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Workshop on Environmental Management of Dams – 20 October 2014

The Australian National Committee on Large Dams (ANCOLD) recently released its guidelines on ‘Regulation and Practice for the Environmental Management of Dams in Australia‘.

A one day workshop is being held on Monday 20 October at the National Convention Centre in Canberra to raise awareness of a range of environmental issues raised in the guidelines and which practitioners need to consider at the various stages of planning, constructing, operating and decommissioning dams. The workshop will also present case studies on the application of the guidelines around Australia and have a panel discussion on the guidelines.

More information on the workshop can be found in the flyer; details of the workshop program can be found in the program.

News from ASCE Australian Section: Master Class on Principles of Streambank Analysis and Application of the Bank Stability and Toe-Erosion Model

American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Australian Section is presenting a Master Class on Principles of Streambank Analysis and Application of the Bank Stability and Toe-Erosion Model (BSTEM).

The Master Class will be presented by Dr Andrew Simon on the 5th August 2014, starting at 8.15am at Cardno Conference Room, Level 9, 203 Pacific Highway, St Leonards.

Dr. Andrew Simon is a geomorphologist with 30 years of experience in mechanistic analysis of unstable-channel systems, streambank erosion, cohesive-sediment entrainment, the role of riparian vegetation, “reference” sediment-transport rates, and river restoration, working on projects throughout the United States and around the globe.

His interests are in quantifying the effects of imposed channel and landscape disturbances, and mitigation measures on channel response and sediment loads. He is an internationally recognized scientist and project manager, designing field, laboratory and numerical-modeling studies, leading and participating in field data collection, analyzing and synthesizing data, and preparing technical reports. He is the author of more than 100 technical publications and the editor of several books.

The fee for this seminar is $275 per attendee (inclusive of GST).

Please refer to the attached PDF link for additional information about the speaker, the registration form and the program for the Master Class.

More information is available at the ASCE Australia Section website.

News from ARR: Test Catchments Expression of Interest

This where you can provide a contribution! The ARR Team is calling for expressions of interest in participating in the testing. Simply email arr_admin@arr.org.au with details of who will be involved (your team or individual), a brief CV for each participant and which projects you would be interested in participating in. EOI closes 23 Jul COB.

Tests will cover a wide range of the design flood estimation process and will include:

1.      Design Flood Estimation

  • Regional flood frequency (RFFE) procedures.
  • At-site flood frequency, using FLIKE.
  • Rainfall-runoff modelling (RORB, RAFTS, URBS or other).

2.      Urban Hydrology

3.      Losses and Baseflow

4.      Advanced Hydrology

  • Monte Carlo analysis for the catchment outlet to analyse rainfall intensities, temporal patterns, losses and spatial patterns across the catchment.
  • Continuous simulation analysis to allow calculation of a similar range of results.  In this test, the results should also be prepared for both the catchment outlet and for an extra two points inside the catchment.

5.      Coastal Interactions

6.      Hydraulic Modelling

We are also interested in hearing from any state or local government authorities that have catchments they think could be used in the testing. The catchments ideally would have terrain information, rainfall gauges, a water level gauge, rating curve etc. The catchment can be rural or urban.

Note: All results will remain anonymous. The aim of the tests is to test the ease of implementation of the method not the ability of an organisation.

For the official advert, please refer to the web link.

Treating Endocrine Disruptors in our Waterways

Advertisement for Sydney Sustainable Engineering Society (SENG – Engineers Australia)

There will be an exciting seminar on the treatment of endocrine disruptors in waste water which is being presented by Dr Stuart Khan, Associate Professor in the School of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of New South Wales.

The seminar will be held at Engineers Australia Harricks Auditorium, Ground Floor, 8 Thomas Street, Chatswood, NSW, on the 29th July 2014 (Tuesday) starting  at 6.00pm. 

Presentation Description: Endocrine distributors found in waste water have been difficult to treat and as a result have caused abnormalities in the sex hormones of fish and other aquatic organisms. So what treatment methods are available today and how effective are they at reducing this impact on the aquatic environment? 

Further information can be obtained from the EA website including the online registration:

 

 

 

PDF of The Scour Presentation

Bruce Melville has kindly agreed to post a PDF of the slides from his recent presentation.

