Course 2 - Dams affected by concrete swelling reactions: diagnosis, prediction and rehabilitation

António Lopes Batista is a civil engineer, PhD, principal researcher and head of the Concrete Dams Department of LNEC (Portugal). He developed his professional activity in LNEC since 1986, in the following fields related with concrete and masonry dams: i) analysis and interpretation of the observed behavior, using mathematical modelling; ii) instrumentation, monitoring and inspection; and iii) deterioration and rehabilitation, particularly the concrete dams affected by swelling reactions. He is responsible for the team that monitors the behavior of around 70 large Portuguese concrete and masonry dams. He was also involved in studies of large dams abroad, namely in Mozambique, Angola, Brazil and Peru. He was the chairman of the 16th International Conference on Alkali-Aggregate Reaction in Concrete (ICAAR-2020-2022). 

Olivier CHULLIAT is a civil engineer, head of EDF Hydro Alpes Safety Department (France). He first worked at EDF-DTG Unit in the field of dam monitoring, then in surveillance methods and instrumentation development, and finally in nuclear power plant monitoring (containment shells and cooling towers) and leakage rate surveillance. He then joined EDF-CIH (Hydro Engineering Center) to carry out diagnostics (studies and reconnaissance) on civil engineering issues, to contribute to safety reviews and to lead dam rehabilitation projects. In particular, he led the studies and rehabilitation work on Chambon dam, a 90 m high concrete gravity dam affected by AAR. He also led the studies for strengthening Choranche dam, a 30 m high arch dam with gravity abutments also subject to concrete swelling, in preparation for work 10 years ago.

Ivo Figueiredo Dias is a civil engineer who graduated from the University of Porto in 2004. He was a Phd student at the International Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering (CIMNE) in Barcelona, and obtained his doctorate from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in 2012. After completing his PhD, he joined LNEC as a postdoctoral researcher and, since 2018, is Assistant Researcher in the Concrete Dams Department. His current activities focus on research and consultancy projects related to the interpretation of the observed behavior of dams and its safety assessment using numerical models, particularly for structures effected by swelling reactions. He was involved in studies of large dams in Portugal and abroad, namely in Mozambique and Brazil.

Robin Charlwood (Ph.D., P.E.) is a civil engineer with over 50 years of international experience in design, engineering review, asset management, safety and security assessments and rehabilitation projects for dams and hydroelectric plants.

He is currently focused on two key areas for hydroelectric power and water supply: development of options to improve the long-term management and service life of AAR affected dams and hydroelectric plants; and development of dam safety guidelines for use by developing countries.He is an honorary member of the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD). He was the chairman (1997-2015) of the Committee on Concrete Dams, and member since then. The work included, among other activities, the ICOLD Bulletins B126 - Roller-compacted concrete dams, B136 - The specification and quality control of concrete for dams, B145 - The physical properties of hardened conventional concrete in dams, B165 - Selection of Materials for Concrete in Dams, and B184 – Management of Expansive Chemical Reactions in Concrete Dams.

From 1972 to 2004 he worked at Acres International in Niagara Falls, Canada and in the United States.  Subsequently, he is the principal of Robin Charlwood & Associates, PLLC, Seattle, USA providing independent consulting engineering services.

He was Project Manager for the investigations and remedial measures at the Mactaquac Generating Station in Canada where wire saw cut techniques were pioneered in 1988 to address ASR.  Since then, he has been a consultant on several other ASR investigations and remediation projects in the United States and internationally.