Dam Safety
“Listening to industry views and perspectives, especially regarding future challenges and opportunities, is critical to understanding how we can best serve our member organizations and the industry as a whole. We’ve been able to use results of past Ear to the River surveys to help us amplify specific points as we advocate for hydro with Congress and other policymakers. We expect to do the same with this year’s data.”
- NHA
The Ear to River Survey asked several specific dam safety-related questions during regularly scheduled NHA meetings of Chief Dam Safety Engineers in 2023. We then asked several of these same questions on social media. The questions and results are shown below:
Q: Do you expect FERC to allow use of drones and robots to perform detailed inspections (i.e. tainter gate inspections) in the next 3 - 5 years?
NHA Chief Dam Safety Engineers Roundtable
Yes
No
Do Not Know
We asked this same question in a LinkedIn poll that ran for two weeks.
Yes
No
Do Not Know
This is a very interesting finding, particularly in light of the information gathered in other parts of this survey that shows the continuing need for skilled workers in the hydro industry. Historically, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has required “hands on” inspections of critical infrastructure by experienced engineers. This creates inherent safety risks for personnel who need to use rope access to reach spillway gates and other hard to reach components. FERC has required dam owners with facilities containing open penstocks to have periodic dewatered inspections by engineers who often need to crawl through long sections of confined penstock spaces to visibly inspect the interior as well as take metal thickness readings and other measurements.
The technology of drones and robotics has advanced considerably in recent years and there appear to be a number of devices available that can perform detailed inspections without creating safety risks while potentially reducing the manpower and labor needs associated with these detailed inspections. It will be interesting to hear FERC’s thoughts on these survey results and whether they expect to allow the use of these technologies to replace some physical inspections while still obtaining all information needed to assess a facility’s condition.
We also asked how many licensees had proposed use of drone or robotic technologies.
Has your organization proposed to FERC to perform a drone or robotic inspection of a gate or a penstock?
NHA Chief Dam Safety Roundtable
Yes
No
Do Not Know
The use of technology to help bridge the gap of expected worker shortages was explored in other Ear to the River pulse survey questions. We asked attendees at NHA’s industry-wide Clean Currents conference and trade show, recipients of OWA’s member newsletter, as well as those active on social media about their expected use of technology in the future.
Q: Is your company actively assessing the use of robots/automation to replace some of the tasks that were historically performed by staff?
Clean Currents
Attendees
(13 responses)
Yes
No
Do Not Know
(18 responses)
Yes
No
Do Not Know
OWA Newsletter and
(22 responses)
Yes
No
Do Not Know
Workforce Spotlight on Dam Safety Needs
Because workforce was a main topic area for the 2023 Ear to the River Survey, we asked some very specific workforce related questions of the participants in the NHA Chief Dam Safety Engineers Roundtable.
Q: Do you anticipate that finding competent staff to fill CDSE roles will be difficult in the next 3 - 5 years?
Yes
No
Do Not Know
Q: Is there active succession planning within your company for the CDSE role?
Yes
No
Q: How difficult do you believe it will be to find qualified engineers to conduct comprehensive assessments in the next 3 - 5 years?
Rate 1 - 5 with 1 = simple and straightforward and 5 = extremely cumbersome
1 - Simple and Straight Forward
2 - Difficult
3 - Neither simple nor difficult
4 - Difficult
5 - Extremely cumbersome
There have been numerous high-profile dam failures and near misses over the past decade that have prompted FERC to overhaul their regulations for non-Federal dams in the United States. These regulations call for FERC licensees of high-hazard facilities to conduct a very detailed Comprehensive Assessment (CA) of their facilities every ten years. These regulations went into effect in April 2022 and 2023 was the first full year of implementation of these new regulations. The Ear to the River Survey asked some specific questions of the participants in the NHA Chief Dam Safety Engineers Roundtable about these new regulations.
As these new regulations continue to be implemented in 2024, the Ear to the River survey will be focusing more questions on these regulations and how they may be impacting workforce needs as well as decisions about retaining older hydro assets.
“Each year, the annual Ear to River survey provides the OWA with valuable information and insights regarding the key opportunities and challenges facing the waterpower industry. The report will continue to both guide and support our advocacy efforts in the future.” - Janelle Bates, OWA
Q: If you have done, or are doing a comprehensive assessment, how has the process gone?
Rate 1 - 5 with 1 = simple and straightforward and 5 = extremely cumbersome
1 - Simple and straight forward
2 - Not Difficult
3 - Neither simple nor difficult
4 - Difficult
5 - Extremely cumbersome
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