The National Dam Safety Review Board-Dam Safety Training Work Group is pleased to announce the fifteenth in a series of successful technical dam safety training seminars.  The topic for the National Dam Safety Program Technical Seminar No. 15 will be Lessons Learned from Dam Failures and Incidents.  The seminar will take place February 20-21, 2008, on the campus of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) training center in Emmittsburg, Maryland.

The seminar is intended for all dam safety professionals – bringing together designers, builders, inspectors, owners and those who maintain and operate dams – for two days of dynamic presentations about dam incidents and failures.  Embedded in these incidents are important lessons for dam safety professionals with all levels of experience.  The presentations are meant to enhance each participant’s ability to recognize and evaluate dam safety concerns based on mistakes or conditions that occurred at other dams.  Based on the case histories, participants will learn lessons about dams that are important but often overlooked, as well as lessons that are not well known or understood.  

Lessons Learned from Dam Failures and Incidents will provide important information, insightful discussion, and useful training on current and historic problems related to constructing, operating, and repairing all types of dams.  Many of the incidents discussed during the workshop provide the basis for current dam safety standards.  The incidents also demonstrate potential failure modes for dams similar to those the audience may be involved with.

The seminar will bring together an impressive list of experts from State and Federal dam safety programs, including the Bureau of Reclamation, the Corps of Engineers, FERC, and experts from the private sector for what promises to be a comprehensive and very enlightening seminar.

Individual presentations will be complemented by panel discussions where the audience will have the opportunity to interact with recognized dam safety experts to pursue innovative ideas and concepts. Take advantage of this very worthwhile program, and plan now to attend.