The British Dam Society
The BDS provides technical subjects relating to the planning, design, construction, maintenance, operation, safety, social and environmental aspects of dams and reservoirs.
- Date
- 08 January 2024
- Time
This event has now ended
Overview
Many dams in the UK were built in the 1800’s and 1900’s and as such, many of the features which make up the dams are now considered key heritage structures with listed status or have other significant designations. In addition these dams are typically set in areas such as Registered Park and Gardens (RPAG), SSSI’s or areas of outstanding natural beauty.
Access to the dams can often be difficult with other structures close by also listed or considered ancient scheduled monuments. Therefore maintenance or capital works have to take into account these difficulties and ensure that the correct approvals and licences are obtained and works undertaken sympathetically whilst retaining the key features and ensuring our heritage is retained for the benefit of all.
The National Trust of the UK (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) owns some 200 reservoirs, of which 47 are statutory large raised reservoirs. The reservoirs were mostly built in the eighteenth, nineteenth or twentieth centuries, when construction methods were both varied and evolving.
Cadw is the Welsh Government’s historic environment service which is made up of around 250 people working across a range of disciplines. Cadw is a Welsh word meaning ‘to keep’ or ‘to protect’, conserving, protecting and working for an accessible and well-protected historic environment.
Around 100 of our people are custodians — working at monuments in our care — or are part of the in-house teams that undertake conservation and maintenance at our sites. We have specialist staff, including field monument wardens and inspectors of historic buildings, ancient monuments and historic parks and gardens, who are based all over Wales.
This talk will outline some of the issues and challenges of working alongside and on historic structures whilst meeting the requirements of the Reservoir Act, and the sometimes conflicting priorities this can generate.
Speakers
Dr Jonathan Berry
Cadw
Senior Inspector of Ancient Monuments and Archaeology
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Dr Jonathan Berry
Dr Jonathan Berry is senior inspector of ancient monuments and archaeology at Cadw. He has worked at Cadw for over twenty years and provides advice on works affecting scheduled monuments.
He has recent experience working with historic assets that are included within the provisions of the Reservoir Act 1975, owned both by third parties and part of the Welsh Government's historic estate. He is a corporate member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.
Richard Terrell
Binnies
Chief Reservoir Engineer
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Richard Terrell
Richard is the chief reservoir engineer for Binnies and is also a supervising engineering.
He has over 15 years’ experience of reservoir management and operations for a major water undertaker which included listed structures.
More recently he was ECC PM on two National Trust projects working on listed structures and historic landscapes.
Dr Mark Roberts
National Trust
National Consultant
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Dr Mark Roberts
Mark Roberts works for the National Trust as their specialist for water. Mark works across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland providing advice and guidance on all aspects of water including mains water usage, private water supplies, sewage treatment, flood risk, and reservoirs.
Over the last 7 years, National Trust has worked alongside consultants and our community of specialist volunteers to better understand and report on the significance of our portfolio.
With changes in regulatory requirements and the increasing cost of large engineering projects, Mark has been supporting the organisation’s strategic thinking about how to prioritise these projects with the competing and often conflicting needs of heritage, nature, and dam safety.
Craig Goff
HR Wallingford
technical director, flood and water management
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Craig Goff
Craig is the technical director (dams & reservoirs) and leads the dam safety team at HR Wallingford.
He is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a chartered engineer, and a chartered manager, with more than 25 years post-graduate experience.
Craig is appointed by the UK Government to the Supervising Engineers Panel under the Reservoirs Act 1975 and holds the role of supervising engineer for more than 35 large, raised reservoirs in the UK, including the oldest one at more than 800 years old.
He has considerable experience in studies, investigations, and sympathetic design and construction of civil works on heritage dams.
Craig is the UK representative to, and vice-chair of, the ICOLD Technical Committee on O&M and Rehabilitation of Dams. He will be speaking regarding the heritage challenges arising from MIOS works on the National Trust’s Buscot Park Lake in Oxfordshire, for which HR Wallingford were principal designers and provided construction supervision.
David Littlemore
Tredegar House reservoir
Principal designer
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David Littlemore
David Littlemore was the principal designer on Tredegar House reservoir which was a listed structure and heritage landscape. David is a supervising engineer under the Reservoirs Act 1975.
