British Dam Society Conference Research Articles

20th Biennial BDS Conference 2018 – Tour 1: Caerphilly Castle

This paper is an account of the 20th Biennial British Dam Society Conference 2018 – Site Tour 1: Caerphilly Castle. Caerphilly Castle is the second largest castle in the United Kingdom and is surrounded by an inner and outer moat, which is impounded by earth embankments. This paper describes the general background of the visits, including some of the challenges that have arisen with the moats through the years and the work done to resolve them.

BDS conference – tour 2 – the gateway to the lakes

This paper is an account of the 19th biennial BDS conference 2016, site tour 2 – the gateway to the lakes. The British Dam Society (BDS) delegates first visited the Fisher Tarn Reservoir which is a combination of masonry gravity and earthfill dam. The tour also took in Wet Sleddale Reservoir, which is a concrete gravity dam ∼29 m high and 591 m long.

BDS conference in Belfast September 2014

The 18th biennial conference of the British Dam Society (BDS) took place at Queen's University, Belfast, with tours to several reservoirs. The conference banquet and Binnie lecture took place in Titanic Belfast. A pre-conference tour to Lagan weir was held, and this is reported upon separately. The Accompanying Persons programme also ran in parallel throughout the conference.

Technical visit: BDS conference 2012 – tour of Agden and Dale Dike

One of the four tours on the second day of the British Dam Society conference in Leeds in September 2012 visited Agden and Dale Dike dams.

Meeting report: BDS conference in Leeds, September 2012

The 17th biennial conference of the British Dam Society (BDS) took place at the University of Leeds, with tours to several of Yorkshire Water's reservoirs, and the conference banquet in the Royal Armouries Hall.

Technical visit: Pre-conference tour to Butterley reservoir

The pre-conference tour for the British Dam Society conference in Leeds in September 2012 visited Yorkshire Water's Butterley reservoir and the Canal and River Trust's Stanedge tunnel.

Technical visit: BDS conference 2012 – tour of the Holme valley

One of the four tours on the second day of the British Dam Society conference in Leeds in September 2012 visited three dams in the Holme valley: Brownhill, Ramsden and Riding Wood.

Technical visit: BDS conference 2012 – tour of Winscar, Langsett and Underbank reservoirs

One of the four technical visits on 14 September 2012, as part of the British Dam Society Conference in Leeds, visited Yorkshire Water's Winscar, located at the head of the River Don, and Langsett and Underbank impounding reservoirs, located in the Little Don valley.

Technical visit: BDS conference 2012 – tour of Baitings, Boothwood and Scammonden reservoirs

The British Dam Society conference was held in Leeds in 2012. As part of this successful conference, the attendees had pre-selected which one of four tour groups they would like to participate on. This short paper describes the visits made on conference tour A to Baitings, Boothwood and Scammonden reservoirs, detailing the scale and specifics of each dam structure.

BDS conference in Glasgow, June 2010

The 16th biennial conference of the British Dam Society (BDS) took place at the University of Strathclyde in the heart of Glasgow city. It was held early this year (2010), taking place in June between Wednesday the 23rd and Saturday the 26th.

Briefing: Cottage Pool reservoir distress, September, 2008

The author's journey to the British Dam Society conference at Warwick took an interesting diversion via Brockton, Shropshire, following a phone call from Paul Clare, Mouchel's engineer working for Shropshire County Council.

BDS conference in Warwick, September 2008

The 15th biennial conference of the British Dam Society (BDS) took place at the University of Warwick between 10 and 13 September 2008. In keeping with recent tradition the proceedings were officially opened by the associate dean of the university, Dr Tony Price, who welcomed us all to the campus and wished us a successful conference. In his opening address he emphasised the importance of dams and reservoirs to modern society and with the ageing stock of reservoirs in the UK he recognised the important work that is needed to maintain their safety. This theme was of course reflected in the title of the conference, ‘Ensuring reservoir safety into the future’.

The Binnie heritage in dam engineering

The 2008 Binnie Lecture, delivered at the 2008 British Dam Society conference, covers the worldwide achievements of Geoffrey Binnie himself and the firm that bears his name. It then traces the author's personal engineering history, touches on the earth-core versus concrete-faced rockfill dams debate, legal issues, and finishes with a personal view of the future of dam engineering in the UK.

Earlswood reservoirs

The pre-conference tour prior to the 2008 British Dam Society conference in Warwick was to Earlswood and Rotton Park reservoirs, canal reservoirs built in the early 19th century. British Waterways, the undertaker for these reservoirs, is responsible for 3200 km of canal and river navigations in England, Wales and Scotland. Ninety reservoirs provide the water needed for lockage, evaporation and seepage losses. There are three reservoirs at Earlswood – Engine pool, Windmill pool and Terry's pool. They were constructed in the early 19th century to supply the Stratford-upon-Avon canal, a function which they serve to this day.

Rotton Park reservoir

The pre-conference tour prior to the 2008 British Dam Society conference in Warwick was to Earlswood and Rotton Park reservoirs, canal reservoirs built in the early 19th century. British Waterways, the undertaker for these reservoirs, is responsible for 3200 km of canal and river navigations in England, Wales and Scotland. Ninety reservoirs provide the water needed for lockage, evaporation and seepage losses. Rotton Park reservoir was constructed by Thomas Telford in 1827 as part of a comprehensive series of improvements to the Birmingham Canal. It continues to be used for canal water supply purposes.