May 2010
Halcrow has prepared an Owner's Guide to Reservoir Safety on behalf of the Environment Agency (EA).
The guide book has been produced to give reservoir owners general advice on the common problems encountered at small embankment reservoirs in the UK, how to spot them, and what you might need to do to prevent a reservoir from failing.
Due to recent changes to the Reservoirs Act, many smaller, unregulated reservoirs will now need to be maintained in accordance with the law. Owners of these reservoirs may have little or no knowledge of reservoir safety issues and don’t have the benefit of a supervising panel engineer to consult. This free guide is the first step in raising awareness of reservoir safety issues and educating the owners.
The comprehensive guide covers all areas of reservoir safety including; UK Legislation, reservoir types, causes of failure, reservoir inspection/surveillance, typical maintenance activities, seeking professional advice, who to contact, Health and safety risks and where to find further information.
The Environment Agency is the enforcement authority under the Reservoirs Act 1975 and is responsible for maintaining a register of all reservoirs under the Act and enforcing all its statutory provisions. This includes appointments of panel engineers, and ensuring safety measures are undertaken.
Market lead for dams and reservoirs, Craig Goff said: "This important project provides valuable, easy to understand guidance to owners of reservoirs around the UK that may help prevent a future dam breach situation. It further cements Halcrow's reputation as one of the market leaders in reservoir safety in the UK. It is excellent that Halcrow has worked with the EA to produce this critical literature at a key moment in the change to reservoir safety legislation.”
In the UK, Halcrow frequently provide panel engineers under the Reservoirs Act 1975 and has undertaken many hundreds of supervising engineer, inspecting engineer and construction engineer commissions under the Act. Sir William Halcrow himself was one of the UK's first panel engineers under the Reservoir (Safety Provisions) Act of 1930.
Halcrow provides a comprehensive reservoir safety service for all types of clients including private individuals, private companies, local authorities, British Waterways, the Environment Agency and water companies.
To find out more about Halcrow's Reservoir Safety services, click here.