Announcing Protections 2018

Experts in the management of water and the water environment, HR Wallingford, are organising Protections 2018, the 3rd International Conference on Protection against Overtopping, which is taking place from 6-8 June at one of the UK’s World Heritage sites, the spectacular Lake District National Park.

The increasing demand for dam, levee and seawall safety and flood protection has prompted new research and advancements, and a greater need for cost-effective measures in overtopping protection as a solution for overtopping concerns at levees, dams and seawalls.

This conference brings together leading experts from practice, research, development, and implementation for two days of knowledge exchange, followed by a technical tour of the Lake District including visits to some of the area's impressive dams.

The conference will focus on:

• Critical issues related to levees, dams and seawalls
• New developments and advanced tools
• Overtopping protection systems
• Overtopping simulators / test facilities
• Overtopping failure mechanisms
• System design and performance
• Applications and innovative solutions
• Case histories of overtopping events
• Physical modelling techniques and recent studies
• Numerical modelling methods.

The Lake District, England’s largest national park, was recently awarded UNESCO World Heritage status. Containing England’s highest mountains, and with valleys modelled by Ice Age glaciers, the Lake District National Park includes the biggest, and deepest, lakes as well as many tarns. The park also includes some 26 miles of coastline and estuaries. Delegates will have the opportunity to see parts of this spectacular part of the UK as the conference programme includes technical visits across the region.

Protections 2018 follows the very successful Protections 2016 event, the 2nd International Seminar on Dam Protection against Overtopping which took place in September, 2016 in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. The inaugural event in this conference series was held during November 2014 in Madrid Spain and attended by participants from 20 countries.

Prospective authors can submit abstracts via the conference website until 13 September 2017.

Registration is now open, and delegates can choose a conference-only or conference plus accommodation package.

Images: The conference will be based at the Grange Hotel and Spa in the picturesque coastal town of Grange-over-Sands in Cumbria, five miles from Lake Windermere.