Dam safety: the use of guidance documents for the training of Inspecting Engineers

The best training for those engineerswho wish to become qualified to undertake the inspection of dams would include the personal experience of having designed and built dams. But inWestern Europe fewer dams are being built and therefore fewer engineers who wish to become Inspecting Engineers in the future will have had the opportunity to design and build a dam. To help compensate for this lack of personal experience dam engineers in Great Britain have prepared a series of documents which are intended to provide practical guidance for future Inspecting Engineers. These documents summarise the personal experiences of the present generation of Inspecting Engineers; they bring together and record the accumulated knowledge of those engineers who are at present responsible for dam safety and are intended to supplement the personal experience of new Inspecting Engineers. The documents are non-prescriptive and the decision on the safety of thedamremains the personal judgement of the Inspecting Engineer. The documents were prepared for the use of Inspecting Engineers in Britain but may be of interest and value to engineers in other countries.