Keynote Lectures

Since the last ten years, financial crisis has strongly impacted the global economy, which was mainly the result of un-controlled financial speculations at the stock markets highlighted by the revelations regarding offshore companies. Fortunately, the field of construction of large infrastructures, such as hydraulic schemes, has been left relatively untouched by this crisis. In order to stimulate their economies, many governments across the world have injected significant sums into sustainable infrastructures development.

The state of the art of design of hydraulic structures is changing rapidly. Although hydraulic structures include a broad spectrum of applications, there is an increasing need for specialization in planning, design, materials, construction, risk and hazard assessment, aging infrastructure, and lifecycle maintenance.

Today’s role of hydraulic structures involves improving water management practices, water quality, and environmental restoration and protection. Hydraulic design has expanded to include water planning as well as improvements in the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of locks, dams, spillways, and outlet works. The challenges affecting planning and design involve understanding the role of government policies, economics, optimization, and risk analysis for a wide range of uses that include flood control, irrigation, power generation, navigation, domestic and municipal supply, environmental, and recreation.

Given the enormous problems in water engineering, design of hydraulic structures will remain relevant in the future. Hydraulic structural design is complex. It requires significant coordination of multiple disciplines, three-dimensional analysis, a complex and time-consuming contractual process, and extensive plans and specifications packages. For existing hydraulic structures, the concern for safety and risk evaluation of existing structures is becoming a growing area of need as materials age, hydrologic methods improve, and the technology for evaluations improve.

In order for hydraulic design to meet the needs of the future, there needs to be discussion on how to bridge the gap between research and practice, identification of knowledge gaps, providing experience, encouraging continuing education, development of competent data bases, and promoting collaboration with other organizations in the advancement and understanding of hydraulic structures.

To accomplish these goals, engineers need to step up as leaders to turn ideas into solutions, to adapt innovation, to influence governments and societies in a meaningful way, to solve the problems of an aging infrastructure through sustainability and resilience, and to meet current environmental needs. Engineers must be engaged, involved, and proactive in shaping the future of global engineering of hydraulic structures.

We look into an ever-changing future filled with challenges to continue developing new water resources but with an increased emphasis on water conservation and preserving our natural environment. This is a different approach to that of the 20^th century, where the emphasis was generally on development of water resources. As water engineers and managers facing an increasingly limited water supply, our challenge is to build, and in some cases change, infrastructure for a resilient future. The built infrastructure for water systems must protect life and provide a safe living environment, including an adequate supply and quality of fresh water. Skills and technologies adaptable to the new societal realities of the 21^st century will be needed. This presentation will focus on the possibilities of reconfiguring, replumbing, and repurposing hydraulic structures even as we look to develop new water resources and face the growing water needs of an ever changing future. The paper is based on several case studies that concentrate on “Doing Things Differently.”

Hydraulic structures serve a multitude of human needs. They are needed for water supply, water transfer, water diversion, irrigation, land reclamation, drainage, flood control, hydropower generation, river training, navigation, coastal protection, pollution abatement, and transportation. Many of the structures, such as channels, culverts, and impoundments, have been with us since the birth of human civilization; some, such as spillways, dams, and levees, are more than two centuries old; and some are of more recent origin. In the beginning, structures were designed more or less empirically. Then, engineering and economics constituted the sole foundation of design. Nearly fifty years ago, planning and design of hydraulic structures went through a dramatic metamorphosis. These days, designs are based on both engineering and non-engineering aspects. The engineering aspects encompass planning, development, design, operation and management; and non-engineering aspects include environmental impact assessment, socio-economic analysis, policy making, and impact on society.