Institution news
Q: Could you briefly explain your role, involvement and experience with regards to flooding risk and protection?
John Dora (JD): I have worked as an Environment Agency flood risk manager in the 1990s and subsequently was Network Rail’s national water expert then climate resilience expert until 2012. For the past three years I have been a member of the Thames Regional Flood and Coastal Committee as an independent technical expert.
Q: What are the main engineering challenges being encountered when it comes to preparing assets against changes in climatic conditions?
JD: Assets generally have been designed to cater for past climatic conditions and standards are out-of-date when it comes to design, operation and maintenance specifications. Owners of assets, however, should choose both to comply with design codes etc., as well as consider resilience for the future. The new ISO standard ISO 14090 helps this.
Q: Where do you think the main solution to rising sea levels lies in terms of retrofitting infrastructure?
JD: An understanding of the long-term changes in sea levels, wave energy and storm surge will help, as well as the capacity for decision-makers to intervene at the appropriate timescales. Adaptive management ought very much to be considered – design for incremental change to suit future interventions, for example. Understand lead times for interventions will also help as well.
Q: What are the developments in flood protection to watch for in the future?
JD: Better climate projections at granular scales.
Q: Why do you think it is so important for engineers to join in the future discussion around industrial flooding?
JD: Engineers solve problems. The climate crisis is upon us. We need innovative thinking now and engineers are good at this.
Industrial Flooding: Protecting Critical Infrastructure, taking place on 18 March in London, will form part of a two-day climate change focused event. A half-day pre-seminar workshop on the new BS EN ISO 14090 standard takes place on 17 March.
Key reasons to attend
- Hear case studies from leading engineering organisations including E.ON, EDF Energy, Yorkshire Water, AWE and Anglian Water
- Make the most out of flood modelling to predict flow paths and rates to make the right planning choices
- Learn best practice for retrofitting current assets as well as designing new assets to withstand more frequent and increased severity of weather events
- Ensure you are meeting the requirements of the new standard BS EN ISO 14090 by attending our half-day workshop hosted by Climate Sense and BSI
- Network with health, safety and environment, flooding risk managers, design engineers from engineering organisations as well as experts from government agencies, academia and flooding protection providers.
To book your place, please visit www.imeche.org/industrialflooding.