions continue to be informative and interesting that link delegates with contractors, designers and suppliers that operate in the dams industry.

Emma Birch

2017 ANCOLD Conference Convenor