Update 2014-07-01 09:56: The amended PDF has now been posted again.

Update 2014-07-01 09:10: We’ve temporarily pulled the PDF down to make some corrections.  It will be reposted shortly.

Local scour at bridge piers – prediction and protection

The Sydney Division, Engineers Australia Water Engineering Panel will like to present a technical presentation on Local scour at bridge piers – prediction and protection by Professor Bruce Melville.

The presentation will cover three aspects of local scour at bridge piers:

  • The NZ methodology for bridge pier scour prediction, which is a physically-justified method based on extensive sets of laboratory data from The University of Auckland and elsewhere.  The method uses a number of multiplying factors (K-factors) for the effects of the various parameters, which influence scour.  The values of the K-factors were determined from envelope curves fitted to the data. The method is, therefore, inherently conservative.
  • A recently completed research project comprising an evaluation of current methods for predicting local scour at bridge piers, including the development of an improved method for adoption in US.  Twenty-three of the more recent and commonly used equilibrium local scour equations were identified and assembled.  The scour depths predicted by these equations for a wide range of laboratory and field conditions were evaluated against a significant quantity of both laboratory and field equilibrium scour data (approximately 928 field and 569 laboratory).
  • The use of riprap as a countermeasure for bridge pier protection.  Most existing equations for predicting the size of riprap that remains stable at the base of bridge piers were based on clear-water scour laboratory experiments.  Experiments undertaken at The University of Auckland reveal that the controlling mechanism for stability of riprap at bridge piers in sand-bed rivers is undermining by dune migration.  A method for riprap size prediction, derived from these experiments, is presented.

 

Professor Bruce Melville

Prof

Professor Bruce Melville is Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Auckland.  His academic career spans more than 30 years, prior to which he spent 6 years working for civil engineering consultants in NZ and overseas on water-related projects.  He is an active researcher with an international reputation in the field of fluvial sediment transport.  His expertise encompasses most aspects of water resources engineering, including hydraulic, hydrological, river, environmental and hydro-electric engineering.  He is a founding member of the Centre for Infrastructure Research and is Associate-Editor of the (ASCE) Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, has served on local and international research committees, and has been a member of many tribunals for water consent hearings.  He has supervised more than 20 PhD students, published over 75 refereed journal papers and has more than 500 citations in academic journals (ISI Web of science).  He received the 2002 ASCE Hydraulic Structures Medal, in recognition of his contributions in the field and was elected to fellowship of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2006.  In 2007, he received the R.J. Scott Medal from RSNZ for his research contributions and in 2012 he received the Dobson Supreme Technical Award in Transportation Infrastructure.  In 2011, he was promoted to Distinguished Fellowship of IPENZ and was awarded a Hood Travelling Fellowship.

 

The presentation will be given at the EA Auditorium, Chatswood, on 23th June 2014, with light refreshments from 5:30pm for a 6pm start.  RSVP is requested via the EA booking system.

A full PDF Flyer is available for download and further can be obtained from the PDF flyer.

ISHS2014 Standard Registration Deadline

*** STANDARD REGISTRATION DEADLINE 31 MAY ***

From the organising committee:

I would like to take this opportunity to remind you of the approaching registration deadline for the NCWE 11th National Conference on Hydraulics in Civil Engineering, to be held 25-27 June 2014 in Brisbane, Australia.

The technical program will provide symposium attendees with a unique opportunity to interface with leading Australian and international experts in hydraulic engineering, with presentations on current state-of-the-art practices, latest research results, and practical case histories related to the design and operation of hydraulic structures.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to register for this important event on the calendar of the hydraulic engineering community. Please see below for more information, and feel free to forward this message to others.  The technical program will include:

The NCWE 11th National Conference on Hydraulics in Civil Engineering of Engineers Australiawill be held in conjunction with the IAHR 5th International Symposium on Hydraulic Structures. The combined event has the theme of “Hydraulic Structures and Society – Engineering Challenges and Extremes”, and will focus on the role of hydraulic structures in meeting the challenge of extreme events while addressing the requirements imposed by our growing population, the environment, agriculture, industry, and tourism for current and future generations.

