The conference theme is “Never the same dam twice”. This draws our attention to dams being dynamic. They are constantly changing through loads, aging process and environmental factors. Every time we step onto a dam something is different. The dams industry through all aspects of regulation, surveillance, dam safety management, design, risk and construction also needs to continuously adapt and improve to keep up with demands for more minerals, materials, water, energy and the impacts of climate change and at the same time ensuring people and society are protected from dam failure. The dams industry can’t rest! It must continue to evolve, embrace the lessons from the past and be innovative developing new technology, improving procurement, contracting, regulation and construction.
Sub-themes are:
There is recent media about Artificial Intelligence and the Organising Committee is keen to find out if anyone in the dams industry is applying Machine Learning.
A second area the Organising Committee would like authors to share their experiences on is the practical management of uncertainty in design, construction and surveillance. Both these topics are seen as opportunities to further develop the dams industry.