Safety |
potentially anomalous movement which may be the precursor of a dam safety incident. Collected data is used to provide a more detailed risk profile, to prioritise future investment and enable focused operational activity to improve reservoir safety. In Australia, Hunter Water is using Rezatec’s Dam
Above: New Zealand is home to about 3300 dams but currently does not have an operative dam safety framework
j in September 2020 and Vale is reported to have complied with some and asked for an extension on others. However, as of June 2021, Claudinei Cruz, Head of Mining Dams Safety at ANM-MG, said that the conditions at the tailings dam had not changed since the previous inspection and so it remained at emergency level rating 2.
AI monitoring The Canal & River Trust in England is trialling the
newly launched iDMS tool at three of its reservoirs to deliver safety improvements and enhance operational efficiency. In April the charity, which looks after 2000 miles of the country’s waterway network, signed an agreement for a subscription to the tool which combines Binnies’ reservoir expertise and digital ecosystem services, with Rezatec’s unique geospatial artificial intelligence techniques to monitor critical dam infrastructure.
iDMS identifies the unique basal rhythm of dams by combining historic satellite data with advanced analytics. The tool can give an enhanced understanding of both routine dam movement and
Monitoring technology to enhance public safety and understand dam behaviour at its Chichester Dam, which provides nearly 35% of the company’s potable drinking water supply. The service is already in use at the corporation’s Grahamstown Dam. At nearly 100 years old, Chichester Dam is a 44m high mass gravity concrete dam, with a 262m crest length and a centrally located spillway. Due to the surrounding steep and heavily vegetated terrain difficult, it is difficult, time consuming and costly to deploy traditional survey techniques that are currently undertaken for the site on a two-yearly basis in accordance with regulations. Rezatec’s Geospatial AI initially interprets three years of historic satellite data to create a retrospective analysis and establishes a baseline trend of what is ‘normal’ and what isn’t. Hunter Water then receives monthly updates, using data collected at six-to-twelve- day intervals, to flag and locate any arising issues, down to a few millimetres of displacement. In addition to monitoring precise structural movements, the satellite data analyses vegetation moisture and vigour to pick up indicators of seepage. “Using Rezatec’s Dam Monitoring technology aligns perfectly with our strategic objectives to increase digital services and improve the delivery and adoption of technology. Dam Monitoring enables a significant increase in the frequency and accuracy of monitoring for both Chichester Dam and Grahamstown Dam,” commented Daniel Turnbull, Dam Safety Engineer at Hunter Water.
Warning sirens German manufacturer of warning sirens, Hormann
Warnsysteme, has expanded its existing system together with QBS Quality Business Solutions and added new safety functions. The revised 560 sirens are
Right: Aerial view of agricultural fields and irrigation canals in the central valley of California. The US Bureau of reclamation has led a public competition focused on improving public safety and reducing drownings in canals throughout the country
18 | August 2021 |
www.waterpowermagazine.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53
