Buncold

27th Congress and 90th Annual meeting of the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) in Marseille, France

From May 27 to June 3, 2022, the 27th Congress and 90th Annual meeting of the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) took place in Marseille (France). For various reasons, this time in the work of this worldwide most authoritative forum in the field of dams, none of the members of the Bulgarian National Committee on Large Dams (BUNCOLD) could take part. Fortunately, our country was represented by Dr. Eng. Anton Tsenkov, who participated in the scientific program of the forum and in the ICOLD General Assembly on behalf of Bulgaria. Dr. Eng. A. Tsenkov presented in the scientific program of the congress on Question 104 the only report presented by our country: "Strengthening of Beli Iskar concrete gravity dam" with authors Anton Tsenkov, Dimitar Kisliakov and Ognyan Todorov. As a member of the Technical Committee (TC) A "Numerical aspects of the analysis and design of dams", Dr. Eng. Anton Tsenkov confirmed the decision made in 2019, that the traditional Benchmark Workshop on Numerical Analysis of Dams, held every two years, will be held in Sofia in 2024. This specialized and high technology workshop will be hosted by the BUNCOLD, and the shift by one year (instead of 2023 to 2024) was made necessary due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 epidemic. Our work on the preparation of this workshop has already begun. In TC H "Dam safety", the representative of our country Prof. Dr. Eng. Dimitar Kisliakov (Chairman of the BUNCOLD) participated in the work remotely.

World Water Day 2022

By tradition, the Bulgarian National Committee on Large Dams (BUNCOLD) at the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD), celebrates World Water Day every year on March 22 with a scientific and applied conference. Due to the epidemic situation, this tradition was temporarily interrupted, but fortunately this year we were able to gather again and directly discuss certain issues related to the waters of Bulgaria. This year, on the occasion of Water Day, we organized a wider discussion forum dedicated to the dams in our country. The meeting was held on April 15 in the Maxima Hall of the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy (UACEG) at 1 Hr. Smirnenski Blvd. in Sofia. Our goal this time was to gather the widest possible range of people employed in this field, resp. interested and responsible parties to meet in a constructive dialogue on: State of the dams in Bulgaria.
Current problems and ideas for solutions.

It was held on April 15, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. in the Maxima Hall of the UACEG at 1 Hr. Smirnenski Blvd. in Sofia. The planned discussions focused on two specific topics as follows:

1) Administrative problems of dams in our country (ownership, regulations, administrative procedures, safety requirements, responsibilities)

2) Hydro-economic exploitation of dams in our country (water resources - data, analyses, planning, climate changes, risks)

After brief greetings from the Rector of UACEG Prof. Ivan Markov, the Deputy Minister of Energy Eng. D. Nikolov, the Chairman of the Management Board of the State Enterprise for the Management of Dams (DPUSYA) Mr. Ts. Bunchev, the Chairman of the State agency for metrological and technical supervision (DAMTN) Mr. P. Gornovski, on the first topic reports were presented by Eng. Iv. Buzov from DPUSYA, Eng. M. Piryankova from DAMTN and Mr. Bl. Stanchev from the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria (NSORB). In these reports, the main problems in the field of dams in our country were raised from the point of view of the relevant institution. After a short break, on the second topic, Engineer P. Balieva from the Directorate "Water Management" of the Ministry of Environment and water, in which the principles and mechanism by which water management is carried out in our country, were explained. After that, Prof. O. Santurdzhian, DSc, presented a report in which he illustrated a model developed by him for the water management of a dam reservoir, which has already been successfully applied to a number of sites in Bulgaria. The presentations are available to interested colleagues at the BUNCOLD.

More than a total of four hours was not enough for the presentation of the main problems and activities in the field of dams in our country, and unfortunately there was not much time left for more detailed discussions on the two main topics. This only showed how timely this discussion meeting was in the implemented format and how much such forums are needed to initiate united and purposeful efforts to solve the current problems. Unfortunately, with very few exceptions, the top echelon of government was not represented, despite invitations being sent. The same applies to the mass media, with the exception of the profiled newspaper Stroitel, which covered the event. However, after two years of severe isolation, the meeting was a joyful occasion for the presence of the specialized collegium and the interested parties in this field

"World Declaration on Dam Safety"

The text of the Declaration can be found here>>

Protocol Form 16

On June 25, 2019, Protocol "Form 16" was signed, with which the State Commission officially put the "Plovdivtsi" dam near Rudozem into regular operation.

Seminar

At the end of March 2019, the eighth Bulgarian-Austrian Seminar on Hydraulic Engineering was held at the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy (UACEG) in Sofia.

Conference on Hydraulic Engineering