ICOLD 2013 - international Commission on Large Dams

On behalf of the United States Society on Dams (USSD), I am pleased to extend this invitation to the member countries of the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) to join us in Seattle, Washington, USA, on August 12-16, 2013, for the 81st Annual Meeting of ICOLD. This event offers extraordinary opportunities to our colleagues involved with the development, operation and maintenance of critical water resource infrastructure around the world to share our knowledge and lessons learned.

We have prepared a Call for Papers for a Symposium, Changing Times: Infrastructure Development to Infrastructure Management, to focus on the changing challenges of critical water infrastructure projects relating to dams. Specifically, these aging projects require special care to ensure safety, security and longevity to continue their vital functions that serve the populations of our countries. This symposium will also recognize the changing priorities of a global community with climate change, sustainability, generational knowledge transfer and technical knowledge expansion for critical design features such as hydraulics, hydrology and seismicity.

In addition, the ICOLD-2013 Program will feature unique opportunities to meet in a workshop environment to understand key technical challenges being addressed by USSD Technical Committees.

Study tours have been developed to provide our guests with the opportunity to visit several milestone dam and critical infrastructure projects around the United States as a follow-up to the lessons of our symposium and workshops.

This 81st Annual Meeting will be held in scenic downtown Seattle, Washington with easy access to the airport, shopping, cultural sites and general tourist places of interest. The timing in August will provide a good opportunity for favorable weather for our guests to visit this historic city in the Pacific-Northwest region of the United States.

We are excited about the opportunity to host our ICOLD colleagues in the United States for the first time in 25 years. We hope that you will take advantage of the pre- and post-conference Study Tours to see the many projects and inspiring sights of the United States. SEE YOU IN SEATTLE!