Keynote lectures will include:

  • Scour at Hydraulic Structures – ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA HENDERSON ORATION
    Professor Bruce MELVILLE, University of Auckland, New Zealand
  • Hydraulics of stepped weirs and dam spillways: engineering challenges, labyrinths of research
    Professor Jorge MATOS, IST Lisbon, Portugal 

 

Practical Responses to Climate Change – Call for Abstracts

Closing date for abstract submission has been extended until Friday 23 May 2014.
This will be your last opportunity to submit an abstract for this conference

PRCC Conference 2014, Melbourne, 25-27 November 2014, as part of Engineers Australia’s Convention 2014

The conference is being held under the auspices of the:

  • National Committee on Water Engineering
  • National Committee on Coastal and Ocean Engineering
  • Environmental College
  • Sustainable Engineering Society

The conference will provide an opportunity for engineers, policy makers, scientists, planners, academics and others to present, discuss and debate the latest research and practice relating to mitigation of, and adaption to, climate change.

You are invited to submit an abstract for the conference so that you can share your lessons and expertise on a range of structural and non-structural mitigation and adaptation approaches being implemented to manage for a changing and variable climate. You can choose one of the following broad topics:

  • Water and waste water
  • Coastal infrastructure
  • Transport
  • Energy
  • Agriculture
  • Waste
  • Sustainable buildings

Conference Keynote Speakers

The following eminent keynote speakers in our industry have expressed interest in participating in the Conference:

  1. Major General The Honourable Michael Jeffery: Future directions for a sustainable world.
  2. Professor Iven Mareels: Role of Engineers in Climate change adaptation and mitigation
  3. Associate Professor Ron Cox: Sea level rise and other coastal hazards from climate change
  4. Professor Caroline Evans: Low carbon transport
  5. Professor John Thwaites: Legal and political approaches to sustainability
  6. Dr John Vargo: Organisational resilience in the face of climate change

As the Practical Responses to Climate Change conference will take place as a part of Engineers Australia’s Convention 2014, attendees will also have access to the general keynote sessions from John Howard, Tim Fischer, Ita Buttrose and others.

Conference Workshops

As part of the conference, workshops are proposed on Climate Change Policy, Sea Level Rise, and Australian Rainfall and Runoff.

Abstract Submission

The abstract should be no more than 400 words and should include;

  • The title of the paper typed in capital letters and bolded
  • List of authors and their affiliations
  • Contact details for the corresponding authorTopic (from list above)
  • Keywords
  • Text of the abstract

Important Notes

  • Abstracts should describe work which has not been presented at a previous PRCC Conference or elsewhere.
  • At least one author from the accepted paper will be required to register to attend the Conference to present the work
  • Abstracts will be printed in the conference handbook for accepted presentations.
  • Full papers will be peer reviewed.
  • Accepted full papers will be published online on the RMIT Informit database.

Abstracts should be submitted (in word or pdf format) directly to: Dr Mark Jempson

2D Modelling Forum

In conjunction with the National Conference on Hydraulics in Civil Engineering and the International Symposium on Hydraulic Structures, a forum on 2D hydraulic modelling will be held on Thursday 26th June. The forum will include invited presentations, panel discussions and software demonstrations, and provide ample opportunities for questions and answers. Topics covered include:

  • CFD, Physical and Other Modelling Approaches
  • Recent Developments in 2D modelling
  • Applications of Modelling
  • Model supplier forum
  • Direct Rainfall

The forum is a great chance to hear from industry experts and to keep up to date with the latest 2D modelling developments within the industry.

More information on the invited speakers and program can be found here.

ARR Workshop – Brisbane

Date: Tuesday 24 June 2014

Time: 9.00am – 4.00pm

Venue: Hawken Auditorium, Engineers Australia, 445 Upper Edward Street, Brisbane.

Presentations will include:

  • NFRIP
  • Book and Chapter updates and releases
  • Climate Change
  • Regional flood method and software demo
  • Temporal patterns and ARF’s
  • Blockage of Hydraulic Structures: Blockage guidelines –Dr Bill Weeks
  • Rational Method Developments: The future of the rational method
  •  Losses for Design Flood Estimation: Update – urban losses in Qld
  • Open session on Qld Issues

Please note for those who attended the Perth workshop this will largely be the same content.

More information can be found here.

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